Nation's No. 1 defensive end, 5-star Samuel M’Pemba, commits to Georgia

The Georgia Bulldogs have landed the verbal commitment of five-star prospect Samuel M’Pemba.

M’Pemba is the No. 5 ranked player in the nation for the Class of 2023. M’Pemba is the top-ranked edge defender in the country.

Georgia outside linebacker coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe played a big factor in the recruitment of M’Pemba. Uzo-Diribe bolstered the IMG standout’s relationship with the University of Georgia after getting hired onto Kirby Smart’s staff last year. Dan Lanning had been M’Pemba’s main recruiter before his departure for Oregon, so landing a coach to whom M’Pemba could relate was important.

An immensely talented prospect originally from St. Louis, Missouri, M’Pemba stands 6-foot-4, weighs in at north of 250 pounds, and has excellent length and athleticism. M’Pemba played a lot of tight end early on in his high school career. Programs like Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Notre Dame, Oregon, and Tennessee all made it clear before M’Pemba’s junior year that they saw him as a difference maker at defensive end or outside linebacker at the college level—a difference maker with an NFL upside.

Finding a coaching staff that preached NFL development and promised to push a player for greatness was the defining factor for M’Pemba in his recruitment.

“If you're one of the best players, then you're going to get money at some point,” M’Pemba said. “Development, academics, and culture are more important to me, honestly. Coach Smart's message, and I feel the exact same way, is that you shouldn't be worried about a couple thousand here and there. There is a much bigger picture if you are an elite player."

Georgia hosted M'Pemba on multiple visits. M’Pemba was in town for G-Day in the spring of 2022. The five-star had a three-day unofficial visit in June that was during the week and allowed for a lot of quality time with the coaching staff. Finally, the culmination was the official visit that M’Pemba took the weekend of the Tennessee game in Athens.

With the addition of M’Pemba to the 2023 class, Georgia now has twenty-two commitments and vaults to No. 2 in the team rankings. M’Pemba will now focus on helping recruit his IMG teammate and 2024 defensive back Ellis Robinson and a potential future edge defender counterpart in the Class of 2023 in Venice, Florida, standout Damon Wilson.