About a week and a half ago, we broke down Georgia Tech's chances at landing Savannah-native and 5-star ATH Demetris Robertson -- the highest-rated prospect for the class of 2016 who's yet to sign with a school, even after National Signing Day on February 3. Let's take a look at what's changed in the time since then.
Interview
There was a YouTube video making the rounds last week, featuring a podcast with two of Rivals' regional recruiting analysts discussing several recruiting-related topics. One of those is Robertson, including a lengthy interview that one of them did with Robertson recently. Robertson discusses several things throughout the interview, including how his mother favors Georgia Tech (where he very much enjoyed his visit), how he was covered from head-to-toe in clothes sporting Cal logos, and the pressure to attend georgia. You can listen to the audio in the YouTube video at the top of this article.
Updates
The first, and probably most important, update here is that the date for Robertson to find out his updated SAT score has come and gone. You'll remember that the initial reason behind his delayed signing was the wait for a score from the SAT that he took January 23, hoping to raise his score enough to gain admission to Stanford. The date that he was due to find out that score was February 11, nearly a week ago at this point. In the time since, there hasn't been anything directly indicating that he didn't make that score, but there also hasn't been anything that directly indicates that he did make that score. With how public Robertson was about needing a score, it seems reasonable to think that achieving the score he needed would've been something he made public as well. That there has been no indication either way suggests that he didn't make that score, in which case Stanford would be eliminated from his options.
For another semi-major update, Robertson was supposed to officially visit georgia this past weekend, but ended up cancelling that visit. The cancellation was largely due to his basketball schedule, where he played in the state semifinals on Friday night and could have played in the state final on Saturday. (Unfortunately, his team was eliminated in the semifinal.) Yes, he could have visited georgia beginning on Saturday in theory, but it's understandable that he'd hope for a full weekend experience his visit, and not immediately coming off of a late-season loss to boot. Still, he's yet to take an official visit to georgia or Alabama, and has a maximum of two official visits remaining.
UPDATE: For what it's worth, I've been informed that his team is in another state tournament beginning in Alpharetta this weekend, but that his team is a relatively heavy underdog. That participation, though, could be enough to discourage a visit anywhere this coming weekend as well.
The final noteworthy update here comes from Ken Sugiura's update on Robertson late last week after the podcast interview, where Robertson suggested that he would be possibly making a decision this week -- today, even. That is certainly possible, but it would have to happen without Robertson taking any more official visits, and it's hard to think that he would pass up both of those given the lack of urgency he's shown thus far in the process.
Social Media
A few times over the past few weeks, Robertson has posted things on social media that really stirred folks up. He posted a picture on Instagram with his mother and Coach Lamar Owens while holding a football with a Georgia Tech logo on it. He posted another picture on Instagram of him and fellow 5-star prospect Mecole Hardman, who signed with georgia on National Signing Day. Someone even found him on Snapchat, where he supposedly posted a picture of him and his girlfriend cooking -- but more importantly where he was wearing a Georgia Tech sweatshirt.
So, two things about these posts:
1) DO NOT FOLLOW RECRUITS ON SNAPCHAT. AS CREEPY AND WEIRD AS IT IS TO TWEET AT THEM (AND IT'S EXTREMELY CREEPY AND WEIRD), FULL-ON ADULTS WATCHING THEM ON SNAPCHAT IS A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF CREEPY AND WEIRD. IT'S DOWNRIGHT UNACCEPTABLE. JUST STOP IT. DON'T DO IT. SERIOUSLY.
2) Don't allow yourself to get worked up over what recruits (Robertson and others) post on social media. They're not trying to send subliminal messages with their tweets and pictures. What they wear and the fanbases that they pander to is not indicative of one "being their leader" unless they explicitly state as much. Don't try to make this into some sort of deciphering exercise common to high school literature classes. These are high school kids -- not Shakespeare, not Hemingway, and not Dr. Seuss.
What's it all mean?
Sadly, this section isn't going to be as satisfying as you were hoping it would be.
Here's the thing. In the last two weeks, we've hardly learned anything new about where Georgia Tech (or anyone else) stands in Robertson's recruitment. The best update we have is pure conjecture, based on the date that SAT scores were released and a lack of notification that anything changed as a result. Another visit was set and cancelled, although apparently not for a lack of interest in going. The original date when we thought we might find out a final decision is now halfway over without any indication that it is, in fact, the day -- much less what the decision is.
Now, as for how Georgia Tech fits in to all of this, I wouldn't say that the updates above are necessarily good, but they're definitely not bad either. From listening to the interview, it sounds like the Yellow Jackets' coaches made a strong impression on Robertson and his mother, and the Flats are clearly his mother's favorite option here.
So, when will we know the final decision? It's hard to say, but there's a good chance it isn't today -- and if Robertson's track record thus far is any indication, he's in no hurry at this point. We could find out some time today, and we could also find out a month from now. As it stands, we're all left to keep our seatbelts fastened with our trays in an upright and locked position until we hear otherwise.