Georgia 2016 DE Allen Cater Breaks Down Recruiting Decision between North Carolina and Arkansas

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

When one is a highly productive high school football player listed at 6’5”, 240 pounds, college recruiters more times than not are sure to notice. Being big, quick, strong, and academically qualified and being on a winning program helps a lot as well, and all pretty much sums up Allen Cater.

Cater has been a defensive sparkplug for Mount Paran Christian School catching the recruiting eye of college coaches near and far. A school stadium and locker room construction project has made collecting end of season stats troublesome but Cater was in the ballpark of 70-80 tackles, 30-35 tackles for a loss, and three sacks during his senior year.

The Eagles have been a tough team to defeat over the last two seasons winning a Georgia state title in 2014 going 14-0 beating Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy 49-7 for the trophy. In 2015, Mt. Paran was tough again going 10-2 but Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy avenged their championship loss winning 31-7 putting an end to Mt. Paran’s great season in the playoffs.

The offers have rolled in for Cater with different recruiting sites compiling different offer totals. Some have Cater pushing 20 but per the Kennesaw area talent he is in the neighborhood of 30 offers, and the list is impressive. Among the many includes Cincinnati, Appalachian State, Memphis, Middle Tennessee State, Western Kentucky, Illinois, Wake Forest, and Indiana. The list of great schools was narrowed down to three with Arkansas, North Carolina, and South Carolina able to schedule that all too important official visit. Arkansas got their visit in on Dec. 4, North Carolina on Jan. 15, and South Carolina was scheduled for Jan. 22. Before his trip to Columbia, Cater knew that the Razorbacks and Tar Heels were his Top 2 cancelling the official with the Gamecocks.

In a Recruiting News Guru exclusive interview, I caught up with Cater the weekend of his formally planned South Carolina trip to get his thoughts on the player underneath the pads and a recruiting news update detailing his Top 2.

Interview

Allen, you’ve been a highly productive player on a winning team. What strengths do you bring to the field as a defensive end?

“My speed and awareness of the game. I get off blocks quickly and I’m a game changer. I make things happen on the field.”

You’re a hand on the ground defensive end, what areas of the game do you defend well? Are you stronger against the run or a better pass rusher? Do you ever drop back into coverage? What are some of the aspects of the game from that standpoint that you do well?

“The thing is, stopping the run is natural for me.  I’ve been doing that for a long time. With pass rushing, I’ve been training more for that lately. I trained a lot harder over the summer on my pass rushing. I never really got a chance to use it my senior year. Teams we played got off quick passes or they would go the other way. A lot of times my sacks would come from behind, just one sack that I can remember was a drop back in the pocket sack.”

You played some on offense too right?

“I played tight end some. I would come in and get a key block. One of my highlights on my reel, I came in and got a reception for a first down.”

What kind of offseason workouts are you doing now to prepare for the next level?

“Right now I am in basketball. I’ve been doing a lot of running. I can’t do too much because of basketball practice and games.”

What is your bench press and squat max?

“The workouts that we do, we work off lower weight aiming for higher reps. For example, they have us bench press 225 pounds eight times or 275 pounds three times. I’m not sure what my bench press max is but I’d say its above 315 pounds. I think my squat is over 400.”

What is the best 40-yard dash time you’ve turned in?

“A 4.9, but my start form is not great. My best time in the 100 meters is 11.53. I think that shows my speed a little bit better.”

Looking back on your senior year, overall were you pleased with how you played individually?

“Looking back, I had a lot of people tell me I had a great season. I don’t feel that I was at my fullest potential. Teams were running away from me. I had a lot of chasing plays down from the back kind of thing. From the looks of it, I did not have many offers going into my senior year, maybe five my junior year and I ended up with around 30.”

You may have answered this question a thousand times, but…  You were a one-time commitment to Indiana. What happened there?

“I committed to Indiana on Father’s Day last year and I decommitted at the end of November. When I committed to Indiana it was early in the recruiting process. I wasn’t aware of how a lot of things worked. I felt that I needed to reopen the process. I felt that it was not right for me to go on other official visits and continue looking at other schools while committed to Indiana. I wanted to evaluate all my options.”

You visited Arkansas in early December, how did that trip go for you?

“It was awesome. I had a fun time. It was a long drive to get there but worth it. The thing about it, I had been there once for a game. When I went for my official I got to see what the fans were like away from the game, the fans are off the chain at Arkansas.”

Who is your lead recruiter with Arkansas?

“Coach (Rory) Seagrest.”

Would you say you have a good relationship with Coach Seagrest?

“Yes, we have a really good relationship.”

North Carolina is your other top program that you have listed out. How did your official to UNC go?

“That was my first time going to UNC. There were a lot of things I wanted to see there, the business school and the facilities. Seeing it for myself, it is a beautiful campus. Great school, great facilities, and wonderful people there. The coaching staff has done a great job. Same with Arkansas. I feel like both schools will help me athletically and socially. That’s why they are in my top two schools.”

In an overview not picking apart one school or the other, how do you breakdown your evaluation of a school? What are the things that are most important to you when trying to decide where you want to play your college ball?

“One, I want to make sure my life after football will be taken care of. A lot of schools only care about football. They don’t talk about academics. I look at life off the field too, the social aspect. If you only care about the score then why should I go to your school?”

I know you cancelled your trip to South Carolina, but are there any other schools out there pushing hard for you trying to get you to visit or commit other than Arkansas and North Carolina?

“Kentucky, but that has not been anything serious. They want me to take an official there. Being so close to signing day, if a school really wanted me by now it would have come in. I don’t like that another school comes to me because they could not get a defensive end. No one wants to feel like a second choice.”

So no last minute visits to any other schools are planned?

“I’m done with my visits. Plus, I don’t want to miss anymore school or basketball. I want to take this time to sit back and relax and make my decision.”

Have you applied for acceptance into either North Carolina or Arkansas yet?

“Both schools have told me that I will be accepted once I fill out the paperwork.”

When will you make your college decision public?

“I go public on signing day. I wanted to have a week to mediate on things and talk with my family. I want to make sure they are happy with my decision.”

Without potentially giving away either school, are you leaning one way or the other between Arkansas and North Carolina right now?

“No sir. Everything is still even. Both schools have a leeway point, both schools have things that are better than the other. Over the next week I will ask more questions and do more research on both schools to help make my decision. Both schools are great schools and have great coaches.”

Have you thought about how you will do your commitment?

“A guy at my school, Chase Denton, made all of our highlight films for the team. He’s going to be a great filmmaker one day. I’ve been talking to him about possibly making a commitment video.”

Allen, thanks for your time today and good luck with your commitment decision.

“Thank you.”

Photo credit: Cater family; Allen at North Carolina.

Photo credit: Cater family; Allen at Arkansas.