Fortt admits he’d decided on Penn State 4 weeks ago
Just to close the door on Khairi Fortt saga and be done with it (for this week any way), The Stamford Times updated the news the elite linebacker’s decision to choose Penn State over Georgia with a report from Fortt’s actual announcement during an assembly at his high school Monday afternoon.
Fortt, considered one of the top linebackers in the country, did not address earlier reports that he had been abandoned by his two Georgia hosts during his official visit to Athens on Sept. 12 (though it is mentioned in Monday’s newspaper account). But he did say that he has known he was going to go Nittany Lions for at least a month and told coach Joe Paterno two weeks ago.
“I’ve been keeping it a secret for about four weeks and I’ve been eager to get it out,” Fortt told the crowd. “I’m happy it’s over with and I just get to focus on my senior year, helping my [high school] team win and focusing on my grades.”
Simple math tells you Fortt had his mind made up before he visited Georgia.
Based on the hometown account, it’s a surprise Fortt ever considered anywhere else. He’s best buddies and training partners with another Stamford product, RB/DB Silas Redd, who had long been verbally committed to attend Penn State. Both players plan to graduate early and hope to room together.
But Fortt said he had more than 30 scholarship offers and visited 17 schools before making his final decision.
“It’s been a long process, a grueling process actually, but it was a good experience,” Fortt was quoted as saying. “I got to see a lot of different schools and meet a lot of different coaches and see all those towns and cities. But I’m happy with my decision.”
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25 comments Add your comment
RAM
October 5th, 2009
11:52 pm
Abandoned and left to wander the cold, hard streets of Athens alone, visions of JoePa showed him the way home…to Happy Valley.
Flo-Ri-Duh!
October 6th, 2009
12:02 am
B.S. I told you Fortt had already committed to Penn State before he visited UGA. I would abandon him to if I knew that. If he wasn’t serious he should have been honest and told Mark Richt. So who did who wrong Mr. Fortt?
Dan Marino
October 6th, 2009
7:01 am
Good effort Chip. Now can you take that idiotic piece about the kid being “abandoned” down? There is no need to leave negative propaganda up after you have proved that it was false.
dawgster
October 6th, 2009
8:43 am
Chip, you need to research your material a little more thourough before you put out that kind of article, don’t know what your intention was or is, but reporting of this was way off, were you just trying to open up a can of worms here, i’m not saying the kid should have been left anyhow, but just how honest were his comments regarding the issue and now that we know his plans all along, then lets take what he said with a grain of salt, but in all honesty from an 18yr old perspective i would probably take the visits…
Chip Towers
October 6th, 2009
10:10 am
No apologies here. Wouldn’t do anything differently. The “abandonment” angle was a story and an issue being widely reported and talked about by a national prospect that was considering Georgia. My job is to report on recruiting AND tell you what’s being reported.
RxDawg
October 6th, 2009
10:24 am
Don’t blame the messanger guys. Chip was just repeating what the kid said. It’s the kid that will learn what to say and what not to say. Besides, it wasn’t that hard to sniff out the bogus statement by him of why he didn’t choose UGA.
dawgster
October 6th, 2009
10:54 am
Thats the problem with alot of news reports today, they are put out there and doesn’t even matter how much validity they have, not getting down on Chip, but it seems to be the way of reporting nowadays, just think sometimes we don’t get all of the story before it is reported, then what you have is people spreading it like wildfire and even though the correction is made, by that time the story is out and unfortunately everyone doesn’t see the corrected story or update with additional information, just think that sometimes these things are just thrown out there to get a reaction from certain parties, i will say it looks like it worked….
AltamahaDawg
October 6th, 2009
11:32 am
Chip , no blame on reporting what been reported, but you have to admit that your commentary, “Apparently unsportsmanlike penalties aren’t the only thing Georgia’s players need to be coached-up on.” doesnt exactly fall into that category.
ATLdawg, ya dig.
October 6th, 2009
11:43 am
How can a young man be “abandoned” in Athens? He should have closed on one of the girls at the dorm party. Athens is for closers. Good riddance to Penn State.
Let's Go State!
October 6th, 2009
12:09 pm
I’m really excited to see Fortt in the blue and white!
Hopefully we will see him on the field next year and some awesome features on him on GOPSF.com!
Congratulations on your decision Khairi Fortt!
Rooferdawg
October 6th, 2009
1:10 pm
Who cares! Penn State can have him. He will under achive at PSU, just like all the other players that go there.
Such jealousy
October 6th, 2009
3:06 pm
LOL! Rooferdawg, please come out of your bubble. Penn State is Linebacker U. Always has been, always will be. He’ll excel and become part of the linebacker legacy. Maybe he’ll get a chance to show you and the Dawgs in a bowl game one day…..of course, we’d have to have a down year for that to happen. LOL!
slimpickens
October 6th, 2009
3:59 pm
Chip, Did Michael Watson help you with that story yesterday? Come on, you were taught better than that over at the real news source the Athens Banner Hearld.
2N4YEARS
October 6th, 2009
4:59 pm
He must have told the hosts………
bigdawg01
October 6th, 2009
5:39 pm
Such Jealousy,
You make me laugh…PSU would be the Miss State in SEC. HAHAHAHAHAHHA
Dewayne
October 6th, 2009
6:19 pm
Linebacker U? wtf!! What have those linebacker done after PSU? Jack and sh!t and jack left town. Jack Ham is the only to do anything!! So have fun in Linebacker U hahaha!!!!
Dewayne
October 6th, 2009
6:24 pm
I remember Penn St. now hahaha getting their a$$es handing to them in Happy Valley by Iowa!! Or by USC in the Rose Bowl. Tell grandpa Paterno it’s time to hang it up and and take his Milk of Magnesia!!! Peace out Tittie Lions!!!
ambushed
October 6th, 2009
6:44 pm
Journalism 101..never let the truth get in the way of a good story.
McDawg
October 6th, 2009
8:42 pm
Mommy!!!!!
Recruitnik
October 6th, 2009
9:52 pm
Chip I had a chance to meet you at the garrison smith announcement and frankly your piece about him being abandoned was dead wrong. The kid decided to be a penn state player before he even got to Athens. Now take crap down Chip.
DaddyDawg
October 6th, 2009
10:38 pm
Chip:
You can try to make us believe, as you commented above, that you were just doing your “job… to report on recruiting AND tell you what’s being reported,” but then you crossed the line with the last sentence of your original article when you said “[a]pparently unsportsmanlike penalties aren’t the only thing Georgia’s players need to be coached-up on.” That’s not telling us what’s being reported from a journalistic standpoint, but it’s evidence of a cheap shot that smacks of yellow “tabloid” journalism by someone who just wants to generate controversy in order to sell more papers and web hits. That’s exactly what Carter Strickland, your former protege, would do, so we can only imagine that he learned such tactics directly from you. Althought the AJC can keep you on board until it goes bankrupt, if it wants, perhaps a group of us should get together to request that you be removed from Buck Belue’s Saturday morning college football radio show. Buck would have no problem finding someone more knowledgeable about college football in general, and about Georgia football specifically, than you, without having to deal with the negativity you go out of your way to generate against UGA under the guise of so-called journalism. The vast majority of us knows better………
Dawg Pound
October 7th, 2009
7:20 am
who cares!!!?? We’re gonna be just fine!! We only want true DAWGS!!!!
Jim n Buckhead
October 7th, 2009
10:51 am
So Fortt worked over UGA for a free trip….im sure it happens all the time…see EB from UT….he was always going there but got some free trips…..good for the kids to take advantage of the situation that’s the american way…..
verge
October 7th, 2009
7:10 pm
Is it me or does anyone else notice how these bulldog fans will turn on a athlete when they decide to go else where. They are runner ups in the SEC and will be for a long time.
verge
October 7th, 2009
7:11 pm
Is it me or does anyone else notice how these bulldog fans will turn on a athlete when they decide to go else where? They are runner ups in the SEC and will be for a long time.