ATHENS -- Georgia football’s recruiting efforts for the 2024 cycle just received a significant boost.
Quarterback Dylan Raiola, rated the top overall recruit in the country by 247Sports, committed to the Bulldogs on his social media accounts on Monday. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound athlete will be a senior next season at Pinnacle High School in Phoenix, Arizona.
He posted a picture of himself wearing a Georgia uniform under a heading of “Athens, GA is Home!!! I’m a Dawg.”
It marks the third time under coach Kirby Smart that the Bulldogs have landed the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect. Georgia was the first school to offer Raiola, and his commitment is expected to bring many other elite prospects the Bulldogs’ way.
Raiola once was committed to Ohio State. He was still considering the Buckeyes, as well as Southern Cal and Nebraska. He is due to visit Athens on June 2.
Raiola has some strong ties to Georgia. Former Bulldogs quarterback Matthew Stafford is his godfather. Stafford played alongside with Raiola’s father, Dominic, who played at Nebraska and was an offensive lineman with the Detroit Lions.
After not signing a quarterback in the 2023 class, Georgia made Raiola a huge priority in the 2024 cycle. Smart and five UGA assistant coaches reportedly were involved in his recruitment. Raiola is 12th commitment for the Bulldogs’ ‘24 class and third 5-star prospect. UGA’s current class ranks No. 4 in the nation, according to the 247Sports composite.
“Kirby just said he wants me a lot,” Dylan Raiola told DawgNation.com in February. “He has a great plan for me. He sees me doing a lot of big things in his program. Bringing Georgia to another national championship. To hear that from him is pretty special, a guy like that to say, ‘you can come here and lead us to a championship.’”
Raiola has passed for 5,776 yards and 54 touchdowns with 10 interceptions over his last two seasons in high school. As a sophomore at Chandler High School, he threw of 3,341 yards and 32 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in 12 games while completing 65 percent of his passes. Raiola moved to Pinnacle High last season and passed for 2,435 yards and 22 TDs and 5 interceptions in the same number of games.
Georgia had one other quarterback already in the fold in its 2024 class. Ryan Puglisi, a 6-3, 205-pound rising senior from Avon, Connecticut, committed to the Bulldogs on Oct. 16, 2022. UGA currently has three quarterbacks on scholarship for next season - Carson Beck, Brock Vandagriff and Gunner Stockton.
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