Want to attack every day with the latest UGA football recruiting info? That’s what the Intel brings. The play sheet today calls for a chance to catch up with 5-star junior OT Amarius Mims after his big “Junior Day” trip last Saturday.
Amarius Mims has done some quick accounting of his recruiting process over the last 50 days.
Georgia’s stock was up as the public leader. Then Sam Pittman left and the Bulldogs dipped.
The relationships he had in place with Alabama and LSU took center stage. He just felt more comfortable with those programs. Mims even clearly articulated that at the Under Armour “Future 50” event in Orlando earlier this month.
He had elevated their stock above how he felt about the Bulldogs at that time. There was some uncertainty there with Pittman now at Arkansas.
It was new line coach Matt Luke’s job to rebuild that bridge with the 6-foot-7.5, 315-priority for the 2021 class in Athens.
Check. Consider that done.
Luke has done that after the “Junior Day” trip Mims took to Athens last weekend.
“I knew it was going to be a great day,” Mims said. “I was going to get to hang around a bunch of people in my class that I know. It was good to be around the coaches that I am already familiar with and I got to talk to coach Luke a lot. So that was good.”
Was it possible for Georgia to restore the vibe and the feeling he had for the program prior to Pittman’s move?
“Oh, yes sir,” he said.
Check. Consider that one done, too.
“Yes, sir,” Mims said. “It is just like the energy that coach Luke brings. Just like coach Pittman did. I can see that he really wants me to come play for him. I get the feeling like we are going to have a great relationship like Coach Pittman and I did.”
There’s a new feeling now. It is the same old feeling for Mims.
“It just feels like home when I am there,” Mims said. “Just everything is going good. Going great. I’m getting to talk to the coaches when I am there. I am getting very familiar with them. Coach Smart and I have good talks. The people that’s around him and they players there, I love the way they think and their minds and stuff like that.”
The nation’s No. 3 OT prospect for 2021 (per the 247Sports Composite rankings) is a homegrown recruit from Bleckley County in Middle Georgia. But he’s also the nation’s No. 13 overall prospect for the upcoming cycle.
As far as in-state juniors go, Mims and North Gwinnett ILB Barrett Carter are clear early priorities for the 2021 cycle. Especially now that 5-star QB Brock Vandagriff chose to commit to the Bulldogs earlier this week.
Where does UGA now stand?
“I would probably say Georgia is still now right up there with Alabama and LSU with those relationships,” he said. “I mean I really don’t have a number one. I just like those three programs more right now. You know what I mean? I don’t know. I just know that those three schools are my top three schools. I would just say it like that.”
Amarius Mims: The new UGA fit and Brock Vandagriff
He can already Luke in a similar fashion as Pittman.
“I would say they are both good guys,” he said. “They are both going to have energy but coach Luke has a different kind of energy. I’m pretty sure you saw the Sugar Bowl. Whenever the defense got the turnover he was hopping around on the sideline. It is a different kind of energy. That’s all.”
Mims said he watched the entire Sugar Bowl when he was in Orlando.
Georgia spoke to him about playing the left tackle spot in his future. That’s what they will see out of him. He is also on track right now to enroll early in January of 2021.
Mims also has what he terms as a “close relationship” with Vandagriff. They communicated with one another on the day that Vandagriff went public with his Georgia commit.
He said he does want to play with Vandagriff.
“I’m pretty sure that everyone knew where he was going to go,” Mims said. “He told me he was coming and he told me that they really want me to come play with him and block for him. I was like ‘that’s a possibility’ and ‘that is a strong possibility that could happen’ so we are just going to let the process play out and see how everything goes.”
Those two became acquainted for the first time on a Georgia visit. Then that relationship evolved with other interactions, including the Rivals 5-Star Challenge event last summer.
“I think it all started for us when coach Smart pulled us aside and said to him that I was going to be blocking for him one day,” Mims said in reference to Vandagriff. “That’s how it started.”
The Bleckley County junior said they also know 4-star Florida WR Mario Williams well, too. Williams rates as the nation’s No. 6 WR for the 2021 class on the 247Sports Composite. He was also at UGA last weekend.
There’s also the chance to play with 4-star OT Micah Morris, too. Morris plays for Camden County in South Georgia. He’s the nation’s No. 7 OT and No. 44 overall prospect for 2021.
Mims indicated a “summer” timeline as a broad estimate on when he will reach his decision.
“Coach Luke said that right now that Brock and I were the top and most important men in the class right now,” Mims said. “He said that not that Brock has committed that if I commit then a lot of people will start falling in right behind us.”
He’s still planning his next visit, but he has an outline of his spring official visits in mind. The first one will be Oregon. Oklahoma or Southern California will likely get the second.
The Pittman example has taught him something about the recruiting process of late.
“I would say don’t go to a college just because of a coach,” he said. “Because you see now how coaches can pull up and change jobs. Just go because you like that school and the players and the people there that will surround you more than just for a coach.”
With that, he feels like head coaches are different.
“Those guys are going to stay around longer,” Mims said.
Mims does feel that Georgia will throw the ball more in 2020 with Todd Monken around. But that view is also shaped by seeing former Bulldogs like Brian Herrien, Cade Mays, D’Andre Swift, Andrew Thomas and Isaiah Wilson no longer at Georgia.
“I really don’t see a problem with it,” he said. “I enjoy pass blocking and run blocking, too. So it really doesn’t matter to me.”
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