Recap - Georgia Recruiting Stays Hot as Official Visits Continue

As official visit season continues, the Georgia Bulldogs recruiting continues to land commit after commit.

Kirby Smart and his Georgia Bulldogs had a blast this past weekend, hosting another major official visit and bringing home a former Bulldog. During this visit, Dawgs recruiting stayed hot, flipping a recruit from a rival school and hosting plenty of other current commits who had a chance to do their own recruiting. 

Player-on-player recruiting seems to be a theme from the 2024 class of Georgia. With picking up Chauncey Bowens this visit, Ryan Puglisi, NiTareon "Nitro" Tuggle, Sacovie White, Malachi Toliver, Jaylen Heyward, and Jaden Reddell, who all came in committed to the "G," did their part in making this weekend special.   

Smart pulled out all the stops this weekend. It was more than enough to impress 4-star running back Chauncey Bowens. Bowens is an exceptional athlete and was a Florida Gator commit coming in this weekend. He has much to bring, but it took some work to flip his commitment. Bowens was seen in pictures with Puglisi, Tuggle, Reddell, Toliver, and White during his photo shoot. But what made headlines was Ny Carr's Instagram video that showed Bowens committing to the G. What makes that so interesting is Carr wasn't officially on this visit, so he made sure to come out to meet future teammates and do his own recruiting with Bowens as well. 

Smart also brought in former NFL linebacker and Georgia legend Thomas Davis to speak to the visitors on Friday night as well. In the past two weekends, Smart has had alumni Maria Taylor and Thomas Davis handle the advertising during the first dinner of the weekend. 

Aside from the time Puglisi spent with Smart and his future teammates, he may also get a chance to spend a lot of time with the No. 3 WR from the 2024 class, Mike Matthews. Matthews is an in-state product who is an exceptional slot receiver for Parkview High School. A coveted player, he is a three-sport athlete for the Tigers and has been measured at a 17' 2.5" long jump. The Dawgs want to add more wide receivers to the '24 class, and Matthews would be the perfect recruit. Tennessee is likely the primary threat here. 

Georgia Target KJ Bolden on his Official Visit

A player many defenses would line across Matthews is KJ Bolden. He was in town with his Buford High School teammate, Eddrick Houston. Both 5-star defenders got a chance to spend time in Athens with Georgia commit Jaylen Heyward. Georgia is supposed leader in the Bolden sweepstakes as things near an ending. 

Georgia assistant Jarvis Jones had a chance to allow Houston to dream about his future, meeting an NFL veteran who only backs up how good Georgia is at sending defensive linemen to the NFL. Houston stands at an impressive 6'3", but what may be even more is the rumored seven-foot wingspan he uses to his advantage on the field. You see an impressive ability to extend blockers and explode upfield, just cut on the first play of his highlight reel against Walton High School. Houston is set to commit in August later this year.

Jordan Ross, the No. 5 rated EDGE from Birmingham, Al, joined an elite list of players in Athens this weekend. Ross stands at 6' 5" and weighs in at about 215, an impressive frame for this athlete to mold into an extremely versatile defender for any defense able to nab him. Ross has seen a lot of promise from programs like Alabama, Florida, and Tennessee, but don't count out the Dawgs.

Like Puglisi, Jordan Thomas is a New Jersey prospect that is highly coveted. In recent years, the northeastern U.S. has been known for producing some top DL talents, such as Byran Breese. Thomas is another name people should be adding to that list. Thomas and Houston were the only two true defensive linemen on this visit, so they received plenty of one-on-one time with Tray Scott, which will be good for both prospects, who is known for building great relationships with his recruits. 

Malachi Toliver also spent time with fellow offensive tackles Ethan Calloway and Fletcher Westphal. Calloway is a very impressive OT from Mooresville, NC. A towering 6' 7" 4-star recruit, Calloway is coming to campus for the first time since being offered by Georgia in February. Bordering the state above his, the Virginia native Fletcher Westphal joins Calloway as another uncommitted OT on this visit. Another 6' 7" recruit, both of these recruits will have a special weekend with Toliver and Smart. 

Planting these current commits on visits has paid dividends the past two weekends. Following the official visits, the Dawgs were hot last weekend, picking up a major defensive line commit from Justin Greene. Smart and his staff already picked up one commitment from this visit and are looking to pick up a few more commitments following this impressive weekend of official visits. 

Georgia 2024 Commits:

Dylan Raiola, QB

Ellis Robinson IV, DB

Demarcus Riddick, LB

Jaylen Heyward, S

Ny Carr, WR

Peyton Woodyard, S

Dwight Phillips Jr., RB

NiTareon Tuggle, WR

Malachi Toliver, OT

Demello Jones, S

Sacovie White, ATH

Ryan Puglisi, QB

Jaden Reddell, TE

Justin Greene, DL

Chauncey Bowens, RB