(photo from James Cook / Twitter)
Today on Bulldawg Illustrated’s UGA recruiting daily we take a look at Georgia’s running back recruiting.
With James Cook and Zamir White currently committed, it looks like UGA is probably done with it’s running back recruiting for 2018. There have been questions regarding how White has been doing since tearing his ACL in a playoff game versus Seventy-First, which he did not he had done so at the time, and there are some concerns with James Cook after he took an official visit to Florida State over the weekend; so, we’ll look in on both top-three 2018 tailbacks before featuring three 2019 prospects.
TODAY’S FEATURED PROSPECTS
If position ranking is noted, unless otherwise stated, it is 247 Sports latest composite ranking of the player.
JAMES COOK
CLASS: 2018
POSITION: No. 3 RB
HT, WT: 5 foot 11.5, and 191 lbs
SCHOOL: Miami-Central High School
CITY, STATE: Miami, FL
STATUS: COMMITTED to UGA on 10/26/2017
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on 01/17/2016.
# OFFERS: 20
NEWS & NOTES: James Cook chose to verbally commit to Georgia over Florida State and Louisville along with 18 other FBS programs back in October about a month after taking an official visit to UGA on Sept. 23rd. He had been committed to the Seminoles at one point but de-committed back on July 4th to reopen up his recruitment process. So does Cook remain a solid verbal to the Bulldogs?
He did take an official to FSU over the weekend starting on Friday, Dec. 15th, but this is not a surprise as Cook had 2 or 3 official visits left that he could take. As with Justin Fields, Cook is one of the top running backs (No. 3) and prospects (No. 31 player overall) in the 2018 class; so, until he signs his LOI or is enrolled at Georgia, other programs are going to continue to recruit him and try to flip him from the Bulldogs. While it is not impossible for that to happen, the chances are slim to none.
With senior Georiga tailbacks Nick Chubb and Sony Michel graduating and heading to the NFL Draft, the depth chart in Athens will be wide open for a recruit of Cook’s talent to come in and compete for immediate playing time, even with talent on the roster like Brian Herrien, Elijah Holyfield, and D’Andre Swift.
Cook did get an in-home visit from Dell McGee back on November 30th in the first week of the contact period that runs through Saturday, Dec. 16th. He plans on signing during the early signing period but won’t be able to enroll early. The U.S. Army All-American selection also said that he wanted to help bring a national championship to Athens in a recent interview with USA Today High School Sports”
” ‘I want to be a freshman All-American,’ Cook said, ‘and help bring a national championship to Athens.’ “
2017 SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
ZAMIR WHITE
CLASS: 2018
POSITION: No. 1 RB
HT, WT: 5 foot 11.5, and 221 lbs
SCHOOL: Scotland High School
CITY, STATE: Laurinburg, NC
STATUS: COMMITTED to UGA on 06/26/2017
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on 03/06/2015.
# OFFERS: 24
NEWS & NOTES: After favoring Georgia for a good part of his recruiting process, Zamir ‘The Zeus’ White committed to the Bulldogs over the summer on June 26th. The No. 1 RB in the country for the class of 2018 looked the part as a senior. In 11 games for Scotland High School, White has rushed for 2,086 yards and 34 touchdowns on just 148 carries, averaging an eye-popping 14.10 yards per carry.
Unfortunately, White unknowingly tore his ACL in Scotland High’s Nov. 17th playoff game versus Seventy-First after he took a helmet to the knee. The Fighting Scots’ coaching staff held him out of the second half just as a precaution even though White said he was fine and was not limping on the knee. He visited Georgia on Nov. 18th for the Bulldogs final home game of the season versus Kentucky and had an MRI that diagnosed his injury as an ACL tear. He returned to Athens and had successful surgery to repair his injured knee.
In his four years at Scotland High School, Zamir White rushed for 7,169 yards and 119 touchdowns on 738 carries in 47 games, averaging 9.7 yards per carry. He also had 303 receiving yards and six touchdown catches along with two kickoff returns for touchdowns. ‘Zeus’ still plans to sign during the early signing period between Dec. 20-22 and to also enroll early in January.
2017 GAME vs. SEVENTY-FIRST – CLICK HERE
2017 SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2017 EARLY SEASON HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 JUNIOR SEASON HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
NOAH CAIN
CLASS: 2019
POSITION: No. 2 RB
HT, WT: 5 foot 11, and 207 lbs
SCHOOL: IMG Academy, Bradenton, FL
CITY, STATE: From Guyer High School, Denton, TX
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on 03/03/2017.
# OFFERS: 23
NEWS & NOTES: Noah Cain received an offer from Georgia back in the spring on March 3rd and the IMG Academy running back keeps piling up more offers. So far, he has over 23 FBS scholarship offers. Cain visited the Bulldogs back in March on the 6th, and he then camped and visited at UGA on June 15th. Cain is one of the top running backs in the 2019 class, and his recruitment is wide open at the moment.
2017 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS- CLICK HERE
2016 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 FRESHMAN HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
QUAVARIS CROUCH
CLASS: 2019
POSITION: No. 3 RB
HT, WT: 6 foot 1.5, and 224 lbs
SCHOOL: Harding University High School
CITY, STATE: Charlotte, NC
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on 11/4/2016.
# OFFERS: 15
NEWS & NOTES: Quavaris Crouch is another very talented RB out of the state of North Carolina. UGA offered THE Harding University High School phenom last fall on November 4th. Like 2018 RB Zamir White, Crouch already looks the part of an SEC tailback as a junior in high school at 6 foot 1.5 and 224 lbs.
He has taken several visits this fall. On Sept. 9th, he was at Clemson, and then on Sept. 16th, South Carolina. On Oct. 5th he visited NC State, and then was at Florida on Oct. 7th. He was back in Columbia to visit South Carolina on Nov. 25th.
2017 JUNIOR HIGHLIGHTS- CLICK HERE
2016 SOPHOMORE HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
RONALD THOMPKINS, JR.
CLASS: 2019
POSITION: RB / WR – No. 27 Athlete
HT, WT: 5 foot 11.5, and 190 lbs
SCHOOL: Grayson High School
CITY, STATE: Loganville, GA
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on March 25th.
# OFFERS: 12
NEWS & NOTES: Ronald Thompkins Jr. was offered back in March and then visited UGA for G-Day on 04/22/2017. He committed to Florida State on May 9th but then de-committed from the Seminoles on Sept. 24th after taking back-to-back visits to Georgia on Sept. 16th and the 23rd. So, is UGA in play here?
It is an interesting development as the Bulldogs have the No. 1 and No. 3 running backs in Zamir White and James Cook committed for 2018. With Thompkins being a 2019 prospect, they very well could take a player like Thompkins as he has the potential to play at either RB or WR, and as we have seen, the Dogs have done a good job of spreading carries around to their tailbacks. He was back in Athens on Nov. 18th for Georgia’s final home game of the season versus Kentucky.
2017 JUNIOR SEASON HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 SOPHOMORE SEASON HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 FRESHMAN SEASON HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE