The latest edition of the DawgNation “Before the Hedges” program came with a big news development for Georgia football to anchor the show.
It revolved around this tweet from the NCAA Legislative Council.
That extends the NCAA’s temporary “dead period” for recruiting, which was set up in March as a result of the global pandemic, to a time period now of at least nine and a half months.
In short, it means no on-campus or off-campus recruiting for during the 2020 season. Ouch.
That’s a big ouch for those members of the 2021 class. There are some clear examples, like solid commitments Javon Bullard, De’Jahn “Nugget” Warren and Jamon Dumas-Johnson, who will now sign and choose Georgia without ever having taken a single visit inside the Georgia football facilities.
They will have done a mighty share of Zoom and FaceTime discussions with the Georgia coaching staff. But they will have never sat in their future position coach’s office. Or experienced what the grass in Sanford Stadium smells like on a sublime Saturday in the fall.
They will have never seen the “Light Up Sanford” experience or heard it when two different sides of the stadium fire off dueling “Georgia” and “Bulldogs” chants at just the right cadences.
Just add that up to all the things that feel off-center for the year 2020.
This tweet from UC-Davis also reflects that it is a two-way roadblock for both sides of the traditional college recruiting experience.
NCAA dead period extension: The other side of it
While fans focus on recruits not getting to visit top schools for practices, weight rooms, jerseys fits, or for a Saturday game day, there is more. It also means that coaches cannot visit recruits off-campus at their high school campus and for practices and big Friday night games.
What does all of that mean? That was the subject of this week’s “Before the Hedges” program for DawgNation on its Facebook and YouTube channels. The program airs each week at 8 p.m. on those respective channels. It is also available as a podcast on the Apple, Soundcloud and Spotify platforms.
That will certainly create some intrigue for the early signing period which begins on Dec. 16. Especially for those prospects that plan to enroll early in January as part of the 2021 signing class.
It is possible in theory for those members of the 2021 class who do not sign early to see the dead period lifted in mid-January. That will allow those who do not enroll early to hope for the chance to get to take a few official and unofficial visits prior to the traditional signing period in February.
It is still daunting to think about 5-star prospects like Korey Foreman, Amarius Mims, Maason Smith, Brock Vandagriff going through their entire high school careers without getting to take even one official visit to the school of their choice.
Recruits typically get five. But those early enrollees in the 2021 class are now assured of not getting any barring a reversal of the current NCAA ruling.
We discussed all of that, along with our typical offerings like the “2021 Top Targets” and the commitment board and timelines during this week’s episode. This edition also featured a special DawgNation conversation with elite 2022 cornerback commitment Marquis Groves-Killebrew and a quick word with his talented Brookwood teammate Sam M’Bake in the 2022 class.
We also found time at specific portions of the show for the typical Q&A exchanges with viewers. Both versions of this week’s program are embedded below.
Check out the latest episodes of
“Before the Hedges” on DawgNation
- All-American TE Brock Bowers chats with DawgNation
- Future broadcaster and 2021 commit Javon Bullard delivers a 5-star interview
- WATCH: DawgNation goes 1-on-1 with 5-star OT target Amarius Mims
- 3 ways that the lack of on-campus visits have actually helped Georgia football recruiting
- Sudden change for Georgia and its 2021 recruiting board
