Spring is here! Myself and
@LanceMcCurley have put together a war room of sorts ahead of a busy spring both for the team and for the recruiting staff. Let's get to it:
UGA trending for South Florida receiver?
Georgia has been prioritizing
Joshua Moore for a while. He’s a guy who has flown under the radar a bit in terms of getting a lot of publicity, but the Bulldogs want him badly.
The
James Coley hire could be big here. Hailing from Pembroke Pines, Florida, Moore is just the type of South Florida prospect that Coley could resonate with. He’s among the first prospects Coley made sure to contact once he took the job.
Moore will be back in Athens on March 28. He will then take an official visit June 21-23. The Bulldogs are in a good spot right now and have a shot to take full control of this recruitment in the coming weeks.
Other receivers to know
Of course, Moore would just be one receiver. That still leaves two or three spots open in the class.
The departure of
Bryan McClendon hurt
Travis Smith Jr. You could see it in his face when we spoke to him at the Under Armour camp. But I think the Bulldogs have done a good job of weathering the storm since the transition and now are in a good place to re-establish themselves as the favorite. As Lance reported on Twitter earlier today, we’re expecting Smith in Athens for the first day of spring practice.
CJ Wiley is another guy Georgia seems to be in good position with. A huge body out of Milton, he’s been on campus a ton. The
Terrence Edwards connection (Edwards formerly being an assistant at Milton) doesn’t hurt either.
Two prospects from up north to watch are
Talyn Taylor and
Eugene Hilton Jr. Taylor has made multiple unofficial visits to Athens and will be back March 23. He too was one of the first prospects contacted by Coley after the hire. Coley also has the connection with Hilton through his father, former NFL player TY Hilton who Coley recruited at Florida International. Some sources have indicated to UGASports that Georgia might have climbed into the pole position already in Hilton's recruitment. Hilton will make his first visit to Athens this week.
That’s five guys that Georgia seems to be
at least among the top two or three schools for at this point. Landing three of those would be a pretty strong class in my opinion.
Pair of Bos?
Could Georgia land two Bos in one position in one class?
Georgia already has
Bo Walker committed at running back.
Bo Jackson, meanwhile, is a relatively new entrant to the fray. Georgia offered in January and then hosted Jackson for his first visit to campus the first weekend in February.
Josh Crawford will get a shot to impress Jackson when he visits on April 6. Another recruiter here is assistant receivers coach
CJ Germany, who like Jackson hails from Cleveland.
We’re hearing that Georgia is in a strong position in Jackson’s recruitment right now. We’ll see if Crawford, Germany, and company can hold that position as spring visits progress.
Opinion on Justus Terry
Justus Terry visited Florida State over the weekend. Other schools, mainly Alabama, haven’t given up their pursuit either.
At this time, though, we think it’ll be very tough to pry Terry out of Athens. We’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth a refresher in the wake of the visit.
Terry trains with the same guy who trained
Travon Walker. Who better to constantly hammer home Georgia’s development than a guy whose pupil went No. 1 in the NFL Draft?
Terry is also just a Georgia guy. He committed early for a reason. His dad is a big Georgia fan. Manchester, as those who are from around there could confirm, seems to be big Georgia territory.
The five-star is doing his due diligence, as he should. But right now I’d be surprised if he’s not in the class.
Quarterback dominoes
I’ll touch more on visits later, but this week is an interesting one on the quarterback visit front.
Julian Lewis is expected to return to Athens on March 14. The all-world 2025 prospect has seen just about all there is to see in Athens, but he’ll get another shot to see how Georgia’s practices work. The new offensive coaches will introduce themselves as well, I’m sure.
Ryan Montgomery is then expected back in town this weekend. That’s the first of his spring visits, as Montgomery will also visit Florida and South Carolina in the coming weeks.
We don’t have a date for it yet, but
Matt Zollers will visit this spring as well. He recently told Adam Friedman he plans to visit each of his finalists - Georgia, Missouri, Penn State, and Pitt - before committing.
How will this all shake out? Your guess is as good as mine.
Nobody is in better position to flip Lewis from USC than Georgia. That much seems clear. He's been on campus at Georgia way more times than any other school. Personally, I’m having a hard time talking myself into this being a recruitment that Georgia wins. We all know there’s a lot going on with that one. On the other hand, some sources believe the Bulldogs can and will do what it takes to get this done.
I don’t
think Georgia leads for Zollers. I think they
could lead for Montgomery if they went all in, but to be quite honest if it hasn’t happened by now I don’t think it will. I believe Montgomery will end up at either Florida or South Carolina. I’m sure Georgia would try to flip him if he ends up there and UGA misses on both Lewis and Zollers, but by then it very well could be too little, too late.
Todd Hartley is prepared
Georgia has two tight ends committed for 2025,
Ethan Barbour and
Elyiss Williams.
Barbour looks to be rock solid right now. Williams, on the other hand, has been a frequent guest on other campuses. Florida State and Miami are just two of the schools at the top of the list trying to pry him out of Athens.
Todd Hartley is prepared for a potential Williams flip. He has expressed to recruits that a spot could end up opening in the class.
Who could potentially fill that second spot?
Bear Tenney is a name to know as a guy Georgia has offered and who has made a long-distance unofficial trip to campus. Hartley even visited him at his school this winter. Tenney could be off the board soon, but he has told UGASports that he will continue to keep UGA as an option even if he’s committed elsewhere.
Rabun Gap’s
Marshall Pritchett is a similar case. He has visited Athens multiple times, most recently February 3. Georgia hasn’t offered, but Hartley has maintained the relationship. Pritchett is also scheduled to commit soon, but could be a flip target later on in the cycle.
It wouldn't shock me either to see camp offers go out to another tight end or two as the spring and summer rolls on.
Busy visit week upcoming
Georgia is wasting no time getting some top talent on campus to see spring practice.
As mentioned above, we’re expecting
Travis Smith to be at Tuesday’s practice. The list of names for March 14 includes the aforementioned Lewis, receivers Hilton and
Vernell Brown, edge
Hezekiah Harris (2026), linebacker
Tyler Atkinson (2026), and a few others.
The stars really roll in, however, this weekend.
Among the expected visitors are
Darrell Johnson,
Sam Turner,
Mason Short,
David Sanders,
Bryce Davis, and
Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng. More names will be added throughout the week (we’ll post the full list later). As Georgia begins its quest to return to college football’s mountaintop, there will be plenty of talented future stars in town to witness the Bulldogs’ mindset.
NOTES FROM LANCE MCCURLEY
This week is going to be huge for Georgia football with many prospects making visits. Carrollton (GA) five-star quarterback
JuJu Lewis is the top target on Thursday, with Westlake (GA) four-star wide receiver
Travis Smith Jr. and four-star offensive lineman
Juan Gaston coming Tuesday.
I think Georgia has momentum with Smith after talking with him on Sunday. He loves the hires of
James Coley and
Josh Crawford, who was a big reason why Georgia Tech was in his top eight. I think the Bulldogs are also gaining traction with Lewis and getting him back on campus is huge.
Milton (GA) four-star wide receiver
CJ Wiley is another name to watch. He is going to be in town on Thursday as well with Lewis. Wiley is very low-key but a super-talented wideout in this 2025 class. Wiley told me on Sunday that he’s looking forward to meeting Coley after he was hired a month ago.
After seeing 2025 offensive lineman
Ziyare Addison in person, I came away amazed. He’s got a lot of size, speed, and athleticism. Georgia is very much in the mix for the four-star offensive tackle. Georgia was the first team he mentioned to me the other day. He will be back on campus soon.
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