Want to attack every day with the latest Georgia football recruiting info? That’s the Intel. This rep has the latest with All-American RB Justice Haynes. He ranks as the nation’s No. 4 RB and the No. 47 overall prospect for 2023 on the 247Sports Composite ratings.
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Prior to his official visit this past weekend, legacy RB target Justice Haynes laid his thoughts out impressively for DawgNation.
College baseball? Pro baseball? His 5-star boy Caleb Downs? The decision timeline? It is all there.
The All-American RB said prior to the Georgia official visit that he had reset his recruiting and put all the schools at “zero” heading into a big June for him and his family. The four official visits he will take this month will be “all business” for him.
So how did it all go?
If the ‘Dawgs were at zero, it seems safe to say Dell McGee and Kirby Smart put their share of runs on the board this past weekend.
“It was surreal,” Justice Haynes said. “It was a really good experience. A wonderful one. Definitely one for the books. They came out. They showed me a lot. Everyone was at zero and Georgia is definitely going to make it hard for a lot of schools to beat.”
Remember those old Bugs Bunny baseball cartoons? The ones where one batter after another marched up to the plate? Playing merry-go-round with the bases? It was kind of like that this weekend for Haynes.
“When we were together and a couple of the videos that I saw, it gave me chills,” he said. “The way Kirby [Smart] brought up the program, it gave me chills.”
What did Smart say?
“He had a vision for the program when he first came in,” Haynes said. “Was it late 2015? When he first came in, he had a vision they were going to play ‘The Georgia Way’ and he had one guy drafted that year. It just kept going up and it kept going up with it. They had [former Georgia All-American] Thomas Davis speak to us and that really spoke a lot. He gave me chills. Just listening to his story and ‘The Georgia Way’ as he described it.”
How did what Davis had to say impact him?
“The Georgia Way impacted him,” Haynes said. “It was his best relationships and his closest guys came from guys he had played with in college. Then also the fact of the resilience and the drive and you are going to be going against the best and it is best on best at Georgia. The way he said adversity shaped him. He said he had three ACL injuries and he said that way Georgia is going to push you and push you to always keep going that carried on with him to the next level.”
Caleb Downs, Haynes and Pearce Spurlin III had all seen Georgia the most out of the 14 visitors for this weekend. It was a staggering show of talent on hand. The visitor’s list included 11 recruits that ranked among the nation’s top 125 overall recruits for this cycle.
How did UGA show guys like Downs, Haynes and Spurlin something new?
“They showed me something new and different by how they really got into detail,” Haynes said. “How they were going to use me. How they were going to develop me and stuff. They definitely got into detail.”
McGee had a film breakdown of hundreds of hundreds of Haynes clips.
“The way that they compared me a lot to D’Andre Swift,” he said. “Kirby, Dell and coach [Todd] Monken said that I reminded them of D’Andre Swift. That’s all they said. They said we have so many similar attributes that are identical. They said it was crazy how identical it was and that I remind them of him.”
Justice Haynes: What was the best part of his official?
“The best part was just spending time with the guys and coach McGee,” he said. “But the very best part was really just spending time with the guys that were there. That definitely is what makes the visit a lot more memorable when you are there with guys you truly care about and truly respect and guys that are going to push you. Then also guys I could see myself playing with at the next level that I really have a strong good relationship with.”
Haynes said he got to spend a lot of time with his good friend Downs. He said they really “loved it” hanging out together all weekend.
“Caleb and I talk all the time as you know,” he said. “We were hanging out the whole time with Arch [Manning] and Pearce [Spurlin III] and Lawson [Luckie] and all of us. TJ [Shanahan] as well and we all chopped it up and had a great time. It was a great time and one guy that I met that I didn’t know that much was Jalen.”
“That’s Jalen [Hale] from Texas. Jalen and I had fun. That’s a character right there. That’s the funniest kid I have met. I’m not going to lie. That’s probably the funniest kid I have ever met.”
Then there’s the all-white jersey. Complete with the white helmet and everything. For him, that is now his favorite possible potential Georgia uniform combination.
That goes for the black jerseys, too.
“100 percent I like the all-whites better,” he said. “The all-whites are dope. There is just something about that all-white with the red stripe on the helmet that sets it off. It looks clean. It sets it off. It looks very clean. They got the white and the red and the black on the stripes. It looks clean. I like it. I really really like that look.”
Did the recruits on hand want to see those in a game this fall?
“I hope they do,” Haynes said. “The recruits and I were talking about it if they came out the first game against Oregon. Because you know Oregon is known for the flashy flashy uniforms. If they came out in all whites, then Georgia would have a little flash to themselves, too. That would be pretty cool of it. We will see.”
Haynes also calls Texas offensive line prospect T.J. Shanahan Jr. his “Dawg” and that he enjoyed cutting up with him over the weekend. He would surely love to play with him at the next level, too.
What’s next for Haynes? He has an official visit to Florida next week. Then he will check out Alabama and Ohio State in June.
He hopes to have his college decision squared away before the start of his senior season at Buford. He currently has 5,879 rushing yards through three varsity seasons.
Haynes has transferred to Buford for his senior season. It will allow him to graduate early in December and enroll at the school of his choice in January of 2023.
The Wolves are an outright Georgia high school dynasty. Buford has played an average of 14.6 games every season dating back to the turn of the century. If Haynes maintains just his career average of 163 rushing yards per game in 2022, he will finish his varsity career with 2,282 yards.
It would push his career rushing total to 8,161 career yards. That would be good for No. 2 all-time in Georgia high school football history.
SENTELL'S INTEL
(check on the recent reads on DawgNation.com)
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- Justice Haynes: Legacy All-American RB sets the stage for a busy month of June officials
- Georgia football recruiting: Biggest recruiting weekend of the 2023 cycle so far in Athens
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- 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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- What it means: 4-star 2023 QB Eli Holstein commits to Alabama
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- Kayden McDonald: Elite in-state DT talent kicks off his senior season on TV with spring game
- 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.
- 3-star New Orleans OT Tyree Adams feels “blessed” to be recruited by UGA, plans an official visit
- 6-foot-6 Georgia LB signee Darrius Smith takes home two incredible state track titles
- WATCH: 5-star QB Arch Manning in action at spring practice
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- 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
- Caleb Downs: “Special” 5-star safety is the top prospect in Georgia this cycle
- Jamaal Jarrett: Priority DT target breaks down his final five schools
- 5-star ATH Samuel M’Pemba shares glowing review of first UGA trip will be back
- Arch Manning: What makes him the man beyond that famous Manning name
