PG Recruiting Database | PG Recruiting Rankings
CARTERSVILLE, Ga. – LJ Talley, the No. 413 ranked high school prospect in the 2015 class and No. 46 ranked prospect in Georgia for the class, decided this past week he would remain in-state and take his talents to the University of Georgia and play for new head coach Scott Stricklin.
“Georgia was one of the first schools that I visited,” said Talley. “I loved the coaches and the facilities and everything they had to offer, plus it’s in-state.”
The 6-foot-2 shortstop from Folkston, Ga. recalled Georgia started showing interest in him this past summer and saw him play again in the fall. Alabama recruited Talley around the same time but never made an offer.
“I went up (to the University of Georgia) before the spring season started and took a visit and saw the whole campus, locker, room, baseball field, and all that stuff,” Talley said.
Talley took a few visits to the University of Alabama and said he was also recruited by Northwest Florida State College, a junior college in Niceville, Fla.
Georgia made the decision much easier for Talley, though, when they gave him an offer just last week.
“They came to my game the other day and right after that game they gave me an offer,” said Talley. “I wanted to represent my state and when they offered I was ecstatic. I waited until the next day to accept, so I could talk to my parents first. It’s really where I wanted to go.”
“Florida is actually the team my family likes,” said Talley, jokingly mentioning that his mother let the Georgia coaches know that when they went up to Athens for a visit. Being from Folkston, Ga. which lies right near the Florida-Georgia border, it’s not a surprise his family pulls for the Gators. That’s going to change now that Talley, the No. 76 ranked shortstop in the class of 2015, will call himself a Bulldog.
Talley plays for Chain Baseball North in the summer and attends many Perfect Game events in the greater-Atlanta area, a much closer trip for schools like Georgia to make.
“These Perfect Game events are really the only times some coaches can see me without traveling too far,” said Talley.
Talley was worth the trip for some Georgia coaches to make, however, and it landed them a future middle infielder.
The talented shortstop gives Georgia’s 2015 recruiting class ten commits so far, including eight in the Top 500 and four in the Top 100. The University of Georgia’s 2015 recruiting class currently ranks tenth.