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UGASports Notebook: Who's Solid, Who's Not?

UGASports Notebook: Who's Solid, Who's Not?
td.yspwidearticlebody { font-size: 13.5px; }By Chad Simmons, Recruiting Analyst – Rivals.com

Just because a program gets off to a hot start in recruiting does not mean it is smooth sailing from there on out with those committed. The University of Georgia has put together one of the top classes in the country when looking at who is verbally committed, but are all nine one-hundred percent committed to the Dawgs?
Verbal commitments are non-binding and more than one prospect on the commitment list has been looking at other schools at one time or another.
Nothing in recruiting is final until the letter of intent is signed and faxed on National Signing Day every February. Verbal commitments from a prospect is just giving a school and the coach your word, but that word is sometimes broken.
Just because Georgia has nine verbal commitments on their list does not mean the Bulldog coaching staff can rest easy and not recruit those prospects any longer. Other schools will still recruit them and Georgia will have to do the same. Sometimes when a prospect commits, then schools will just turn up the heat and recruit him even harder. If the player lets those other schools know that he is one-hundred percent, then the majority of the schools will back off, but others will continue to pursue.
The Bulldogs have landed a number of top recruits in the class of 2008 already and three were named to the Rivals.com Junior All-American team. Those three (Green, Samuel, and Tyson) appear to be as solid as anyone on Georgia's list of commitments. Right now we will break down the nine Bulldog commitments and let you know who we feel is solid and who we feel isn't at this stage.
Who is Solid?
Brandon Boykin
The Skinny: Boykin picked up early offers from Duke, Ole Miss, and Georgia before giving Georgia his verbal commitment. He is still receiving attention from the likes of Auburn, Florida, and other programs across the South, but he is solid with Georgia at this time.
The day he committed he said he was about 90-percent, but after the NIKE Camp in Athens he said he was 100-percent. Getting a taste of Athens, what is what like to be on those practice fields in front of the Bulldog staff just let him know that Georgia was definitely where he wanted to be.
A.J. Green
The Skinny: Green is one of the top players in the country at any position and he was named to the Rivals All-American Team early in 2007. He had early offers from basically every major program including Michigan, Florida State, Tennessee, Florida, LSU, Clemson, South Carolina, and Auburn before committing to Georgia last fall.
Many thought he would be one to worry about because of his talent, but he has continued to say Georgia is where he wants to be and he has not wavered at all yet. Many schools will continue to pursue Green through signing day, but at this time he has given us no reason to doubt his verbal to the Dawgs.
Richard Samuel
The Skinny: Samuel is another commitment on the Rivals All-American team and he had offers from the likes of Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Clemson, and others before committing to Georgia in January. Samuel knew where he wanted to go and as soon as his mom visited Athens and gave him the support, then he quickly became a Bulldog.
Samuel has let other schools know that he will be signing with Georgia early and that is not interested in any other school. He may only be 16 years old, but he is a very mature young man that has a lot of support in family and coaches at Cass High School. Samuel is all but signed with UGA already.
DeAngelo Tyson
The Skinny: Tyson started reeling in offers early last fall when Georgia Tech, Tennessee, and Georgia offered. The offers did not stop there as schools like Florida, South Carolina, N.C. State, and FSU tried to jump in the race. Even schools like Southern Cal and Oklahoma were calling the coaches at Statesboro asking if they would be wasting their time offering Tyson.
That question was answered pretty early this year when Tyson committed to the home-state Bulldogs. He had been leaning that way very heavily for a while and he has been solid since he committed. Schools are still showing interest, but Tyson plans on signing with the Dawgs next February. He is an early enroll possibility as well.
Blair Walsh
The Skinny: Walsh is a kicker out of South Florida and the Dawgs made him a target early in the process. UGA knew they needed a place kicker in this class and they felt Walsh was one of the best. Georgia extended an offer to Walsh and then he and his family visited Athens shortly there after.
The weekend the Walsh family visited UGA for the first time unofficially is when he gave the Dawgs his verbal commitment. Since that time he has been back to Athens twice and his commitment gets stronger everyday. He had an offer from West Virginia at the time he committed, but he has since picked up offers from Central Florida and Maryland. He will sign with UGA next February.
Cornelius Washington
The Skinny: Washington attended Georgia's camp last summer and showed he was an elite athlete. His first impression was a big one when he ran a 4.51 in the forty-yard dash at 6-4, 225-pounds. He went on to be a force off the edge during one on ones and UGA offered him that afternoon. Washington wasted no time thinking about the offer and committed to Georgia on the spot.
Since that time Washington has gotten a lot of mail and calls from schools around the country, but he is solid with Georgia. He said he doesn't even open the mail to see if schools offered or not and that he is set on Georgia. Coach Fabris has really built a great relationship here and Washington is not going to waver. He said from day one that he was a man of his word and he has shown that so far.
Who is Not?
The players in this group are the prospects that appear to not be one-hundred percent because they have showed some kind of interest in another school after committing to UGA.
Dwayne Allen
The Skinny: Allen had early offers from schools like Clemson, North Carolina, N.C. State, Georgia and others before deciding to commit to the Bulldogs late in 2007. He really likes the way Georgia uses the tight end, he loves the coaching staff, and he felt Georgia was the place for him.
Since that time other schools have offers like Florida, FSU, Tennessee and on top of that he is feeling pressure from the in-state schools. He has visited Chapel Hill for the UNC spring game and he has been in contact with coaches from other schools, but has recently appeared to be back solid to Georgia.
Will he stick with Georgia? In the end we expect Allen to stay true to his commitment and sign with the Dawgs. We think his love for UGA, Coach Richt, and the opportunity he has in Athens at tight end will be too much for any other program to overcome.
Bacarri Rambo
The Skinny: Rambo is another small town (Donalsonville, Ga.) athlete that Georgia found first. They were the first school to offer Rambo and that happened up in Athens at a junior day. Rambo told Coach Richt that weekend that Georgia is where he wanted to be and gave the Bulldog head coach a verbal commitment.
Shortly after that Rambo realized that he may want to look at a few other schools before totally committing to UGA and he has done that. He has been to FSU already and a number of school including FSU, Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Louisville have offered him. He is still a soft commitment to Georgia.
Will he stick with Georgia? Rambo could very easily be under the solid commitment list if you ask us. He may look around a little and have fun with all the attention he is getting, but we feel very confident at this time that he will sign with Georgia next February. Both he and his father have said Georgia is the school for them.
Martin Ward
The Skinny: Ward picked up his first offer early last fall and it was from the University of Georgia. Georgia offered and Ward thought about committing early and eventually did in December. He always said he might look at other schools a little if they came after him and that is what he is doing now.
Since committing to Georgia, schools like Clemson, Florida, and South Carolina have offered this running back. Ward has talked to Clemson and Florida to see what they have to offer. Other schools are giving him something to think about right now and he may give them a look to make sure of his decision to attend UGA.
Will he stick with Georgia? Ward has constantly said Georgia just makes him feel at home and that is the biggest reason why he chose to commit to Georgia so early. Ward may be tempted by the other schools, but we think Ward remains signs with Georgia in the end. He is the one to really keep an eye on out of this group because he may want to see what the process is like and take a few visits like Brand.
Notes: When a program picks up as many high profile commitments so early in the process, then they have to work even harder to hang on to them through signing day at times. Other schools step up their recruiting to try to turn prospects away and sometimes it causes the commits to waver.
That has happened with a handful of Georgia commitments, but Georgia appears to be the team to beat for all ten commitments. That team to beat is almost what a verbal commitment means because other schools do not stop recruiting them and a verbal commitment in non-binding. Nothing is official in recruiting until the letter of intent is signed and faxed to the University.
National Signing Day 2008 is on Wednesday February 6, so stay tuned.

Updated on Friday, May 11, 2007 8:00 am EDT