This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the latest with 3-star Terrence Penick Jr. at South Gwinnett High School. He ranks as the nation’s No. 158 LB and the No. 1733 overall prospect for 2026 on the 247Sports Composite. The Rivals Industry Ranking has him as the No. 140 LB and No. 1515 overall.
There are still stories that surface very late in the process that feel like the way college football recruiting used to go.
South Gwinnett linebacker Terrence Penick Jr. has one of those arcs. The three-year starter was targeted by Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann early on in the process.
It is a testament to Schumann’s work ethic that he watches tape of every in-state LB in the Peach State with an offer. That’s anywhere.
That was especially the case for Penick. He’d been committed to Coastal Carolina since this summer, but was always in the mix for Schumann’s room in Athens.
It largely depended on gaining weight and continuing to shine on tape. When the 6-foot-2 Pennick reached a benchmark of 210 pounds after his senior season, it was enough.
Georgia offered him on Sunday. That meant he had a lot to think and pray about. To outline the pros and cons.
When he chopped it all up, the logical outcome was that he had to be a Dawg. Especially since the Coastal Carolina program he had committed to is now seeking a new head coach.
Why was it Georgia?
“The atmosphere,” Penick said. “It’s just top of the line.”
Schumann said he wanted him for many reasons, but one stood out.
“I honestly believe it was because I started gaining more weight,” Penick Jr. said. “I was more recruitable as a player. That’s always been my number one issue. That was weight gain and not necessarily my skills on the field.”
He said Georgia wants its linebackers in the 220-pound range. At the minimum. He was finally close enough to that benchmark. He’d been to UGA for the Ole Miss, Texas and Charlotte game as an unofficial visitor.
When Schumann offered him this past Sunday, he had fallen asleep. The Georgia DC offered him and he thought for a second he might have been dreaming it.
“It was very unexpected,” Penick Jr. said. “I thought I was still sleeping in all honesty.”
Pennick now becomes the 30th commitment of the 2026 class in Athens. He’s now the third LB for Schumann’s room. He played the “Will,” the “Mike” and as a “Sam” for his team. He largely lined us up as a nickel “Sam” for the Comets.
“I have always been used to it,” Penick Jr. said. “Because I’ve been marked as an athlete my whole life. I was more so used to playing the ‘Sam’ because I was taught to be a DB.”
The offer was a lot for him.
“In all honesty, I don’t think words have to say all that I have to say about the offer,” he said. “It is like a blessing come true. It has been one of my dream schools since I was younger. It is top-of-the-line. The best of both worlds. A great education system, a great school and a great football history.”
“To be able to tie all of those things together in a highest division football conference, the highest division football conference, is just amazing. For them to see me as one of those potential guys, it means the world to me and beyond.”
This was, in all cases, a dream offer. Penick said his 12-year or 13-year-old self would be quite proud of him today.
“He’d be losing his mind,” the 17-year-old Penick Jr. said. “I don’t think he’d believe this situation that he is in right now. Because I don’t even believe it. I’m so thankful.”
The future early enrollee said that 2026 North Gwinnett OL Zach Lewis put in a good word for him after his team faced South Gwinnett. Lewis is now also a member of the 2026 signing class for the Dawgs.
South Gwinnett coach Bryan Lamar was pleased to see Penick’s progress. This was a prospect with a “just okay” tape in his sophomore year. The junior tape was “really good,” and then his senior tape, playing all over the defensive front, was the sort that earns an offer to play for the Dawgs.
“He didn’t have all of the offers that he wanted last spring,” Lamar said. “Or as a sophomore. He wasn’t posting every day that he got an offer from USC or that he had an offer from this school or that school. But at the end of the day, he just stuck with the process and he’s got an opportunity to go to the University of Georgia. One of the best schools in the country. It didn’t happen with everybody’s dream timetable. Everyone wants to be able to post that they have got 50 offers right now.”
“That’s the way everybody wants it, but sometimes you have to grow. Sometimes you have got to develop. ... Terrence just stuck with the process, had a smile on his face every day, took the blessing that he got and was just humble and continued to work and doors continued to open for him. He controlled the things that he could control.”
Check out his senior film below:
Have you seen this week’s “Before the Hedges” weekly recruiting special on YouTube yet? Check it out below.
SENTELL’S INTEL
(Check on the recent reads on Georgia football recruiting)
