ATLANTA - It may have been a long time coming, and the worst kept secret in the world of recruiting, but the No. 9 player in the nation, Jamaree Salyer, is now a Bulldog.

The five-star guard out of Atlanta’s Pace Academy High School announced his decision during a signing ceremony at Sports and Social in the Battery complex of northwest Atlanta.

Georgia’s success in the 2017 season played a key role in Salyer's decision.

“I just want to see them win," Salyer said in July. "They had a good season in 2016, but they lost a lot of close games. I want to see them finish games a little more.”

Once the wins began to come, Salyer was quick to notice.

"Obviously, they’re rolling, and the defense is playing out of this world,” Salyer told UGASports.com in October. “This is the kind of improvement any recruit or any hometown fan wants to see. That’s always been a critique about Georgia, that they can’t win the big games. They’ve got a couple of big W’s right now.”

Salyer, a 6-foot-4, 305-pound lineman, has been the nation’s No. 1 guard and a five-star prospect since the release of the 2018 Rivals.com rankings. Georgia now has commitments from three of the top ten players in the nation. The Bulldogs could close the day with five of the nation's top 15 prospects.

Slayer's former teammates and current Georgia freshmen Andrew Thomas and Trey Blount were also factors in Wednesday’s decision.

"Me and Andrew have been great friends since seventh grade, so it will be a unique experience for me getting to see him play at Georgia," Salyer told Rivals.com’s Chad Simmons in September. "Seeing someone I am so close to play college football is really exciting. I feel good about Trey Blount too, but me and Andrew just have known each other and played beside each other for a long time. Me knowing I am a senior and how this process will go very fast for me makes Andrew doing what he has done very big for me. It is something exciting and something I am paying attention to."

More to come.