Calling it "the biggest," and most significant of the scholarship offers received by local football star Tavon Austin, Dunbar football coach Lawrence Smith said "Georgia" has now entered the picture, having extended its offer to Marylands most prolific and all-time leading scorer.
Coupled with one that was extended by Michigan earlier this month, the number of scholarships being considered by Austin has now reached 14.
"Hershel Walker, the South East Conference," said Smith, who received the offer from Georgia assistant Tony Ball. "You don't get much bigger than that."
Last month, Austin received scholarship offers from South Carolina and Nebraska. Prior to that, Austin had received those from West Virginia, Illinois and Syracuse -- all of them within a span of seven days in March.
The 5-foot-9, 175-pound running back-defensive back, who has led the Poets to two straight Class 1A state football titles, had first received a scholarship offer from the Unversity of Maryland as a sophomore, followed by those from Boston College, Penn State, Rutgers, Virginia and Wake Forest.
Named the DigitalSports Baltimore City Offensive Player of The Year, Austin is being recruited as an athlete, running back and slot-back, Smith said.
Austin has clocked a sub-4.4-second 40-yard dash, ran this past season for a school-record 2,553 yards, a school-record 32 touchdowns and 39 TDs overall in leading the Poets to a 14-0 record and the Class 1A state championship.
Austin is the owner of a state-record 92 career TDs, which eclisped the old mark of 87 prevously held by Old Mill's Ryan Callahan.
This year's state title, following a 14-0 record, was the Poets second straight in the Class 1A, and the Poets' fifth state crown overall.