Four-star guard Justin Wise just became the first member of Georgia basketball’s 2027 recruiting class on Friday when he committed to the Bulldogs over Texas, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and a few others. Wise joins a Georgia program who is entering a new era after making back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and securing the largest donation in program history a few months ago.
Wise is a local kid as he is from Bogart, GA, and he made the wise decision to stay close to home. He is the No. 30 overall recruit in the country, so he had plenty of options to go elsewhere, but he committed to Mike White’s program at a time when he is laying the foundation for what could be a special run.
NEWS: Justin Wise, the No. 30 overall recruit in the 2027 class, has committed to Georgia, he told @Rivals. ⁰⁰The 6-4 shooting guard picked the hometown Bulldogs after considering offers from Texas, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Miami, and Clemson. https://t.co/VHyxyWhA8a pic.twitter.com/44dhudcIEp
— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) August 7, 2026
Justin Wise chose to stay close to home and commit to Georgia
It isn’t too often that an elite recruit is right in Georgia’s backyard, but that’s what happened with Wise and UGA capitalized. Wise had countless offers to other big name programs like Tennessee, UCLA, Auburn and Texas, but he felt Georgia was the best place for him to play college basketball.
Georgia over the years has had a handful of elite players show interest in them. Some of those guys were even right in their backyard like Wise, but they just haven’t been able to win as many of those recruitments as they’d like. Wise however could be the first sign of changing times.
Georgia still has a long way to go in the 2027 recruiting class, but the vibe around the program feels different from when White first arrived to campus. White has found some success at Georgia and secured a big donation, and now it’s time to use this momentum to his advantage by building one of the top recruiting classes in the country.
Justin Wise could be the start of a special Georgia basketball recruiting class
Five-star AJ Williams and four-star Jarvis Hayes Jr. are two recruits Georgia is pushing hard for, and if they join Wise in UGA’s class then White will easily have one of Georgia’s top recruiting classes of all time.
Williams is the dream target for Georgia as he is the No. 5 overall recruit in the country. He previously was the No. 1 recruit in the 2028 class, but just this week he reclassified and joined the 2027 class. Georgia is one of his top schools, and just like Wise he is from the Peach State as well. Landing a recruit of his caliber usually is a pipe dream for Georgia, but the Bulldogs are one of his top five schools right now.
Then there is Hayes who is much more likely to commit to Georgia. He too is an elite recruit as he is the No. 24 player in the country who is also from the state of Georgia as well. Hayes however has a strong connection to Georgia already as his dad is a current assistant for Mike White who also won SEC Player of the Year at Georgia in 2003.
If White can add Williams and Hayes then Georgia would have one of the top recruiting classes in the country. That would give them three top 30 recruits which could catapult Georgia into a legit championship contender for the first time under White.
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