As a senior at Brookwood High, Bailey Ivemeyer passed up scholarship offers from lower levels of college football because he believed he could play on its brightest stage. It turns out he was right.
Ivemeyer, a Georgia Tech offensive tackle who walked on the team as a freshman in 2015, was awarded a scholarship Friday by coach Paul Johnson as the Yellow Jackets opened preseason camp.
“You look at Bailey, he’s not the most imposing guy, but he started against Virginia Tech, he’s played a ton of snaps,” Johnson said following the team’s Monday practice. “And when he gets out there, he’s one of those guys, he’s better in pads than when you look in shorts. He understands what we’re doing. It was fun to be able to reward him.”
Last season, Ivemeyer, generously listed at 6-foot-1 and 270 pounds, became the rare walk-on to start for Tech, getting the nod against the Hokies last fall as injuries thinned the Jackets’ depth. He played in a rotation in other games. Johnson announced the scholarship at a team meeting. He accepted the team’s 85th and final scholarship for the season.
“It’s always nice to see hard work pay off,” Ivemeyer said.
Ivemeyer is the son of former Tech offensive tackle John Ivemeyer, who also walked on but then started for three seasons. The younger Ivemeyer said it was “pretty cool” to be able to start at left tackle against Virginia Tech, the same position his father played.
“The biggest thing for me in choosing schools, I really wanted an academic school because I was very good at math and science in high school, so a place like this, where engineering is so big, and also my dad, this being his alma mater, it all kind of factors into how I got here,” Ivemeyer said.
Ivemeyer said that he has had to be strong in his techniques to produce on the field. Offensive lineman Andrew Marshall said that “there’s no doubt” that Ivemeyer earned the scholarship.
“He’s a hard worker, always shows up on time, one of those guys,” Marshall said. “But then in terms of his playing ability, he’s a great player, got great footwork. He can move well, he plays well.”
Ivemeyer, a junior, is a mechanical-engineering major and is on schedule to graduate next spring.
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