Four-star Rivals250 RB Pettaway talks Atuaia, UVa, and timing

Four-star running back George Pettaway is like a lot of others recruits in the class of 2022. With the NCAA having continually extended the dead period, the process of finding a college home has slowed to a snail’s pace.

But for the first time in a long time, recruits are starting to get a sense that there might be light at the end of the tunnel.

And for the 5-foot-11, 175-pound Rivals250 standout, that is music to his ears.

“I want to say it’s all over the place,” he told CavsCorner last weekend in Virginia Beach, “but it’s really not. It’s just tough not being able to go out and visit those schools that I’m really interested in and they’re really interested in me. I’m not committed to anywhere but I definitely have people that are high on my list. Not being able to visit, though, that means I can’t make that choice yet until May or after May, until we can visit.”

To this point Pettaway, No. 112 nationally in his class and the fourth-best player in the Commonwealth, has picked up a bevy of offers. Given the size of his offer list, it makes sense that without visits he hasn’t been able to make much damage.

But he does, Pettaway explained, have a sense for things as the time to take those trips draws closer.

Does he have a sense for it even without visits?

“Oh for sure,” Pettaway said. “For sure. It’s been good to get that feel. It’s definitely a relief to get that feel, especially with all of the offers. Being able to pick out the ones you might really be able to go to and be able to perform the way you want to perform, that’s real nice. To be able to build the relationships with the people you want to build those relationships with, I feel like that’s most important. I definitely still have a lot of them on my list still, though.”

Whereas some skill players are being targeted for a wide variety of positions, Pettaway—ranked by Rivals at the fifth-best running back in the nation—has consistently heard the same thing.

“It’s running back everywhere,” he said. “A lot of schools talk to me about using me the way Alvin Kamara is used, so the versatility of being able to be motioned out of the backfield and what not. But it’s not really moving me to slot, just doing different things out of the backfield.”

So which schools does he he hear from the most?

“Most consistently?” he said. “I hear from UNC, Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Penn State, Texas A&M, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and I know there are a few others that I’m missing. It’s so tough to list them all out honestly. But I’ve got a lot of great relationships out there.”

That aforementioned group of schools that’s standing out to him? Don’t look for him to name those names just yet.

“It’s just something I’m keeping to myself right now,” Pettaway said. “But that’s the thing. It changes. It’s like, UNC was high on my list for a while and then the running back coach went to Alabama so stuff changes every day. I’ve just got to get used to it and keep my head on a swivel.”

The Cavaliers, led by RBs coach Mark Atuaia, have carved out a niche from the very beginning.

“Coach Atuaia, that’s my guy,” Pettaway said with a smile. “That was my first offer, so that really meant a lot to me. I was up there and went into his office and he sat me down and told me straight up. ‘We’re going to take a shot on you.’ He believed in me before anybody else. I went to two camps up there. One the year I got it and one the year before and he saw the improvement in me. He just believed in me, know what I’m saying?

“But when he sat me down,” the 757 standout recalled, “he said, ‘Look this offer is here now but it might not be there later.’ And I really took that into consideration, just telling myself every day that I’ve got to keep getting better because nothing is promised. It doesn’t mean it stays. You’ve got to keep getting better and keep bringing it.”

Given the need at that position, it’s no wonder that Virginia sought out to find a guy like the Nansemond-Suffolk Academy back. But it’s the relationship the two have developed that also stands out.

“He’s a funny dude,” Pettaway said of Atuaia. “He keeps it real. He’s a funny dude and he shows a lot of love.”

So what has Atuaia said about Virginia’s interest in him?

“They need a playmaker,” he said matter of factly. “I feel like they haven’t had a playmaker back there in a while. I haven’t watched them a lot but based off of what he’s told me, that’s what they need. A playmaker. I feel like he needs a difference maker behind those big offensive linemen to make plays out in space and change the game.”

Though Pettaway might be keeping that group of favorites to himself, he’s not playing it close to the vest when it comes to his timeframe. Instead, He just genuinely doesn’t know.

“It really depends on how these visits go,” he said. “It’s going to be different with Covid and I can’t really tell you when I’m going to commit, when I’m going to make a decision, until those visits happen.”

And to that end, Pettaway couldn’t help but smile when talking about the way some recruits are able to make decisions so early.

“I really don’t know how people are making decisions without visits,” he said with a laugh. “Decisions without really knowing what is actually on campus and at the school? Stuff like that? I guess I’m just different.”

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