Want to attack every day with the latest UGA football recruiting info? That’s what the Intel brings. This entry offers a deep look at what Marquis Groves-Killebrew means, has meant, and will mean to the Georgia football program going forward.
Marquis Groves-Killebrew is still waiting on a fifth star. It will match his college football potential, but he’s already got five of those when it comes to selling playing with him at UGA.
The stories are already many. And also pretty funny.
Deyon Bouie, who already has five stars in the class of 2022, has already seen it up close on FaceTime. On a great many days.
How does he recreate those routine conversations?
“C’mon, man,” Bouie said while mimicking Groves-Killebrew. “Stop playing. Commit.”
“Tell all those other guys to commit now, too.”
“Quit playing.”
“C’mon. Just waiting on all of ya’ll.”
“Still waiting.”
“I’ve already committed. You get to be next.”
Groves-Killebrew has shared most of those thoughts with a great many All-American types in the 2022 class, including his teammate at Brookwood High School.
M’Bake lays it out straight.
“He’s real passionate about Georgia,” Sam M’Bake said. “He’s determined to get the No. 1 class. I’m sure he will get the No. 1 class.”
What does Bouie think about that?
“I really think so, too,” Bouie said. “He really loves Georgia and wants to get everyone he can that’s really good to play with him there.”
DawgNation recently asked Groves-Killebrew who he has to play within from the 2022 class during his time in Athens above all others. Bouie was one of those. Marietta High All-American and Georgia legacy Daniel Martin was his other choice.
“We’ve got a great connection,” Bouie said of Groves-Killebrew. “We talk on the phone about me committing to Georgia. We are talking heavily about it. We are wanting to start a foundation for our class at Georgia really.”
He’s not holding back about it. He leaves that shy stuff for the ‘Dawg recruiters at the schools who would wind up with just Top 5 classes.
“I’m just going in and getting all of them,” Groves-Killebrew said. “I’m not waiting. Even the ones I know that are committed or that I know are going to commit, I’m still on them.”
What’s the message?
“I’m telling them ‘Let’s go win the national championship for Georgia’ and ‘Let’s go make something happen,”’ he said.
Marquis Groves-Killebrew is a salesman. But can he play?
Groves-Killebrew was the first commit for the 2022 class. That was back on May 27. Cedartown’s CJ Washington followed him in late July.
He has charisma and is flashy. His phone also is loaded with 5-star and All-American contacts. But nothing makes an “alpha” recruiter like also being a dynamite player on the field.
“MGK” can make the calls for Georgia. But can he ball?
That answer there is clearly yes. So much that the Kentucky native’s status as the nation’s No. 10 CB prospect and No. 78 overall prospect seems a little low.
That’s according to a few men who would know. His trainer, former Clemson All-American, and NFL Pro Bowler Justin Miller has been working with him for years.
“He’s a great corner now with a lot of skill set who’s able to take the No. 1 guy and cover him all over the field,” Miller said. “I think what he can be is an elite shutdown corner in the SEC. Its all about him continuing to develop and put in the time and the effort to be the elite.”
He will chart at the top of the spectrum in confidence and competitiveness. He wants to play on that island.
“Heart of a lion,” Miller said. “He will line up across from that elite No. 1 receiver guy and know that he will not just cover him but erase him from the game plan and stat sheet. I think that’s what makes him great. He’s all that but then he takes coaching. He’s not one to tuck his head and go away from someone trying to help him get better.”
The Georgia commit is already an All-American Bowl pick.
“His talent just pops off the screen,” Brookwood coach Phillip Jones said. “He’s obviously got great linear speed but he’s just so smooth. His movements are crips and from a mentality perspective he’s probably the most confident person on the field and he’s got just a quiet competitiveness about everything he does.”
Groves-Killebrew is low-key off the field.
“But then on the field every single rep he’s first one line,” Jones said. “Every conditioning rep. He’s trying his hardest to be first.”
There’s a thing to notice here. Groves-Killebrew is a technician on the field. The way he flips his hips. The way he jams his man off the line. The way he stays with a receiver through the route.
But call him a technique guy and some folks might think that he skews that way rather than being an elite athlete. That’s not the case here.
“He reminds me so much of [Derek] Stingley at LSU,” Jones said. “When you watch him, you just don’t think great linear speed. That’s his linear speed again. He’s so smooth he looks like he is moving without a lot of effort or energy. But in reality, he might be the fastest guy on the field at all times.”
“That’s the way Stingley is. So savvy. So smooth. So in control at all times. He’s the guy up there that everyone is looking for. He’s got a short memory when he makes a mistake. He just is always in the moment and moves on to the next play.”
Groves-Killebrew was in the Brookwood system all his life. But he moved to Grayson for his sophomore season but missed his old team. He moved back home to Brookwood back for his junior season.
Why Marquis Groves-Killebrew will be a special Bulldog
There’s a big-time football pedigree here. Emmitt Smith is a down-the-line cousin that he has met at a family reunion. Former Texas LB Robert Killebrew, an uncle, won a national title with the Longhorns.
NFL WR DeVante Parker, the former first-round pick, is a cousin on his mother’s side
He was once the 15-year-old in 7-on-7 competition for Hustle, Inc. who was lined up against 18-year-old rising seniors.
“He took them out of the game and now he has the supreme confidence that he can do it,” Miller said. “It is scary to think about what he is going to be like when he gets to be the senior. He can be one of those guys in a class that everybody winds up talking about.”
“College coaches will still be knocking at his door. Still trying to steal him away from UGA. I think he is going to be that good.”
Why? Miller remembered a story back in the 7-on-7 circuit. Groves-Killebrew gave up a touchdown when he was just a freshman to current Alabama freshman Javon Baker. Baker was in the 2020 class and he was playing for Cam Newton’s loaded 7-on-7 team.
“He caught one over the top of him and I was like ‘Man, I wonder how he is going to handle this?’ for the rest of the game,” Miller said. “For the rest of the game, Javon didn’t catch a ball. He was on him play after play. For me, it just solidified to me that was the kid we thought he could be. He was competitive and he wants that No. 1 guy and he wants that battle. It didn’t matter how old he was or the other guy was.”
The length stands out in the scouting profile. That’s first. He has very long arms. But the fluidity in which he moves also stands out for his DB trainer.
“People might think he’s not a blazer because he is just so smooth,” Miller said. “He runs so well and he runs so smooth. Nobody is really running away from him and he plays with such great technique right in everybody’s hip pocket.”
“It might look a tad slower to everybody else but what he is doing is slowing down the competition.”
Marquis Groves-Killebrew: In his own words
When he thinks back on that late May commitment, what stood out? Does he still feel the same way? What still stands out?
“Just having that relationship with coach Kirby [Smart] and coach [Charlton] Warren and it is just growing on up,” Marquis Groves-Killebrew said. “It is just a home feeling. I had a great feeling when I was there from the coaches.”
He’s not lacking for confidence. He never has. That’s what makes him the player he is.
“I’m the fastest player in Georgia if you ask me,” Groves-Killebrew said. “I don’t think anybody can run with me.”
Make some plays. Be a baller. Make something happen. That is what is going through his mind on the field.
“MGK” sounds a lot like Richard LeCounte III did for Georgia in the 2017 class. But this is different. His childhood roots are in Kentucky. LeCounte III grew up Bulldog. Groves-Killebrew grew up with LSU as his dream school.
“When I moved down here, I started watching Georgia and I started liking them,” he said. “But growing up I was an LSU fan.”
He is still in contact with Smart and Warren every week. Even though he said that those coaches don’t have to reach out to him all the time. He’s good.
“They don’t have to do anything,” he said. “I’m all in already.”
Groves-Killebrew was that rare recruit who was set to commit to Georgia and yet his father had not even had a single conversation with the Georgia staff.
“It kind of surprised me,” his father Micheal Killebrew said. “Because as long as he’s been going to Georgia, I have never been there with him. Never. I had never even talked to the coaches.”
That’s a new definition of committed. The day he committed was the first time his father spoke to coach Warren.
“I called coach Warren and we were talking for like 30 minutes,” the future Bulldog said of his commitment moment. “He didn’t even really see it coming. We were just talking and I was asking him questions and I just came out and told him I was going to commit. I said I was committed.”
“He was thrilled. Yelling and all of that. He couldn’t believe it.”
The COVID-19 scare has affected all of the 2021 recruiting cycle. It also has affected the early tugs and bricks of that 2022 class.
“Maybe for some kids but the people I know I am reaching out to them,” he said. “Making sure I stay on them. Making sure they have got Georgia in the conversation.”
He’s playing on both sides of the ball for Brookwood this year. That’s a new wrinkle for his sophomore season. Brookwood could very well have the state’s most dynamic wide receiver rotation this fall in Georgia.
Check out the recent “DawgNation Conversation” with “MGK” below.
SENTELL’S INTEL
(the recent reads on DawgNation.com)
- Amarius Mims: The tall tales that go beyond a Georgia boy’s 5-star ranking
- WATCH: NCAA wipes out all face-to-face recruiting for 2020 season
- BREAKING: Nation’s No. 10 DE Elijah Jeudy decommits from UGA
- How 5-star DT Maason Smith revived Georgia’s recruiting shot
- 10-stars of QBs recap: Brock Vandagriff’s team vs. Gunner Stockton’s team
- 5-star game preview: Brock Vandagriff travels to take on Gunner Stockon
- How does Maason Smith compare his two recent visits to Georgia and LSU?
- Maason Smith: The 9 things you need to know about the 5-star DT
- BREAKING: Surging Alabama WR Jackson Meeks commits to UGA
- Brock Vandagriff details the bonds forming among potential teammates in the 2021 class
- WATCH: 5-star QB Brock Vandagriff breaks down 6-TD season opening-performance