Why 4-star Trezmen Marshall almost committed to UGA and why he still might

Want a daily lap through Georgia football recruiting? That’s what the Intel will bring at least five days a week. We check in with 4-star LB Trezmen Marshall today to tell the story of how he almost committed to UGA last month and why he will be in Athens this weekend to watch the Bulldogs take on Samford. 

_______________________________________________________

Marshall said that the Bulldogs are still a strong contender.

“It is still a possibility,” he said. “I just had to come off that thinking that I was really basing off where I wanted to go to college because I would get to play with one of my friends. Because I can’t think that way now. I had to change that and then focus more of what’s the best thing for me.”

He said he expects to play right away as a freshman.

“I have a hard work ethic and I’m not afraid of competition,” Marshall said. “That’s not the problem with me there.”

South Georgia kids are to the point. They don’t usually have the whole two-step and production that a lot of prospects from the Metro area do. That’s a blanket statement, but that’s just the way it seems to be.

There are exceptions, of course, but most have a concrete plan in mind.

Count Marshall among that lot.

“I want to make my decision probably right after basketball season,” Marshall said. “Or after this whole school year ends because I want to graduate early and be real in with my new coaches. I want to leave at the end of December and enroll early next January.”

Did Chauncey Manac’s departure hurt UGA with Trezmen Marshall?

We can cover that in a word: No.

Marshall spoke to Manac after the decision. The former 4-star recruit had nothing but positive things to say about his time in Athens.

“It was just his decision,” Marshall said. “He just felt he could go somewhere else and play. Probably not Georgia. Lorenzo Carter and the other dude [Davin Bellamy] have already been playing for three years at Georgia and he knew they would play a lot ahead of him this year.”

Marshall said Manac told him he just wanted to play. He redshirted last season and wasn’t expected to get a lot of reserve time this fall. The emergence of 4-star freshman Walter Grant had a lot to do with that.

“He feels like he can play somewhere else,” Marshall said. “So he is going to go play JUCO [football] this year and probably then go play in the ACC or something like that. He said there was no mistreatment. It was not that he didn’t work hard enough or love it at Georgia or anything like that. It was just that two years sitting out of football and you want to play.

“He just wanted to play a lot this year and be ready to go somewhere else this year.”

Manac’s presence at UGA was an anchor and a lot of comfort for Marshall. He knew somebody there that would make his transition easier.

“I looked at it all this way,” Marshall said. “It is in Georgia. I am home. My family can come see me. There are people from Homerville that come up for every game. Basically, all of Homerville comes up for the Georgia games to tailgate and stuff.”

That’s true. The Clinch County Bulldog Club has a strong turnout for every home game. There’s a popular tailgate next to the Georgia Center for Continuing Education. Those folks are right by the parking deck.

“Those people could help bring my mom up and if Chauncey was there, then I could play with my friend,” Marshall said.

Marshall said that Manac told him to go ahead and commit to UGA if that’s what he felt was best for his future.

“Chauncey loved it at Georgia,” Marshall said. “I don’t think you will ever hear him say anything bad about Georgia. He loved it. I could tell when I went up there and hung out with some of his friends.”

There’s a freshman receiver at Florida State whom he knows well now. That will be one of the elements in the “pros” column for that program going forward.

The rapid-fire Intel on Trezmen Marshall

UGA added an ‘official’ 2018 commit yesterday

Devonte Wyatt, the lone non-qualifier for UGA from the Class of 2017, was reclassified as a 2018 prospect by 247Sports on Tuesday. 

247Sports did so after it got verification from Wyatt’s junior college coach that he was indeed a candidate for the 2018 class. 

DawgNation told Wyatt’s story last month. He broke down why he was in the junior college ranks, why he was going to return to UGA and what he had to do to make that a reality in January. 

That explains why the Bulldogs moved up from No. 24 to No. 17 in the 247Sports composite team rankings this week, too.

Wyatt rates as the nation’s No. 1 junior college prospect for 2018. The 6-foot-3, 300-pound player was known for his track speed and running back reps for Towers High last fall. He also becomes UGA’s fourth-highest rated pledge for 2018.

The recruiting industry rankings recognize Georgia, with its 13 commitments for 2018, as having the No. 5 class. I the SEC, Tennessee is first with its 23 commitments, followed by Florida (17), Texas A&M (16) and LSU (19), respectively.

Miss a day of 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.