4-Star William Poole III Breaks Down Favorites, Decision Timeline

BUFORD, Ga. — Two schools have separated themselves from the pack in the recruitment of 4-star corner William Poole III.

If national signing day were tomorrow, Poole would be choosing between longtime SEC Eastern Division rivals Florida and Georgia.

“Those are actually my top two schools,” Poole told Bleacher Report. “Georgia is the home school. I love what Kirby Smart is doing with the program and the energy he’s brought to Athens. The same thing with Jim McElwain. He came in and made an immediate impact and they just a got a new DB coach in Torrian Gray. He was recruiting me at Virginia Tech and now he’s at Florida, and that’s a lot better because the school is a lot closer to me now. Those are my top two right now.”

However, one school is trying to wiggle its way into the mix with the nation’s No. 12 corner and No. 101 overall prospect in the 2017 cycle.

“With Auburn, I’m just trying to give them a chance right now. Coach [Wesley] McGriff, the DB coach there, he’s trying to recruit me really hard so I’ll give him the chance to,” Poole said.

All three programs have hosted Poole within the last few weeks. Georgia hosted him in February while Auburn and Florida got him on campus earlier this month.

He plans to visit both the Bulldogs and the Gators for their respective spring games.

Poole noted that he was initially planning to make a commitment sometime in the spring, but he’s since backed off that timeline. He explained the reasoning for deciding to wait a little longer:

“I’m just going with the flow and I’ll decide when the time is right. I just wanted to slow things down a bit just to make sure I don’t rush into a commitment and then have to decommit. I want to take my time with it,” he said.

Still, don’t expect either of his leaders to slow down their pursuit of Poole. Both Smart and McElwain are getting help from their current commits in their quest to land one of the elite corners in the 2017 cycle.

“[4-star safety] Richard LeCounte and [4-star linebacker] Jaden Hunter are trying to recruit me to Georgia. [4-star quarterback] Jake Allen is coming after me for Florida,” Poole noted. 

While he takes time to arrive at a conclusion with his recruitment, Poole intends to train hard to add extra muscle in the weight room and work on his craft as he enters his senior year at Hapeville Charter High School in Atlanta.

Poole admits that choosing one of his two finalists will be tough for a number of reasons.

“Both schools have great academics and a great coaching staff, and I have a great relationship with both schools and I feel comfortable with either school,” Poole said. “It’s just whatever feels right in the next few months or so. There are a lot of schools coming after me, but Georgia and Florida are the two schools I feel are best for me.”

Sanjay Kirpalani is a National Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained firsthand and all recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.

Follow @SanjayKirpalani