Want to attack every day with the latest UGA football recruiting info? That’s what the Intel brings. This entry updates things with an explosive state of Georgia WR Kojo Antwi of Lambert High in Forsyth County. The Bulldogs show up strong here amid an impressive top 8.
Kojo Antwi. He was born on a Monday. The All-American WR was inspired by Julio Jones. That’s why he wears that familiar No. 11.
Antwi has a name fit (phonetics lesson: Ko-Jo An-Twee) for college football box scores and the game to put in the scoring column multiple times.
Of all the things we know about Kojo, it will be hard to write about him now without thinking of him raiding his buddy Ashton Smith’s house for snacks.
“That man will go through your pantry,” Smith said. “He destroys my pantry every time he comes in. He will go through a whole box of oatmeal pies or honeybuns or anything.”
That story will make an observer wonder the next time Antwi cradles a back-shoulder throw for a touchdown. Or when he skies to bring in a high point ball with those strong hands.
They may or may not have been trained in the Smith kitchen pantry.
“Ashton always has the oatmeal creme pies at his house,” Antwi said Wednesday. “He has like three boxes. I can eat like two boxes at one time.”
There have been more than those Little Debbies on his mind lately.
Antwi’s recruitment took off in March of 2020. Let’s call that the first act. And then he REALLY started getting recruited this month when a 247Sports report came out. The gist of that was he was about ready to make a commitment.
The floodgates opened. Coaches. Coordinators. Analysts. Reporters. That catalyst for his phone blowing up is no longer on the table. He hit the brakes on all that.
Add his name to the list of All-American prospects who have now decided their recruiting process didn’t need to conclude at a finish line in March.
“I had second thoughts when I talked to my parents again,” Antwi said. “At first, my parents were really supportive about me making the decision in the next week or so. But I talked to them last week and they were telling me ‘Let’s pray about it and take some more time’ because there’s no rush. The dead period is about to be lifted soon so let’s just take our time.”
Smith noticed it.
“He and I had a conversation about him wanting to commit,” Smith said. “He said I think I’m going to do it in the next two weeks. Then immedately afterward, he was getting all this attention and stuff. I think it was kind of overhwelming for him. I just told him to push it back and wait a little more. To wait until he can go visit. That was his big thing. He wanted to go visit these schools.”
While the dead period has another 11 weeks, he has a new route in mind once it lifts in June.
“I’m planning on making my decision on my Mom’s birthday on July 5,” Antwi said. “That June I am planning on taking four or five officials and then making my decision in July.”
It will always warm the heart to see an athlete use that moment to honor someone whose contributions went a long way toward making that special commitment day possible.
The Lambert star will honor his mother Martha Antwi with this new plan.
“My mom means so much to me,” Antwi said. “She gives me advice every day. She’s a fighter. She works crazy hours every day just to provide for us. I just think it is really important to acknowledge my mom for all she’s done for us.”
The 6-foot-1, 189-pound junior from Lambert High has seen a rankings upgrade this year. Back in mid-January, he was seen as the nation’s No. 19 WR and the No. 162 overall recruit on the 247Sports Composite scale.
Those rankings now peg him as the nation’s No. 13 WR and the nation’s No. 94 recruit, respectively. He is also the No. 4 prospect for 2022 on the DawgNation “Top Targets” list in the weekly “Before the Hedges” program.
Antwi played last fall at 185 pounds. He’s already at 189 as of last week. The plan is to get up to 200 pounds this fall and play somewhere at 195 for the bulk of his senior year.
If he can make the same plays and display the same burst at that weight, he should really be something by the time he gets to college. He is also working to be an early enrollee.
Antwi had 44 catches for 795 yards and nine touchdowns in 10 games in 2020. That’s a gaudy 18.1 yards per catch. It impresses considering how many times opposing teams placed a defender on Antwi at the line and then another safety over the top assigned to him.
It didn’t stop all those big plays from still happening as a marked man. Check out his fine junior season below.
Kojo Antwi: Trimming a loaded top 8
Antwi released a top 8 back on December 30, 2020. It featured the likes of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas A&M and USC.
What did all those programs do right here in this recruitment?
“I have great relationships with all of them,” Antwi said earlier this year. “Every single coach that I have talked to at each of those schools has shown me they really want me. That means a lot.”
What does he still need to figure all of this out?
“Just in-person contact,” he said this week. “Just meeting the guys who could potentially be my coaches. Just getting a feel for the campus and stuff. Just feeling the environment and just getting a feel for the environment.”
The irony here is his timeline from back in January is still intact. He’s still planning to commit in July before his senior season. There has just been a deviation in the flight plan over the last few months.
There has been a change from his previous thinking. Georgia and Ohio State had started to separate from the pack, but those two power programs now have some company.
Antwi said his decision currently feels like it is coming down to Georgia, Ohio State and Texas A&M. When he named off those schools, he did mention the Aggies first.
“I think those three are really standing out,” Antwi said. “But Alabama and USC are still in the mix as well. I think it is all going to come down to visiting and getting a feel for the place.”
What draw do the Aggies have here?
“Family in Texas,” he said. “I have my oldest brother and my sister there. My brother has been there for five years. I spent quarantine there. So we got to tour the campus and get a feel for it. My brother lives like an hour away from College Station. Just being in Texas for about three months and getting a feel for that Texas life and getting a feel for the campus and stuff is something that really interests me.”
Kojo Antwi: Gunner Stockton is working hard for UGA
Georgia’s pitch of late, he said, is actually led by 5-star QB Gunner Stockton.
“I think it is led by Gunner,” Kojo Antwi said. “I talk with Gunner every day. I think it is coach [Cortez] Hankton as well. Coach Smart, he texts me here and there. Coach [Scott] Cochran [as well]. I think it is the whole coaching staff honestly. I’ve been on a few Zooms. I was actually on a Zoom with them earlier this week just talking over all that stuff. I think the one leading right now is Gunner. He’s the one leading recruiter.”
Stockton has been his teammate this spring on the highly-regarded Hustle, Inc. 7-on-7 squad. There are already a couple of Bulldog commitments on that squad, including several other potential Georgia signees.
Those two got to play together for the first time at the Myrtle Beach 7-on-7 tournament earlier this month.
“Gunner he can sling it,” Antwi said. “He throws pretty hard. Just getting out there and him throwing to him. I feel like we already had a connection. We built that chemistry as the tournament progresses. We already had good chemistry. He knows where I want the ball and he knows where to put it.”
When thinking about Georgia, there’s the potential here for him to play with both Stockton and All-American TE Oscar Delp.
Delp is a true friend. Those two are talking and hanging out every time they get the chance. Delp has also yet to make his college decision. There are a few schools, like UGA, that are high on both of their top lists.
Does he have anything similar to that with some very good relationships at any other school? Antwi answered that question, but then added the name of another 7-on-7 teammate to that mix.
“There’s no set trio at any other school except for Georgia,” he said. “Then [potentially] De’Nylon [Morrissette] is also added to that trio.”
The new Todd Monken offense at UGA intrigues Antwi.
“I’m really liking this new offense,” Antwi said of Georgia back in January. “I like how they take deep shots to Pickens and [Jermaine] Burton and stuff like that.
There’s a lot he still needs to see. Georgia Tech was his only school visit prior to the pandemic.
Kojo Antwi: What will shape his eventual decision
Antwi didn’t start to try out football until he was in the seventh grade. He barely played in that orientation year. His first real snaps came in the eighth grade. Those early days were inspired by Jones.
He will still wear the same six-year-old Falcons shirt on before every game day. When we look back on it now, he had pretty much decided against playing football in the ninth grade. It seems shocking to think of all that now.
He still had his basketball dream even though he admits he was really not that good. He was also just going to run track. That’s where his middle school coach came in along with Smith and another close friend in Darren Guy.
It turns out Smith was good for more than just a healthy oatmeal creme pie stash.
“Just him and both of them texting me and encouraging me to come out,” Antwi said. “He was telling me I had the frame to be a good receiver. Then the middle school head coach telling me I had the potential to do something really big in high school. I think that’s what really changed my mind.”
His parents were not providing any stimulus of any sort to play football. It was those three individuals who persuaded him to really give football a try.
“It was just really getting into football,” he said. “I really fell in love with the game the first time I put pads on.”
Smith and Guy now him pretty well.
“There’s never a time you see him now when he is not competing with someone else,” Guy said. “He’s always trying to be the best. Especially in the weight room.”
They see him either being a coach one day. Or having a career in IT boosted by a degree in Computer science.
That path will be a major factor in his overall decision.
“It will come down to academics,” he said. “It’s really going to come down really to who wants me the most and what relationships I have with the coach there at that school,” he said.
The Aggies have another connection here. He said he grew up as a Texas A&M fan because of the great Johnny Manziel. His brother now lives in Texas, too. Antwi also said USC has always been a program to watch in his recruitment, too.
“They were just the first ones to really start to recruit me,” he said. “I got on a bunch of Zoom calls with the and I got a virtual visit and stuff. They were just showing a lot of love and have been consistent with it.”
Kojo Antwi: What those in the know think about this prospect
Stockton shared his synopsis on Antwi with DawgNation this weekend.
“He’s really explosive,” Stockton said. “He’s fun to throw to and he’d look really good in red and black.”
Antwi said in the past that Stockton’s move to UGA surprised him. He thought he was going to choose Auburn. When he chose UGA, it intensified his interest in being a Bulldog.
“I knew of him but just have really started to get to know him after a couple of weeks of practice,” Stockton said of Antwi. “He’s just a really good guy.”
Stockton has also found him to be a go-to guy during the young 7-on-7 season.
“He’s explosive and he will go get the ball,” Stockton said. “There were multiple times in Myrtle Beach where I would just throw it up and he’ll go get it. It was really neat to see.”
Delp also had a thought about what kind of weapon Antwi can be in any offense.
“He’s fast and amazing and his routes are awesome,” Delp said. “I remember when we played against Lambert and he ran that comeback and was falling down and he caught it and took that and housed it. I was standing there on the sideline just laughing just watching him do that. He’s a ballplayer.”
Antwi looks like a prospect that can be effective at the slot or lined up as an outside receiver.
“He can be both,” Delp said. “He’s got the speed to do whichever one and I think it is where ever the offense can find a better mismatch for him. He can play. I think he will excel at both and on both sides.”
There’s a deeper perspective here from head coach at Lambert High School. Tommy Watson played across the offensive line in the SEC for Mississippi State. He also had a brief career with the Tennessee Titans in the NFL.
He says that the term “winner” is the best way to describe Antwi.
“Kojo is a unique individual,” Watson said. “He’s very explosive. He’s very strong in the weight room.”
He can already parallel squat 415 pounds. Now add in a 280-pound power clean. His bench press is right at 265 pounds. This is for your protype speed merchant receiver.
“His weight room numbers are out the roof and he’s a legit 4.4 guy in the 40,” Watson said. “I think his vertical jump is maybe 34 inches. He’s just explosive. You watch the film and you see it, but you watch him train in the weight room and you see it there. He works hard in everything he does.”
There’s also a “yeah but” assessment that will not be discovered on any highlight reel.
“But probably the most important thing about Kojo that nobody knows that doesn’t really know him is he’s got the heart the size of Lambert High School,” Watson said. “He cares about his teammates. He cares about other people. He cares about his coaches and his family and he’s just a loving guy that will give you the shirt off his back.”
But he might also trade it for some oatmeal creme pies.
SENTELL’S INTEL
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