Recruiting is not as fun to follow nowadays as it used to be a decade ago. Just 10 years ago, not many people knew much info when it came to recruitments. So the general public was left in the dark, only finding out which recruits were visiting their favorite schools and if their favorite school made the final cut for any recruit.
That however is no longer the case as everyone knows nearly every thought that passes through a recruits mind, sometimes before they even know it. That was the case this past recruiting cycle for many of Georgia football's recruits, especially when it came to five-star defensive lineman Justus Terry.
Terry is a recruit that Kirby Smart and his staff recruited since he was in middle school. He was also a recruit that was committed to Georgia at one point as well. So when the time came for him to announce his final commitment, everyone thought he was heading to Athens.
That however was not the case as Texas came in at the last second and flipped Terry to the Longhorns. Most assumed this was due to an NIL offer from Texas that he couldn't say no to, but that was never 100 percent confirmed. That is until Terry spoke with On3's Chad Simmons and explained why he flipped to Texas.
“I don’t know how else to say it — just a straight-up better NIL package.”
On3's @ChadSimmons_ on how Texas flipped 5-star DL Justus Terry from Georgia:
— On3 (@On3sports) February 5, 2025
“I don’t know how else to say it — just a straight-up better NIL package.” https://t.co/Q3mEiQZLQx pic.twitter.com/QRGEXhPDZi
Terry flipped to Texas strictly for money
Terry is the perfect example of everything that is wrong with college football and NIL. No one is saying that NIL shouldn't be a thing in college football, but it's a shame what it's turned into.
As mentioned, Georgia is a school that recruited Terry since middle school. The Bulldogs also are one of the top programs in the country when it comes to NIL. So it appeared that Georgia did everything they needed to do to win this recruitment.
But then came Texas, who didn't focus on developing a relationship with Terry at all. All they did was offer an amount of money that was impossible to say no to. And that was all it took to change Terry's mind.
It will be interesting to see how things work out for Terry at Texas, but it would not be surprising to see him enter the transfer portal at some point since he chose Texas for all the wrong reasons. And if that happens, Georgia will be waiting to welcome him to Athens with open arms.