Today on Bulldawg Illustrated’s UGA Recruiting Daily we look at the Bulldog’s defensive front seven recruiting and focus on the rush ends, the weakside defensive ends.
Georgia has three WDEs committed for 2018 so far – Jaevon Becton, Azeez Ojulari, and Caleb Tannor. Both A. Ojulari and C. Tannor are hybrid DE/OLB while J. Becton has the potential to develop into an SDE. There are several highly rated 2018 prospects with Georgia offers that are undeclared, including KJ Henry out of Clemmons, NC and Micah Parson out of Harrisburg, PA, that the Bulldogs could add, and I would not be surprised to see them add at least one more DE/OLB since this is Davin Bellamy’s and Lorenzo Carter’s last season. We will also take a look at 2019 prospect Nolan Smith and the younger brother of Azeez Ojulari, 2020 prospect BJ Ojulari.
TODAY’S FEATURED PROSPECTS
If position ranking is noted, it is 247 Sports latest composite ranking of the player.
KJ HENRY
CLASS: 2018
POSITION: DE/OLB – No. 2 WDE
HT, WT: 6 foot 5.5, and 235 lbs
SCHOOL: West Forsyth High School
CITY, STATE: Clemmons, NC
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on 04/21/2016.
# OFFERS: 29
NEWS & NOTES: Henry was offered by the Bulldogs back in April of 2016 and following a year of recruiting, he listed Georgia in his top-10 on April 5th. Henry camped and visited at UGA on June 4th and June 5th, and then participated in Nike the Opening Finals during the summer. He dropped his top five on July 31st, and the Bulldogs made the cut along with Alabama, Clemson, South Carolina, and VT. Many think Clemson is the team to beat here, but Henry’s recruiting is wide open. Georgia is very much “in it” as far as this recruiting battle goes. He took an official visit on Sept. 23rd to UGA for Mississippi State game and had a great visit. Henry also took an official visit to VT this past weekend and is scheduled to take an official to Clemson next weekend on Oct. 28th.
KJ Henry’s high school, West Forsyth, is a perfect 9-0 on the year and ranked No. 8 in North Carolina’s Class 4A with two games left on their regular season schedules – (3-6) Ronald Reagan on Oct. 27th and (9-0), No. 6 Glenn HS on the road at Kernersville, NC on Nov. 3rd. That road game with Glenn will determine the region champ in Class 4A’s Central Piedmont.
2017 MIDSEASON SENIOR HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2016 JUNIOR SEASON HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2015 SOPHOMORE SEASON HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
MICAH PARSONS
CLASS: 2018
POSITION: DE/OLB – No. 1 WDE
HT, WT: 6 foot 3, and 235 lbs
SCHOOL: Harrisburg High School
CITY, STATE: Harrisburg, PA
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on 12/05/2016.
# OFFERS: 21
NEWS & NOTES: Parsons de-committed from Penn State on April 23rd and a little over a month later put UGA in his top 7 he released on May 26th. As things stand right now, it appears he is leaning towards Ohio State and PSU. Parsons visited Bama on July 16th and Ohio State on July 21st and he took an official visit to the Buckeyes game against Oklahoma on Sept. 9th. Parsons was at Penn State on Sept. 16 for an unofficial visit, and he also took an official to visit Nebraska on Oct. 7th for the Cornhuskers home game against Wisconsin. Parsons plans on taking his third official to Oklahoma on Oct. 28th. Would like to see Georgia get one of his last two official visits if they are to have a chance, but right now, it looks like Penn State is the favorite here.
Henry and Harrisburg High School are undefeated on the year at 8-0 in Mid-Penn – Commonwealth Region with a No. 1 ranking in Class 5A and a No. 4 ranking in the state of Pennsylvania. This weekend, the Cougars are on the road to take on (4-4) Carlisle on Oct. 27th and will close out their regular season at home on Nov. 3rd with (7-1), No. 6 Cumberland Valley.
2016 JUNIOR SEASON HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
2014 FRESHMAN SEASON HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
NOLAN SMITH
CLASS: 2019
POSITION: DE/OLB – No. 3 WDE
HT, WT: 6 foot 3, and 223 lbs
SCHOOL: IMG Academy, Bradenton, FL
CITY, STATE: from Savannah, GA
STATUS: COMMITTED TO UGA 01/29/2017
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on 04/16/2016.
# OFFERS: 9
NEWS & NOTES: Smith was offered last April and to UGA back on Jan. 29th. He visited Georgia for Georgia’s G-Day game on April 22. Over the summer, Smith took part in Nike’s The Opening Finals and stood out as one of the best defensive ends out of the class of 2019. He recently visited UGA for their homecoming game versus Missouri on Oct. 14th. While he is strongly committed to the Bulldogs, the Georgia coaching staff are going to have their work cut out to hold to the talented player from Savannah, GA who is currently enrolled at, attending, and playing football at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL.
And how is Smith’s 2017 junior season at IMG Academy going? While I don’t have stats for IMG’s most recent game from Oct. 20th, a 43-19 win over East HS on the road in Salt Lake City, UT, through 5 games, Smith has 32 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss, and 3 sacks including 8 QB hurries. He also has an interception and has been credited with 2 forced fumbles and recoveries as well as a blocked punt. IMG is 6-0 and ranked the No. 1 team in the state of Florida and the No. 2 team nationally. Next up for Smith and IMG is a home game versus (5-1) Key West HS on Nov. 3rd
NIKE’s 2017 THE OPENING FINALS HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE
BJ OJULARI
CLASS: 2020
POSITION: DE/OLB – No. 2 WDE
HT, WT: 6 foot 4, and 215 lbs
SCHOOL: Marietta High School
CITY, STATE: Marietta, GA
STATUS: Undeclared
UGA OFFER: Yes, offered on May 20th, 2017.
# OFFERS: 9
NEWS & NOTES: The Georgia coaching staff offered the BJ Ojulari on May 20th. He is the yonger brother of current 2018 WDE UGA commit Azeez Ojulari. The talented sophomore already looks like a senior at 6 foot 4 and over 215 lbs. BJ visited UGA back in the spring on April 1st, and he also visited the Bulldogs again with is brother Azeez for the homecoming game versus Missouri on Oct. 14th. Georgia is an early favorite for the younger Ojulari brother.
BJ Ojulari and Marietta high school are are 6-2 on the year after a tough 7-0 loss to North Cobb. The Blue Devils will have a tough road game versus (6-2) McEachern next Friday, Oct. 27th, and the winner could determine the region champions in Region 3, Class 7A.
BJ OJULARI’S HIGHLIGHTS – CLICK HERE