This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the latest with Manchester High School 5-star DL Justus Terry. He ranks as the nation’s No. 2 DL and the No. 10 overall prospect for 2025 on the 247Sports Composite. The On3 Industry Ranking has him as the No. 2 DL and at No. 09 overall.
MANCHESTER, Ga. - Justus Terry let the world know he was a Texas Longhorn on Friday afternoon.
The 5-star said a couple of times that it was a “business decision” after his big reveal inside the Manchester High auditorium. DawgNation was on hand to stream that ceremony live across its social platforms.
What really happened here? That might just be the million-dollar-plus [literal] question.
Those who might now feel like they are done with following college recruiting after the Terry news will want to hunker down here. No matter what team he eventually chose, this recruiting story went from his home state, UGA, then a shocking spring flip to USC, and another surprising final “horns up” with Texas.
Watching it all unfold was fascinating.
Terry’s own mother said she did not know her son’s choice at the table. Another family member came to the ceremony with a Georgia cap in their pocket. They thought Terry was still going to be a Dawg.
That was up until the moment they saw Terry’s father’s face when his son pulled Texas gear out of the box he had at the podium. The look was that of surprise.
He knew then. He didn’t need Terry to say it to the whole world.
DawgNation learned Terry’s family circle felt his choice was clearly Georgia as late as Tuesday evening of this week.
Yet somebody knew. Enough to clue a Texas Longhorn website to dispatch one of its veteran reporters to Machester this morning. That correspondent might have fractured several local speed ordinances getting to Manchester High School for the ceremony.
After he let the world know, Terry described the timeline behind his decision.
“I kind of finalized it this week,” Terry said. “You know really just doing some hard thinking and praying on my decision. I really didn’t want to focus on it too much. I’m trying to make a state championship run with the guys. We have a big game today at 7:30 against Brooks County. I really didn’t want to worry about it too much but later this week I decided to take two days and clear my mind and talk to God. When I had my decision, I felt good about it and then slept on it, woke up and then I was ready.”
“I just made my decision today.”
That’s the first puzzle piece of an intriguing timeline.
Terry told DawgNation that his final group included the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Georgia and Texas.
The interesting part is Texas didn’t come into the picture until very late this season. That’s a stark contrast to a Georgia program that had been prioritizing him for the 2025 class since before he entered high school.
“It was like early November,” Terry said of when Texas jumped into his recruitment. “Late October. Early November.”
DawgNation believes Terry only took one trip to see Texas. That was his official visit for the Georgia game weekend on Oct. 19.
“That’s when they first hit me,” Terry said. “And I was like, ‘Man, that’s late in my recruitment. I didn’t really want to, you know, kind of interfere with it. I didn’t want to do it. So I sat down and I was like, ‘Man, let’s explore my options. Be patient with it. Take everything in.’ Maybe it is something God telling me [here.] The reason why they are coming in late. So I was, like, ‘Let me take everything in’ and ‘this might be the one’ and I always said the third [commitment] would be the charm, you know. I obviously decommitted from UGA before I obviously decommitted from USC. So the third time was the charm, you know. So the third time was the charm.”
“This one, I wanted it to be the best one, and Texas came out to be the best one. For sure.”
The wonder here is if it will feel right for any coach in this recruiting climate anymore to build meaningful relationships with prospects over multiple years. Well, it may still feel right, but will it be productive?
Especially when it all can come down to a transaction relationship. That’s what it feels like happened here and Terry basically confirmed that.
The details to be found during his ceremony add to that hypothesis.
Terry was sharply dressed on Friday in a custom Louis Vuitton suit that he said he had to make several trips to Newman this week to get dialed in right.
“I just wanted to pop it big,” he said. “It was a big moment. I’ve never really been into clothing before. Never rocked LV. So for this moment, I just wanted to go Louis’ suit. Customized. All black. you know and I just did it. It felt good.”
As he described it, one couldn’t help but notice that Terry’s name was monogrammed on the sleeves of the all-black suit. That’s his favorite color.
It was also embroidered on the inside of his suit jacket. There’s one more pertinent detail to add here.
His name was stitched in red in both of those places.
Wouldn’t orange have made a lot more sense?
Justus Terry: The next thing to know about his “business decision”
Custom Louis Vuitton suit. Last-minute decision. In a recruiting race won by a program that’s only been actively recruiting Terry for less than eight weeks.
We recognize our readers are not clueless here. They can add up all the elements here and start tallying up this as a business decision.
They can feel free to do so since that’s exactly the way Terry described it.
“Everything really came down to a business decision,” Terry said. “Sometimes with high school, well, not high school. College. It is really getting to where you can’t have your feelings in it. You can, but at the same time, everything is a business. If it is a set amount or number, then anyone will leave at any moment. A coach or anything. So [for] me, I don’t look at going to college just because a coach is there or anything. Like I really want to rock with Texas. I want my name and my family to rep Texas because it will take you a long way with the connections and all being outside of Georgia. Outside the box. As I said, I want to put myself outside the box in uncomfortable situations and come out 10 toes standing and, you know, be the best man I can be.”
Was this decision really about the dollar signs? Because that’s what is happening all over the recruiting trail these days with elite recruits choosing the highest bids above all else.
What did Terry want people to know about this decision?
“I really don’t feed into it,” Terry said about the dollar signs. “I really just want to tell people you make money anywhere. Everywhere you go there is going to be money. There is no set amount on how much money you can make. No matter where you go. If you’re doing what you do, if you can ball, and if you go there and ball, the money will go up no matter what. So money, did not play, it played a big factor, but it also didn’t, because, you know, every team has a different amount. But at the same time, it came down to development. With six defensive linemen leaving, going into the league or the draft, you know, it’s like, ‘Man only four can play. Six leaving. I have a chance to play right away and make an impact.”
As far as the development aspect goes, the Longhorns have had three defensive linemen drafted in the first two rounds by the NFL dating back to 2010. As a means of comparison, Georgia has had four first-round NFL defensive linemen selected in just the last three years.
Terry believes he can go that high in the draft out of any college program. That’s his “alpha” confidence in his grind and “dawg” mindset. He even spelled out a “Dawg” acronym for how he’s wired that expanded out to discipline, attitude, work ethic and grit.
“No one will ever be able to outwork me,” he said.
Terry also said he wanted to start up his LLC quickly.
“Get everything going,” he said. “Accounts. All things. All the things I need to start a business. I plan to do it as soon as possible. Get everything rolling and, you know, just follow God’s path. Let life build a life.”
There were some stunned folks in that auditorium. Especially those who have known Terry for years.
That same family member feels this decision will not stick. They foresee Terry getting homesick and jumping into the transfer portal before he’s NFL Draft-eligible in three years. We shall see about that.
Terry said there were “connections” in Austin and people that drew him there. He also discussed the depth chart.
“Everything was a perfect storm,” he said. “From playing factor. Playing time. You know they have six defensive linemen leaving, so obviously, I have an opportunity to come in and, you know, compete for a spot right away. So that played a big part. It just all felt good. Talked to my parents. You know they were good with it and I just wanted to go make an impact.”
DawgNation has heard Terry for years speak about his affinity for cutting hair. He’s been cutting the hair for his teammates. That was his side hustle. When he got to college and got some of those “NIL” funds, he said he wanted to open his own barbershop. He eventually wanted to bring other local businesses to his hometown. He’s mentioned a trucking business in the past.
That entrepreneurial spirit came out in this decision.
“It really came down to where I really wanted to be,” he said. “Where I could provide for my family early and, you know, just make everything happen within a snap. You know, the NFL is not guaranteed. So you want to, you know, make the best of what you do, so you want to take the best opportunity. So that’s what I did. Took the best opportunity. Getting to play, and obviously, the goal is to get developed and go to the NFL but I feel like the connections that I will make outside of football I will succeed in life also outside of that.”
Justus Terry had a message for the 2025 Georgia football recruiting class
Terry has often called his recruiting process a “marathon” and he needed all three days of the early signing period to sort it all out.
What did it feel like to be done with it all?
“Well, like I said you can’t really have feelings in all this,” he said. “I want to say to this game, but I want to say this type of system. Like the feeling. You have feelings, of course, but at the end of the day, it is a business. So you want to take full advantage of the business opportunities. Like I said, I took the best one. The best opportunity on the table. I took it and ready to provide for my family.”
“No hard feelings. You know, I love UGA. I love Auburn. Love Alabama.”
Terry, a former Georgia commit, had gotten to know almost the entire Georgia football recruiting class over the last few years. He’d come across them at camps, All-American events and also on campus at UGA.
He rattled off a lot of their names on Friday afternoon.
“I hope they can do great things,” Terry said. “You know the next couple of years. You know. Elijah Griffin. Zayden Walker. Isaiah Gibson. I have real love for those guys, you know? Bo Walker. Real love for those guys. I hope they go out there, do their best and you know, do what they want to do in life. Keep chasing their dreams. For sure.”
There was a natural follow-up to that answer. To ask how many members of the 2025 Texas recruiting class he also knew like he knew at Georgia. How many of those names he could rattle off since starting to look at Texas less than two months ago.
The answer there likely wasn’t worth hearing. That’s more of a personal thing that did not fit after everything else he had just said.
This choice, according to the clues that stacked up in the Manchester High auditorium, was all about business. It was about developing his future far beyond the city limits of a small Georgia town of just 3,600 people.
This was business. Nothing personal.
That’s the one thing Terry has been upfront about from the start. His intention has always been to use the game of football to become a businessman.
SENTELL’S INTEL
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