What a differnece two months makes for King

Tavarres King isn't getting the amount of recruiting attention he used to get, and that's fine with him.

Tavarres King Profile

King, a wide receiver from northeast Georgia, was once in the very public eye of the recruiting world. An undecided hot commodity, the Habersham Central senior's press conference where he picked Georgia over Clemson and Florida was attended by hundreds of local supporters and a slew of media.

Now King is living a different recruiting world - one solid to Georgia and one with far less phone calls.

"It's been stress free for me," King said of his time after pulling the trigger in May. "I have been working out with the team at Furman and other places, and we have done some seven-on-seveon stuff."

King's press conference announcement started a landslide of momentum for the Bulldogs in recruiting. King's verbal to Georgia was the first in a string of nine commitments for the Bulldogs in a month and a half. It was the most productive recruiting time in recent memory for the Bulldogs.

"It was a special day i wouldn't have had it any other way. It was a very special way. I wouldn't do it any differently," King said fondly. "But now I can just focus on Raider football until college."

That might now be a good thing for Habersham Central's opponents. After winning the region for the first time in a long time last season, the Raiders appear talented enough to make a run at another region title and even more in 2007. But no matter what King and his team do this fall, the Mt. Ary native will likely always be considered the second-best reciever in Georgia's class of 2008 - and that's not all bad, he said.

"I really have only talked with A.J. Green once and that was small talk - not much," King admitted. "I've seen his film - he's the real deal."

When pressed about competing with Green in the future King didn't back down.

"I know that he's a great player - and that's fine. When we get to Athens it's not going to be one of us as the number one guy and the other guy as the number two. We are going to be fighting for the same job. I don't have a problem competing with anyone. I would have no problem competing with Marvin Harrsion for a starting job," King said.

A lot was made of King's father playing at Clemson, but he said that he and his father understand that, a generation later, what was best for one might not be the best for the other.

"Dad is going to be a Tiger his whole life. He chose his destiny," King admitted. "But this is my life and this is my destiny."

That destiny will be shaped, however, by a coach at Georgia with whom King has become very close. Wide receivers coach John Eason, with one foot in a cast, limped his way into and out of King's press conference in the spring. The pair have formed a bond, according to the youngster, that was a pivotal reason that King picked the Dawgs.

"He played a big role in me choosing Georgia," King admitted. "The way he coaches reminds me of my high school coach now and that's real important for me because he and I are very close."