Georgia Tech may have its punter for the next four years. The team received a commitment Sunday from punter Pressley Harvin, ranked by one kicking camp as the top-ranked junior in the country.
Harvin, from Sumter, S.C., made the announcement on his Twitter account Sunday. He is the first player to commit in Tech’s 2017 class. He would be a timely arrival, as punter Ryan Rodwell will play his senior season in 2016.
Harvin is ranked first among juniors by prokicker.com, a site for a kicking academy that holds training camps across the country. His bio on the site contains this glowing evaluation from Rick Sang, the director of the Ray Guy/prokicker.com camps: "Pressley Harvin is the best high school punter in America. He could punt for any college team in the nation and excel – right now."
Harvin visited Tech in mid-February and, according to his Twitter account, received his first scholarship offer from the school.
Harvin may be subjected to a somewhat unusual form of negative recruiting following his commitment – the Jackets don't punt much. Because of Tech's low-possession style and coach Paul Johnson's willingness to go for it on fourth downs, the Jackets infrequently send out the punt team. Last season, even when the Jackets were 108th in the country in third-down efficiency, they still tied for 112th in punts per game at 3.9. In 2014, when Tech tied an NCAA record for third-down conversion rate, its 2.3 punts per game was last nationally.
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