Friday Night Notes: Georgia's new 4-star Athlete, Colorado's spring recruiting blitz and more
USA TODAY High School Sports‘ Friday Night Notes is a weekly high school recruiting recap that looks at the latest news from around the country—from the Class of 2024 to ’25 and beyond.
The king stays the king. And right now, the kings of college football are the Georgia Bulldogs, who are dominating the competition both on the field and in the recruiting game. Georgia is coming off their second consecutive national championship as well as putting together the No. 2 ranked recruiting class of 2023. Neither is an accident, especially since they spent about 50% more on recruiting than any other Power 5 program in 2022.
While it’s no guarantee of success, outspending your opponents by a wide margin is a strategy that tends to work more often than it fails. This morning Georgia added another significant asset to their future plans – a piece that can fit in various ways.
Here’s how Swainsboro (Ga.) four-star athlete Demello Jones announced his commitment to the Bulldogs.
COMMITTED ! @Mansell247 @ChadSimmons_ @scottroberts11 @_DwightSmith @n_david88 @Hayesfawcett3 #strapmobb pic.twitter.com/YAURfJzJVT
— 1 † (@TheMelloJones) March 17, 2023
Jones (6-foot-1, 176 pounds) was a popular recruit, getting offers from 27 different programs. According to On3, his top 10 schools were Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Miami, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
Kirby Smart is getting an extremely versatile two-way playmaker in Jones. Last season he ran for 1,279 yards and scored 20 touchdowns on the ground. As a receiver, he totaled 384 yards and seven more scores. He also threw one touchdown pass. Meanwhile, on defense, he posted a sack, two tackles for a loss, a fumble recovery and six pass breakups.
Going by the composite rankings, Jones is the 18th-best athlete in his class and is No. 28 overall in the state. He makes for 10 hard commits in Georgia’s class of 2024, which ranks No. 1 in the nation.