Georgia RB commitment from Macon County makes telling recruiting decision
Georgia running back commit Noah Parker was at the Nike Opening in Atlanta on Saturday, where he mentioned a key step in his recruiting.
He had been thinking about taking official visits to Auburn and Georgia Tech.
However, a conversation with Georgia changed his thinking.
“I think I am going to shut my recruitment down,” Parker said. “I had two schools that I was going to take OVs to and visit. But after that conversation, it really made me change my mind.”
Running backs coach Josh Crawford and Parker had a heart-to-heart.
“We talked for a minute and he just basically explained a lot from his point of view as a coach,” Parker said.
It was an honest conversation.
“I wouldn’t say he was pretty hot,” Parker said. “But he didn’t like it. He was just saying I was one of the first RBs to commit. He let me commit. I feel like it was pretty big because I am in Georgia. I am an in-state guy and for them to approve me to commit as a running back, I feel like that was big.”
“Just from him talking about it, he was pretty passionate about it. He doesn’t want me to leave. He doesn’t want me to go anywhere else. He wants me to stay home in Georgia.”
Parker stressed the overall development in Athens as the prime reason why he likes the program.
“They are going to get you to the pros, but you are also going to be a better young man,” he said. “They teach everything. Not just football. Life, too. I just want to be a better person and an elite player.”
The 3-star is ranked as the nation’s No. 52 running back and the No. 710 overall recruit on the 247Sports Composite.
Parker plays for Class A Macon County, which replaced its head coach this season with Westside-Macon’s longtime coach Sheddrick Risper.
There has been some online speculation that Parker might be on the move for his senior season. Parker doesn’t have set plans, he said.
On Saturday, he also had a lot of thoughts about recent 5-star running back commit Kemon Spell.
“He’s a Dawg,” Parker said.
Parker brought up the possibility that Georgia will lose three running backs (Chauncey Bowens, Nate Frazier and recent Kentucky transfer Dante Dowdell) to the NFL from Crawford’s room after the 2026 season.
With that in mind, Parker had been working on 4-star Prince Avenue Christian’s Andrew Beard for the class. Those chances have dimmed a bit with Spell’s big commitment and Beard recently saying Tennessee and Florida were his top schools.
At the Nike Opening, Parker checked in at 5 feet, 9 inches tall and 205 pounds. He clocked a laser time of 4.7 seconds in the 40.
“I don’t know what was going on with the laser time, but I do run faster than a 4.7,” he said.
About the Author
Jeff Sentell covers UGA football and recruiting. He is a graduate of UGA's Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and has been a staff writer at news outlets in Alabama, Georgia and Virginia. Prior to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he was at The Birmingham News and AL.com. He was named the 2005 Georgia Press Association Sportswriter of the Year.
