FRISCO, Texas — Is Georgia really a contender to sign the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect for 2020? It sure sounds like the Bulldogs are doing all they can to get in a good spot with 5-star junior Bryan Bresee.
- Family? Check and check. (One family member said they had that “warm and fuzzy” feeling on their back-to-back trips to UGA.
- Position fit? Check.
- Coaching staff? Check.
- The national profile to attract the nation’s top junior from Maryland? Check?
- Ace recruiter on the job at the Nike Opening? Give that one a very big check.
The 6-foot-5 Bresee visited Georgia in March and knew he had to come back before the end of that unofficial. He returned on G-Day on April 21 with a host of the family in tow.
That story gets better. Bailey Bresee picked up a UGA wristband on that trip. She’s yet to take it off and has delivered a promise to him.
“She’s not taking it off until I commit,” Bresee said. “That’s what she says.”
That’s not to any school. Just to the Georgia Bulldogs.
“She really likes Georgia,” Bresee said. “Don’t ask me why. That’s just her and her place for some reason. She came down and saw G-Day. I think that was what kind of pushed her (there).”
That’s a nugget to file away. But then there’s also the way that Georgia 5-star commit Nolan Smith seems to be hanging and smiling and goofing around with Bresee at all times.
Smith, given his nature at all times, is known for that. But this kind of looks and feels different.
It also sounds different.
Who recruits Bresee harder for Georgia right now? Bailey? Or Nolan?
“I think Nolan honestly,” Bresee said.
When he said that, Bresee looked to Smith. He was conducting a separate interview. Bresee laughed. Smith laughed.
Well, the film would say it was more like heehaws. Or guffaws. Or knee-slappers, if you will.
“Nolan gets all of me,” Bresee said. “He was with me at the G-Day visit with me. We hung out there.”
It all adds to the research for Bresee regarding the Bulldogs this week.
“I have talked to a bunch of people who are really thinking about Georgia,” Bresee said. “I will just say that if I could play with him and play with them, then it would be a lot of fun.”
5-star Nolan Smith and 5-star Bryan Bresee
Smith essentially erupted when asked on Sunday about Bresee. It was a clear visual display. Even for a guy like Smith who could be a 4-star mime in his spare time.
He can easily convey what he’s thinking without using any words.
When Bresee saw Smith chatting in a follow-up interview, he yelled out a “Nolan we love you” across about 15 yards of the field at The Star.
Smith yelled back.
“Bryan, he just asked me what I think about you,” Smith said. “His nickname is ‘Nut’ and we call him ‘Nut’ for short because he’s crazy, man. The fun. He’s just had the energy the whole week. So I call him ‘Nut’ for short. He’s a funny dude, man.”
“I told him that he’s a real big kid out here. He reminds me of myself when I was younger. He’s funny, too.”
That, in and of itself, is a decent little update regarding Georgia and its evolving chance with Bresee. But the Buckeyes will be tough.
There are a lot of those attention-grabbing 247Sports “Crystal Balls” pointing him toward Columbus. Bresee is also rooming with 5-star senior Zach Harrison in the class of 2019.
Harrison, without a doubt one of the most special athletes in attendance at this year’s Opening, is also a major Ohio State target in this class.
Yet Bailey Bresee was not the only member of the family to notice what’s going on with her brother and Georgia.
How does the Bresee family feel about Georgia?
DawgNation recently had a chance to chat with Rich Bresee and his son and what they saw in their two recent trips to Athens.
It seems like the Bulldogs have positioned themselves to be one of the few schools that is already standing out so far.
“We had a great time and coming off the initial visit that was that Saturday evening and then into the Sunday we had a great time there,” Rich Bresee said. “I think it was important for us to go back as quickly as we could. We wanted to make it back to G-Day to see if that first trip was just a fluke or it was real and genuine and we would feel the same way coming back.”
“I think for us both visits were fantastic. I don’t think we could have asked or gained anymore from those trips. The experience was just fantastic.”
The Bresee family definitely believes they will return to Athens this fall. They are currently trying to map out some games to visit their targeted schools.
“We’re definitely going to be back to Georgia,” he said.
How do Georgia’s strengths compare to what their family has seen so far from other top programs?
“I think that just the warm and fuzzy that we got down there,” Rich Bresee said. “I think the fact that Bryan was able to connect with coach (Tray) Scott and even coach (Kirby) Smart. Our whole family sat in there and talked to them. You don’t get that with a lot of schools.”
“We realize position coaches come and go but we realize that coach Smart is not going anywhere at Georgia. I don’t see that. So those are the kind of things that we just felt like that staff is there. They are hot. They are committed to the program. That even though they are now getting the best of the best kids they still seem and sound like they are committed to continuing that and really building up Georgia into something special.”
“There are a few schools that we have had incredible visits at. Georgia is one of them. Those are the schools where we felt like ‘this is the place’ and Georgia is one of them. But that’s just us. Not Bryan.”
He made it clear that the decision will belong to his son. He’s the one that will be getting up and lifting and grinding to get better every day.
A few long-range items for Bryan Bresee
Bresee said he doesn’t see his son making his college commitment prior to his senior year.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “We keep talking about it. I think we keep making the list of places we are going to visit smaller and smaller. My guess is it won’t happen until his senior year at some point.”
The Maryland native does plan to be an early enrollee in January of 2020.
He’s already 288 pounds this week. Will he stay a defensive end at that weight? Bresee is very athletic and can throw down a basketball like he only tips the scales at 245. He was a quarterback in middle school.
“I think that everybody thinks of him as a strong-side defensive end with the ability to play the ‘5’ technique or the ‘3’ technique,” Rich Bresee said. “So he’s not going to be that weak-side DE.”