It might be a dead period for visits, but not for phone calls and other forms of contact when it comes to football recruiting. SAF Jowell Combay (6-2 190) of Marietta, GA is proof of that.
One day after wrapping up official visits with a trip to Tennessee, Combay was on the phone with his four primary suitors, and that included South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer.
Beamer made his message to Combay direct and to the point.
“I’m a high priority and go ahead and make this thing easy and do what I need to do,” Combay said. “I have a good feeling towards them. South Carolina is known for Coach (Torrian) Gray for his development. I know South Carolina is a good place.”
Combay also took calls Monday from coaches from Wisconsin, Tennessee and Missouri.
Georgia is the other school on his list, though the fact the Bulldogs already have three safeties committed might work against them. He did not take an official visit to Georgia, but he did make an unofficial visit in May.
“The thing with Georgia is, they are taking like four safeties,” Combay said. “I don’t want to say they are off my list, but you tell me what that means.”
Tennessee has two safeties committed. South Carolina and Wisconsin have one each, and Missouri has none.
Combay has a July 9th commitment date, and he doesn’t plan to cut his list any more before then.
“I’m still way up in the air,” he said. “I’m going to ride with this group. I’d like to know what I’m going to as soon as possible, to be honest with you.”
As he goes through the box checking process with each program, Combay said he’ll be looking for the school that can take him to that next level in football and in life.
“Definitely being developed on and off the field, and more on a personal level,” Combay said. “Going to where it feels like home, no matter how far away I am. Those are my checked boxes.”
Combay added that NIL proposals won’t be a factor because all of the programs are pretty much at the same place with that.
Last season, Combay had 66 tackles with three interceptions.