HOOVER, Ala. -- Those who follow Georgia football are anxiously awaiting the day they get Zamir White in action and who could blame them. The 6-foot 215-pound running back signed with the Bulldogs in the 2018 class as the nation's No. 9 overall prospect and No. 1 running back according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite.

It's safe to say that once the ink dried, the expectations were incredibly high but those who keep up with recruiting closely knew that it might time some time. That was because White had suffered a torn ACL in November of his senior high school season. It was always going to be preseason camp before he got back on the field in a full-contact situation.

But that didn't go as swimmingly as White or anyone wishing him well would have hoped. He suffered the same injury in the opposite knee midway through spring drills and, just like that, his freshman season was over. He had surgery a couple of weeks later, redshirted, and rehabbed his injury while his teammates went 11-3 on the gridiron and appeared in the SEC Championship game and Allstate Sugar Bowl.

When Smart met with reporters after the practice where White suffered the second injury while covering a punt, he was clearly upset. The kid he had recruited to hard out of Laurinberg, N.C., one who had the potential to help the team right away, would once again have to clear a major hurdle to reach the field.

Now, almost a full year later, Smart, who gets to see White in workout action regularly, has a much better feeling.

"I'm excited every time I get to see him at workouts," Smart said at SEC Media Days. W'e are doing workouts with our players right now. Agilities, four stations, five stations. Seeing him get out there and doing whether it's cone to cone, cutting on something, it excites me seeing him do that because I know what he's been through. Seeing him do it, and a lot of good players have been through that. Whether its Robert Edwards, Nick Chubb, Todd Gurley, they've all reached out and talked to him about that. He's on the upward stride of that hump."

The fourth-year head coach as said that White will be fully cleared before preseason camp, which is set to begin somewhere around August 1. He has also said that White won't be rushed and that the staff will be cautious with him now that he has suffered the same injury in both knees in a short amount of time.

He has also shied away from discussing what kind of impact White might have. If he's able to return to his old form, that impact could be massive. White checks off all the boxes at running back and is coming off a high school career where he rushed for 1,200 yards or more four times. He piled up 7,169 rushing yards and 119 rushing touchdowns on 738 carries during that four-year period. He averaged 9.7 yards per carry over the course of his career and was breaking of 14.1 yards a clip during his senior season before the injury ended the season.

But as excited as Smart and UGA fans are at this point, he's still pumping the breaks on the expectations. For now, noting that White is on schedule and taking care of business is enough.

"He's on schedule," Smart said. "We are excited about where he is. He's done everything we've asked him to do. I am thrilled at how hard he works and the things he's been able to do, so our expectation is that he comes out and competes every day and earns some playing time."