Recruiting Month In Review: What we learned about Georgia on the trail in May (2024)

The first 25 days of May were utilized for one key purpose: Georgia coaches getting out on the recruiting trail to see some of the top targets during spring practice. All of Georgia's on-field assistants had crazy schedules during May, going to various places around the country.

If Georgia is recruiting a guy, especially in the 2025 class, there's a guarantee the Bulldogs swung by to see him in May.

This is the time of year where Georgia coaches can do two things. One, make their presence felt with top recruits by going out to see players and spending some time with their familys. Two, do their final evaluations on recruits to determine what the recruiting board will look like heading into the summer months.

With Georgia coaches on the road, it also meant Dawgs247 was all over Georgia in April to check out some of the best prospects in the state. Just a selection of some of the prospects we saw during that window: Christian Garrett, Zayden Walker, Ousmane Kromah, Jonaz Walton, Damola Ajidahun, Ryan Mosley Zelus Hicks, Dontrell Glover, Cortez Smith, Xavier Griffin, Elyiss Williams, Juan Gaston, Isaiah Gibson, Travis Smith, CJ Wiley, Tavion Wallace, and Todd Robinson. There were more than that, but it tells you how star-studded Georgia'srecruiting options are.

Georgia rarely goes a month without expanding its recruiting class, and May 2024 wasn't an exception.

Early in the month, Calvary Day (Ga.) wide receiver Thomas Blackshear announced he'd be making his college decision between Georgia, Florida State, and Tennessee. Georgia vs.Tennessee was the real battle here down the stretch.

On May 12, Blackshear took to Twitter to announce he was committed to Georgia.

The South Georgia receiver had been recruited heavily by Bryan McClendon. That was his strongest recruiting relationship by a wide margin. When McClendon left for the NFL, that threw a wrench in his recruitment, but James Coley picked up right where McClendon left off. That bond grew over the spring practice visits Blackshear made to Georgia.

Ultimately, when Blackshear was ready to commit, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart jumped in to seal the deal and confirm it.

Why did he choose the Bulldogs?

"The coaches, going down there, getting to know the coaches more when I visited and watching them practice. Talking to Coach Coley and Coach Kirby, that's when I made the decision. It was definitely thecoaching staff.He's really been telling me that I'll be a great wide receiverat Georgia.I remind him of George Pickens a little bit."

Georgia's busy summer of official visits started with the mid-May weekend. That weekend has turned into an opportunity for Georgia to host out-of-state prospects that it maybe isn't the frontrunner to land. It's Georgia's chance to take one final Hail Mary in recruitments that might not be trending in Georgia's direction.

But every now and then, that turns the other way after the weekend. Look at Marcus Harrison and Colton Heinrich from a year ago.

This year, the first four official visitors arrived at Georgia on May 17.

Those four visitors — running back Bo Jackson from Ohio, offensive lineman Ziyare Addison from Florida, wide receiver Phillip Bell from California, and wide receiver Marcus Harris from California. That is probably the order of success that Georgia had during that May 17 official visit weekend.

None of those four guys committed publicly after the weekend, but that's to be expected. Georgia picked up some positive momentum with Jackson and Addison who have a few other official visits to take before making a decision.

Georgia's May 17 official visit weekend doubled as another important recruiting event: the scavenger hunt.

The scavenger hunt has become one of Georgia's unique and star-studded annually recruiting weekend. The idea is for the Bulldogs to host dozens of its top targets for a day of competition and fun. Georgia breaks recruits off by position with the position coaches. They're then led on a campus-wide scavenger hunt that takes them to hot spots on UGA's camp. The goal: to have fun together, but also to learn a little bit more about Georgia's history and culture through some of the stop. Generally, this weekend gets rave reviews from Georgia recruits.

Several Georgia commits were in attendance: offensive lineman Mason Short, tight end Ethan Barbour, and quarterback Jared Curtis.

USC EDGE commit Isaiah Gibson was one of the highest-profile visitors, his first trip to Athens since committing to the Trojans.

The major uncommitted targets: offensive lineman David Sanders, defensive back Trey Mcnu*tt, linebacker Zayden Walker, wide receiver CJ Wiley, wide receiver Travis Smith Jr., defensive lineman Christian Garrett and several.

Every year when you look back at the scavenger hunt weekend, there's a lot of future Bulldogs on the visitors list. That will be the case in the Class of 2025 too.

Before Georgia's wild June official visit season kicked off, Georgia hosted about 100 high school players to Athens to work out for the staff.

Georgia's summer camps are an incredibly useful tool for the Bulldogs. It gives coaches a chance to work directly with players in on-field drills. In the case of 2025 recruits, it also gives them a chance to determine who they want to extend a late offer to, or to bring in on an official visit in June. There were definitely a few prospects who worked their way up the Georgia recruiting board thanks to strong performances at the camp on Thursday.

Last recruiting cycle, 25 of Georgia's 28 signees worked out with the Georgia coaches at some point during their recruitment, in many cases at a camp. It's a lesson to those getting recruited by Georgia: If you can play, your chances of signing with Georgia skyrockets if you put in a little bit of work with the Bulldogs coaches.

There were a handful of offers passed out at that camp, including to a defensive lineman JJ Hanne who scheduled his June official visit shortly after getting offered at camp.

The week everyone has been waiting for has arrived: Georgia's May 31 official visit weekend.

It's now June, and the weekend is ongoing, but it got kicked off on Friday night. Georgia brought in 15official visitors for that weekend:

• 5-star TEElyiss Williams
• 4-star QBRyan Montgomery
• 4-star TEEthan Barbour
• 4-star EDGEDarren Ikinnagbon
• 4-star RBBo Walker
• 5-star LBZayden Walker
• 5-star DLJustus Terry
• 4-star WRTravis Smith Jr.
• 4-star WRTalyn Taylor
• 4-star OLJuan Gaston
• 4-star OLNick Brooks
• 4-star OLMichael Carroll
• 4-star DBLagonza Hayward
• 4-star DLKevin Wynn
• 4-star EDGEIsaiah Gibson

A collection of commitments, uncommitted guys and flip targets make up the Bulldogs' first official visit weekend of what will be a busy next month.