Blackmon is Boulder bound

Ronnie Blackmon has yet to visit Boulder, but the highly regarded cornerback prospect from Atlanta (Ga.) Westlake felt ready to call Colorado his future home. He verbally committed to the Buffaloes on Wednesday.

While his commitment to Colorado seemed to come out of left field, Blackmon explains that he has secretly had high interest in the Buffaloes for nearly two months.

"Right after they offered me (on May 19), I felt it would be a great place for me because [cornerbacks] coach [Charles] Clark was telling me all the great stuff about it," said the 5-foot-10, 175-pound Blackmon. "They feel like I can come in my first year and be part of the mix as a cornerback, and kick and punt returner."

One of the top 50 ranked cornerback prospects from the Class of 2016, Blackmon has 16 other offers, including offers from Arizona, Boston College, Colorado State, Duke, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Louisville, Syracuse, Wake Forest and West Virginia.

"My dad and I just felt [Colorado] was the right place for me," he said. "It met all our requirements and with Coach Clark, I just feel like he will be a great coach to play for. Coach Clark said this is an early birthday present for him.

[Buffs head] coach [Mike] MacIntyre seems like a players coach and a coach that will be there for me and be honest the whole way. When Coach MacIntyre told me about the 'Four F's' (foundation, family, future, football) and how it works at Colorado and how I could fit into it, it clicked and I knew I wanted to commit."

Blackmon plans to visit Boulder for the first time next week. He admits he also had high interest in West Virginia, Wake Forest and Iowa, but is no longer looking around.

"I am probably not going to take any more visits. I feel like I can make a home at Colorado," Blackmon said. "It feels like a relief and I feel like I can just go in and make an impact and I feel like I found myself a home."

Between the 1983 and 2015 signing classes, the Buffaloes inked only two high school prospects from the state of Georgia: Stacy Patterson (1993) and Conrad Obi (2007). With Blackmon and Derrion Rakestraw verbally committed, Colorado has two prep recruits from the Peach State on board for 2016.

[rl]