Georgia announces numbers from summer enrollees

Georgia has updated its 2023 football roster, and with that, numbers have been announced for the summer enrollees from the Class of 2023. Of the 26 commits, 18 enrolled early and participated in spring practice, leaving just eight to show up at the start of the summer. Those players, and their new numbers, are below:

Troy Bowles – No. 0

As you may know, Bowles father, Todd, is the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So when film from his sophomore and junior seasons made the rounds, teams came calling. Georgia had to battle some heavy hitters to get Bowles in the fold. Rutgers got a few visits from him. Ohio State did as well and Oklahoma went hard after the four-star linebacker.
Clemson, Alabama, Florida, and Auburn also got him on campus but, in the end, Glenn Schumann did the best job of building the relationship. Bowles took multiple trips to Georgia and committed to the Bulldogs a little over a month after his official visit — in July of 2022.

Daniel Harris – No. 15

Georgia offered Harris in February of 2022 and it immediately became a contender. Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State also got heavily into the mix as well. He took official visits to each of those schools. Ohio State and Michigan came before Georgia and Penn State came after.
Harris joined Georgia’s 2023 class in July of 2022, once those four official visits were over. Then, somewhat suddenly, he decided to back off that commitment and open things back up in November. Most thought he would land at Penn State but Georgia continued to recruit him hard and Fran Brown got him back into the fold on the first day of the Early Signing Period. He re-committed and signed that day.

Chris Peal – No. 27

Michigan put up one hell of a fight for the speedy defender. The Wolverines offered him several months before Georgia. They led for part of the process but UGA, after offering him in the spring of 2022, decided to get him on campus early for an official visit.
The Bulldogs made a move with that visit in June but Peal held off on committing. He took his time and made three official visits during the fall. He traveled to N.C. State, South Carolina, and Michigan but none of those schools were able to overtake Fran Brown and company. Georgia got him to commit and shut it down in October.

Kyron Jones – No. 37

There are some layers to this one. Jones was a very successful high school running back with big-time speed and the ability to break tackles. Quite a few formidable programs threw hats into the ring. Notre Dame and Miami went after him. He also got offers to play at Michigan State, Nebraska, Vanderbilt, and Duke.
In fact, if you study his offer list, it’s pretty clear that Jones has a strong track record in the classroom. All of those school offered him as a running back and North Carolina State was the team that got him on the commitment list. That was in October of 2022 but it didn’t last all that long.
Georgia came calling and sold Jones on the idea of playing defensive back. The Bulldogs told him that he could move positions and likely add a number of years to his career seeing as how running back is such a physically demanding position. It was that pitch that got him to flip his commitment from the Wolfpack to Georgia — a little more than a month after the Bulldogs offered.

Kelton Smith – No. 54

Georgia had plenty of competition when it came to landing Smith. Auburn, Florida State, LSU, and Texas A&M all made strong runs at the big man. They all got him on campus and with Auburn so close to Columbus, the Tigers hosted him as much as anyone.
Smith took his official visits in June, getting a long look at the Aggies and Tigers. He also took an unofficial visit to Florida State. But it was the official visit to Georgia on June 10 that stuck out. The Bulldogs got him on the commitment list in July and despite a couple of visits elsewhere, there was never any talk of him wavering.

Bo Hughley – No. 59

The 6-foot-7 tackle committed to the Bulldogs in September of 2021. That was well over a year before he was going to be able to put pen to paper and make it official and other schools knew it. Several programs came hard after the talented tackle.
Auburn tried to make a move late in the process. The Tigers thought they were making some serious headway. But while Hughley was entertaining their advances, he never came close to flipping. He signed with the Georgia on the first day of the early period.

Jamal Meriweather – No. 72

It took a little while for Georgia to extend an offer to the talented tackle. In fact, UCF beat the Bulldogs to the punch by a large margin. Meriweather gave his commitment to the Golden Knights in April of 2022, approximately over six months before Kirby Smart and company came calling.
USC, Tennessee, and others threw a hat in to the ring as well, but Georgia didn’t give him a chance to commit until December. Luckily for the Bulldogs, he wanted to be one pretty bad. Meriweather reserved his spot in the class one day after getting an offer. He flipped from UCF to Georgia a little over a week before he could sign and shut things down. He played at Brunswick High School, the same place as Warren McClendon, where he had a hand in a lot of wins and played on both sides of the ball.

Peyton Woodring – No. 91

There wasn’t much drama with this one. Georgia targeted Woodring early and got him on campus to kick in a camp setting. Alabama did the same but it was the Bulldogs that won out. He committed to Georgia over the summer and didn’t give the Bulldogs any reason to be concerned after that.

A late, walk-on addition out of the transfer portal also arrived this summer. That would be Athens, Ga. native Len’Neth Whitehead. The Tennessee transfer started his career as a linebacker before switching over to the offensive side of the ball where he played running back. Whitehead will wear No. 41 at Georgia.