This article originally appeared with 247 Sports on August 14, 2015 and can be found here.

Picture yourself as a teenager sitting in an office at your high school. To your left is Georgia defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, who has won national championships at Alabama and Florida State. To your right is Georgia wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon, who won two SEC Championship Games as a player and appeared in two more as a coach. Both have the same question on their minds: are you going to play for me or him?

Georgia freshman Shaq Wilson found himself in that position as a senior at Coral Gables High School.

“They asked me what I wanted to do [about playing wide receiver or cornerback],” Wilson said. “It was a lot of pressure. I took like five minutes to answer. I looked at both of them and said I wanted to stay on offense.”

The decision was a difficult one for Wilson. Pruitt had been his lead recruiter, so the connection with him made a move to defense a sensible one. The problem was Wilson played very little cornerback in his life, which meant a lot of adjustment. Ultimately, he opted to stick with what he was more comfortable with.

His choice could pay off in the coming months. Georgia’s wide receiver corps is up the air due to the departures of Chris Conley and Michael Bennett. With questions about which receivers will make a difference, young men like Wilson may grab valuable playing time in their first season.

One of the only sure bets among this year’s receivers is senior Malcolm Mitchell, who is prepared to end his collegiate career on the right note. Mitchell is also working hard to prepare the younger receivers in the hopes they will strengthen the team’s passing game.

Wilson points towards Mitchell as a coach figure who has helped the underclassmen better their play.

“When it comes down to polishing routes and stuff like that, that’s the guy right there,” Wilson said. “His routes are smooth. He teaches all the young guys and he took us up under his wing.”

A lot has changed for Wilson in the last six months. He’s gone from living in a one-parent home while his mother was in prison to learning about offense from a coordinator who spent nine years teaching it in the NFL. He’s competing with several players to start at wide receiver come September, including four other freshmen. It’s a lot to take in on the fly and is enough to leave many young players sidetracked.

Still, he hasn’t allowed himself to get lost in the moment.

“Every day when I put on my pads, I just look in the mirror and look at myself like, wow, I’m really here,” Wilson said. “Me, I’m not worried about starting. I’m worried about staying focused.”