Once upon a time Georgia already had three five-star commits in their 2027 recruiting class. That number shrunk to two though after Donte Wright flipped to Miami last month.
Two five-star commits is still a lot at this point in the year, but a program like Georgia will always want more. The good news is that their next five-star commit could already be in their recruiting class as recent commit Joakim Gouda is on the verge of earning his fifth star.
Joakim Gouda could be Georgia's next five-star commit
Gouda capped off what was an extremely impressive weekend of recruiting for Kirby Smart and Georgia. The Bulldogs added five commits between Sunday and Monday with four of these players being recruits in the 2027 class who took official visits to Athens this past weekend.
Gouda however was the biggest name to commit as he is the No. 2 linebacker in the country, according to On3. On top of that, he is also the No. 31 overall player in the country.
Right now only the top 18 players in On3's rankings are five-stars, but that number will grow over the course of the year. Recruiting sites will typically name 32 five-stars by the end of the year which represents the same number of first round NFL Draft picks. So based on that, Gouda will receive his fifth star if he remains ranked at No. 31.
If Gouda does earn his fifth stay that would once again give Georgia three five-star commits. There's a good chance Georgia could add at least one more five-star by the end of the recruiting cycle too, so this could be the start of Smart really turning Georgia's recruiting class around.
Joakim Gouda gave Kirby Smart more good news immediatly after committing to Georgia
Gouda did more than just commit to Georgia on Monday. He had official visits scheduled to both Florida and Texas the next two weekends, but after committing to Georgia he immediately cancelled those trips.
He also shared on social media that he will not take any visits to other schools the rest of the year and will only visit Georgia to further develop his relationship with the program.
This news is almost more significant than him committing in the first place because both Florida and Texas are recruiting at a very high level this year. The Gators have found a lot of momentum under new head coach Jon Sumrall while Texas has the NIL money to buy any recruit they look at it, but Gouda decided to not even give them a chance this summer.
On top of that, Georgia doesn't have to worry about any other school getting involved with him either. Gouda is a Bulldog and he intends on signing with the program in the beginning of December, and if everything goes according to plan he will eventually earn his fifth star and be one of Georgia's top commits in one of the highest ranked recruiting classes in the country.
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