Want to attack every day with the latest Georgia football recruiting info? That’s what the Intel will bring at least five days a week. The call for this Rose Bowl-week edition focuses on an unsigned member of the 2018 Georgia class: 3-star DT Tramel Walthour.
Liberty County (Hinesville, Ga.) defensive tackle Tramel Walthour is committed to Georgia’s 2018 class. He did not sign during the early period last week, but that should not come as a surprise.
He had continued to relay to DawgNation that signing early just wasn’t his thing. Walthour wanted to sign on the old school National Signing Day and never wavered from that.
The all-star events in Georgia this week focus on 2019, 2020 and even the 2021 classes. But it is important to lead with an update on a key final piece of the nation’s top-rated recruiting class for 2018.
RELATED: Check out what the ‘Big Board’ looks like for UGA in 2018.
Walthour is at the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association North-South All-Star Senior Game event this week in Macon.
He spoke with DawgNation’s Daniel Shirley about where he stands with everything regarding his recruiting.
Here’s the quick skinny:
- He does not plan to visit any other schools.
- Tramel Walthour is playing in the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association North-South Senior All-Star Game in Macon this week. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation) Walthour said he wasn’t talking to other schools after he committed to Georgia. He told his coaches to tell any potential schools that came calling that he was set.
- If you recall, he was that “Midnight Train” recruit who chose to share his commitment to Twitter late one night.
- Walthour rates as the nation’s No. 44 DT and the No. 601 player overall
- There are only two signees or commits rated lower than Walthour in the Class of 2018.
- He comes from the same high school that produced UGA freshman Richard LeCounte III. Liberty County coach Kirk Warner was a splendid tight end for the program in the 1980s.
The DawgNation Q&A with Tramel Walthour
The Bulldogs now have 20 signees and three commitments for the Class of 2018.
DawgNation projects the Bulldogs will sign 24 players this year, but there is still the chance they could blueshirt a prospect and pay that scholarship forward to the 2019 class.
Walthour is one of two unsigned defensive tackle commits in the class. Jordan Davis, another 3-star, is the other. The remaining unsigned pledge is Northwestern High School (Miami) safety prospect Rachad Wildgoose. Four-star early enrollee Divaad Wilson also is from Northwestern.
As for Walthour, he touched on a few key topics this week with DawgNation.
- Why didn’t he sign early: “I didn’t sign early because I wanted to just wait until February and make sure I had everything straight and be ready to go.”
- What does he think is ahead for Georgia: “It’s just going to be a great team in our future years. Hopefully, we can keep building. Hoping we can get back to where we are this year and hoping we can get into the national championship this year, and then hopefully again next year and just get some rings.”
- What is hearing from the UGA coaches: “They just keep telling me to keep grinding and keep working, and when I get up there, I just have to work my butt off to be able to play. They say it’s open availability to play as a freshman, but I’ve just got to work.”
- Was he surprised by Georgia’s strong class:“Not really. I expected it. There’s just a lot of great players in this class, and I can’t wait to be a part of it. I expect we’re going to have a pretty good team.”
- What does he think about coach Kirby Smart’s recruiting: “He’s just going to build on to what they have there and just keep adding more talent, and we’re just going to keep having good seasons like they have this year. And they’re not done yet.”
A name to know for 2019
Remember former Georgia player John Allen? He was a 6-foot-2, 230-pound linebacker who signed with the Bulldogs in 1987. He lettered in Athens from 1989-91 after playing at Pepperell High School in Lindale, Ga.
His son, Davis, is one of the sophomores competing in the 2017 Georgia Elite Classic games this week at McEachern High School in Powder Springs. Davis doesn’t just have one UGA alum in his family. His mother was one of the many skilled majorettes and featured twirlers who perform at halftime with the Redcoats.
Davis Allen, a 3-sport athlete in football, has outgrown his dad. He’s at the 6-foot-5 mark and already weighs 220 pounds. I liked watching him Tuesday. He was smart and appeared very coachable as he adjusted to playing middle linebacker in a 4-3 front.
Will he wind up at Georgia? That’s hard to say, especially given the way that UGA is recruiting. But he is such a rangy young man, and that length equates to playing out on the edges.
“Wake Forest offered me as a standing defensive end and a rusher guy who could also drop into pass coverage,” Allen said. “That’s my only offer at this time.”
What would an offer from Georgia mean?
“A lot,” Allen said. “I grew up going to the game and watching everybody talk to my dad. My mom went there. It would be a dream come true to go there.”
He sounds willing to play at any position where the Bulldogs would need him. There were quite a few UGA items for him under the tree this year.
“I like to learn,” Allen said. “I love to play. I’d do anything really. Running back. I’d do whatever. I just don’t care. I just love to play this game. At my school, I just like to set the right example for others.”
Allen is just one of those young men who make you feel better about the players of today when you speak to him. Georgia is now a very tough recruiting class to crack. JD Bertrand has committed to play inside linebacker for the Bulldogs in the 2019 class.
Look for the Bulldogs to take three inside linebackers in the Class of 2019, and the top two names on that list would be 5-star Owen Pappoe (Grayson HS/Loganville, Ga.) and 4-star Trezman Marshall (Clinch County HS/Homerville, Ga.).
But Allen can play. He’s going to make some team very happy where ever he winds up.
“I just want to help somebody and to play college football,” said Allen, whose older brother played at the Air Force Academy.
His father just wants to see his son succeed. He doesn’t care where he goes to school.
Well, maybe everywhere except Florida, Georgia Tech and Tennessee. Maybe.
“They came and talked to me at my school,” Davis Allen said. “He wanted me to wear a Georgia shirt when I went to talk to them at the school. He was giving me a hard time with it.”
Did you see this and that?
- It looks as if UGA wants to make sure that Tommy Bush Jr. knows they are in Pasadena. They sent him this edit from the College Football Playoff.
- Class of 2020 DE Arik Gilbert is a name to know for that cycle. The Marietta (Ga.) high school standout has said he wants to play somewhere close to home. He received his invitation to the 2020 U.S. Army All-American Bowl after the first Georgia Elite Classic sophomores practice on Tuesday. Gilbert also accepted that invitation.
Miss any Intel? The DawgNation recruiting archive will get you up to speed just as fast as Georgia All-American LB Roquan Smith can find the football after the snap.