Want to attack every day with the latest Georgia football recruiting info? That’s the Intel. This rep has the latest with 4-star defensive back Joenel Aguero out of Massachusetts. He ranks as the nation’s No. 3 safety and the No. 34 overall prospect for 2023 on the 247Sports Composite ratings.

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There have probably been many times over the last two years when Massachusetts safety prospect Joenel Aguero felt ready to become a ‘Dawg.

The day has finally arrived when he was ready to tell the world.

He’s going to be a ‘Dawg. The Bulldogs are set to now add a real heat-seeking missile to the ball for their secondary.

When he made the decision, he said that Georgia was going to be getting the best safety the program has ever had.

Aguero, who currently ranks as the nation’s No. 3 safety for the 2023 cycle, made his college decision known via several live streams on Saturday afternoon.

The decision came down to Georgia over the likes of Florida, Miami and Ohio State.

The 6-foot, 195-pounder had a strong showing earlier this month at the Under Armour “Future 50″ event down in Florida. He has known where he wanted to go play for some time but waited it out for today’s scheduled announcement date.

He broke down what he was looking at with his decision this summer.

“I’m not really too worried about who’s at the schools,” Aguero said. “I don’t think it is going to come down to the commits they get. I think I’m the top safety in my class regardless of what anybody has to say. I feel like it is going to come down to prayers and God giving me the green light. Saying that this is the school right here.”

“You know, I’m like okay, I am already kind of getting that way, I don’t know how to say it, I am already getting that way of kind of leaning toward it a little bit with that one school.”

He always looked to both the player development and relationship aspects at UGA.

What does he like best about the national champions?

“I feel like it is the people at Georgia,” he said back in June. “To be honest, you know they have great people. Great recruiting people. All the people from the recruiting people recruit to the head coach. Even the academic people. They all have great people at Georgia there who all want to see you succeed. That’s something I like about them and my family really likes about them also.”

“They take care of their players. They develop their players and help them. I feel like that’s the one big thing I really like about UGA.”

Joenel Aguero is a 5-star prospect at safety in the 2023 recruiting class. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation) (Jeff Sentell/Dawgnation)

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Joenel Aguero chooses the ‘Dawgs: The big things to know here

Aguero is a very fast and physical defender, so let’s fly through the big nuts and bolts for this story.

  • He spent the past two seasons at IMG Academy but will play his senior year at St. John’s Prep in Massachusetts. His time with the Ascenders ensures he will likely be a very strong culture fit in Athens.
  • Aguero has told DawgNation in the past that he was timed in the high 4.3 and low 4.4s on the laser in the 40-yard sprint while at IMG Academy.
  • He becomes the 17th commitment for the Bulldogs in the 2023 cycle. His decision now pushes the ‘Dawgs past future SEC conference foe Texas for the nation’s No. 3 class on the 247Sports Composite rankings.
  • The decision made by Aguero becomes the fifth recruiting win this month for the ‘Dawgs in the 2023 class. Counting the two top 100 commitments from the 2024 class that UGA has also landed, that makes the fifth top 100 commitment that Kirby Smart and company have landed this month.
  • The safety prospect now becomes the second highest-rated commitment of the 2023 cycle for Georgia up to this point. He had held a 5-star ranking until just recently.
  • Aguero also bolsters a strong defensive class for the ‘Dawgs. He also fits into the puzzle nicely on the back end as the fourth defensive commitment this cycle that ranks among the nation’s top five overall prospects at their position.
  • This is another prized defender that will stockpile the talent for that side of the ball in Athens. He will be a big part of Georgia’s defenses in the 2024 and 2025 seasons. That now pushes the number to 12 prospects that ranked among the nation’s top 10 recruits at their position that either signed with UGA in 2022 or are currently committed to 2023.
  • The future of the Georgia secondary continues to burn very brightly here with this news. He is also the fifth cornerback or safety to be counted in that lot.
  • Lewis Cine is also smiling very big at this one. Those two have gotten to know each other a little bit during Aguero’s frequent recruiting visits to check out the ‘Dawgs. They are both Massachusetts natives and they grew up maybe 15-20 minutes away from one another.
  • Cine said on social media well over a year ago that he would love to see Aguero become a ‘Dawg and that he would be better than him patrolling the middle of the field in Athens. When Cine was drafted in the first round earlier this year, Aguero made sure to hit him up to congratulate him and tell him he was proud of him. That feat by Cine also motivated Aguero to go out and train shortly thereafter.
  • There is a strong character component to acknowledge here with Aguero. He recently held an anti-violence football camp for youth in his community. He’s been motivated by watching others fall victim to violence in his neighborhood and circle coming up.
  • “I love my city so I am always going to represent my city,” he said earlier his summer. “So I tapped in with one of the mayors of the city and we have a lot of violence going on. A couple of friends and guys I grew up with went to jail for murder. A couple of my other friends ended up being killed. It has been a thing with a few bad weeks here so we just made a thing to make it a ‘Stop the Violence’ camp so we could spread awareness and tell these kids it is not the streets they can choose. They can choose the sports route. The school route. So we just had to give them that message.”
  • “I gave them a speech about one of my friends I grew up playing with,” Aguero said. “I gave them a speech about him. You know it is kind of a little personal speech but he went to jail for murdering somebody. I kind of hit them with that a lot. They are younger so they don’t really see what is going on in the city so they just think ‘it can’t be me’ or that stuff won’t happen to them or their friends. You know how kids think. I feel like that kind of hit them and then I just told them to work hard. I mean if I did it, then they can also do it in football, too. All it takes is hard work.”
  • This should be seen as a very big win for Will Muschamp and Kirby Smart on the recruiting trail. Those two have played a large role in Aguero’s path to Athens for some time now.

Check out some footage from Aguero earlier this month at the Under Armour Future 50 event.

Have you subscribed to the DawgNation YouTube channel yet? If so, you will be able to see special 1-on-1 content with UGA names like Jamaal Jarrett, Gunner Stockon and Brock Vandagriff here.

Georgia football landed a commitment from 4-star safety Joenel Aguero, adding to the 2023 class (Graphic via Connor Riley) (Connor Riley/Dawgnation)

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