Georgia defensive lineman Julian Rochester conducts interviews during National Signing Day at Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016, in Athens, Ga. (Photo by David Barnes)
I had a chance to meet with Georgia’s Julian Rochester on National Signing Day on Wednesday. The early enrollee for the recruiting class of 2016 is a defensive tackle out of McEachern High School in Powder Springs, GA. It didn’t take long for me to figure out this Bulldawg was a man with a plan.
Every year there are certain of high school student-athletes who graduate from their respective institutions of learning early as they have completed all their academic requirements and classes needed to graduate. Julian Rochester is one of these early graduating high school seniors who is already enrolled in classes at the University of Georgia for Spring Semester 2016. For the 6 foot 5 and 330-ish pound defensive lineman, in order to be an early enrollee, there was some forethought involved.
It was actually something he had to start planning for as a freshman.
“Toughest thing about enrolling early, is, setting yourself up as a freshman on. You are always going to have to take an extra class. I never had a chill semester … I always had to stay on my P’s and Q’s; so, it was always a little different for me. I knew at the end it would pay off though. My senior year, my fall semester was tough, but it wasn’t nothing I couldn’t handle … I pushed myself.”
And his plans don’t stop there. When asked what was Georgia’s number one selling point that appealed to him for choosing to come to UGA over other programs, Rochester stated:
“We’re fixing to be the next big thing; I feel like. We’re fixing to win an SEC Championship and go to a National Championship. I just feel it in my heart. I feel like the combination of the 2015 and the 2016 class, we are going to be unstoppable.
Can Julian Rochester with the 2015 and 2016 classes be unstoppable? Can they help Georgia bring an SEC Championship trophy back to Athens to grace the halls of the Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall? And for most fans, the biggest question is, can the Dawgs get over the hump and win a College Football National Championship? Time will tell, but I am confident in the big man with a plan. Mr. Julian Rochester.