NASHVILLE — Former Ensworth lineman Antonio Richardson has trimmed his college choices to five schools: LSU, Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia and Miami.
Four of his finalists are in the Southeastern Conference, which has produced five consecutive national champions in football.
“That was a pretty big factor,” Richardson said. “You can’t go wrong anywhere in the SEC.”
The 6-foot-6, 315-pound offensive tackle is ranked as the state’s top prospect by Rivals.com and Scout.com. He transferred to Pearl-Cohn in late October for academic reasons.
“My odds are pretty good [in the SEC] when it comes to winning a national championship, but also they [offer] a great education, too,” Richardson said. “Georgia has a great educational program and Tennessee is coming up academically, too. LSU is a good academic school. You can’t go wrong either way — academically or football-wise.”
Richardson intended to take official visits to LSU and Miami this month but went to Tennessee and Georgia instead the past two weekends. He said Thursday he hadn’t decided whether to take a visit this weekend.
Richardson plans to announce his decision on national signing day Wednesday at Pearl-Cohn.
“It’s probably one of the top-five hardest decisions I’ve ever made in my life,” Richardson said. “Everybody is going to have nice facilities, and everybody is going to have good academic support. I think it’s going to come down to the people, great coaching and relationships with the players and who’s willing to win, who’s willing to put the best players on the field.”
Richardson played for the East in a 13-10 win over the West in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 8 in San Antonio. Rivals ranks him as the nation’s No. 7 offensive tackle and the No. 74 overall prospect.
Fulse to Auburn
Highly regarded tight end prospect Brandon Fulse announced Thursday night that he plans to attend Auburn. He chose the Tigers over Tennessee, Miami and North Carolina.
Fulse is a 6-foot-4, 250-pounder who was rated the No. 5 tight end prospect in the nation by ESPN. He announced his decision on ESPNU.