Want to attack every day with the latest Georgia football recruiting info? That’s the Intel. This rep has the latest with 4-star DT Jamaal Jarrett. He ranks as the nation’s No. 26 DL and the No. 176 overall prospect for 2023 on the 247Sports Composite ratings.
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After every visit, it can be stated that Jamaal Jarrett holds up four fingers.
That’s probably not the best way to capture that. Jarrett does hold up four very large big man fingers.
It is not because that’s cool for photos. Those four digits are an arbiter of how the Jarrett family tries to assess every big recruiting visit.
It sounds like they are coming in handy at this time. Jarrett is now eyeing a specific summer commitment date on July 19. He’s also thinking he might not need to take any more official visits until that date.
How will he arrive at that eventual decision? Four. Big Man. Fingers.
“So I’ve got my four little rules that I do on each visit,” he said. “That’s academics. How my family feels at the school. Pretty much like how the coaches are. The coaching staff and then like do I feel comfortable? That home feeling. Those are the four I go into on every visit pretty much.”
When Team Jarrett returns home, they will chop up those four things.
“We talk about those four things and how the school represented each of them,” he said. “We put it on a big whiteboard. We just sit down and see which school did this or that better than the other. What school made you feel more at home. That’s pretty much it.”
It is a safe bet that a lot of fans would like to see what’s on that board right now in North Carolina.
How did the Bulldogs do this weekend? Jarrett made it clear that there is now an “Awesome” in block letters next to each of those criteria.
In the span of a brief interview, this correspondent counted up seven times that Jarrett used the word “awesome” to describe his official.
“It was one of the best ones I have had yet, he said. “It was just awesome, man. Great experience. I am definitely going to go back for a game.”
Jamaal Jarrett: What was the game plan for UGA on the OV?
Kirby Smart and his staff were already excellent at this stuff. Truth be told, it seems like they are getting better.
The ‘Dawgs had Thomas Davis speak to the players on the first weekend in June. For the next weekend on the docket, they called 2022 first-rounders Jordan Davis and Travon Walker up to the witness stand.
Those two all-time ‘Dawgs testified about their time in Athens. Yes, it was very very hard.
But it was very very worth it.
“So pretty much they were just aiming for like a ‘Let’s not tell you how great you could be but just look how great you could be’ and just having the players come in,” Jarrett said. “That’s pretty much them telling us how great we could be.”
Remember those social media clips from Sunday and Monday with Jordan Davis in Smart’s chair? From the Georgia war room?
Well, that doesn’t sound too far-fetched after hearing Jarrett speak to one of his four core criteria.
“Jordan Davis had a 1-on-1 with me and my family,” Jarrett said. “He said ‘You know what to do if you want to be great’ and ‘Look at the people that played before me’ and ‘Look at the people that played with me’ and he was like pretty much ‘Come be a ‘Dawg’ so it was awesome, man.”
Could Davis be an effective coach and recruiter one day? Maybe after eight Pro Bowls in 12 seasons in the NFL?
“He’s awesome, man,” Jarrett said. “Just a big role model. A big people person.”
What was Jarrett’s favorite part of the official?
“Hanging out with the player pretty much,” he said. “We went swimming. We went axe throwing. Had 1-on-1s with the coaches. It was really great. Having the icebreaker with the team pretty much.”
Georgia line coach Travion Scott shared a similar sentiment as big No. 99.
“It was kind of the same thing with ‘we need a big dude like you to get the path going that Jordan Davis and them set’ so it was pretty much it,” Jarrett said. “Pretty much the same thing. You know what you got to do if you want to be great.”
He’s also been on officials at Auburn and North Carolina. It sounds like all of them were impactful. So much that he’s not sure if he will take any more officials at this time.
“Georgia is really at the top right now as far as the best official visits,” Jarrett said. “I guess they have studied from the recruits they have had in the past and they just made their officials even better based on the feedback that they got from the players.”
That was quite interesting. But not as interesting as what else he had to say about the weekend.
Jamaal Jarrett on the “grand entrance” he had in Athens
Before the interview recap concluded, he shared one other unique thing to him about this OV.
The Bulldogs continue to treat these June official visits like it is the fourth quarter all over again in Lucas Oil Stadium.
What sticks out in his mind about Georgia now?
“Just the way they presented themselves,” he said. “From the grand entrance. That really stood out. No school had done that yet from the three I had been on. They had a grand entrance and everything. It was pretty cool.”
What was that?
“So like pulling up to the hotel,” he said. “All the coaches were there. It was awesome. The stadium was all read. It was just awesome.”
What did it feel like putting on the all-white Georgia uniform?
“It was awesome,” he said. “I was like ya’ll need to wear this during the season. It was a great experience.”
Georgia built this official visit weekend around some potential defensive teammates that had already bonded together. Jarrett said going into the weekend that 4-star Jacksonville LB Grayson “Pup” Howard was already his ‘brother’ and his “Dawg” heading in.
5-star safety Joenel Aguero was there. So was the nation’s No. 2 LB in Tampa’s Troy Bowles. There’s a great photo of Howard, Bowles and Aguero all holding back Jarrett like he’s a rabid Junkyard protector daring folks to run through the “A” gap.
“The bond was pretty much already there,” Jarrett said. “We really enjoyed ourselves on this Georgia visit. They are pretty much like family to me. Their feedback and my feedback, all of it, was all pretty much similar on the visit.
What was it like to get back on the road to North Carolina? His answer will probably answer the question for one of those four fingers on the Jarrett family whiteboard, too.
“I didn’t want to leave,” Jarrett said. “The bond they built with my parents throughout the past is just awesome. Georgia is really a top contender in my recruitment.”
Jamaal Jarrett: Now aiming for a commitment day in July
Official visits are supposed to get recruits excited. They are supposed to hype them up. Even 1-2 days after they end.
How did the visit amplify Jarrett’s interest in the ‘Dawgs?
“I already liked Georgia like that,” he said. “I really loved them like that before the official visit. So it really just pushed them to the top of my list.”
What’s left for him with his recruiting process? There has been speculation that he might visit Texas A&M this weekend for another official visit.
“Well, I pretty much might cancel my last two visits and save them,” he said. “I’m planning on committing in July. Yes, sir. I pretty much might take a break on the official visits and focus on my senior season. [Focus on] summer workouts and stuff like that before I gain too much weight from the official visits.”
He’s not sure about when or if he might use those two other officials.
“I want to do it on my birthday,” he said. “July 19. That’s the date I aiming for. But anything can change from now to then. I’m just trying to focus on that and see what is the best scenario for that.”
He said this decision won’t be easy. He described North Carolina as his “hometown school” and noted that he has “family member” level relationships at Auburn.
“It is just hard for Georgia to kick it out like that on my visit,” he said. “So it is definitely a lot of work I have got to do. My family and I have really got to sit down and evaluate these schools one last time before I make a final decision in July.”
His family members love all three of those schools. They are leaning toward all three of those schools.
“Just like me,” he said. “They are just trying to figure it out as well.”
He was asked to sum up the trip in a few words. What words did he choose to populate this web page?
“Great,” he said. “Awesome. Go ‘Dawgs. That’s pretty much what I am going to say.”
SENTELL'S INTEL
(check on the recent reads on DawgNation.com)
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- Joenel Aguero: 5-star safety shared where his head was at prior to a BIG Georgia official visit
- Georgia football recruiting: Setting the stage on another big weekend of OVs with Joenel Aguero, Jamaal Jarrett, Troy Bowles and Tyler Wiliams
- CJ Allen: Elite LB target breaks down his “perfect” Georgia official visit
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- LOOK: White Georgia helmet and uniform variant worn by 2024 DB commit on recruiting visit
- 12 reasons why the Georgia football team has already gotten better this week
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- Jayden Wayne: Father of 5-star EDGE shares insider’s view of big OV to UGA
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- Arch Manning: The quest to not only be the best but to be the best Manning
- Georgia’s 2022 class gets a late boost with the reclassification of 2023 commit Marcus Washington Jr.
- WATCH: 5-star QB Arch Manning in action at spring practice
- Arch Manning: The 30-something things learned from watching the nation’s No. 1 prospect practice
- James Smith: The nation’s No. 2 DL talks up Georgia, Alabama among his top 11
