Coveted Linebacker Recruit EJ Lightsey Announces Commitment in SI All-American Exclusive

South Georgia standout makes verbal commitment just ahead of senior season debut

The time has come for EJ Lightsey. 

The Fitzgerald (Ga.) High School linebacker, about to begin his senior football season, has elected to go public with his college commitment in an exclusive with SI All-American on Monday. 

Having collected more than 20 scholarship offers throughout the recruiting process, the 6'2", 210-pound prospect narrowed the list to a half-dozen options. In alphabetical order, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech and LSU made his final cut in early July. 

Lightsey took several recruiting visits in the build-up to making a decision, including an official visit to Georgia Tech in mid-June, following trips to Florida, Auburn and Florida State. The south Georgia native would return to Gainesville for Florida's Friday Night Lights event in late July. 

"When I'm looking at schools, I look for genuine people. I look for great culture, a great atmosphere," Lightsey told SI All-American. "Where do I want to be for the next four years of my life? Who do I want to be around, stuff like that. Who's going to get me to the place I want to be in life? Who's going to push me, help me get to the big stage where I want to be, to the NFL?"

EJ Lightsey / SI All-American

Earlier in August, Lightsey admitted to wanting to come to a decision before his senior campaign officially kicked off in order to devote his focus to the program's push to get back to the state championship game with the weight of the recruiting process behind him. 

"It feels good to have this process done," he said Monday. "It has gotten stressful at times because, I mean, it's a choice that can determine my whole future. But I think I've made a great choice...

"Now that I've got all this stuff out of the way, I can ball with no distractions."

In 2020, Lightsey led Fitzgerald to an undefeated regular season, splitting time at edge and inside linebacker as the Purple Hurricane made a strong playoff run in Georgia's 2A classification, reaching the state final before falling to Hogansville (Ga.) Callaway in December. The defense held opponents to just 12.3 points per game during the campaign, including six games in which the opponent was held under 10 points. 

Fitzgerald High School will open the 2020 football season at home against Cairo (Ga.) High School on Friday evening. Expect Lightsey to see time on both sides of the football in hopes of snatching a championship ring before his college career begins next year.