Chick-fil-A recruit? Linebacker signs Auburn over Clemson for fast food
Georgia Tech and UGA may have to use the home-state connections to get a big and bright red Chick-fila-A built on the center of campus.
It may be a pretty big deal in college football recruiting.
A linebacker from Birmingham, Ala., who is now dubbed “The Chick-fil-A recruit” selected Auburn over Clemson to both attend college and play football — partly because of the fast-food restaurant that has its headquarters in Atlanta.
Cassanova McKinzy of Birmingham, Ala., signed with Auburn on Wednesday and gave some of the reasons for his choice to a local TV station:
“(It was) kind of the environment and plus they had no Chick-fil-A on campus. You had to go like, probably like 15 minutes off campus to go to like a real restaurant. Their café was kind of small.”
Here’s the link the video.
Who knew that food was so important in recruiting? Then again, one of UGA’s top recruits, 4-star tailback Todd Gurley out of Tarboro, N.C., couldn’t stop talking about the food at Georgia before committing last month. Here’s what Gurley had to say to ESPNHS:
My next top school is UGA, which is a school I visited three times and I see why people say it’s a great school. First of all, the food is the best and that’s my favorite thing about the school …
We know Georgia Tech and UGA have Chick-fil-A in the student cafeteria but we’re talking about erecting the super-sized franchises on campus. Now Georgia Tech and UGA both have The Varsity Restaurants near campus. It’s not Chick-fil-A but it’s good. There’s also Waffle Houses within walking distance.
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- Meet the Bulldogs (UGA’s 2012 class)
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- “Chick-Fil-A recruit”: LB picks Auburn over Clemson for fast food
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INSTANT AJC RECRUITING CLASSICS
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124 comments Add your comment
HighTech
February 2nd, 2012
2:34 pm
Both Tech and UGA have Chick-fil-A’s on campus.
UGA used to have a Guthrie’s. It was good. Don’t know if it is there anymore. They probably have a Zaxby’s since Ray Goff is part owner.
Bro Jackson
February 2nd, 2012
2:39 pm
Is this really that big of a story that the AJC, Yahoo and SI all have to report it? The kid committed to Auburn in March and was never going anywhere else. He stated multiple times throughout the recruiting process about how solid he was to Auburn.
Nick Saban processed two kids (Philon and Justin Taylor) before they even had a chance to sign their papers. That’s a story worth reporting (although the Taylor story was covered extensively by the AJC).
George Stein
February 2nd, 2012
2:46 pm
I think the fact that the kid’s name is Cassanova (misspelled, of course) is getting overlooked.
Destin Dawg
February 2nd, 2012
2:48 pm
Yes !!! we now have a nutrionist and a healty mid day buffet meal at Buttes Mehr.. good home cooking !!!
Dawgmess
February 2nd, 2012
2:49 pm
What a thing on which to base such an important decision. Just shows how a 17 year old thinks. And otherwise intelligent, grown men fawn over ‘em like silly grammar school girls.
DesignerJacket
February 2nd, 2012
2:50 pm
Yeah, Tech and Georgia both have CFA’s and pretty much every other fried chicken option in the world. What I find funny in all this is that Clemson and Auburn are SO stinkin’ identical that a CFA made the decision for the kid!
Gtjb
February 2nd, 2012
2:50 pm
GT has had chik fil a on campus for ~6 yrs
He's from Alabama, what do you expect?
February 2nd, 2012
2:52 pm
????? 15 minutes to go to a real restaurant? Chik-Fil-A is a Real restaurant?
This is fine cuisine in state of bamalama and clemson, sc
Also, stupid name…big chicken eater aint no cassanova.
HighTech
February 2nd, 2012
2:52 pm
Clemson has a lake. Before Chick-fil-A, the best fried chicken at Tech might have been at the Baptist Student Union. Man, those ladies could cook. Otherwise, there was a KFC on Howell Mill Rd.
Bubba
February 2nd, 2012
2:59 pm
Got your fried chicken, got your baked chicken, got your broiled chicken, got your boiled chicken, got your chicken gumbo, got your rubber chicken……..
Hilarious!!
February 2nd, 2012
3:01 pm
Bamalama’s just keep feeding those stereotypes!!!!
George Stein
February 2nd, 2012
3:02 pm
http://i1141.photobucket.com/albums/n588/Jkm4au/Ammo/Chiz-Fil-A.gif
NeoDawg
February 2nd, 2012
3:02 pm
What he was really saying is Auburn now hands out cash to recruits in Chick-Fil-A bags.
I want my fried chicken dang it
February 2nd, 2012
3:03 pm
Lewis Grizzard always said Clemson is just another Auburn by a lake.
Bama Bill
February 2nd, 2012
3:04 pm
Just goes to show that young Tiger knows fine eateries ! Cassanova, can also play ball ! Just stay tuned in and have Truett and Dan bring out the waffle fries and trumpet !
Ed_dawg55
February 2nd, 2012
3:05 pm
Guthrie’s was a truly awesom place to eat, right off of campus on Baxter Street. But it went out of business after Zaxby’s became the new rage. The old Guthrie’s location is now home to Raising Canes.
Brian
February 2nd, 2012
3:05 pm
To be clear: Clemson does have a chick-fil-a on campus in the canteen. It also has a full sized one in town. One on campus the other is like 0.4 miles from campus. Also there are very, very nice restaurants in town like Calhoun Corners. I can’t get out of there for less than $75 a person.
GoldenDawg
February 2nd, 2012
3:06 pm
I could go for a Gumby Dammit right now. It sucks they closed down.
he's a guy
February 2nd, 2012
3:07 pm
Guys love football and food….are you surprised?
I want my fried chicken dang it
February 2nd, 2012
3:08 pm
He also heard Auburn had some good drugs at some corner store.
Apparently that corner had some trees that got some Tumors. I think they call it Toomers Corner now.
Hay in the Barn
February 2nd, 2012
3:08 pm
I’ll take Zaxby’s over Chick-fil-A, Guthrie’s or Raising Cane’s.
Dawg D
February 2nd, 2012
3:11 pm
he picks auburn because they have a chick filet on campus???? A real “intellectual” added to the auburn student body! what a total moron!!!
Techster
February 2nd, 2012
3:11 pm
If food is Todd Gurley’s favorite thing about school, he damn well better make it big in the NFL, because he certainly won’t pick up much in the classroom to help him make a living. He won’t be able to hear the instructor over his stomach rumblings.
Dean Wormer
February 2nd, 2012
3:12 pm
Fat, dumb, and drunk is now way to go through life
Dean Wormer
February 2nd, 2012
3:14 pm
Zero, point, zero……congratulations!
HighTech
February 2nd, 2012
3:15 pm
The best chicken wings were at PJ’s Nest on Marietta St. Cold beer and pool tables, too.
Toom
February 2nd, 2012
3:17 pm
I gotta say, George Stein is right. What about the fact that the guy’s name is Cassanova???
SimpleDawg
February 2nd, 2012
3:21 pm
Lewis Grizzard always said that Auburn was Clemson, without a lake. Well, I guess a CFA is better than a lake.
Silver Creek Dawg
February 2nd, 2012
3:22 pm
Guthrie’s in Athens actually burned down in the late 90s/early 2000s and was never rebuilt as Guthrie’s. It’s now Raising Cane’s (not near as good either).
larry
February 2nd, 2012
3:30 pm
George Stein and Toom: I don’t think it’s possible for someone to misspell their name. Why do think he did in this case?
cfa everyday !
February 2nd, 2012
3:30 pm
I think – I”d say I think the boy made a good decision – another 3 digit s.a.t player has been discovered
THE Dixie Redcoat Band
February 2nd, 2012
3:33 pm
$75.00 for a dinner at Clemson, wow.
George Stein
February 2nd, 2012
3:33 pm
Larry isn’t spelled Larri or Larree or Larrie, is it? It’s misspelled because there are two S’s.
Csonka
February 2nd, 2012
3:34 pm
UGA would have the #1 recruiting class every year if The Shrimp Boat on Baxter was still around.
jeffrey d
February 2nd, 2012
3:34 pm
UGA used to have a Guthrie’s. It was good. Don’t know if it is there anymore
The one on Baxter closed around 2003 and now it’s a Raising Cane’s…it’s not bad.
GT Anchorage
February 2nd, 2012
3:34 pm
I would kill for a CFA in AK
GT Anchorage
February 2nd, 2012
3:40 pm
I would also kill for a Choo Choo’s… Best teriyaki chicken and fried rice I have ever had. Every time we visit my wife’s parents (Elberton) we stop by there on the way through
USMC DAWG
February 2nd, 2012
3:40 pm
Choosing between Clemson and Auburn? Lewis Grizzard said it best, they are basically the same except Clemson has a lake.
jim
February 2nd, 2012
3:43 pm
the real truth….more cows at Auburn…guys into cow tipping !
the truth
February 2nd, 2012
3:43 pm
I LIKE how Cassanova used the word “like” 3 times in one sentence. You can’t fake stupid. How these morons pass a class is beyond me.
EatMorChikin
February 2nd, 2012
3:44 pm
It’s Chick-fil-A not Chick-Fil-A
Observer
February 2nd, 2012
3:45 pm
Auburn is full of GA students who can’t get into Clemson or UGA or GaTech. Football recruiting and prevailing fast food habits in Birmingham will never change that. Enjoy your McNuggets.
Meh
February 2nd, 2012
3:48 pm
Well he is certainly not going to college for an education… maybe he can get a job there when he retires from college ball.
Ga Dawg
February 2nd, 2012
3:48 pm
No more Guthrie’s. There is one in Chamblee, but its not the same as Athens. Takes me back to the days of no money (Pizza Pronto, Gumby’s, and biscuits from Shrimp Boats….)
Reggie Ball
February 2nd, 2012
3:58 pm
I sure do feel like throwing a pick six
Leon
February 2nd, 2012
4:00 pm
Auburn has a Krystal, too. Gut bombs for all.
iliketacos
February 2nd, 2012
4:02 pm
So Clemson fans are just as petty and jealous as uga fans now on the state of their loss of key recruits?
wolfman
February 2nd, 2012
4:05 pm
@HighTech: Yep …. The BSU was the best!
ig
February 2nd, 2012
4:12 pm
Yes, this is definitely something you’d hear in the south. Also, what’s with all of the “likes.” This man needs to spend more time in an English class and less time on the field.
Lewis Grizzard
February 2nd, 2012
4:15 pm
I’m dead. Leave me outta this.