This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the latest on 5-star Casey Barner at McEachern. He’s rated as the nation’s No. 1 S and the No. 5 overall prospect for 2028 on the 247Sports Composite. The Rivals Industry Ranking has him at No. 1 S and No. 8 overall.
When Casey Barner left Athens yesterday, he had UGA on his mind.
While national reports have the state’s No. 1 junior prospect pulling a Tyler Atkinson, a DJ Jacobs or a LaDamion Guyton, the Dawgs still had a chance to plant a seed with the nation’s No. 1 safety for 2028.
They did just that.
“The visit was great,” Barner told DawgNation. “What stood out most to me was the atmosphere, the way the defense played and just seeing how everything comes together on gameday. Georgia definitely gave me a lot to think about.”
Barner, who’s also the top-ranked junior recruit in Georgia, elaborated on that front.
“They gave me a lot to think about in terms of how I would fit into their defense, how they develop safeties and the standard they expect from their players,” he said. “The relationships I have with the coaches also continue to grow, so that’s something I am definitely considering.”
“Overall, it just made me think more about what my future could look like at Georgia.”
The buzz lately has been that a Miami, an Ohio State or a Texas A&M might come into Georgia and plunder another 5-star away from Kirby Smart’s program.
Barner set up a lot of visits to check out national programs this fall and also scheduled a visit for Georgia’s “White Out” against Western Kentucky.
Here’s the Barner lineup:
- September 26: Oregon at USC
- October 3: Arkansas at Texas A&M
- October 17: Florida State at Miami
- November 7: Oregon at Ohio State
- November 14: USC at Indiana
- November 28: Auburn at Alabama
What did Barner think about all the buzz that he was trending away from Georgia? He broke that down last month with DawgNation.
The junior safety makes game-changing plays in all three phases of the game as an all-purpose RB and a kick returner. He’s electric every time he’s around the football and that’s not something that happens with every 5-star recruit.
Georgia offered him before his freshman year back in the summer of 2024.
He was also a big fan of the debut of UGA’s new all-white uniform variant.
“I thought the all-white uniforms were tough,” he said. “They looked clean and seeing them with the whole stadium in white made the atmosphere even crazier. It was definitely a cool experience to be there for it.”
Check out his junior highlights so far below:
