Here’s an update on eight Georgia high school football players with interesting recruiting storylines:
Trent Thompson
High school: Westover
Position: Defensive tackle
Height, weight: 6-foot-4, 290 pounds
Ranking: State’s No. 1 overall prospect, per 247Sports composite rankings
Colleges: Georgia leads Auburn, followed by Florida State, Alabama and Florida.
Inside skinny: Despite being bumped from the top spot by Rivals, Thompson still maintains his stronghold as the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect, per the composite rankings. For such a high-profile recruit, Thompson has maintained a relatively low profile throughout the spring, deleting his Twitter account. UGA has always been Thompson’s leader because it was the first to offer, and he admitted to 247Sports that he almost committed to the Bulldogs twice last year. Thompson likely will ride out his decision until ESPN’s cameras on signing day, with UGA predicted to hold off Auburn. But don’t ever count out Rodney Garner, the former UGA recruiting coordinator who is now Auburn’s defensive line coach. Garner has stolen away elite Georgia recruits such as Montravious Adams, Carl Lawson and Andrew Williams over the past two years. There are also some people around Thompson’s hometown pushing him toward FSU.
Quote: “It just feels different up there (at UGA),” Thompson told AL.com. “I get a different feeling at each school I go to, but when I get to Georgia it just puts a smile on my face. It feels like home.”
Mitch Hyatt
High school: North Gwinnett
Position: Offensive lineman
Height, weight: 6-5, 270
Ranking: State’s No. 2 overall prospect
Colleges: Committed to Clemson in February on signing day because of family connections (his uncle played for the Tigers). Even if Clemson had an unforeseen coaching change, Hyatt is unlikely to change his mind.
Inside skinny: Even though Hyatt had nothing really to prove, he made the risky decision to compete at the Atlanta Nike camp and didn’t perform up to expectations in one-on-one drills. However, the five-star was already so in high in the rankings that it’s unlikely to have much of an impact.
Quote: “There was never any pressure from me (for Mitch) to pick Clemson,” said Hyatt’s uncle, Dan Benish said. “But there has been a brain-washing going on since he was 5 or 6 years old.”
Chuma Edoga
High school: McEachern
Position: Offensive lineman
Height, weight: 6-4, 270
Ranking: State’s No. 3 overall prospect
Colleges: Committed to USC
Inside skinny: It has been a rough year for UGA with recruiting in-state offensive linemen, and the biggest heartbreaker was losing Edoga. However, UGA isn’t completely out of it, as Edoga revealed that he will take official visits to both Georgia and USC in the fall.
Quote: “Georgia said they weren’t going to give up, and they still see me playing in the red and black,” Edoga said.
Preston Williams
High school: Lovejoy
Position: Wide receiver
Height, weight: 6-4, 185
Ranking: State’s No. 5 overall prospect
Colleges: Committed to Tennessee
Inside skinny: Williams is the state’s best wide receiver since Calhoun’s Da’Rick Rogers (who flipped from UGA to Tennessee on signing day) was rated as the state’s No. 1 overall prospect in 2010. Williams pledged early to Tennessee, but has flirted some with UGA and Florida by making unofficial visits to both. Williams recently announced that he is “shutting down” his recruiting, and some of it had to do with his fiancee finalizing plans to enroll at Tennessee for fall semester. But don’t expect other colleges to give up on the freakish talent anytime soon. He won the Class AAAAAA state championship in the long jump with a leap of 24 feet, 2 1/2 inches.
Quote: “Tennessee was my favorite school growing up,” Williams told GoVols247. “When I first went there, I kind of got a good vibe off of it. I feel comfortable there, and it’s somewhere I can play for the next four years.
Terry Godwin
High school: Callaway
Position: Wide receiver
Height, weight: 6-0, 165
Ranking: State’s No. 4 overall prospect
Colleges: The two-way athlete is the highest-ranked prospect in UGA’s 2015 class, committing to the Bulldogs in January.
Inside skinny: The five-star has lived up to the hype, turning in dominating performances at the Atlanta Nike and Rivals camps. UGA fans are a little worried because Godwin has continued to tour other schools and was scheduled to go to both Auburn and Alabama this weekend. Callaway’s offensive coordinator has a brother on Alabama’s coaching staff, but Godwin said that wouldn’t factor into his recruiting.
Quote: “Since I’m committed, I’m 100 percent with UGA right now,” Godwin said. “Nothing will be final until signing day. The recruitment is going all the way down until signing day. Everything will be final on signing day.”
Rashad Roundtree
High school: Lakeside-Evans
Position: Safety
Height, weight: 6-1, 195
Ranking: State’s No. 8 overall prospect
Colleges: Claims no favorites out of 20 offers, including UGA and Georgia Tech.
Inside skinny: The son of Augusta’s sheriff has kept his recruiting almost top secret. UGA appears to be the school to beat, but the Bulldogs will be challenged by Auburn, along with Duke (because it was Roundtree’s first offer). Roundtree has prototype size for safety. Some scouts wondered if he was physical enough, but he seemed to answer the critics at last December’s Elite Junior Classic all-star game. Roundtree was going to name a top five last week, but said he isn’t ready.
Quote: “I’m talking to everyone on the Georgia coaching staff right now. We have a really strong relationship,” Roundtree told UGASports.com. “They’ll call to see how I’m doing and what’s going on in my life. Being so close to home, they’re very aware of what’s going on.
Jonathan Ledbetter
High school: Tucker
Position: Defensive tackle
Height, weight: 6-4, 265
Ranking: State’s No. 9 overall prospect
Colleges: Committed to Alabama
Inside skinny: Ledbetter shocked his mother and his high school coach when he got caught up in the moment during an unofficial visit to Alabama in January and abruptly committed without telling them first. Ledbetter has remained loyal to the Crimson Tide, while checking out other schools such as UGA and Auburn. It will be tough to flip Ledbetter from Alabama, but UGA probably has the best shot. Two of Ledbetter’s former Tucker teammates signed with the Bulldogs this year, and he’s good friends with a few of UGA’s current commits.
Quote: “At first, it was a rash decision (to commit to Alabama),” Ledbetter said. “I’m not having any regrets about it, other than the fact that I didn’t inform my mom what I was doing. I probably should’ve handled that differently.”
Chauncey Rivers
High school: Stephenson
Position: Defensive end
Height, weight: 6-3, 220
Ranking: State’s No. 13 overall prospect
Colleges: Committed to UGA
Inside skinny: Rivers is one of the fastest risers in the rankings after his stellar performance at Nike camp, including his celebrated rematch with North Gwinnett’s Mitch Hyatt. He’s turned out to be better than many recruiting analysts thought, and will have the chance to earn more accolades at Rivals and The Opening All-America camps this summer. Rivers originally committed to South Carolina, but flipped to UGA on February’s Junior Day.
Quote: “Georgia has always been my dream school,” Rivers said. “I’ve always wanted to go to Georgia, and I really like the new defensive coaches that they brought in. “I felt comfortable (with making the switch) after talking to everybody. I wanted to end my recruiting today, so I went ahead and committed.”
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