ATHENS, Ga. - “If you build it, they will come.”
Georgia Head Football Coach Kirby Smart tweeted those words Sunday and based on a spectacular day of commitments, the coach never spoke truer words.
The day after Georgia hosted a number of highly ranked high school football players to show off their new locker room, the Bulldogs picked up 3 major commitments Sunday for their 2019 class.
Keeping up with the slogan “Running Back U”, the first player to commit was 5-star running back John Emery Jr. of Destrehan, Louisiana.
Emery, ranked the nation’s No. 2 running back by 247 Sports, picked Georgia over LSU, Mississippi State, Alabama and others.
“110 percent committed,” Emery wrote on his personal Twitter account.
Later in the afternoon, 4-star wide receiver Makiya Tongue of Baton Rouge, Louisiana announced his commitment.
"I want to thank everyone who not only recruited me but supported me this whole entire process and I want to thank my family most of all for being there for me through everything and leaving me to make this decision for myself," Tongue said, via his personal Twitter account. "But after talking with Coach Smart and my family I'm glad to say that I will be committing to the University of Georgia....Go Dawgs."
The third commitment came from 4-star linebacker Rian Davis of Apopka, Florida.
Ranked as the #7 prospect in the state of Florida, Davis tweeted “I want to thank the Georgia coaching staff for showing me so much love and making this decision especially Coach (Glenn) Schuman, Coach (Scott) Fountain and Coach Smart. With that being said, I have decided to continue my academic and athletic career at THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA. GO DAWGS.”
The three commitments allow Georgia to rise to #2 in the 247 Sports recruiting rankings, trailing only Alabama with four fewer commitments than the Crimson Tide.
247 Sports Recruiting Analyst and FOX 5 Sports contributor Rusty Mansell writes, “If Georgia is going to win another recruiting title in the 2019 class it is important for them to win out of state recruiting battles. On Sunday they took a Five-Star RB in John Emery Jr from Louisiana and a Top100 player from Florida in Rian Davis. Add another player from Louisiana who is also a 4-star in “Makiya Tongue.
On Saturday, Smart and the coaching staff unveiled Georgia’s new locker room under the west end zone at Sanford Stadium for recruits at an event called “The Reveal.”
Smart tweeted, “Thanks members of the Magill Society for a beautiful new home!!”
According to Mansell, “Kirby Smart and his staff are recruiting on another level right now. Truly Alabama and Georgia both are then it is everyone else at this point."