Georgia OL lands UCF offer on visit: 'It was a wonderful experience'
Zechariah Owens' first college visit was a memorable one.
The Class of 2023 offensive tackle from Eagle's Landing Christian Academy in McDonough, Ga., spent his Thursday at UCF touring facilities and meeting with coaches. He left with an offer in hand.
"This was my first visit and I really think it's going to be the best," Owens said. "I had such a great time."
Owens had limited contact with UCF prior to today and was thinking about attending a camp later in the month. But with his family scheduled to be in Orlando for a family vacation, one of his coaches at ELCA set things up for him to drop by.
"I honestly thought I was just going in, taking a quick look, not getting an offer or anything like that," Owens said. "But when I got there with my mom and sister, the whole coaching staff was lined up ready to greet me. It was a warm welcome. All the coaches shook my hand. They took us around the school and I got to meet some of the players. It was just a wonderful experience."
He lost track of all the players that came up to him, but one in particular stood out.
"One of the offensive linemen, Paul Rubelt," Owens said. "He's 6-11. I'm 6-7 and usually nobody is bigger than me. He was very friendly. Walking into the weight room with all the players there, nobody was eyeballing me or anything like that. They all came up to me and shook my hand. It was like a big ole family. I love it."
Owens hit it off immediately with Herb Hand, UCF's offensive line coach.
"I liked everything about him," Owens said. "He's so down to earth. Going into the visit, I wasn't really thinking about colleges I want to go to. But now I'm thinking about building a future with Coach Hand at UCF. He's the best. So down to earth. He did a little presentation talking about his family and the connection he has with other coaches. A lot of his players still keep in contact with him from 30 years ago. It was just amazing."
Georgia Tech, Michigan State and Arkansas previously offered Owens, but this was obviously his first in-person offer.
"I got my first offer from Georgia Tech and sometimes it doesn't hit me right away," Owens said. "The UCF offer, it's starting to hit me now. When Coach Hand was doing the presentation, he was showing me all the players he had that went to the NFL, guys who he won championships with. Then he said, 'I just want you to know you have received a full offer to come to UCF.' I was like, 'Awesome!' I was really at a loss for words. It was crazy."
Owens just wrapped his sophomore year of high school, but he has NFL-type size already.
"Coach Hand was saying he liked how I move," Owens said. "I'm a big guy, 6-7, 365. I'm a real big dude. I was telling him how maybe I should slim down some and he was like, 'You see how quick you move for your size?' He was telling me how he liked my hands. I was comparing my hands to his. He said that's one reason he shakes hands. The average NFL hand size is 10 inches."
Owens is looking forward to returning to UCF again, perhaps for a game later this season. In the meantime, he's planning on attending the Georgia and Clemson team camps next week and may go on other unofficials later in the month.
Time is on his side in terms of making a decision, but Owens said right now UCF could be the team to beat.
"The biggest thing for me will be relationship with the coaches," he said. "I've got to fall back on that. I would prefer to be close to home, but wherever I go I need to have a great connection like I have right now with UCF."
