Spring practice began in New Orleans Monday and the most sought after football prospect talked to the media for the first time since his basketball season ended.
Arch Manning, who is the No. 1 recruit in the 2023 recruiting class, started his final spring football season at Isidore Newman. The talented quarterback talked with On3 national recruiting analyst Sam Spiegelman and opened up about his recruitment of him, which heavily includes Georgia.
“Athens is probably the best college town I’ve ever been to,” Manning said. “I love coach Kirby (Smart) and he’s a real normal guy, a great coach. Georgia, the takeaway from practice there, is that they have athletes all over the field, especially on the defensive line. They have some studs and it shows : they had 15 players drafted.”
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Manning has visited Athens on multiple occasions, most recently in mid-March and also attended Georgia’s victory against South Carolina in the fall. This spring he also visited Alabama and Texas. While those three are the expected favorites to land Manning, he’s also hoping to get to Florida and LSU for visits this summer.
As has been the case throughout his recruitment, Manning is taking his time with his decision. He’s focused on spring practice and hasn’t scheduled any official visits yet, his coach Nelson Stewart told the Athens Banner-Herald Monday.
“If I was ready I’d commit right now I would, so I’m just waiting,” Manning said. “I want to get through this spring with this new offense and new coaches (at Newman), so after spring I’m gonna see about the official visits.”
McClain Baxley is a recruiting reporter for the Athens Banner-Herald and the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Twitter at @mcclainbaxley.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Arch Manning, No. 1 2023 football recruit: Athens ‘best college town’