Want to attack every day with the latest Georgia football recruiting info? That’s the Intel. This entry is about the latest long-rumored news drop Thursday morning made by 5-star Lebbeus Overton.
=============================================================
Lebbeus “LT” Overton dropped two big pieces of news on the day after National Signing Day.
The biggest of those confirmed rumors that have existed going back to early fall about him reclassifying to the class of 2022.
The 5-star DL will be able to accumulate enough course credits over the next few months to graduate in May and enroll this fall at the school of his choice. That decision will befit his status as the No. 1 DL and the No. 3 overall prospect in the Class of 2023 on the 247Sports Composite ratings.
He moves to the 2022 class that just signed on Wednesday and also during the early period in December. The newly-formed recruiting service On3Sports has already reclassified Overton to the nation’s No. 31 overall prospect for the 2022 cycle.
The other meaty piece of news was his establishment of top five schools. He listed Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas A&M as the finalists for his process.
The Milton High junior plans to take official visits to all of those schools over the next few months before making his final decision.
The 6-foot-4, 265-pounder was a Max Preps All-American after his 21.5 sacks in Georgia 7A ball as a sophomore. He played through injuries and was at less than 100 percent for the balance of his junior season this past year.
Overton made those announcements in a press conference earlier today from Milton High in North Metro Atlanta. He has been at Milton for the last two seasons after moving to Georgia from Alabama private school Bessemer Academy just outside of Birmingham.
“Starting to play high school in the eighth grade you know I’ve already got that four years of experience,” Overton told WXIA-TV “So just graduating to that next level earlier, I believe that will help me on the path just grinding it out in college earlier than expected.”
Milton said both his parents were “100 percent supportive” of his decision. His father, Milton, was a four-year player along the offensive line at Oklahoma and is the current athletics director at Kennesaw State University.
Overton shared on Thursday that the constant double and triple-teams of another year of high school football would not be the best use of his development over the next year.
He deemed it better to go ahead and advance to the college level where he can develop outside of the expected climate for his senior year of high school football.
His comments today were captured by WXIA-TV in Atlanta and are embedded below.
He told Alex Benson of WIXIA-TV that he planned to make his final college decision sometime in April.
Overton spoke in-depth with DawgNation earlier this year about his thoughts on Georgia. He said the Bulldogs made a big move with him this fall after he got to watch the eventual national champions play back-to-back home games in Sanford Stadium.
His mother, Eunice Thomas, was also a standout volleyball player in the SEC at Kentucky. It is a loaded top group and yet it does not include Alabama.
She has a background in college counseling and has been “grooming” him to be able to make a bold step like this one, if necessary.
“We looked at the whole,” she said. “He’s ready. He’s always been that student that advances in his classroom and on the field and on the basketball court. So it is not a level of we are pushing him to do things. We had detailed discussions and he’s ready. He’s already taking some college courses and everything.”
Milton Overton worked in athletic administration for many years at both Alabama and Texas A&M across the course of his professional career before assuming his current role at KSU. He described his son as having a “high intellectual capability” with all of this.
“I trust all the decisions that he makes,” his father told WXIA-TV. “He’s been preparing for a long time. He’s a great player but he’s a better person. When you look at aptitude and the ability to have great academic integrity but at the same time a really high football IQ, he’s making the right decision for him. I’m excited for him. This is starting a new chapter in his life. It is one that is going to be a long journey. He’s preparing and he will be ready to go.”
“He’s a blessed individual. I think he’s very happy about the recruiting process. Everybody is treating him with so much respect and kindness. We are very appreciative of the process and how it is working.”
Georgia and Texas A&M appear to be two schools to watch at the outset here as things move forward.
SENTELL'S INTEL
(check on the recent reads on DawgNation.com)
- WATCH: All-American DT Christen Miller goes 1-on-1 with DawgNation about his decision
- State champion EJ Lightsey signs up to play for LBU
- BREAKING: All-American DT Christen Miller has made his college decision
- Check out the DawgNation GPS for National Signing Day 2022
- Brandon Inniss: Nation’s No. 1 junior WR really approves of the Bryan McClendon hire
- Why was UGA unable to sign an elite 5-star receiver in this class?
- 5-star junior RB Rueben Owens II will be back in Athens this weekend
- Christen Miller: Georgia? Ohio State? Setting the stage for his signing day decision
- Caleb Downs: Nation’s No. 1 junior safety says it feels good to be wanted by UGA
- Oscar Delp: His mom rewrote a 1995 party song for Karaoke night on his official visit
- Big Bear Alexander: A torn labrum didn’t stop the UGA signee in 2021
- 5-star Georgia DL signee Mykel Williams named Maxwell Defensive Player of the Year
- The national championship roster is splintered, but 18 early enrollees are already on campus
- All-American legacy RB Justice Haynes sees “something special” at UGA
- 5-star junior DL Victor Burley gushes over Georgia’s fans, its present and its future
- Stetson Bennett IV: The father of the Georgia QB recaps how hard this year was for his son
- Kelee Ringo: The late-game hero recaps that Chip-6 pick that sealed Georgia’s national title
- BREAKING: 2023 legacy Lawson Luckie becomes the first new commit to the national champions
- Justin Shaffer: The “Pac-Man” Georgia Bulldog story to read before the national championship game
- Earnest Greene II: How Georgia beat out Alabama for prized All-American OL
- Cover 4: The DawgNation staff predictions for the national championship game
- BREAKING: All-American Earnest Greene III has made his college decision
- All-American RB commit Jordan James on why he didn’t sign with UGA during the early period
- Cover 4: Why will things be any different this time with Alabama?
- Earnest Greene III: All-American OL previews his Saturday decision reveal
- Cover 4: What’s the biggest Alabama weakness that the Bulldogs must exploit?
- Marvin Jones Jr: The Orange Bowl story you need to read about Georgia’s next great pass rusher
