When people think of their school’s incoming recruits, most point to February’s National Signing day, which is, for the most part (though some recruits wait until after Signing Day to sign their letters of intent), the day on which a school’s class becomes official. Over the last few years, however, a new trend has developed, as more and more recruits are graduating high school in December in order to enroll in college a semester early. And while some have been critical of this trend, there is no question it gives the recruits a valuable head start and a better shot at contributing right away.
This year, the University of Georgia had three recruits enroll early. Buford offensive lineman Dallas Lee, Oconee County quarterback Zach Mettenberger and Tampa Plant quarterback Aaron Murray have all already enrolled in classes at Georgia. Interestingly, with the recent departure of quarterback Matthew Stafford, both Mettenberger and Murray have the chance to play a valuable role for the ‘Dogs this year, whether it is in a starting role or as Joe Cox’s backup.
In other relevant Georgia recruiting news, the Bulldogs seem to be looking better and better with Lowndes cornerback Greg Reid. After decommitting from the University of Florida almost two weeks ago, Reid has scheduled visits to four schools, including both Georgia and the University of Florida. He already visited Florida State last weekend and had great things to say about the ‘Noles:
“They need corners, and they have the best defensive backs coach in the world, Mickey Andrews. Of course, Florida State is in my head, that kind of thing is normal right after a visit.”
Georgia, however, has been recruiting Reid aggressively of late and has to be considered a very possible destination for the do-it-all athlete. He has plans to visit Athens on January 30th after taking in Mississippi State on the 23rd and the University of Florida on the 16th.
With Reid’s recruitment, one thing is for sure: playing time and depth chart will play a huge factor in the end. When asked if he watched the Gators, his former team of choice, in the National Championship game, here is what Reid had to say: “I saw them out there, and I came away knowing they return a freshman and a sophomore as their starting cornerbacks.”
One last note on Reid. Rivals.com updated their rankings database today and Reid was one of the big movers. Thanks mostly to his excellent performance at the Under Armour All-America Game, Reid moved from outside of the nation’s Top 100 all the way up to No. 27. He also earned another star, becoming one of only 33 five-star recruits nationally.
Janovitz can be reached at sjanovitz@scoreatl.com.
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