Want to attack every day with the latest UGA football recruiting info? That’s what the Intel brings. This entry is an introduction to 2022 All-American Bowl commitment Sam M’Bake out of Brookwood High School in Gwinnett County.
Sam M’Bake is a name DawgNation might want to commit to memory. When looking at the degree of difficulty of that last name, rest easy.
That last name has a silent “M” and then it rolls off the tongue “Bah-Ke” with grace. It will rhyme with “Open All Day” here for this elite 2022 receiver prospect. That fits.
He’s already committed to the 2022 All-American Bowl. With a connection to that elite game, it seems likely his current pure 247Sports rating as the nation’s No. 32 receiver and No. 247 overall prospect rise considerably.
His recruitment also picked up some steam with a big recent offer. The 6-foot-3-plus wideout acknowledged his home state Bulldogs with an announcement tweet.
What did that offer from receivers coach Cortez Hankton really mean there?
“People don’t know that I’ve been talking to ‘Coach Hank’ since my freshman year,” M’Bake said. “We’ve always had a very good relationship. He just always wanted to see me develop into a very good player. We’ve always been close and stuff so for him to offer me now was like ‘Wow’ but there is still a lot more work for me to do.”
He called it a “very significant” offer. What led to the timing here?
“I guess he felt like I was a lot more mature and ready for it,” M’Bake said. “At first, he wanted to wait a little bit. He was always feeling me as a pretty good player he just wanted to see me develop and my character and stuff like that.”
Sam M’Bake: The story behind a very talented young man
His “why” for why he wants to excel in the game hits home.
“A bunch of people will not know this but my ‘why’ is my Dad,” M’Bake said. “My Dad is in Africa right now. He’s a pastor out there and I haven’t seen him since I was seven and now with all of this stuff going on, of course, he can’t come home. So my ‘why’ is to make it will be to bring him to the United States so we can all be together once again.”
This family leans on its faith. His full name is Samuel Praise M’Bake. He gets that from his father.
“His name is my name,” M’Bake said. “Samuel M’Bake.”
His father is a pastor in Cameroon. M’Bake doesn’t say he is the second of his name, but he is.
“I’m right under him,” M’Bake said of his father.
M’Bake was born in Georgia at Northside Hospital but he went to Cameroon when he was three years old.
He spent four years there before returning to America with his mother. That was the last time he saw his father.
“Yes, sir,” M’Bake said. “I haven’t seen him since I was seven.”
They chat weekly over the WhatsApp, but his father doesn’t know much about American football. Their family background is all about soccer. So if he read something about how his son patterns his game after the traits of two NFL players, it would be lost on him.
M’Bake spent his first two seasons at North Cobb Christian. He moved to IMG Academy for this year but returned to Georgia in order to be closer to his mother during the pandemic. Now he’s back home and ready to do big things with a deep team at Brookwood. He’ll catch spirals from elite 2023 QB prospect Dylan Lonergan and a roster that with tout at least three future Power 5 players at the receiver spot, too.
Who does Sam M’Bake play like?
Check his film below.
Looking at his game, there are some Julio Jones aspects to his play. M’Bake is well over the 6-foot-3 mark and he can flash good speed out on the edge. His frame is already carrying right at 200 pounds.
M’Bake brought up Julio Jones, too. But there are also touches of Seattle Seahawks first-round pick D.K. Metcalf to his game. Those are some players the peak of his potential will bring to mind.
“I am going to go deep on you but don’t be sleeping on the short game because I have some breakout speed where I can just take off on you with it,” he said.
Georgia fans will be good with an assessment that his style is a hybrid of JJ Holloman and George Pickens. If so, that will play very well in the new Todd Monken system.
What is he looking for in a college fit?
“I want to major in the real estate field because I’m very good with mathematics and I’m very good with numbers,” he said. “Really when it comes to the football side of a college I want to go to a top-notch program but also a program which is going to develop me the best for going to the league if I get that chance. But also to a program that will develop me overall as a player and also with my character.”
He stated he now has 33 offers with two varsity seasons left to play. M’Bake also said his eyes are “very open” right now when it comes to his recruiting. He is exploring all options.
That won’t stop the Georgia commitment on his Brookwood squad from telling him all about Athens. That would be All-American cornerback Marquis Groves-Killebrew.
“It is really crazy because Marquis was just telling me like last week ‘The only way I’m going to go to Georgia happy is if you go ahead and commit,'” M’Bake said. “Marquis has really been on me about UGA a lot even though they had not yet offered me but he knew it was going to come, too.”
They match up in practice. Groves-Killebrew is a skilled athlete but he is very strong at the technical aspects of the cornerback position.
No true recruiting evaluation on MGK will ever include the term “raw” in reference to his game.
“It is always good going against him in practice because we are the top two in our positions in the state so it always makes us grind harder week-in and week-out,” M’Bake said.
He’s currently looking at a customary National Signing Day decision with his recruiting. He’d like to make that final choice known while streaming nationwide live on ESPN and other outlets.
M’Bake. As in open all day. It sounds like a name Georgia fans will want to keep in mind for the 2022 cycle.
SENTELL’S INTEL
(the recent reads on DawgNation.com)
- Kirby Smart feels the 2021 cycle will redefine all recruiting
- Terrion Arnold: Kirby Smart had some very “high praise” for the nation’s No. 2 safety
- Brock Bowers makes his commitment known to the University of Georgia
- What kind of recruiter has Scott Cochran been so far for Georgia?
- What is that 5-star relationship like between Amarius Mims and Brock Vandagriff?
- De’Jahn “Nugget” Warren shares why UGA sits snug among his top 3
- BREAKING: 3-star OG Jared Wilson flips back into the 2021 class at UGA
- PHOTOS: Check out 6-foot-8 Amarius Mims in action at practice
- Amarius Mims: The 8 things to know right now about the 5-star and his recruiting
- 5-star junior QB Gunner Stockton announces he is down to two schools