Here is the June 30 edition of The Daily Recap presented by JFQ Lending.
Insider notes
Trent Smallwood wrote up some insider notes from those in attendance of David Pollack’s charity golf tournament. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart and some of the players, including quarterback JT Daniels, took part in the event.
Smallwood had some interesting tidbits on Daniels as he enters his second year and first full season as the program’s starting quarterback.
In addition, Smallwood got some information on how Georgia was able to land receiver Arik Gilbert after he entered the transfer portal.
“The three schools that had a shot at Gilbert about a week out from him making his decision were actually Georgia, LSU, and Georgia Tech. Yes, Gilbert wanted to be close to home, and being in the Calvin Johnson type role, the big fish in the smaller pond was intriguing,” Smallwood wrote. “However, when Kirby Smart and Georgia spoke with the Gilbert family and made clear their vision for him as an X receiver and not a tight end, and also the support system the young man would have around him, the deal was done. That was probably three days before he arrived on campus and announced. LSU tried all the way until the day of the announcement to get Gilbert to return to campus with players from Georgia offering to drive him back, but ultimately their efforts failed.”
The notes on Daniels will brighten up any Georgia fan’s day. But since this was posted on the UGASports Vault, they are for subscribers only. If you haven’t subscribed yet, please do so today!
Who leads for Shaw?
Adam Gorney and Adam Friedman offered their opinions on if North Carolina now leads for five-star defensive tackle Travis Shaw (Grimsley/Greensboro, N.C.).
Gorney doesn’t believe the Tar Heels lead at this point. Friedman, however, does.
"I’ll believe it when I see it,” Gorney wrote. “North Carolina is doing a fantastic job recruiting Travis Shaw and the Tar Heels are very much right at the top with Clemson for Shaw’s services but to say they lead, I’m not sure about that just yet. Especially if Shaw waits to make his decision until later in the recruiting process, Clemson still has a lot of time to seemingly make up some ground and Georgia cannot be counted out yet either. If North Carolina lands the five-star defensive lineman, I wouldn’t be shocked. But I’ll never count Clemson out especially for a local prospect and one who has been so interested in the Tigers before.”
"Longtime favorite Clemson seems to have lost momentum in the days since Shaw's visit for the ‘Elite Retreat’ three weekends ago,” Friedman wrote. “Georgia and North Carolina have hosted him on consecutive weekends since his trip to Clemson and both trips have really impressed Shaw and his family. At this point, the sheer number of times Shaw has been to Chapel Hill combined with the momentum the Tar Heels have picked up from his time on campus this weekend points to North Carolina leading at the moment. There is no set decision timeline but since naming his top four earlier this month, Shaw’s recruitment has sped up dramatically. A commitment could come at any time but he isn't afraid to wait to make sure he is picking the right school.”
Luckie updates his recruitment
Tight end Lawson Luckie (Norcross/Norcross, Ga.) spoke with Blayne Gilmer about where things stand with his recruitment. Luckie said that Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken and tight ends coach Todd Hartley have made it clear he is a priority in the class of 2023.
"Yes sir. They make it clear they want me, they aren't pressing or anything, but it's clear," Luckie said. "The message is just that I have to be ready to compete if I come in, because I would already be coming with someone in my class to compete with. If I decide to do that, I've got to come in ready to work."
Scouting Kentucky
Anthony Dasher spoke with CatsIllustrated.com’s Justin Rowland about how Kentucky looks entering the 2021 season. Rowland was asked about the Wildcats’ ongoing quarterback competition.
“If I had to make a prediction, I'd say that Penn State transfer Will Levis is the most likely to win the starting job. He was not in for the spring but is in Lexington now. He's apparently a very smart guy who picks up on things quickly. He played for James Franklin in Happy Valley for the last three years, most recently as their backup quarterback. At Penn State, Levis was first a fullback kind of option at quarterback, mostly a physical inside runner in spot duty situations. He eventually got to play a couple of full games, and there were some ups and downs. He didn't do anything especially bad in those games, but he didn't make a lot of incredible throws either. There were a lot of inside runs and quick passes or check downs.
“Having said that, Levis has some off-the-charts arm talent qualities, and his viral practice videos are a testament to that. He has a real cannon. The question is, can he put it together and do it in a game?
“Joey Gatewood apparently had a strong spring and was improved from his first year in Lexington. UGA fans saw him overwhelmed against the Bulldogs last year. The game hadn't slowed down for him.
“It should be either Gatewood or Levis, and I'm betting on the latter, because Coen basically handpicked him upon taking the job.”
Baseball: Kenny signs extension
Georgia pitching coach Sean Kenny signed a three-year extension with the program, sources told Dasher. Kenny’s name recently popped up as a possible addition to staffs at LSU and Texas A&M.
However, Kenny’s preference was to remain in Athens.
Despite dealing with numerous injuries, Georgia’s pitchers held opponents to a .226 batting average and totaled 570 strikeouts. Both of those marks rank second best in program history.
Academic Players of the Week
Jere Morehead’s additional role
Outside the Vent
The teams that shined during a wild June.
Rivals100 prospect Enai White discussed his Ohio State visit.
Twenty-nine more men accused a former Ohio State doctor of sexual abuse.
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