Good morning, everyone, and happy Wednesday! It’s Olivia, again, filling in for Sarah this week!
We’re going to switch it up today, starting with some football.
I wanted to share this article DawgNation’s Jeff Sentell wrote about 5-star commit Jaxon Dollar. The story details Dollar’s commitment, highlighting the moment he fell for Georgia football.
Enjoy!
The ‘This is me’ moment Jaxon Dollar fell for Georgia football
The aforementioned story:
There’s a lot of focus (and fan angst) at the moment about the elite players that Georgia hasn’t won the recruiting battles for of late. That list continues to grow.
How ‘bout a deeper read on an elite target that the Dawgs did win the head-to-head with Miami and Notre Dame for? That’s 5-star TE Jaxon Dollar.
He’s the rare prospect that had to think a minute to answer accurately whether he’s scored more touchdowns or had more dunks in a single game before.
For the record, he caught four touchdown passes in a game last fall. He also had six dunks in a basketball game during his junior season.
That’s pretty rare for a 6-foot-4-plus and 233-pound rising senior.
Dollar just spent last week shredding some of the best secondary prospects in the country at Nike’s Opening event in Oregon. He was named the “Alpha” for Day 1, and his name popped as one of the consensus standout players at the showcase event.
He’s coming to Georgia. He’s known that for sure since early April and hasn’t wavered in that. The 5-star actually felt a real pull to commit to the G way back in November.
5-star tight end prospect Jaxon Dollar committed to UGA on April 30. He's one of the two 5-star commits for the Bulldogs in the Class of 2027, along with running back Kemon Spell. (Courtesy)
5-star tight end prospect Jaxon Dollar (second from right) committed to UGA on April 30. (Courtesy)
5-star tight end prospect Jaxon Dollar was at Sanford Stadium for G-Day in April. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)
Tracking Georgia baseball’s transfer portal haul
Now, let’s go back to some baseball. The transfer portal officially closed Tuesday night with one more Bulldog entering his name.
Georgia also gained a commitment, bringing its total to 12 in this cycle. The Bulldogs still have the top-ranked class, according to 64 Analytics.
Based on the season prediction by Brad Crawford of CBS Sports, the Bulldogs will be in a spot to do so once again.
In predicting every SEC’s team record for the 2026 season, Crawford had the Bulldogs going 11-1 and 8-1 in conference games.
That mark would put the Bulldogs back in the SEC championship game.
“Sparkling wins over Oklahoma, Alabama and Ole Miss would give the Bulldogs every ingredient the selection committee values in a top-five CFP (College Football Playoff) seed,” Crawford wrote. “You know that Georgia has that matchup with the Rebels circled after what happened in last year’s quarterfinal down in New Orleans. With an 11-win finish, the Bulldogs would own one of the nation’s strongest résumés — likely with multiple wins over ranked opponents — a convincing strength of schedule and enough road-tested credibility to outweigh a single surprising blemish.”
The loss on the schedule, according to Crawford, won’t come against 2025 CFP participants Oklahoma, Alabama or Ole Miss.
Crawford has the Nov. 21 game at South Carolina as the game the Bulldogs would drop. Per Crawford’s South Carolina predictions, the Gamecocks would enter that game with a 5-5 record.
What is Georgia football’s record against South Carolina since coach Kirby Smart took over?
Answer at the bottom of the newsletter.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart (left) congratulates defensive back Deandre Baker after Baker stopped South Carolina to take over on downs during the fourth quarter of a November 2017 game in Athens. (Curtis Compton/AJC)
Georgia wide receiver Dillon Bell (center) scores a touchdown against South Carolina in September 2023 in Athens. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)
Georgia and South Carolina, pictured in a 2022 game, play this season on Nov. 21 at South Carolina. (Tony Walsh/UGA)
The 2 player comps that show why Georgia football wants Adryan Cole
Diving back into some recruiting, we’ll turn to another article written by Sentell. This one highlights 4-star safety Adryan Cole:
Georgia currently has 17 commitments. The Bulldogs probably won’t get to 24 or 25 signees in this cycle. There’s not much meat left on the bone for the 2027 class.
Cole, a 4-star safety from Douglas County, could very well be the highest-rated prospect left in the class that stands a strong chance of choosing UGA. (The other would be 4-star Alabama DL Karlos May.)
If that’s not enough to get the ears perked up about Cole’s value, he plays defensive back. As odd as it might seem to read this, Smart’s program does not have a single DB commitment for this class yet.
Cole is now also the highest-rated prospect in the state of Georgia this cycle who has yet to lock down his college choice. He’s the No. 15 prospect in Georgia this year.
If he chose UGA, he’d be just the third commitment for the program among the state’s 15 highest-rated prospects.
That’s a lot to consider here with Cole, but we’ve succeeded up to this point in sharing just the periphery of why Cole is one of the few remaining vital targets for the class.
He’s considering the Dawgs heavily, along with schools like LSU and Ole Miss. The 4-star has a public commitment date set for July 18. His commitment should go private long before it goes public if it hasn’t already.
How much could he help UGA? A lot. The things that stand out about Cole are described best by Douglas County coach Johnny White.
When he thinks of Cole, he thinks of SEC legend Eric Berry. White coached Berry in high school 20 years ago when he was at Creekside.
