Five-star edge Marcus Fakatou breaks down official visits with Ohio State and Georgia

Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon edge Marcus Fakatou took official visits to Ohio State and Georgia over the last week and raved about his time on both campuses. 

Fakatou is a five-star prospect in the Rivals Industry Ranking, an equally weighted average that utilizes all three major recruiting services and the No. 27 prospect nationally.

He has an ambitious official visit schedule set for the few weeks. He was at Ohio State over the weekend, then spent Monday and Tuesday at Georgia. 

Fakatou broke down what stood out about each school:

OHIO STATE

“I think what stood out most was being around the players and coaches. I’ve been to Ohio State before but on the official visit, I was able to really bond with the guys on the team and spent a lot of time with the staff, especially coach Day. 

“Coach Day never left my side, he was with me the whole visit. Larry Johnson (DL coach) was with me a lot too and I really like him and his coaching style. He’s unique, he’s not a big yeller or screamer, he’s a very devout guy, reads bible verses with the players and is more of the cerebral kind of coach. When he gets mad, and I’ve seen that side, he instructs you without cussing or swearing but will correct you and explain what you did wrong. You actually feel disappointed that you let him down.

“My player hosts were Riley Pettijohn and Zion Grady and they were great with me. I thought Eli (Sitanilei) might be host me because I know him well but he had his graduation back home in Cali so I didn’t see him much. I’ve talked to him a lot and I know he likes it there and said the coaches are real and genuine. Scheme wise, they see me as an edge rusher, strictly an outside guy right now. I’ll be competing with Khary Wilder, playing his same position. Khary was cool, I spent a lot of time with all of the defensive lineman and we all got along really well.”

GEORGIA

“Georgia was great too. I’ve only been there one other time so it was cool to get back on campus and get a better feel for the coaches and players. I was the only official visitor since it was a mid-week visit so it was to have a lot of personal attention from the staff. Just like with coach Day, Kirby Smart was right there with me, glued to my side and we spent a lot of time with each other. 

“They even had a camp going on one day and he still kept coming over to me and checking in. Coach (Tray) Scott is a great man and a great coach as well. I think he and Larry Johnson are both two of the best coaches if not the best DL coaches in the country and that’s a huge part of my decision. I want to be developed and when you look at what coach Scott has done, it speak for itself. He has put a ton of players in to the League (NFL) and that’s obviously my goal right now too.

“My player hosts were JJ Hanne and Michael Uini and everyone I met was super cool. I felt like I could be myself out there and didn’t have to change anything about me to fit in. Kemon (Spell) was out there for a day too so I was able to chop it up with him a little. The city of Athens was nice as well, a combination of city life and college town vibes. Both visits were great and I definitely think my decision could come down to these two in the end.”

This weekend, Fakatou will be back on the road to check out Texas followed by trips to Oregon and Notre Dame.

“I know there has been a lot of talk about NIL but that’s not even a top three thing for me,” Fakatou said. “I think the real money is in the NFL so like I said, development and comfort level will be the two biggest things for me. 

“All of these schools are all pretty close when it comes to NIL so that’s not going to be the deciding factor. Right now, the plan is to finish off my trips and then get with my family and evaluate everyone. I could decide before taking all the visits but as of right now, the plan is to visit everyone and then we’ll go from there.”