Georgia High School Recruiting: Top Two 2013 Recruits Play In Peach State

There's a new contender in the fierce recruiting battle being waged over Robert Nkemdiche, a 6'5 260 defensive end from Loganville, the No. 1 player in the class of 2013 who is already drawing comparisons to Reggie White.

On Saturday, Nkemdiche tweeted that he was now considering Mississippi State, mainly because of his close connection to Bulldogs QB signee Nick Schuessler.

Nkemdiche, whose father lives in Atlanta and whose mother is a Nigerian congresswoman, is currently living at the Schuessler's home for his senior season of high school.

The close connection between the two players has reportedly thrust the Bulldogs into the mix for his services, although Mississippi State is hardly the only area school with ties to Nkemdiche. His older brother Denzel is a CB at Ole Miss while several of his high-school teammates are committed to Clemson.

For all the latest twists and turns in Nkemdiche's recruiting, stay tuned to the SB Nation Atlanta storystream.

The Georgia Bulldogs are still preparing for the 2012 football season, but they have already received several commitments from prospects for the 2013 campaign. It appears that they've already done a fine job of recruiting for next year.

ESPNU has released their list of the top 150 prospects in the class of 2013. Several of the names on the list have already made commitments to UGA.

Georgia's top recruit to date is No. 45 Derrick Henry, a four-star athlete from Yulee, FL. Close behind Henry is No. 47, Tramel Terry, an athlete from Goose Creek, SC.

Shaq Wiggins appears on the list at No. 86. He's a cornerback from Tyrone, GA who attends Sandy Creek High School. Quarterback Brice Ramsey of Kingsland, GA is No. 110. No. 116 is Tray Matthews, a safety from Newnan, GA. Rounding out the list of commits (for the time being) is No. 148 Johnny O'Neal, an inside linebacker from Dublin, GA.

For more on UGA football, visit Georgia blog Dawg Sports, plus SEC blog Team Speed Kills and SB Nation Atlanta.

The state of Georgia has a top-heavy presence in this year's football recruiting class, boasting the top two prospects in every major recruiting service's rankings. The latest, 247 Sports', features Grayson DE Robert Nkemdiche and Lagrange LB Reuben Foster up top, as is custom. But the Peach State fares even better in the rest of the upper crust here than on other lists.

Cracking the top 10 here is Vienna DT Montravius Adams, with Rossville S Vonn Bell showing up at No. 24. In all, more than one tenth of the list hails from Georgia.

Georgia Bulldogs commit Derrick Henry, an athlete from Florida, ranks No. 12 overall, and two other Dawgs commits show up in the top 80. Another two rank in the top 150. The, like, whole rest of the thing is all Alabama, Texas and Michigan, or so it appears. No surprise there.

For more on UGA football, visit Georgia blog Dawg Sports, plus SEC blog Team Speed Kills and SB Nation Atlanta.

Grayson's Robert Nkemdiche, the nation's No. 1 2013 recruit, has long been a presumed Alabama Crimson Tide commit. Whether Nkemdiche himself knows it or not, you see, because he's a highly heralded recruit in the Southeast, and thus will almost certainly end up at Bama.

But according to his high school coach, that's not quite the case any more:

"You know, at one time, I think that [Alabama being the leader] was the case," he said. "But he's got five schools, Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, LSU and Ole Miss and I think he'd be happy at any one of those five."

The Georgia Bulldogs offer the chance to stay home, while the Mississippi Rebels could pair him with his older brother. Of course, it would not be surprising at all to see him announce for Bama when the time comes in May.

Either way, his top five has been reduced from eight to five (stay with me), and UGA's still in the running.

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The saga of Robert Nkemdiche, the nation's best prospect in the 2013 college football signing class, won't drag on through the summer, fall and into February of next year, according to Nkemdiche himself, who told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he'll make an announcement May 18 as to where he'll be playing his college football.

Nkemdiche returned home from a visit to Baton Rogue to tour the campus of LSU, and set his top five teams headed into the decision as (in no order): LSU, Clemson, Georgia, Ole Miss and Alabama. Nkemdiche also said he likely won't make a planned visit to Vanderbilt March 31, but could possibly re-visit UGA and Clemson for their spring practices in the coming weeks.

"I’m ready to commit because I know where I want to go," Nkemdiche said. "I feel like I’ve seen all the places I needed to see, and talked to all the coaches everywhere.

"I don’t feel any need to wait any later than the spring. I’m ready to get it over with, and then I can focus on other things … my senior year of high school, my schoolwork, and helping Grayson try to win the state championship again."

For more on Georgia's football recruiting, check out Dawg Sports. For news on college football, head over to SB Nation's college football page.

Another college football recruiting service has published its big list of 2013 prospects, and, as expected, two Georgians headline the list. The 2013 Scout 300 is led by Grayson defensive end Robert Nkemdiche and Troup County linebacker Reuben Foster. The latter's an Alabama Crimson Tide commit, while the former's narrowed his top five from eight to six; just roll with it.

At No. 11 nationally, there's Dooly County defensive tackle Montravius Adams, with Ridgeland safety Vonn Bell, Camden County quarterback Brice Ramsey, Walton running back Tyren Jones, and Eagles Landing defensive end Isaac Rochell all ranked in the top 100 as well. Ramsey remains a Georgia Bulldogs commit.

Scout is a little bit more generous with its list of viable candidates for each prospect than are other services, putting the Dawgs in the running for 15 of the top 100, and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the race for eight of them.

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The nation's No. 1 player in the class of 2013, Loganville (Ga.) Grayson defensive end Robert Nkemdiche, has already made a slew of visits to a few different schools in the southeast in the last few months. The senior pass-rusher seems to have narrowed down his top schools list to six, but if you hear it from him then he only has his "top 5."

No order , Lsu uga Alabama clemson ole miss Florida top 5 right now where my fans at ??

— robert nkemdiche (@electus_1) March 5, 2012

The Ole Miss Rebels and Alabama Crimson Tide are seen to have the inside track on having Nkemdiche take his prospective talents to their campus. Ole Miss currently has Nkemdiche's brother on the football team and could be starting on the Rebels secondary this fall. Alabama has started targeting Nkemdiche and will look to have him visit later this spring.

The local product is from Loganville, and the drive from his hometown to Athens is just 36 miles away to the Georgia Bulldogs campus. Campus proximity a plus, maybe?

For more on the Georgia Bulldogs, check out Dawg Sports, Team Speed Kills and SB Nation's college football page.

Robert Nkemdiche, the nation's best prospect in the 2013 class of college football prospects (which earns you a Wikipedia page before your 18th birthday) has sort of narrowed his favorite schools down to a Top 5, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

"In no particular order, my Top 5 is Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Ole Miss, Clemson … and, um, I like South Carolina, and I’m going to visit Florida and Florida State," Nkemdiche told the AJC on Sunday night.

HEY NOW THAT'S NOT FIVE, but OK. Clearly, it's far too early in what's sure to be an absolutely tumultuous process for all involved for Nkemdiche to even pare the list down to five schools. It's safe to assume that Alabama is the stalwart, Georgia has an edge thanks to the backyard advantage, and Ole Miss will hang on throughout the year because his brother Denzel will likely be a starter in the defensive backfield for the Rebels.

Some concern arose initially when a barrage of recruiting writers pressed Nkemdiche for his favorites and he didn't include UGA, but he's since had contact with Mark Richt and plans to take an unofficial visit to Athens. He's next scheduled to visit LSU and Vanderbilt.

For more on the Georgia Bulldogs, check out Dawg Sports, Team Speed Kills and SB Nation's college football page.

Grayson's Robert Nkemdiche, the nation's No. 1 recruit, will reportedly attend the Mississippi Rebels' Junior Day this weekend. He could probably tour the country attending Junior Days every weekend if he so chose, but this one is especially newsy as his brother Denzel Nkemdiche plays in Oxford.

DE Robert Nkemdiche of Grayson (Ga.), the country's No. 1 player for 2013, is expected to attend #OleMiss #Rebs junior day this Satuday

— Keith Niebuhr (@KeithRIVALS) February 21, 2012

While hope remains slim for anybody besides the Alabama Crimson Tide, and slimmer still for programs that don't exactly crack the national top 10, it's still noteworthy, and has thus been noted. The Georgia Bulldogs missed out on a leg up in the great Nkemdiche derby by not offering Denzel, a former UGA supporter who also hails from the Peach State.

Nkemdiche the younger's mere presence on campus will actually be a boost for the Rebels. I mean, here we are talking about Ole Miss recruiting. But one shouldn't expect any big news to come of it.

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