Georgia football hosts 16 official visitors on a big recruiting weekend
With the addition of 3-star DL Waylon Wooten this week, the Georgia football program has eight public commitments for 2027. The goal for this weekend is to get that number up to 10 and also stack up a few more silent commitments for the class.
There are 16 official visitors expected in Athens this weekend. That number will include half of those eight public commitments and a 5-star unofficial visitor. These solid verbal commits will be vital peer-to-peer recruiters for the Bulldogs this weekend.
| Official visitor | Rankings | Resides | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5-star Jaxon Dollar | No. 2 TE/No. 33 | Denver, NC | UGA |
| 4-star Kelsey Adams | No. 11 OT/No. 118 | Fairburn, Ga. | UGA |
| 3-star Noah Parker | No. 61 RB/No. 815 | Montezuma, Ga. | UGA |
| 3-star Temorris Campbell Jr. | No. 72 LB/No. 849 | Opa Locka, Fla. | UGA |
Kemon Spell, the 5-star running back commit, will also be in town on an unofficial visit. He will return next weekend for his official visit. The nation’s No. 1 RB prospect not only anchors this class, but he’s been extremely active behind the scenes working to bring other recruits on board.
Adams is the only verbal who is still entertaining other schools. He’s told DawgNation there’s no clear No. 2 challenger to UGA, but that doesn’t mean the program won’t try to get him to completely shut down his recruitment this weekend.
Campbell committed to UGA earlier this month. Parker has publicly shut down his process. Dollar, one of the two 5-star commits in this class, chose the Bulldogs in April.
Georgia football recruiting: The 12 targets in town
It makes sense to present the table stakes for the weekend and quickly chronicle all 12 OVs.
- Georgia will host 5-star DL Marcus Fakatou on Sunday. The 6-foot-7, 275-pounder is at Ohio State right now, but we’re lumping him in with the weekend. Fakatou, as it stands today, is one of only three 5-star targets who still have an official visit scheduled to UGA. He’s the No. 2 DL prospect in this class.
- Kasi Currie, the nation’s No. 4 DL, plays for the same high school team as Fakatou. Those two present the best chance for Georgia to sign an elite DL target in 2027. Both of these recruitments will be NIL-driven. There are big spending and big developing programs like Notre Dame, Oregon, Ohio State and Texas involved. The Bulldogs are not seen as the team to beat for either DL, but they can alter the trajectory of one of those recruitments with a strong official. These are recruitments the Bulldogs will have to pay for to win. There will be no big Kirby Smart discounts applied here.
- Georgia is set to host only nine official visitors over the next month who are ranked among the nation’s Top 100 recruits. It will host five of those prospects this weekend. That stat best illustrates how times are changing in the NIL and revenue-share era. Did the Bulldogs ever sign all the 5-stars? No. Did they always get the ones they really liked on campus? Yes.
- The Bulldogs have just two defensive commitments for the class. They host two of their biggest defensive targets for the 2027 cycle this weekend. Those are both in-state prospects in 4-star CB Chance Gilbert and 4-star LB Joakim Gouda. Georgia has been the leader or the team to beat for both. There’s no successful outcome for UGA this weekend that does not involve that duo eventually signing. Gilbert told DawgNation earlier this month that UGA was his outright leader.
- The weekend also presents an ideal opportunity to bolster the defensive front. Currie, Fakatou and Gouda aren’t the only top targets. 4-star South Carolina DL Seth Tillman has long had UGA as one of his top schools, if not the outright leader. South Carolina and Michigan continue to push. 3-star North Carolina DL Antwan McKoy has an 84-inch wingspan and size 17 feet. He’s boiled down his recruitment to a UGA vs. South Carolina battle.
- Penn State commit Jamir Dean is the lone flip target. The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder has competed in the Tennessee state championships in the decathlon. He’s a strong high jumper who also cracked the career 1,000-point mark in basketball. The 4-star even ran a 10.69 in the 100. Mix that in with 11 touchdown catches for a state championship team and there’s a lot of juice there. Dean changed out a scheduled Arkansas official to hang in Athens. There’s a lot of buzz around him and the Bulldogs.
- The Bulldogs will also host a pair of in-state WRs in 4-star Sean Green and 3-star Taurean Rawlins. The Bulldogs are in a good place with Rawlins. They are jousting with FSU for Green. There is chatter about Green eventually choosing FSU, but it feels a tad overcooked. Elyiss Williams, his former high school teammate, will host him this weekend. Green told DawgNation that he plans to visit UGA, FSU and Virginia before making a commitment. If the Bulldogs nail down an eventual commitment from two of these three receivers, that would make receivers coach James Coley very happy.
- 4-star DB Davion Jones has the Bulldogs among his final five. He’s already taken an official to Indiana. Auburn, LSU and South Carolina are still to come. He’s the No. 10 safety nationally and as an ideal nickel. Dean is most familiar with South Carolina at this point, but UGA’s NFL development has his attention.
- The chances of 3-star Mississippi tackle DJ Dotson choosing UGA are higher than most think. Lovejoy edge Olayiwola Oreofeoluwa Taiwo is an intriguing eval for first-year edge coach Larry Knight. The Dawgs are battling Rutgers, Kansas, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest for his commitment at this time.
Here’s a full list of all the non-UGA commits in town for the weekend.
| Official visitor | Rankings | Resides | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5-star Marcus Fakatou* | No. 2 DL/No. 32 | Chatsworth, Calif. | None |
| 4-star Kasi Currie | No. 5 DL/No. 55 | Chatsworth, Calif. | None |
| 4-star Chance Gilbert | No. 4 CB/No. 56 | Sharpsburg, Ga. | None |
| 4-star Seth Tillman | No. 15 DL/No. 123 | Rock Hill, SC | None |
| 4-star Davion Jones | No. 10 S/No. 153 | Charlotte, NC | None |
| 4-star Joakim Gouda | No. 14 LB/No. 193 | Powder Springs | None |
| 4-star Sean Green | No. 36 WR/No. 290 | Kingsland | None |
| 4-star Jamir Dean | No. 50 WR/No. 383 | Alcoa, Tenn. | PSU |
| 3-star Antwan McKoy | No. 51 DL/No. 438 | St. Paul’s, NC | None |
| 3-star Taurean Rawlins | No. 58 WR/No. 478 | Sandy Springs | None |
| 3-star DJ Dotson | No. 75 OT/No. 849 | Hattiesburg, Miss. | None |
| 3-star Olayiwola Oreofeoluwa Taiwo | No. 101 EDGE/No. 1330 | Hampton | None |
| *Visit goes from May 31-June 2 |
Optimal scenario: Currie or Fakatou. Dean and Rawlins. Gilbert and Gouda. McKoy and Tillman. Anything else would be gravy.
Likely scenario: The Bulldogs put up a stout effort for both Currie and Fakatou, but eventually tap out of the high-stakes bidding to come later this month. Those term sheets will be pricey. They nail down one of their WR signees this weekend. Dotson, Gilbert, Gouda, Dotson and Taiwo all eventually chose UGA. They eventually win the battle for both McKoy and Tillman.
What has to happen: Gouda and Gilbert are true building blocks. The Dawgs need to make sure they don’t lose either of those two. Currie or Fakatou would be elite, but that doesn’t seem realistic. Signing both McKoy and Tillman would ease the losses there. The Dawgs need to come away from this weekend with at least one of these three major targets at receiver.
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.
