Jackets land in-state OL MacKenny
The offensive line is a key position in the 2023 class for Georgia Tech and Lassiter offensive lineman Ethan Mackenny was a priority target for offensive line coach Brent Key. Mackenny gave Key some good news on Sunday before leaving his official visit committing to the Jackets over Vanderbilt.
"It was a really hard decision, I am not going to lie, it was really between Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt and Vanderbilt has done an amazing job showing me what they are about and I really loved Vanderbilt, but I really love Georgia Tech, so it was down those two for my decision and Georgia Tech is a little closer to home and closer to my heart because my mom went there and I think they are building something great there and I want to be a part of it."
With his mother having a degree from Georgia Tech, Mackenny said it was an emotional moment when he told her he was ready to commit to Tech.
"She was in tears," he said of his mother's reaction to his decision. "She was like wow this is happening? She wants the best for me and I feel like this is the best decision for me and she agrees."
Mackenny said coach Key's reaction when he committed was impressive.
"When I told coach Key I was committing he actually screamed," Mackenny said with a chuckle. "It feels great to be committed and relaxing. It is nice to know that I am a part of this now and the future is going to be bright and I am happy to be a part of it."
The decision to become a Yellow Jacket was something brewing for Mackenny ahead of the visit.
"It was last week I really started thinking about committing to Georgia Tech, but I wasn't 110-percent sure yet," he said. "I thought I should take these other official visits already set up and I guess I'll see how the official visit goes at Tech. Through the whole official visit, I felt like this was the best decision for me so I committed and I am shutting it down and 100-percent committed."
The weekend of course started with the typical official visit experience at Georgia Tech.
"The visit was amazing," Mackenny said. "We came in on Friday and got all sorts of food and hung out with some of the players. On Friday we did the throwback photoshoot with all the nice cars. They had a Bentley, a Rolls Royce and a G-Wagon and we took pictures and that was really sweet. Saturday we had breakfast and took more pictures in the uniforms we ate lunch at this cool place with 4K videos of African animals and then we had a really nice steak dinner and I hung out with the players and then I committed on Sunday."
Mackenny is projected as an offensive tackle for the Yellow Jackets.
