For months, seemingly everyone made a guess on where he’d sign. But when the time came, five-star inside linebacker Nakobe Dean of Horn Lake (Miss.) High School cast his lot with the Georgia Bulldogs.
In the early afternoon of the first day of the Early Signing Period, Dean made it official, live on ESPNU, choosing Georgia over the likes of Alabama, LSU, and even nearby Ole Miss, where his brother, Nikolas, is a freshman tight end.
Dean, who entered today one of nine uncommitted players in Rivals’ top 20 prospect rankings, had mentioned “the coaches and competitiveness” as what attracted him the most to Georgia.
"[My decision] will basically be how I feel and how comfortable I am with the school, the coaches, and things like that,” Dean recently told Rivals.com’s Chad Simmons. “How my mother feels is important too, and that will play into it. But it will mainly be about my feelings toward the school.”
In helping Horn Lake become 6A state champions this season—the Eagles football program’s initial state title—Dean totaled 127 tackles, including 20 for loss, six sacks, and three interceptions. He also appeared on the offensive side of the ball, rushing for over 200 yards and nine touchdowns.
At 6-foot-0, 215 pounds, Dean is the type of linebacker who’s seen much success in Georgia’s defensive system during the Kirby Smart coaching era. Similar to Roquan Smith, the No. 8 pick in the latest NFL Draft, and Monty Rice, the Bulldogs’ No. 2 tackler this season despite missing four games, Dean is a smaller, quicker inside linebacker. He has the ability to play sideline-to-sideline while routinely applying big hits to opposing ball-carriers.
The weekend of the Bulldogs’ game against Auburn five weeks ago, Dean and his family left his official visit to Athens with a positive taste, creating some momentum in Georgia's favor. Just three days following an official visit to LSU on December 7, Smart paid Dean an in-home visitation—a visit from the head coach which apparently won over the No. 19 overall prospect in the 2019 class.
“[The in-home visit] was great. Coach Smart talked about how I could come and what an impact I could have for the university,” Dean informed UGASports.com last week. “[What makes Georgia unique] is the coaches. It’s a little different at Georgia, a little more of a homey feel. It’s a little different.”
Dean becomes only the fifth Mississippi high-schooler to sign with Georgia during the Rivals era (beginning in 2002)—and following Marquis Elmore in 2002, just the Bulldogs’ second five-star linebacker signee.
More to come.
