Recruiting Rewind: Looking ahead to top UGA target’s commitment decision
Good morning, DawgNation! Let’s switch things up a bit. The Rewind usually looks back at the top UGA recruiting news, but we are going to turn the clock forward today.
DawgNation will be on commitment watch this afternoon as 3-star wide receiver Grant Holloway will make his announcement between UGA and Florida today at 4:30 p.m. Today’s is also Holloway’s birthday, but the school he chooses is the one that will receive the gift. The receiver out of Grassfield High School in Virginia can flat-out fly. At 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, Holloway can run a 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds.
He has been given the opportunity to run track and play football at UGA, Holloway would only receive a scholarship for track at Florida with the opportunity to walk on to the football team. Reports suggest that UGA is the favorite to land the speedster, but Holloway insists it could go either way.
Guess everyone will find out at soon.
Today’s must-reads
4-star RB commit was sent some interesting trash talk
Elijah Holyfield, a 4-star running back commit from Woodward Academy, received some bulletin board material for his upcoming playoff game on Wednesday. Holyfield’s motivation for the game was sent to him in the form of a letter. There are a few takeaways from the letter, including a reference to his famous father — legendary boxer Evander Holyfield.
The UGA commit is healthy after missing time this season with a stress fracture in his foot, and he looked dominant in Woodward’s first-round playoff win. Whoever sent Holyfield the smack talk letter may be sorry come Friday night.
Recruit list keeps growing for Saturday’s game
The recruiting buzz for the Georgia Southern game continues to grow. Derrick Brown, a 5-star defensive tackle and the state’s No. 1 prospect, told DawgNation he will be on campus this weekend.
Brown has watched the team a lot, lately. He was at the UGA-Kentucky game and last Saturday’s showdown against Auburn. Brown has declared no leaders publicly, but UGA and Auburn are considered his leaders. He will take official visits to both schools in January.
Texas Tech WR commit received offer
UGA has commitments from five receivers for the Class of 2016, but that didn’t stop assistant coach Bryan McClendon from offering another one on Wednesday. Derrick Willies, a 6-foot-4 wide receiver at Trinity Valley Community College, received an offer from UGA, according to his coach Brad Smiley.
This could be confusing because UGA is targeting three other high school receivers in addition to Willies, but the recent offer could provide some clues about how things are shaping up. The offer could be a sign UGA believes one of those five commits might back out soon. It also means UGA feels it isn’t likely to land all three of its other targets.
Willies is currently committed to Texas Tech, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Top target could have a professional wrestling career
It’s not often that offensive linemen have must-see highlight tapes, but 4-star E.J. Price has exactly that. The 6-foot-6, 311-pound target out of Archer High School may get some calls about starring in “Wrestlemania” after these clips. He’s pushing defensive linemen up and down the field like they were a lawnmower.
Price de-committed from UGA earlier this year, but still rates the Bulldogs as his leader ahead of Auburn. The 4-star plans to announce his commitment on Jan. 2 at the Under Armour All-American game. It is pretty tough to say any 4-star recruit is underrated, but that may be the case after watching these highlights.
Nation’s No. 1 ILB wants to get back to UGA
Ben Davis, a 5-star inside linebacker from Alabama, has already taken his official visit to UGA but is ready to greturn. Davis said he was “eager to get back” in a video interview with Chad Simmons of Scout.com.
It’s no surprise that Davis would want to head back to UGA after he rated his official visit a “five.” The 6-foot-4, 235-pounder told DawgNation that UGA jumped into his top group with Alabama and LSU after his official visit for the Missouri game. Davis told Simmons what interested him about UGA and what the coaches are saying to him.
Davis may be tough to pull away from Alabama as his father, Wayne Davis, is the school’s career leader in tackles. Still, it appears that UGA has captured the 5-star’s attention. Jeremy Pruitt told Davis he envisions using him the way Rolando McClain was used at Alabama. Davis said UGA felt like home, and his stance after several weeks have gone by indicates that he meant it.
William McFadden covers UGA recruiting for DawgNation and is an SEC multimedia reporter for SECCountry. Give him a follow on Twitter for sports news and opinions you probably won’t agree with.
