good luck

2019 5* OLB Owen Pappoe, 6' 0.5", 209 lbs. from Grayson High School in Loganville, GA verbally committed to Auburn this evening:

Btw, UGA flipping him isn't out of the question in the next 7.5 months (i.e., by early NSD). Recall these UGA commitments/decommitments from the 2018 recruiting class:

At some point, these 2018 PSAs decommitted from UGA:
1. 5* OLB Adam Anderson - committed to LSU, then flipped back to UGA
2. 4* OT Max Wray - flipped to Ohio State
3. 4* WR Elijah Moore - flipped to Ole Miss
4. 4* WDE Caleb Tannor - flipped to Nebraska
5. 3* S Aaron Brule - flipped to Mississippi State
6. 3* WDE Jaevon Becton - flipped to Virginia Tech
7. 3* S Rachad Wildgoose, Jr. - flipped to Wisconsin
8. 3* ILB Donovan Georges - flipped to Florida International

At some point, these 2018 PSAs decommitted from other Power-5 FBS programs, then flipped to UGA:
1. 5* OLB Adam Anderson - flipped from LSU
2. 5* SDE Brenton Cox - flipped from Ohio State
3. 5* QB Justin Fields - flipped from Penn State
4. 5* OT Cade Mays - flipped from Tennessee (and his dad was a former All-SEC OL for the Vols)
5. 4* OLB Quay Walker - flipped from Alabama
6. 4* OLB Otis Reese - flipped from Michigan
7. 4* CB Divaad Wilson - flipped from Florida
8. 4* RB James Cook - flipped from FSU
9. 4* TE Luke Ford - flipped from Arkansas
10. 4* CB Nadab Joseph - flipped from LSU

At the end of the day, things worked out quite well for UGA as they landed their first consensus #1 recruiting class in FBS (and broke Alabama's 7-year streak).

I have watched the kid a lot, he is very talented and congrats to AU for now-but if you have followed his recruiting at all, he has been all over the board. Most thought he was going to UT for a long time, then it was Clemson, then it moved to UGA, and then out of blue here comes AU. I mean I think about this time last year or early last fall his final three were UGA, Clem, and Nebraska. He recently visited LSU and Texas. He committed yesterday but is saying he is still taking visits.

Grayson has a stacked team this year with 9-10 kids already committed, none to UGA. But when you think about it, how many Grayson kids have had big impacts in college or even pro ball. Wayne Gallman is probably the best of bunch-yes I know Nkemdiche was a 1st round pick but he has done little in the pros. This is not to say this group of rising SR's will not produce great players on the college and pro level, but so far it has been more misses than hits with these kids.

Yea I get that whole flip at the last minute thing, I just find it hard to see why anyone would want to go to that dumpster fire over on the plains. But hey these are 17/18 year old kids. Good luck to him where ever he ends up

Bigdawg007 said:

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Yea I get that whole flip at the last minute thing, I just find it hard to see why anyone would want to go to that dumpster fire over on the plains. But hey these are 17/18 year old kids. Good luck to him where ever he ends up

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Perhaps recency bias in that Auburn won the 2010 BCS National Championship then also appeared in the 2013 BCS National Championship. Fwiw, until UGA won the SEC Championship 6 months ago, the Dawgs were largely irrelevant to impressionable recruits (i.e., they were in preschool when the Dawgs last won the conference title).

Regardless, the Auburn-Georgia dynamic has been an interesting one. For one thing, the football and men's basketball matchups have epitomized a rivalry:

• Football: UGA leads the all-time series 58-56-8 in the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry
• Men's Basketball: UGA leads the all-time series 94-93

Moreover, the coaching parallels have been striking: for example, Ralph "Shug" Jordan coached at both schools; UGA All-American OL Pat Dye became Auburn's Head Football Coach while Auburn QB Vince Dooley became UGA's Head Football Coach; similarly, Auburn 3-sport athlete Erskine "Erk" Russell became UGA's legendary DC.

While I used to respect the rivalry, it's been tainted over the years:

• Auburn hosing down UGA fans in 1986
• UF QB Cam Newton dismissed in 2008 for stealing a laptop, then transferring to Auburn after his father solicited his son's services for $180K
• DT Nick Fairley cheap shot hits on UGA QB Aaron Murray in 2010
• CB/QB Nick Marshall transferring to Auburn after having been dismissed from UGA in 2012 for stealing from a teammate (LS Nate Theus)
• S Tray Marshall transferring to Auburn after having been dismissed from UGA in 2014 following his arrest on 3 counts of theft

Fwiw, the Tigers been able to snag some elite talent over the years from Georgia (while UGA has found it extremely difficult to lure elite talent from Alabama):

• 2019: 5* OLB Owen Pappoe (non-binding verbal commitment) from Loganville, GA
• 2016: 5* DT Derrick Brown from Buford, GA
• 2009: 4* TE Phillip Lutzenkirchen from Marietta, GA
• 2007: 4* QB Cam Newton from Atlanta, GA
• 2001: DL Jay Ratliff from Valdosta, GA
• 2000: 4* RB Ronnie Brown from Cartersville, GA
• 1995: LB Takeo Spikes from Sandersville, GA (Parade Magazine & USA Today All-American)

AU will always grab some elite talent from GA, I mean it is like Clemson in that it is basically right on the border of our state-which means it is a great place to go if you don't go to UGA for a lot of students and athletes alike. It allows you to be away from home, but yet still pretty close to home.

It was interesting that OP said the AU wins over UGA followed by Bama swayed him to think about AU?? But I guess he missed that UGA then thumped AU in a more important game-the SEC title, and then AU got flat out embarrassed in the Peach Bowl by Central Florida-which was embarrassing for the entire SEC btw, and CF even proclaimed themselves the national champs!!

Also interesting to read the comments of the Grayson recruiting coordinator, Kenyatta Watson SR. The guy has recruited kids to Grayson and also serves as a mentor to kids trying to get scholarships. Read the AJC article by Jeff Sentell for full info but he has a feeling OP flips. I would take whatever he says with a grain of salt, but I actually agree that a flip could happen especially if AU has an average season while UGA has another great one. But, from reading from these Grayson kids, they tend to want to go where they have more chance to play right away-maybe not a believer in hard work (Kirby might have been making a dig when he tweeted congrats to our draft picks and made a comment about hard work). I live in the area close to GHS and that school has been loaded in talent for many years-they have won two state titles, part of that has been some coaching decisions in my opinion but part of it has been the attitude of the players. They won a state title Nkemdiche's JR year, then had an early exit his SR year, they won a state title with all the transfers two years ago, then exited last year in the second round-despite having a loaded roster. This year, they will have maybe 15 or so Power 5 signees but the jury is out on how far they will go-they SHOULD win it all or at least play for it this year.