The first of three commitments for Georgia football on Monday came from four-star defensive lineman PJ Dean, who announced his commitment to UGA over South Carolina and Ohio State.
Georgia fans felt very confident Dean would commit to UGA entering Monday, but that quickly changed after On3's Steve Wiltfong flipped his prediction in this recruitment from Georgia to South Carolina. This made every UGA fan believe this recruitment would be a loss, but everyone now knows that wasn't the case.
So how did Kirby Smart and his staff still win this recruitment? What took place in the final hours to convince Dean that Georgia is the right place for him?
According to Graham Coffey with Dawgs Central, it took one phone call right before his announcement to convince Dean to pick Georgia over the Gamecocks.
"From what I am told he (Dean) was trending toward SoCarolina until speaking to Tray Scott and Glenn Schumann just before his announcement."
Been away from my phone today, but that PJ Dean recruitment was old-school
— Graham Coffey (@GrahamCoffeyDC) June 30, 2025
From what I am told he was trending toward SoCarolina until speaking to Tray Scott and Glenn Schumann just before his announcement
Huge get for UGA. Big bodies who can move like that are hard to come by https://t.co/CMyhO1q8Jt
One phone call changed everything for Georgia with PJ Dean
The above post from Coffey shows that Georgia did in fact trail South Carolina throughout Monday in Dean's recruitment. In fact, it sounds like the Gamecocks still led for Dean minutes before his announcement as well. But all it took was one phone call from two of Georgia's assistants to win him over to UGA.
It's unclear exactly what was said during this phone call. Maybe Georgia increased their NIL offer at the last second or maybe they reminded Dean of all the success Georgia has found in recent years at developing defensive linemen. Regardless, Dean ended up changing his mind at the last second and give the Bulldogs some huge news when he chose to commit to Georgia.
Georgia now sits with 26 commits in their 2026 recruiting class, which is good enough to be ranked No. 1 in the country according to the Rivals team recruiting rankings. And with the calendar flipping to July now, it sounds like more good news could be right around the corner for the Bulldogs.