Inside The Knights

How Georgia High School Football Supplements UCF's Florida Recruiting

UCF football needs balance to reach its recruiting goals. The state of Georgia helps to provide that balance, and here’s a closer look at how that comes to fruition.

Brian Smith

How Georgia High School Football Supplements UCF's Florida Recruiting
How Georgia High School Football Supplements UCF's Florida Recruiting /

Each year, UCF football recruiting will possess different needs. It could be cornerback, it could be offensive tackle, it could be any one position or combination of positions. When there are definitive needs, it’s best for the UCF coaching staff to keep as many options open as possible, and that’s where recruiting beyond the state of Florida borders comes into play.

The Knights already landed quarterback Thomas Castellanos and wide receiver Tyler Griffin from Georgia, and they will likely be joined by at least a few more Georgia prospects within the class of 2022. There’s talent across Georgia, and it’s necessary to go and find it, from South Georgia and past Atlanta, it’s a loaded state for high school football.

While driving through Georgia, there’s a reason to stop and scout in towns like Thomasville, Ga., as the following article describes each prospect from yesterday’s evaluations:

Thomasville, Ga. Prospects Shine

The UCF coaching staff and recruiting administrative staff hold many ties to South Georgia and the Thomasville area, and that is also why driving through the Albany, Ga. area to see prospects, as well as Warner Robins, Ga. and so on and so forth, needs to be done. UCF is going to hit these areas for top-notch prospects each year that Head Coach Gus Malzahn is in Orlando.

In fact, one of UCF’s top tight end prospects, Tyrus Washington, plays for Leesburg (Ga.) Lee County. It’s one of Georgia’s top 6A programs, and it’s just north of Albany, Ga. He visited UCF already (June 11) and will announce his decision on the 7th of July.

Washington is a playmaker and one that could contribute early to the UCF program. He’s also a microcosm of what UCF needs: a balanced recruiting geographical approach, which certainly transpired to date under Coach Malzahn’s watch.

As the scout trip heads towards Atlanta, Ga., there will be many 2022 prospects that UCF scouted and/or offered to date, as well as underclassmen, too. Take a look at this young man. Does he look like he’s a high school freshman to you?

That’s a video of defensive end Alexander “TA” Cunningham, a class of 2024 prospect from John’s Creek High School on the north edge of Atlanta, while he competed at the Atlanta Under Armour combine earlier this spring.

Yes, the video above was Cunningham, all 6’6”, 265-pounds of him. Unfortunately for high school offensive tackles, Cunningham has three more years of high school before heading off to some lucky college football program fortunate enough to land his services. He’s one of the young men that every college program will be after, UCF as well.

UCF will be going after prospects like Cunningham and many others like him, within the state of Georgia, as it battles some of college football’s traditional powers for top prospects. The UCF staff holds no fear about recruiting against any program. Georgia consistently produces talent that programs from across the nation come after and for good reason.

How Many Georgia Prospects Should UCF Attempt to Sign?

There’s no specific number, but it could range any place from three to eight per year, as a guess. As noted above, there will be different recruiting needs each year. The UCF staff will adjust accordingly.

More importantly, it’s not the number of prospects signed from Georgia, it’s the positions that Georgia typically produces that’s most important for the Knights. UCF needs to bolster its defensive depth chart with more speed and more size. Georgia could be a key to adding those types of athletes to the UCF roster.

Defensive Talent Galore in the Peach State

It’s incredible the number of big-time defensive players, especially defensive linemen, that Georgia produces. More specifically, it’s about mass. A 6’5”, 250-pound defensive end is all but commonplace in Georgia, and then there are several other top-notch defensive players that come from Georgia.

Per capita, few states will rival the Peach State for defensive prospects, defensive linemen in particular. What’s in the water? That’s a common running joke amongst recruiting analysts and Georgia high school coaches. 

As an example, the scouting road trip will hit a suburban Atlanta town with a talent-filled roster on Monday. It’s Ellenton (Ga.) Cedar Grove, a 3A program that constantly produces Division I prospects. Just in the class of 2022, Cedar Grove has at least six Division I prospects -- with two of them being defensive lineman -- that can play at just about any college program.

The class of 2023 for Cedar Grove is not much different. There are at least four prospects with offers to date. One of those prospects would be Everett Roussaw, a linebacker with an offer from UCF. Inside The Knights will be interviewing Roussaw on Monday.

Final Thoughts

As UCF navigates through its first full recruiting class under the direction of Coach Malzahn, just keep in mind that there’s ample reason to recruit outside the state of Florida. The Knights will always hit Florida first, but as the scouting road trip will show all week long, there’s a bunch of talent in Georgia and Alabama that could very well end up playing football for UCF one day.

Recent Articles

Prospect Evaluations: Thomasville, Ga. Prospects Shine During Day One of Scouting Tour

Scouting Trip Begins: Inside The Knights Hitting Georgia, Alabama and Florida

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You will find me on Twitter @fbscout_florida and @UCF_FanNation

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Brian Smith
BRIAN SMITH

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