It’s commitment season! Not too long ago, commitments correlated with college football season. The Saturday night lights were used as spotlight recruiting weekends for primary targets. 

That’s still the case, but in this evolving recruiting landscape, it seems like players are committing earlier and earlier. 

It’s a smart thing too. With the rise of the transfer portal, high school recruiting isn’t the sole priority anymore, and it might not be the priority at all. Thus, most high school players can’t be as picky as they could have in the past. 

Holding out for different offers isn’t always the smart move these days, and over the last couple of years, most players are understanding that. 

That’s how the late summer has become one of the hottest commitment times as opposed to the fall. 

In Georgia, several of the top dogs have made their decisions and have pledged their talents to their future schools. 

Until commitments and recruiting start to wane, we’ll regularly review those who are already off the board in the Peach State. 

 

 

The most highly-rated commit in Rutgers history, Ace Bailey is among the best prospects in all of high school basketball in terms of long term potential and current value. 

His name has been thrown out as a potential No. 1 for the 2024 class. Despite Cooper Flagg reclassifying from 2025 to 2024 and immediately assuming the top spot, Bailey is still in conversation in my book. 

At around 6-foot-8 or 6-foot-9, the only person in the class that can do the things that Bailey can do is the aforementioned Flagg. What is it that he does? Everything. 

Bailey has shown both flashes and sustained success of being able to do just about everything on the floor. 

Offensively, he’s proven to be a three-level scorer with a propensity for letting his athleticism fill highlight reels. Bailey can pass, shoot and dribble adeptly with the ball in his hands and can often be found initiating offense for any team he’s on. 

On the other side of the ball, Bailey is a quality shot blocker with a competitive streak that bodes well when it comes to getting stops. 

With all of his positive physical attributes, Bailey has so much room to grow as a player while also being extraordinarily talented right now. 

Rutgers has a commitment from a bonafide one-and-done kind of prospect. 

 

 

After being previously committed to Auburn, Kell (GA) big man Peyton Marshall elected to stay in the SEC but play for Dennis Gates’ Missouri Tigers. 

A unique player, Marshall helped lead Kell to its first ever state championship by being the immovable object. 

At 7-foot and around 300 pounds, Marshall is a force down low. When he gets the ball around the basket, there aren’t many players who can stop him. 

The beauty of his game is that he’s shown to be more than just a big body. He has good hands, and he has developable dexterity when he gets the ball a few feet away from the basket. 

At this level, teams have a tendency to just throw the kitchen sink at him when he’s not in the position to catch and go straight up. He can burn them in that regard because he’s a strong passer out of the post. 

What makes the Mizzou commitment more interesting is that Dennis Gates and assistant Charlton Young both worked under Leonard Hamilton at Florida State, and those teams always had massive big men that turned into difference makers in the ACC. That portends well for Marshall and his development. 

 

 

From one SEC commit to another, Karris Bilal is going to be facing off against Peyton Marshall when his Vanderbilt Commodores take on Missouri. 

Bilal was among the earliest in Georgia’s 2024 class to commit. 

Jerry Stackhouse and company have shown that they can cook in the X and O department. Bilal will give them an interesting piece to work with in the backcourt. 

The 6-foot-2 guard is a bucket getter through and through. That’s been his calling card throughout high school. He’s an explosive scorer with a knack for rattling off buckets in bunches. 

While Bilal is known for his ability to hang points on the board, his ability and willingness to guard has been underrated. He’s as competitive as it gets on that end of the floor. 

 

 

The Amir Abdur-Rahim connection to Cobb County, to Marietta remains strong despite the move down to Tampa. 

Kell (GA) guard CJ Brown picked Abdur-Rahim’s South Florida Bulls, and there’s little doubt that the relationship stems back to Abdur-Rahim’s time at Kennesaw State. 

Explosiveness, electricity, that’s what Brown brings at the point guard spot. He can provide a jolt of energy to spark a run with a high-flying, emphatic dunk. 

His athleticism is his best asset right now, and it shines on both sides of the ball as well as on the glass. 

As Abdur-Rahman looks to achieve the kind of success he had at Kennesaw State at South Florida, a guard like CJ Brown is the kind of player that can aid in that as he progresses at the next level. 

 

 

Ricky McKenzie has had a great 2023 so far. Earlier in the year, he found his rhythm at Wheeler (GA) while on their journey to a state championship, and he kept that momentum going throughout the spring and summer. 

After amassing several D1 offers, McKenzie opted to stay close to home and commit to Kennesaw State. From his time at The Walker School to Wheeler, McKenzie has been hooping a stone's throw away from his future campus, so his decision felt fitting. 

Where he can make his earliest impact is in his ability to come off the bench and rattle home several buckets from deep in a row. He can be a microwave for the Owls early in his career. 

If his transition to Wheeler has shown us anything, it’s that McKenzie can adapt to higher demands and thrive as a role player much like he’ll have to do when transitioning from high school to college. 

As the year progressed at Wheeler, he found his footing and became integral to their success. There’s no reason to believe that he won’t be able to do the same at KSU.