St. Joe Prep Tailback D'Andre Swift Chooses Georgia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The lean was always toward the south, where the nation's prime college football is played. Back where he was first introduced to football. And that's exactly where D'Andre Swift announced he's going on Thursday when he said that he will attend SEC powerhouse Georgia on a football scholarship in the fall of 2017.
Swift, the Hawks' 5-foot-10, 220-pound senior, selected the Bulldogs over Alabama, Clemson, Florida State and Penn State.
Last year, he ran for 1,035 yards last year on 165 carries, averaging 6.2 yards a carry. He can bench press over 340 pounds and his best 40-yard dash time has been clocked at 4.43 seconds. He scored 12 touchdowns against defenses designed solely to stop him in 2015 for the Hawks, who went 7-3 overall and were knocked out of bid for as threepeat PIAA Class 4A champions by Catholic League rival La Salle.
Swift, a four-year starter, helped the Hawks win state titles his freshman and sophomore years. Last July, he was named running back MVP of the Nike Opening in mid-July, in Beaverton, Oregon as one of five juniors across the country invited.
In Prep's 49-41 state championship victory over previously undefeated Pine-Richland in 2014, Swift, as a sophomore, rushed for a game-high 226 yards on 23 carries, averaging 9.8 yards a carry in the state championship. He finished with four touchdowns — two in the fourth-quarter, including the game-winning score.
He's a high school version of Barry Sanders. He's compact, powerful, and has blazing, cartoon speed.
He's viewed by national recruiting experts as the nation's No. 1 all-purpose back and among the best overall high school players in the country.
This past year he was the most recruited high school player from the Philadelphia area since George Washington's Sharrif Floyd (now with the Minnesota Vikings), and was the most sought-after running back from the area since Cardinal O'Hara's Kevin Jones. Both Floyd and Jones went on to become first-round draft choices in the NFL. Swift could be next, according to his coach, Gabe Infante.
"I have no problem saying it, and I'll say again, by the time he's done, he could be one of the greatest players that's ever come out of Pennsylvania, someone who probably will be a first-round draft choice. He's that good," Infante said. "D'Andre is the best tailback I've seen in 20 years of coaching, and he is definitely the best back I've ever coached."
Swift first began playing football when he was seven, when the family was living in Georgia. At the time, Swift was a stout kid who looked more destined to be a lineman than a tailback. Now he's heading back to where he began, committed to play for Bulldogs' head coach Kirby Smart.
