Want to attack every day with the latest Georgia football recruiting info? That’s the Intel. This rep has the latest with the long-awaited and much anticipated first weekend of June for official visits in Athens.
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The first weekend of June is finally here. Georgia is set to host its biggest weekend of official visitors in Kirby Smart’s time as the football coach in Athens.
That means it is the biggest recruiting weekend in Georgia football history.
Reports came back that Smart told the official visitors something along those lines last year at this time. That was when Georgia hosted CJ Allen, Caleb Downs, AJ Harris, Justice Haynes, Arch Manning, Raylen Wilson and Damon Wilson, among others.
That weekend isn’t looked on as fondly as it should have been. While everyone focuses on the players that did not sign that weekend, the final tally offers up a batting average that Ted Williams would appreciate.
Check out the photo from June 2022′s group below:
Georgia’s visitor list from this weekend presented in (mostly) full from left to right: TE Lawson Luckie, WR Raymond Cottrell, QB Arch Manning, S Caleb Downs, EDGE Damon Wilson, RB Justice Haynes, EDGE Gabe Harris, DB Chris Peal, OL TJ Shanahan Jr., LB CJ Allen, CB AJ Harris, TE Pearce Spurlin III, LB Raylen Wilson and WR Jalen Hale.
Instagram, Dawgnation
5-star EDGE Damon Wilson was on an unofficial visit, but the ‘Dawgs closed on eight of the 14 names in that big group photo.
Let’s advance the timeline to the present. The ‘Dawgs have been building toward that same first weekend in June for their mega epic recruiting official visit weekend for the 2024 class.
The fellas in town have known about this week since February and have been locking in their trips.
The first weekend of June 2022 featured four prospects with a 5-star ranking (247Sports Composite scale) and a total of eight prospects that were ranked among the nation’s top 100 recruits.
Smart basically said hold my beverage when it comes to the guest list for this weekend.
The ‘Dawgs will host seven prospects this weekend with a 5-star ranking (247Sports Composite scale), nine prospects that are ranked among the nation’s top 50 recruits and a total of 12 targets rated among the nation’s top 100 recruits.
That’s out of 16 expected official visitors.
This week’s “Before the Hedges” streaming program on DawgNation’s platforms devoted most of the show and two of the weekly “Big Five” topics to the official visit weekend.
The list this weekend is so massive that it makes sense to break it down into two different sample sizes. That’s the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
The defensive group for Georgia this weekend is especially tapped and turnt with a total of five prospects with that elite 5-star ranking expected to be in town. They make up seven of those 12 top 100 recruits expected in town for their officials.
Here’s who is expected to be in town on the defensive side:
| Player | Rankings |
|---|---|
| 5-star DL Williams Nwaneri (Lee’s Summit, Mo.) | No. 1 DL/ No. 3 overall |
| 5-star CB Ellis Robinson IV (Bradenton, Fla.) (UGA COMMIT) | No. 1 CB/ No. 5 overall |
| 5-star EDGE Dylan Stewart (Washington, DC) | No. 2 EDGE/ No. 10 overall |
| 5-star DT Justin Scott (Chicago, Ill) | No. 3 DT/ No. 12 overall |
| 5-star LB Demarcus Riddick (Clanton, Ala.) (UGA COMMIT) | No. 3 LB/ No. 25 overall |
| 4-star S Peyton Woodyard (Bellflower, Calif.) (UGA COMMIT) | No. 4 S/ No. 69 overall |
| 4-star DB DeMello Jones (Swainsboro, Ga.) (UGA COMMIT) | No. 6 S/ No. 84 overall |
| 4-star DT Justin Greene (Lawrenceville, Ga.) | No. 12 DL/ No. 101 overall |
| 4-star LB Joseph Phillips (Tuskegee, Ala.) | No. 9 LB/ No. 122 overall |
That’s the defensive group. Yet the one thing that is expected to be different about this Georgia football recruiting class for the 2024 cycle is the firepower expected to sign on the offensive side of the ball.
This is the class where the Bulldogs stock up the first-round talent on the offensive side of the ball in 2024. Despite this year being a down year for offensive tackles and offensive line prospects in general, the ‘Dawgs look to do just that.
The Bulldogs, who have the nation’s top-ranked class for both the 247Sports Team Composite scale and the On3 Team Rankings, currently have five offensive prospects among their 10 highest-ranking commitments at this time.
That list starts off with 5-star QB Dylan Raiola.
He will be front and center this weekend with all the offensive targets expected in Athens.
| Player | Rankings |
|---|---|
| 5-star QB Dylan Raiola (Phoenix, Ariz.) (UGA commit) | No. 1 QB/ No. 1 overall |
| 5-star WR Ryan Wingo (St. Louis, Mo.) | No. 5 WR/ No. 21 overall |
| 4-star RB Jerrick Gibson (Bradenton, Fla.) | No. 2 RB/ No. 35 overall |
| 4-star WR Ny Carr (Moultrie, Ga.) (UGA commit) | No. 9 WR/ No. 48 overall |
| 4-star OT Daniel Calhoun (Marietta, Ga.) | No. 5 OT/ No. 86 overall |
| 4-star TE Carter Nelson (Ainsworth, Neb.) | No. 8 TE/ No. 119 overall |
| 4-star OT Marques Easley (Kankakee, Ill.) | No. 23 OT / No. 263 overall |
If all of this is not enough recruiting entertainment in Athens, we’ll also see a similar number and star tally of recruits in town for the second weekend in June, too.
The ‘Dawgs are already expecting to host another 11 officials next weekend, including four prospects with 5-star rankings and another six targets ranked among the nation’s top 100 overall recruits.
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of quality recruiting coverage is providing perspective. That’s not only what certain things mean, but how does what UGA is doing compare to the rest of big-boy college football?
The only other comparable list this weekend in terms of recruiting visitors would have to be the one at Clemson. The Tigers continue to do things differently.
Clemson waited until the last day of May to start offering prospects in the 2025 class. The Tigers also only spend one weekend in June on official visits. That’s their unique way of doing things. They are able to draw a lot of elite recruits this week that do maintain a strong interest in Clemson simply because this is the only week that the doors are open in June for official visitors.
Credit them for going their own way. The Tigers place a lot of faith in their brand to still be able to lure in the nation’s elite and it still looks like they can do that.
There are at least 16 official visitors expected to see the Tigers this weekend, including 5-stars KJ Bolden, Mike Matthews Jr., Sammy Brown and Eddrick Houston from the state of Georgia.
Those guys are all major Georgia targets and they make up the four elite 5-star prospects that Clemson is hosting this weekend. The Tigers also have five prospects ranked among the nation’s top 50 overall recruits and six slotted among the nation’s top 100 overall recruits.
There are about six or seven names in Clemson this weekend the ‘Dawgs would love to sign in the 2024 cycle, including priority Texas OL Casey Poe.
According to visit lists maintained by 247Sports and On3, here’s a quick glance at what some of the nation’s other top football programs have going on this weekend.
Most of the prospects listed here are going to be on their official visits this weekend. The month of June is now when the major powers of college football now steer its prospects to come in on officials.
If one wanted to count them up, those other 15 other major powers are hosting a combined total of 10 prospects with a 5-star ranking.
The ‘Dawgs are going to have seven on campus all by themselves this weekend.
(check on the recent reads on DawgNation.com)
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