Well, not to the degree most would assume. As a kid, I naively thought that it was anti-American and anti-Southern and an about-face to state pride if you were a football player and UGA wasn't your first choice from childhood. And that the recruitment/commitment of these kids wouldn't even require an official. But I had also had a Pollyanna sense of everything when it came to geographical loyalty as a child and young adult (and I'll still always be a Georgian first).
As I've gotten older, I honestly believe (while other factors are obviously at play as well) that the local cultural zeitgeist being UGAcentric your entire life, may rub some shine off of wanting to be around Athens/the campus for many.
Chuck Smith was from Athens, but went to Tennessee. Oconnee County isn't necessarily the stronghold one would think it would be, on the surface. Yeah, we got Brock, but Max Johnson never even seemed to be remotely close as he could have been considering the ties to Richt (I'm not going to pretend to understand the politics of that fwiw). Vandagriff from P.A.C. ended up here, but that didn't keep him from committing to Oklahoma first. I could go on and on. And then you have guys from within 30 to 50 miles (Jefferson, Gwinnett etc.).
I think the sweeter spot is a little further out in the state where the novelty of being in Athens and in the epicenter is stronger and more alluring. That's just always been my take. When I was a kid, I thought of UGA as being a Xanadu nestled around an Arcadian paradise. I couldn't imagine anyone not wanting to be there.
At any rate, I know two types of people who live in Athens. A. The people whose life blood is UGA and UGA football. B. People who live there and are actually nauseated by how much UGA football saturates their every day lives.
All this to say, if it's a massive advantage, it's really far off from the slam dunk many would assume it would be, at least to me. And perhaps being such a state loyalist, my perspective could've been off from the beginning.
As I've gotten older, I honestly believe (while other factors are obviously at play as well) that the local cultural zeitgeist being UGAcentric your entire life, may rub some shine off of wanting to be around Athens/the campus for many.
Chuck Smith was from Athens, but went to Tennessee. Oconnee County isn't necessarily the stronghold one would think it would be, on the surface. Yeah, we got Brock, but Max Johnson never even seemed to be remotely close as he could have been considering the ties to Richt (I'm not going to pretend to understand the politics of that fwiw). Vandagriff from P.A.C. ended up here, but that didn't keep him from committing to Oklahoma first. I could go on and on. And then you have guys from within 30 to 50 miles (Jefferson, Gwinnett etc.).
I think the sweeter spot is a little further out in the state where the novelty of being in Athens and in the epicenter is stronger and more alluring. That's just always been my take. When I was a kid, I thought of UGA as being a Xanadu nestled around an Arcadian paradise. I couldn't imagine anyone not wanting to be there.
At any rate, I know two types of people who live in Athens. A. The people whose life blood is UGA and UGA football. B. People who live there and are actually nauseated by how much UGA football saturates their every day lives.
All this to say, if it's a massive advantage, it's really far off from the slam dunk many would assume it would be, at least to me. And perhaps being such a state loyalist, my perspective could've been off from the beginning.
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