Welcome back to the DawgNation Recruiting Rewind. With it being Sunday and the start of a new week, we can officially say it’s game week in the state of Georgia.
High school football is back, ladies and gentlemen. You can even watch some high school games in a NFL stadium this Saturday.
At 5:45 p.m., in the Georgia Dome, North Gwinnett will face last year’s 6A state champions: Colquitt County. North Gwinnett is led by 4-star WR, USC commit Josh Imatorbhebhe; while Colquitt County is led by Tennessee LB commit Ja’Quain Blakely.
After that game, at 8:45 p.m., McEachern will face Tucker. McEachern is loaded with talent such as UGA commits DT Julian Rochester and 2017 QB Bailey Hockman. The Indians also have UGA target, WR Tyler Simmons. On other side, Tucker has Louisville LB commit Tabarius Peterson.
It should be an exciting week for high school football in Georgia.
Now, what we’ve all been waiting for: the skinny on what happened in recruiting this weekend.
Today’s must-reads
1. UGA hosted two big-time players on Saturday
Shyheim Carter, who recently de-committed from Alabama, was in Athens with his good friend Devonta Smith. Smith, if you remember, is the recent UGA WR commit in the class of 2017.
Carter, who is ranked as the No. 5 cornerback in the 2016 class, should be on the top of every Bulldogs’ fans radar as someone who could commit at any moment. A source close with DawgNation told us on Saturday that Carter did not commit because he wasn’t ready, but UGA is definitely the favorite to land him.
Better believe that UGA defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt is going to do everything he possibly can to keep in touch with Carter until he gets his commitment.
2. Top UGA recruit out for season after serious car accident
Nate McBride, a 4-star LB from Vidalia High School, is a very lucky man today.
On Thursday night, McBride fell asleep at the wheel and hit a tree on his way home from practice. He broke his wrist, which required surgery. That will cause him to miss his junior season. The 2017 recruit’s dad received a call from UGA assistant Mike Ekeler and Mark Richt shortly after hearing about the news.
The linebacker told the AJC shortly after UGA’s Dawg Night prospect camp that UGA and Alabama were his co-leaders. I expect UGA to continue its recruitment of McBride and will continue to monitor his recovery.
The staff at DawgNation wants to wish the best to McBride and we hope for a speedy recovery.
3. Receiver explains why UGA is a finalist
I’m confused. Is it the University of Georgia or the University of Wide Receivers? Georgia’s last five commits have been wide receivers, but that isn’t stopping Grant Holloway from naming UGA one of his finalist.
Holloway, a 3-star prospect from Virginia has UGA in his group of finalists with Oregon, Florida and Virginia Tech.
Not only is he a football player, but he’s also a track star. Of note, out of his four finalists, UGA is the only school to offer both a football and track scholarship.
“I would like to continue with my track career until my legs don’t pay the bills anymore,” Holloway told the AJC.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder will take an official visit to UGA this fall and will commit sometime in November, he says.
4. Tennessee goes all out in recruitment of some of Georgia’s best
This is definitely one of the better recruiting pitches I have seen in a while. I mean, what 17-to-18-year old kid doesn’t want to see a picture of themselves painted on a giant rock?
That’s exactly what the University of Tennessee did for 5-stars Kyle Davis, Mecole Hardman, Jr. and DeAngelo Gibbs and 4-star Breon Dixon, who are all UGA targets.
The foursome was on Tennessee’s campus Saturday to take in a practice, but I’m sure the highlight of the trip was seeing a landmark on campus painted of themselves.
I think it’s safe to say every school that is recruiting these guys will have to step up their recruiting game.
How can Tennessee top this? Maybe they’ll rename Neyland Stadium to Davis-Hardman-Gibbs-Dixon Stadium next time those guys are on campus.
5. 5-star says he’s open to everybody
It’s widely believed that Marlon Davidson will either commit to Auburn or Alabama, but he took to Twitter to dispute that.
The AJC’s Jeff Sentell traveled to Davidson’s high school a couple of weeks ago and the elite defensive end said if National Signing Day was a couple of days away, he’d be going to Auburn.
But him saying he’s open to anyone is good for UGA. He is one of the team’s main targets on the defensive line. Now it’s just a matter of getting him on campus again for another reason. He was there last month for Dawg Night.
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And that’s the recruiting rewind for the weekend. Stay with DawgNation this week as we may have a possible commit story coming on Wednesday.
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