Want a daily lap through Georgia football recruiting? That’s what the Intel will bring at least five days a week. The Friday topic centers on the player I feel who could potentially be the most-likely starter from the 2018 class. That’s highly coveted Pace Academy senior Jamaree Salyer.
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Jamaree Salyer plans to see Georgia’s first two games. That’s not a shock, but it can be confirmed.
The nation’s No. 1 OG guard for 2018 had already made it known that he plans an official visit to Notre Dame for the UGA face game on Sept. 9 in South Bend. (Seems like he’s getting a better deal to make that trip than any other Georgia resident that’s not on the UGA football team or a member of the media.)
He told DawgNation on Thursday he plans to see the Bulldogs open up at home on Sept. 2 against Appalachian State, too.
“I’ll be in Athens,” Salyer said. “I want to see ‘Drew’ play in his first college game.”
That should be an emotional moment. He’s used to sitting next to his former Pace teammate inside Sanford Stadium over the last year.
Now, he’ll likely see Thomas take the field as a first-year freshman starter for the Bulldogs.
“I just want to get up and see him,” Salyer said. “Spend some time with him. I want to see if he is really enjoying it.”
That relationship can not be marginalized. I’d qualify it as a best friend or a big brother-type bond with those two.
When UGA football sent out this tweet this follows below earlier week, he was fired-up to see Thomas block junior OLB D’Andre Walker for at least a good 4-to-5 second count.
That rep appears around the 0:45 mark.
Walker has appeared in 26 games for the Bulldogs. Salyer will be there to see Thomas play in his first.
What happens if the Bulldogs stub their toe right out of the gate? Salyer will be there to see it.
If things go well for the red and black, he will also be there to see if that battleship that Kirby Smart has brought up in the past is finally on the proper course.
What is Jamaree Salyer looking for?
He’s looking for all the right things in college. His education will come first. I just don’t simply get the feeling that his degree will come first. That’s not a feeling.
That is factual. It is just made so very clear.
RELATED: Check out Jamaree Salyer in the first chapter of “The Season”
When UGA promoted its revamped efforts with “The Georgia Way” in tandem with the continuing good work from The Paul Oliver Network, that was important for him to see. If there was any one recruit that paid a great deal of attention to that stuff that popped up on social media last month, it was Salyer.
Football is his ticket, but his plan B is a great education. That’s why he has legit scholarship offers and plans to visit those big-brain institutions like Notre Dame and Stanford.
“I really look forward to learning even more about that,” Salyer said last month. “Because that is a really big part of my decision as well. Just really getting a good feeling for it. Just knowing that I’m really secure with that in my mind. Well, (because) Plan B can sometimes be a little more important than Plan B. If Plan B falls through, then you have nothing.”
I think he’s also looking for a close bond with the right potential coaching staff. But I also think he’s looking for a place where he can make a difference. To where he can be a part of something special.
Family ties will also matter. Salyer’s family is very important to him. Yolanda Campbell, his mother, has taken a no-nonsense approach to raising him. It has worked wonderfully.
Salyer is about 6-foot-4 and weighs right at 350 pounds. Yet his mother is capable of jerking a knot into his tail if it would ever be necessary.
When she says she can probably still take him out, it doesn’t seem like she is joking. She is very likely not joking.
That’s appreciated. It is why he’s just trying to buy her a house with this football thing he has going.
There are more family ties to consider, too. Salyer has a 12-year-old younger brother and another 9-year-old younger sister, too.
Revisiting the Devonte Wyatt news from this week
DawgNation had a good conversation with 2017 signee Devonte Wyatt this week. We covered his thoughts on what happened with his qualification for the fall semester.
Wyatt also touched on where he is at now and what he has to do to enroll at UGA in January of 2018. He outlined what it would take for him to only need to spend one semester at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas and then enroll as a mid-year signee in for the winter semester.
Those were his thoughts. I don’t have access to his transcript, but we did go over his options backward and forward as he understood them. I also left a message with his head coach at Hutchinson Community College, but the message and that corresponding interview request were not returned.
A message was also left with his head coach at Hutchinson Community College. That call and a corresponding interview request were not returned.
If he is able to enroll at UGA in January, he will have four years to play three seasons at UGA. That is if he plays for Hutchinson this fall. I do think that will happen.
Wyatt is a fan favorite because his humility comes across clearly in every conversation, but it also translates well in print.
His case is unorthodox.
What do I think took place here from listening to Wyatt? I think he achieved his qualifying test score on his ACT after the point of no return. Or the SAT score he also achieved had been flagged and was still under review when a decision had to be made.
He had to enroll somewhere and it is my belief that at that point there was no longer a scholarship spot available for him at UGA in early August.
It seems like that the decision to go the junior college route has already been made to attend Hutchinson at that point. If he maintains a 3.0 grade-point average in his two courses this semester, then he will be able to enroll at UGA for the winter semester.
If and when I get any new information on that front, I will be sure to update that.
Miss any of our recent Intel? Well, the DawgNation recruiting archive will get you up to Mecole Hardman speed before your tailgate crew can worry anymore about all the freshman offensive linemen who will have to play this fall.