Recruiting Recap: A December to Remember for Georgia

It was a December to remember for the Georgia Bulldogs, and we’re not just talking about the SEC or Peach Bowl Championship wins.

The Early Signing Period brought plenty of action on the recruiting front, as expected, and there were a couple of pieces that fell into place even before that.

While you’re still trying to lower your blood pressure from that semifinal win, take some time to reflect on a month that will set the tone for the Dawg teams of the future for years to come.

M’Pemba starts it off right for Georgia

Five-stars have a way of setting a tone, and that was certainly the case with Samuel M’Pemba in December.

It wasn’t as if there were major concerns about this one, mind you.

But with the likes of Florida, Miami, and Tennessee also involved, you can’t take these sorts of things for granted. Georgia didn’t.

The Bulldogs kept their foot to the floor for M’Pemba’s services, and that persistence was rewarded in the form of a pledge and eventual signature from one of the elite athletes in the 2023 class.

M’Pemba’s ceiling is sizable, and his focusing on one side of the ball, something he’s done little of throughout his career to this point, should allow him to make the most of it.

The Dawgs are betting on him being the future of the pass rush, and given the early reports from the Under Armour All-American Game, he’s going to come in with the frame for it.

Development will be key, but the tools are more than there.

A quick flip

M’Pemba’s news was followed quickly by a bit of an unexpected addition, with On300 four-star offensive tackle Jamal Meriweather making an abrupt about-face on the Monday following.

The one-time UCF commit spurned Gus Malzahn and the Golden Knights to stick in-state and hope he’s the next great out of Brunswick.

A mountain of a man at 6-foot-6, 285-pounds, Meriweather has the size and some nice film to show for his high school efforts.

It was a late add that bolstered the offensive front in a big way, and Stacy Searels had to be smiling about that.

Then the floods came

The vast majority of Georgia’s class was signed and in before lunch on the Early Signing Period, and the Dawgs were spared any real mishaps or late switches.

Lawson Luckie stuck with his commitment after strong pushes from top programs, and everything else commit list-wise was pretty quiet.

And the additions were multiple.

Four-star cornerback Daniel Harris resisted the lure of the Nittany Lions to find himself back on the list and ultimately inked with the team he’d long been committed to.

Athlete Kyron Jones, who’d projected to running back as an NC State commit, backed away from his pledge and chose the Bulldogs and the opportunity to play defensive back in the SEC.

Crown jewel Damon Wilson wasted no time letting the world know where he was headed in an abrupt commitment ceremony on ESPN, giving Georgia another five-star prospect on the EDGE, its top-rated commit of the cycle, and ending one of the most watched battles of the 2023 cycle.

Jordan Hall waited a day longer to let the world know his intentions, but he didn’t pull any trickery. The long-projected-to-Georgia defensive lineman followed through on the long speculation and gave the Bulldogs one of the top big men in the country.

For the underclassmen, it really couldn’t have gone any better.

But upperclassmen had their moment, too.

The Thursday before Christmas brought a couple of early gifts for the Bulldogs, as Mississippi State transfer wide receiver Rara Thomas AND Missouri transfer wide receiver Dominic Lovett both pledged their services to keeping the offensive high flying in Athens.

Overall for Georgia…

How could you ask for more?

Sure, Duce Robinson bumping up his decision would’ve felt nice, especially as the Dawgs feel well-positioned moving in February. Maybe a late change of heart by Justice Haynes could’ve been a cherry on top.

But, in the end?

Georgia came out of the major Signing Period without any wounds and a couple of nice surprises.

December was kind to the Dawgs on the field and on the recruiting trail.

January means getting back into 2023 film for any remaining late bloomers, turning the heat up on Robinson, pouring in heavily on the junior class, and, oh, working on a game plan for the National Championship.

Safe to say, it’s a good time in the Classic City for all involved, and December of 2022 should help to keep it that way for some time.