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Georgia Tech Recruiting: Post-Weekend Update (UPDATED: Monday, 6:15pm)

The first of three major recruiting weekends is over. Let's take a look at the developments.

Trey Klock/Twitter

Visitors

Name Position Height Weight Hometown Rivals || Scout Committed?
Lance Austin DB 5'9" 179 lbs Barnesville, GA ||
Lawrence Austin DB 5'9" 181 lbs Barnesville, GA ||
Jalen Johnson WR/DB 6'2" 193 lbs Oneonta, AL ||
Trey Klock TE/OL/DL 6'4" 264 lbs Hummelstown, PA ||
Terrell Lewis LB 6'2" 217 lbs Ocoee, FL ||
Andrew Marshall OL 6'4" 267 lbs Cumming, GA ||
Mike Sawyers DT 6'2" 307 lbs Nashville, TN || Uncommitted
Qua ("Kway") Searcy DB 5'11" 165 lbs Barnesville, GA ||
Antonio Simmons DE 6'4" 210 lbs Jacksonville, FL ||
Miles Taylor DB 6'0" 185 lbs Washington, DC ||

As you can see this weekend was largely about the current commitments coming to campus and bonding, before the final two weeks where teams will try to convince them that Georgia Tech isn't so great. I like the planning on the part of the coaches in doing things this way.

You'll also notice that our biggest recruit left on the board came by this weekend, and by all accounts would seem to have enjoyed his visit.

He didn't commit, nor did anyone else, but is definitely one to continue watching for Tech fans. (Notice that he was grouped with 9 commitments. This is not a coincidence.)

Other Targets

Name Position Height Weight Hometown Rivals || Scout Committed?
Jimmy Bayes DE/LB 6'3" 197 lbs Immokalee, FL ||

Bayes had his visit to USF this weekend, where he's been committed since February, and afterwards announced that he had closed his recruitment via Twitter.

Now, the only thing I'll say is that you need to keep in mind that recruiting can be really weird. Clearly, Willie Taggart worked some magic on this kid this weekend, and he's now not interested in visiting Tech. However, will that lack of interest hold over if a Tech coach calls him up? And if he does come visit, does he stay committed to USF? It's a complete longshot, but trust me when I tell you that stranger things have happened in recruiting.

Name Position Height Weight Hometown Rivals || Scout Committed?
Myles Autry AB/DB 5'10" 175 lbs Norcross, GA || Uncommitted

As far as I know, Autry spent the weekend on his couch at home watching football and basketball, because by all accounts he had no visits scheduled. But Autry seems like the type of guy who could talk his way into or out of any situation. Give him a microphone, and he'll just start talking until you turn it off. Per Michael Carvell of the AJC...

On his OV: "Georgia Tech was originally my last official visit but I switched it with FSU because I signed up to take the SAT next Saturday," Autry said. "Georgia Tech was the only one of my leaders that is a local school, so I can start my official visit that Friday night, come back the next morning for the SAT, and go back to Georgia Tech right after that."

On Anthony: "He got a medical redshirt this year, giving him three more years," Autry said. "That would just be three years for us to play together. And that would be my main reason to go to Georgia Tech, to play with my brother. Together, we could do some damage like we did in high school. It’s really going to be a hard decision there."

You can read the rest of the article here, where Autry goes on to talk about Florida State, Florida, Ohio State, Oregon, being a package deal with national top-10 recruit and HS teammate Lorenzo Carter, and, of course, uga. Chances are good that he ends up at Tech, although his comments might lead some to wonder how badly he actually wants to play for the Yellow Jackets.

Name Position Height Weight Hometown Rivals || Scout Committed?
Ja'Merez Bowen OL/DL 6'5" 270 lbs Cleveland, OH ||

Bowen committed to Cincinnati Saturday night and will likely stick with the Bearcats through Signing Day. He has a visit to Kentucky scheduled for next weekend still, and also had interest in visiting Georgia Tech prior to committing. Whether he goes through with either is yet to be seen, but it's likely we've seen the last of Bowen.

Name Position Height Weight Hometown Rivals || Scout Committed?
Rashawn Shaw DE 6'3" 234 lbs Fort Pierce, FL ||

Shaw, committed to Louisville, visited Wake Forest this weekend. In this case, no news is presumed to be good news, and in that case there was good news. Shaw will be at Georgia Tech next weekend alongside Autry and current commitment Michael Preddy. Based on his visiting around and lack of official visit to Louisville, it would seem that Shaw is only committed to Louisville because he wants to make sure he has a seat when the music stops. Based on his visits remaining, I'd have to think there's a good chance Tech gets him, but only time will tell on that.

UPDATE: Monday, 6:15pm

Name Position Height Weight Hometown Rivals || Scout Committed?
Grant Haley AB/CB 5'10" 180 lbs Atlanta, GA ||

Haley was a longtime Vanderbilt commit who was thought to be a potential candidate for Georgia Tech. Turns out his biggest goal is to play for James Franklin. Haley visited Penn State this weekend and flipped his commitment there on Monday. Looks like whatever small chance Tech had there is now history.

Recap

Unfortunately there were no commitments this weekend, but there was a lot of progress made in other ways. Perhaps the most impressive part of this class so far is only having the one flip in Caleb Kinlaw, while everyone else that's committed has stayed committed ever since declaring they were. I'm excited to see what the staff can accomplish over the next two weeks leading into Signing Day.

Happy with the way we used this weekend, Tech fans? Wishing we'd opted for a different strategy? Upset we couldn't get any commitments, or that we missed out on Bayes and Bowen?