Here is the June 1 edition of The Daily Recap presented by JFQ Lending.
First chance to impress
Richard Young (Lehigh Acres/Lehigh, Fla.) is the top running back in the class of 2023. And while Young has previously called Alabama his “dream school,” it’s Georgia that is getting the first chance to impress the star player by hosting him for a visit now that players can trek to campuses again.
Jake Reuse wrote that the Bulldogs can be expected to do everything possible to make Young’s visit a memorable one.
“Getting the nation’s No. 1 running back into town is always a big deal, and Young could find himself holding down the spot wire-to-wire given his ability,” Reuse wrote. “What makes this an even more important and intriguing early visit is that Young is wasting no time in getting to Athens. He’s previously called Alabama his ‘dream school’, but with visits set to resume, it’s the Bulldogs who will get the first chance to impress. While he may have named the Tide his dream school, he was also quick to call Georgia ‘RBU’ in the same interview. Expect this recruitment to be highly contested, as the likes of LSU, Ohio State, and Oklahoma are all strongly involved right now. Still, with the ability to set the bar when it comes to visits, expect Georgia to pull out all the stops on June 1 and make Young compare each and every subsequent trip to his first stop.”
Busy June for Haynes
Class of 2023 running back Justice Haynes (Blessed Trinity/Roswell, Ga.) plans to keep himself busy with a healthy number of unofficial visits in the month of June. With players able to visit schools again, Haynes plans to visit Clemson (June 1), Georgia (June 2), Alabama (June 3), Ohio State (June 7), Stanford (June 19), Notre Dame (June 21) and LSU (June 22) over this month.
The son of former UGA running back Verron Haynes, Justice Haynes told Adam Friedman where the Bulldogs stand at this juncture of his recruitment.
“It’s like home for me because my dad went there because my dad went there,” he said. “Coach (Dell) McGee has done a great job recruiting me and we’ve built a great relationship since my freshman year. He’s continued to stay recruiting me hard and telling me how much I mean to him and how much I can help this class.”
Martin’s recruitment is heating up
Class of 2022 four-star prospect Daniel Martin (Marietta/Marietta, Ga.) said Georgia has been among the programs that have shown a high interest in recruiting him. Martin’s other contenders include Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Oregon, Penn State and Vanderbilt.
“I’m going to go to one of their camps when everything opens up again,” Martin said. “I want to show them my defensive back skills. With my weight right now, we don’t know if I’ll play linebacker or safety there.”
Cunningham likes UGA was first to offer
Class of 2024 defensive end Alex Cunningham (Johns Creek/Johns Creek, Ga.) said it meant a lot for Georgia to offer him a scholarship since he’s only played one season of organized football.
“The first school to offer me was Georgia,” Cunningham said. “It just means a lot that they were the first ones to take a chance on a kid that really never played football. This was my first year playing. It’s cool because coach Scott and the whole UGA staff have been showing a lot of love. It’s just really good at keeping a relationship with you rather than just being some coach that offered you. When he first offered me he asked if I could send him a little paragraph about my family back story and a little resume on me and my family.”
Re-ranking the 2013 class
Patrick Garbin continued his series re-ranking the previous UGA recruiting classes. This time, it’s the 2013 class, which ranked 12th in the nation at the time.
The Rivals’ top five, in order, featured defensive back Tray Matthews, linebacker Tim Kimbrough, offensive lineman Brandon Kublanow, defensive end Leonard Floyd and wide receiver Reggie Davis.
With the benefit of hindsight, Garbin ranked the top five, in order, as Floyd, Kublanow, Davin Bellamy, Quincy Mauger and Reggie Carter.
This class featured a staggering 33 players, although the star factor was lacking. The only player to become a star NFL player was Floyd. None of Georgia’s signees in 2013 were five-stars.
Baseball: No invite to the NCAA Tournament
Although it beat LSU in the single-elimination portion of the SEC Tournament, Georgia’s baseball team was left out of the NCAA Tournament.
"I'm really disappointed. I'm disappointed for our players, our program—it was one of those things where I thought we were going to get in over LSU," head coach Scott Stricklin said. "I honestly felt that. We had the same (SEC) record, our RPI and strength of schedule were in the same territory. We beat them head-to-head on a neutral site field, beat their No. 1 starter in what felt like a must-win game. They treated it that way and we did, too, and we won. I feel like, and I'm not alone, other coaches in the league felt it was Georgia, LSU and Alabama."
In addition, North Carolina (47), UC-Santa Barbara (51) and Michigan (88) were all selected with RPIs lower than Georgia’s 41.
Selection chair Jeff Altier said the RPI was not the sole factor in determining which teams received an invite this year.
“That was a tough question for us, and I know the SEC is a tremendous baseball league. The fact that the SEC played outside competition, they played probably more conference games than anyone in the country, so at least we were able to get an assessment of them relative to the people they played,” Altier said. “When we look at the strength of schedule, it helps us understand that with Georgia, specifically. They’re an excellent team; but they struggled at the end of the year; they were 8-15 against tournament field teams; their overall RPI of games they won was a 104. The other teams that got in the field just seemed to have more wins against teams that will be in the tournament.”
Remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice
Visiting today
Also visiting today
Outside the Vent
The top Power Five offenses over the past decade.
A California defensive back is eyeing both SEC and Pac-12 visits.
Takeaways from the spreads already released for Week 1.
About JFQ Lending
JFQ Lending, INC is a residential mortgage company licensed in nearly 40 states across the United States. They already have nearly 3,000 five-star reviews in less than three years, including nearly 1800 on the Better Business Bureau (where they carry an A+ rating, see here: BBB LINK).
Right now, interest rates on a 30 year fixed are under 3%, with 15 year fixed rates in the 1’s. As an exclusive offer, JFQ will cover any appraisal costs AND add an additional $500 credit for all Rivals members.
Here’s how you can reach them:
Website: JFQlending.com
Contact Info: Mcaldwell@jfqlending.com
Phone number: 480-447-6852