Naim Mustafa Popular in State of Georgia

By Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

File:  Naim Mustafa, Alpharetta GA Defensive End.

Only a few days after saying he “really wasn’t a Georgia fan,” one of the state of Georgia’s top college football prospects at linebacker now has the University of Georgia as one of his finalists, along with Georgia Tech University. Naim Mustafaa, a 6-foot-4, 235-pounder from Alpharetta High School, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that the two archrivals are his finalists, and that he will make his college decision later this spring,or by early summer, at the latest. Then he corrected himself with the “finalists” terminology. “Georgia Tech and Georgia are at the top of my list. Behind them are Tennessee and Auburn. I’m still going to look at them some. But at the top of my list are Georgia Tech and UGA.”

What changed with UGA? The Bulldogs reached out to Mustafaa via Facebook last weekend. Apparently, UGA hadn’t been keeping in touch on a regular basis with Mustafaa, which made him think that the Bulldogs were no longer interested. Mustafaa is one of the state’s most heavily recruited prospects with 25 early scholarship offers.

UGA got back into the sweepstakes after recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner had a long conversation over the weekend with the 4-star prospect’s father, Najee Mustafaa, who starred at Georgia Tech under the name of Reggie Rutland and played seven seasons in the National Football League.

The two sides kissed and made up, with UGA saying he was the team’s No. 1 recruiting target at outside linebacker, among other things. Mustafaa liked what he heard so much that he and his family will be taking an unofficial visit with Bulldogs either this Saturday or next. “There was a lot of stuff we had to discuss,” Mustafaa said. “There was a reason they fell off my board. But it was actually just a little miscommunication. It was nothing too serious. We had a good talk, and I’m going to get back down there, talk with their coaches again, and tour the campus.”

What about Georgia Tech? Mustafaa is high on the Yellow Jackets after making an unofficial visit for last Friday’s spring game. “It was a good experience under the lights last Friday night,” he said. “They had good fan support … Georgia Tech is a great school, and going there would guarantee me a good future. You can go there and play good football and get a good education.”

The Georgia Tech legacy said his father isn’t pressuring him in any direction. “He’s not pushing Tech, he’s not pushing anybody. That’s why we’re going back to UGA. He wants me to weigh out all of my options. In the end, he wants this to be my decision.” The college football recruiting website Rivals.com gives Mustafaa a three star rating, and also rates him as the 30th best defensive end in the 2013 national football recruiting class.

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