Damari Alston discusses Penn State official visit
With more than 50 scholarship offers, Georgia running back Damari Alston is set to be a very busy man this summer.
During his sophomore year, Alston was able to take a few visits to Miami, Notre Dame and West Virginia, but for the most part, he has a lot to figure out this upcoming June and July. He knows there won’t be enough time to check out all of his top options, but he plans to see as much as he can during those 27 days in June.
“With the southern schools, the schools that are kind of local, I’m going to do some unofficials with those schools,” Alston said. “Obviously, it’s better to use official visits for the schools further away so my family doesn’t have to pay all that money for flights.
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"So, I’m currently trying to setup some of the further schools and then I’ll go from there. I know Oregon is a school that I’m considering for an official. That’s really it right now. I’m probably going to do three officials in the summer and then save two for during the season. I’m in no rush with this. We haven’t been able to visit any schools for a year now, so I don’t want to rush any of this.”
If that’s how it works out for Alston, Penn State will be quite happy, as running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider and head coach James Franklin recently locked up an official visit with he and his family for the final open weekend, June 25-27. He also has an official visit set with Northwestern the week prior, June 18-20.
“He’s just different,” Alston said, when asked about his relationship with Seider. “He always keeps it real with me. He’s one of those coaches that I’ve talked to my entire recruiting process, so it’s a true relationship. He’s also pretty laid-back and I like that style because that’s how I am. But like I said, he’s different. He stands out.”
Alston went on to add, “Coach Franklin is very similar to Coach Seider in that he keeps it real. He’s a younger head coach, so that’s someone I would like to be around. I like that. He has stability in the coaching staff, too. But he just keeps it real all the time. He’s real chill, real cool.”
There are a few reasons that Alston locked in a visit with the Nittany Lions. He said he liked the combination of academics and athletics that Penn State often stresses, but also on the field, the running back position has been a real strength for the team in recent years.
“I like what they’ve done with their running backs, especially production-wise,” Alston said. “The last few running backs they’ve coached at Penn State have gone on to be great players. Journey Brown was next in that line until he unfortunately had to stop playing. But yeah, that’s a school that always has good backs and always produces at that spot. I feel like all I got to see at Penn State is the atmosphere around the school, because I know what they’ve done and I know Coach Seider pretty well. That’s why I set an official. It’s definitely a school I want to see, and that’s really why Penn State is high on my list: Coach Seider, Coach Franklin and their production.”
Currently, Alston has one unofficial visit set with Florida for June 1. He added that Georgia Tech, North Carolina and South Carolina are a few other programs that he's considering for an unofficial visit.
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