Spring Break
Signee picks red, not orange
National Signing Day 2008
JASON BUTT
Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: Sports
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Tavarres King always knew which college he would attend.
He grew up in Mount Airy, a city in northeast Georgia about an hour drive from Athens.
King knew his talents would land him in college football and he had his heart set on where he would be since he could remember.
And that college was not in his home state.
King envisioned himself catching passes as a Clemson Tiger, where he could follow in his father Anthony King's, who played tight end for Clemson, footsteps.
"I grew up a Clemson fan," King said. "My whole life I thought I was going to go to Clemson and do exactly what my dad did."
To King's surprise, he fell in love with the in-state school 45 miles south of him during the recruiting process.
King said one of the overriding factors in his decision was how comfortable he was with the Georgia coaching staff.
"I look down here and I see guys getting after it," King said. "I see what kind of men are here, talking about the coaching staff. I'm not saying they are not good guys at Clemson. But I see what kind of people are here and that's the type of people I want to be around."
This decision hit King in May while he was lounging around his bedroom before it dawned on him that he belonged at Georgia.
"It took several weeks. It was a toss up between Clemson and Georgia, Clemson, Georgia," King said. "I was in my room one day and just walked out and told my mom that I wanted to go to Georgia. She made me call my dad, he's a Clemson man. I told him, and he was fine with it. He said I had to do what I had to do."
King gave Georgia his verbal commitment on May 18, 2007, and hasn't wavered on it since.
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