Want to attack every day with the latest UGA football recruiting info? That’s what the Intel brings at least four days a week. The play sheet for today leads off with a review about what stood out in the impressive commitment to Georgia made by elite CB signee Tyrique Stevenson.
Tyrique Stevenson chose Georgia at the 2019 Army All-American Bowl.
Well, that’s not exactly right. It is more accurate to describe that as the nation’s No. 4 CB (per the 247Sports Composite ratings) revealed UGA was his choice on Jan. 5.
His true decision came back on Dec. 21. That was the final day of the early signing period. That Friday was when Stevenson signed on to play for the Bulldogs.
Stevenson told DawgNation it was a relief to finally let the world know about that choice. Yet he said something else that caught the ear.
It was the fact that he did not sign a letter of intent that day, but simply a financial aid form to attend UGA. That locked the Georgia program to hold a scholarship for him, but by going that route he still could hit the reset button on that decision.
He basically had always held a top 2 of Georgia and Miami, but he saw transition and staff migration at both programs.
The Bulldogs still have yet to replace Mel Tucker with a formal choice as defensive coordinator. That also means that Georgia still has yet to make that coordinator choice or its next defensive backs coach official.
Miami replaced Mark Richt with Manny Diaz as well.
He had the ability before he enrolled last week to change up that Dec. 21 signing day decision. Stevenson chose not to. Why? To hear him tell it, he wanted to be true to his word. No matter what he did or did not sign.
That nugget can be found in the clip with Stevenson in the video offering that’s anchored above. The discussion of that financial aid form takes place at the 2:47 mark of that interview.
What led him to that decision?
“So you know what with that I feel like once you make a choice you have got to deal with it and you have got to live through it,” Stevenson said. “So once I signed the financial aid papers, I was like ‘This is a choice I am going to stick with and I’m just going to stick it out.'”
In the interview, he also discusses:
- What was that race like between Georgia and Miami?
- What put Georgia over the top?
- How did the Mel Tucker situation actually positively affect this process?
- What does he think about the search for a new defensive coordinator and a defensive backs coach?
- How excited was he to join what he described as a “Bulldog family” at UGA?
- His goals for his freshman season?
- How important were the current South Florida Bulldogs to his decision?
- What was it like revealing that decision live on national TV?
RELATED: Check out a different side of UGA signee Tyrique Stevenson
Tyrique Stevenson was part of the early enrollees at UGA
Stevenson is one of 14 Bulldogs from the 2019 class who are already on campus this month. The football program sent out a recent tweet that documented the first day on campus for all the early enrollees.
Georgia currently has 14 early enrollees in the 2019 class. There are only eight signees in the 2019 class who have yet to enroll. Those late May enrollees will be:
- 5-star DT Travon Walker
- 5-star WR Dominick Blaylock
- 4-star DE Bill Norton
- 4-star OT Xavier Truss
- 4-star RB Kenny McIntosh
- 4-star ATH Makiya Tongue
- 4-star DE Zion Logue
- 3-star DT Tymon Mitchell
The only Georgia commitment who has yet to sign is 4-star QB John Rhys Plumlee. Plumlee has been offered the chance to “blue shirt” at UGA. That means he won’t be able to take an official visit or receive a visit from a UGA coach at his home.
Plumlee took an official visit to check out Mississippi State this past weekend.
Those Bulldogs initially offered him as a cornerback early in his prep career.
It will bear watching to see how things work out with Plumlee. He has a list of suitors now that will hope he will sign with them on National Signing Day in February and not “blueshirt” with their program.
Plumlee is one of only two unsigned QB prospects that rate among the nation’s top 300 players for the 2019 class on the 247Sports composite rankings.
Why does he remain committed to the Bulldogs at this time? He told DawgNation that is still the program that he sees himself at the most. At least for now.
Let’s see if that changes with visits up ahead to the likes of Miami and Ole Miss, among others.
Bear in mind that Plumlee also plays to play baseball in college. He is a very skilled centerfielder, among many other talents.
Big 2021 offer sent by UGA on Monday
Georgia offered 2021 OT prospect Amarius Mims on Monday. The Bleckley County standout (in every sense of that term) checks in at 6 feet, 7 inches and weighs right at 295 pounds.
Mims is coached by Von Lassiter at Bleckley County. That’s the coach who served such an integral role in Jake Fromm’s development at Houston County. Lassiter has felt for a while now that it was only a matter of time before the offers started trickling in for Mims.
Lassiter was right on with that one. As per the norm.
The Bulldogs are now the first offer for a prospect who has yet to be rated by the major services. But Mims was a standout at the Georgia Athletic Coaches Association All-Star events in Metro Atlanta back in December.
Mims told DawgNation at that time that he was hoping to one day earn offers from both Alabama and Georgia one day. He even listed Alabama as the school he paid very close attention to growing up.
He actually played both tight end and defensive end this year, but projects to be an offensive tackle on Saturdays.
Miss any Intel? The DawgNation recruiting archive will get you up to speed just as fast as former Georgia All-American LB Roquan Smith found the ball after the snap.