Richard LeCounte III, a consensus 5-star prospect, is the first commitment of the Kirby Smart era at UGA.

LeCounte projects as an elite safety at the next level, but he has the skill set to also make big plays at receiver and in the return game. He’s rated as the nation’s No. 1 athlete for the Class of 2017. He’s also listed as the nation’s No. 22 player for that year’s signing class.

The inspirational player has a remarkable personal story that motivates him to excel in football.

Erika LeCounte, his mother, said Smart was a big reason for the commitment.

“I am so excited,” she said. “This is one of my prayers today. We’ve been in church all day and I’ve been praying he makes a decision to stay close to home and at Georgia. I love the camaraderie of the people and the coaches and the players and the oneness and how they care about one another. It was also now huge that Kirby Smart is there. Kirby Smart was a big reason why he wanted to go ahead and go to Georgia. I heard Richard say that.”

The Liberty County High School junior got his first SEC offer after his first high school game as a freshman. That came after he picked off two passes in front of Florida’s former defensive coordinator. LeCounte has been named to the All-State team every year since he started as a freshman.

LeCounte becomes the fourth commitment of the Class of 2017 at UGA. He joins athlete Deejay Dallas, quarterback Bailey Hockman and receiver Devonta Smith among his signing class.

He wanted to commit early so he could help recruit and build the best possible class around him.

Note the very clever Twitter skills involved with how Kirby Smart subtly echoed the commitment on his personal Twitter account.

Jeff Sentell covers UGA football and UGA recruiting for AJC.com and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on who’s on their way to play Between the Hedges.

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