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We recently caught up with the first commitment of Georgia Tech's 2016 recruiting class, RB Xavier Gantt, to discuss his recruitment, his decision, and his future.
The first thing I asked Xavier was a simple but important question: "Why Georgia Tech?" Instead of paraphrasing his response, I'll give it to you in full:
1) I truly believe that these coaches care for the players and you aren't just a number.
2) Georgia Tech was my first offer. It really meant a lot that they were the first guys to believe in me.
3) 1 out of every 6 Georgia Tech graduates are millionaires.
4) If a kid can get into their head that not everyone is going to [the NFL], they'll see that you can get an unbelievable education and make pro money. Georgia Tech is the place to do that.
It's immediately apparent that Xavier is wise beyond his years.
I proceeded to ask him whether being the first commitment in the class was a scary leap of faith to take. He told me that it wasn't -- that he felt really good about Georgia Tech, and that his commitment only reaffirmed how good he felt about it.
Gantt was in attendance at Georgia Tech's recent junior day (after he had committed). He said it was a great time, and that he really enjoyed speaking with the coaches and meeting some of the personnel around the Georgia Tech football program. As for whether he did any recruiting of his own, he said he spoke some with TaDarryl Marshall, Nyles Pinckney, and a few guys from Florida who couldn't make the trip. Gantt told me he plans to be back on campus for some spring practices, and definitely the spring game.
Finally, I asked him about other schools recruiting him. He said he was hearing a lot from Ohio State, Mississippi State, Arizona State, Miami, and Wake Forest prior to his commitment, but that they had all backed off since he made the pledge to Georgia Tech. As far as any other visits, Gantt told me he had no plans at this time to visit anywhere else and is locked in to being a Yellow Jacket.
Gantt is currently slotted to play A-Back at Georgia Tech and is a rated a three star prospect by Rivals (5.7) and the 247Sports Composite rankings (.8537).