Tag: four-star

Gators on a recruiting streak, land commitment from four-star WR Marcus Burke

Tthe Florida Gators’ 2021 recruiting class grew to 21 on Monday with the addition of Jacksonville four-star wide receiver Marcus Burke.

Just two days after adding their 20th member, the Florida Gators’ 2021 recruiting class grew to 21 on Monday with the addition of Jacksonville four-star wide receiver Marcus Burke.

A product of the private Trinity Christian Academy, Burke chose the Gators over the Georgia Bulldogs and Penn State Nittany Lions. Despite his verbal pledge, he does plan to visit Athens and State College once the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) lifts their coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions.

Kirby Smart’s program is worth keeping on eye here, as the Bulldogs have made Burke one of their top targets in the cycle, having position coach Cortez Hankton and tight ends coach Todd Hartley speak with him regularly.

His high school teammate, 2023 athlete Treyaun Webb, is a Georgia commit, as well. Webb has three more years of prep football to play, but profiles to play running back at the collegiate level.

The No. 40 wideout in the class and a top-35 player in the state, per the 247Sports Composite, Burke totaled 37 receptions for 831 yards (22.4 avg.) and nine touchdowns for the Conquerors as a junior, including a 99-yard score against the Venice Indians on September 6.

Standing 6-foot-3 and tipping the scales at 180 pounds, he has shown versatility in his game, strong enough to play on the perimeter, but quick enough to work in the slot, too.

Burke becomes the third four-star wide receiver in Florida’s upcoming class – the fourth if you count Seffner athlete Charles Montgomery, who projects to play a hybrid receiver/running back role – joining Ocala’s Trevonte Rucker and Loganville, Georgia’s Daejon Reynolds.

Overall, Burke is the sixth-highest rated pledge in the program’s 2021 collection and the fourth-highest on the offensive side of the football, trailing only Rucker, quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, and Reynolds.

Co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales, who served as Burke’s primary recruiter, is tasked with replacing four of his top-five wide receivers from 2019 this fall but has secured the commitment of some strong reinforcements on the recruiting trail moving forward.

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Wisconsin offers two four-star 2022 wide receivers

Paul Chryst and the Wisconsin Badgers continued their recruiting push yesterday by extending offers to two top wide receivers in the…

Paul Chryst and the Wisconsin Badgers continued their recruiting push yesterday by extending offers to two top wide receivers in the class of 2022, C.J. Williams and Sam M’Bake.

Williams is a four-star prospect from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California and is currently ranked by 247Sports as the 2022’s No. 31 overall prospect, the No. 4 wide receiver and the No. 5 player from his state.

Williams’ other offers include Alabama, Ohio State, Auburn and Arkansas.

The second recruit offered by Chryst, M’Bake, is a four-star recruit out of IMG Academy. The Georgia native is the No. 24 wide receiver prospect in his class and the No. 27-ranked recruit from his state according to 247Sports.

His other offers include Arizona State, Florida, Colorado and Arkansas.

The offensive future looks bright with Graham Mertz and Jalen Berger set to burst onto the scene in the coming years. Were Wisconsin to land one or both of these players they would create an offensive attack to be reckoned with, and one that may finally be able to play toe-to-toe with Ohio State.

4-star Georgia football WR target makes commitment

Four-star Georgia football wide receiver target Arian Smith picks the Dawgs

Four-star wide receiver target Arian Smith has officially committed to the Georgia Bulldogs.

The No. 72 overall player ranked No. 13 in the state of Florida per 247 Sports, Smith chose Georgia over Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma, Auburn and Clemson.

Though the Dawgs were thought to be the favorites in landing Smith after a visit to the Sunshine State last week and an official to Athens over the weekend, this is still a huge sigh of relief.

The Bulldogs pick up some much-needed speed at wide receiver, after losing the talented Isaiah McKenzie in 2016 and Mecole Hardman in 2018 to the NFL Draft.

Oh yeah, this goes without mentioning that Smith was on the 4×100 track team that broke U20 world records for Team USA over the summer with Georgia track signee Matthew Boling.

What a get for the Dawgs!

What does 4-star QB CJ Stroud picking Ohio State over Georgia mean for UGA football?

What does 4-star QB CJ Stroud picking Ohio State over Georgia mean for UGA football?

Four-star quarterback CJ Stroud was the latest Georgia football target to announce his commitment Wednesday afternoon.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t how Coach Kirby Smart and Coach James Coley had hoped the decision would go.

Stroud stuck to his original favorite in Ohio State and will join the Buckeyes in Columbus for the Class of 2020. Now, the Bulldogs must quickly find another quarterback to lead the team next season, unless junior Jake Fromm plans on returning.

With the scenario that Fromm does leave Athens and head to the NFL, the Bulldogs would be left with a shaky situation at quarterback as of right now.

Here’s how the cupboard currently looks without Fromm in it.

  • Stetson Bennett, the redshirt junior, who originally left Georgia to play one year of JUCO ball before transferring elsewhere, but is now back in Athens. Bennett re-signed with the Bulldogs during last year’s early signing period.
  • 2020 four-star quarterback Carson Beck, who signed with the program Wednesday morning.
  • 2019 four-star dual-threat Dwan Mathis, sliding under the radar after surgery to remove a brain cyst this offseason.
  • Former Nevada freshman Austin Kirksey, who will walk on next year in Athens.

Yeah, not exactly the quarterback room the Bulldogs had for a few weeks with Jake Fromm, Jacob Eason and Justin Fields at the end of 2017. But… that’s where the transfer market comes into play.

Potential Georgia targets Jordan Love of Utah State and Joey Gatewood out of Auburn already made their decisions. Love will enter the NFL Draft, while Gatewood has elected to go to Kentucky.

Meanwhile, two options seem to remain high on the lists of Bulldog fans.

  1. Sign Houston transfer D’Eriq King to come in and replace Fromm.
  2. Get former Ole Miss coach Matt Luke to flip John Rhys Plumlee out of Oxford. *(Plumlee has yet to put his name in the transfer portal, so this is beginning to look like a tall task)*

If Plumlee were serious about leaving Ole Miss and coming to Georgia, it probably would have happened already. In addition, it is well-known that coaches of other schools cannot actively recruit players not currently in the portal. With no word on Plumlee leaving Oxford or entering the portal, this is probably a long shot at this point.

Georgia’s most precise options include landing King out of Houston, bringing back Fromm for another season or flipping another unexpected commit Wednesday or in February. Of course, Beck has plenty of talent, but the task of starting the incoming freshman is far from easy.

It would be much more reasonable to bring in a transfer if Fromm leaves and platoon the remaining quarterbacks on the roster to play primarily in 2021.

Make sure to check back with UGA Wire throughout the day as we bring you all the coverage on everything happening around the country in recruiting.