Georgia won't have to wait until February to be crowned king of the 2024 college football recruiting cycle. Coach Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs clinched the cycle's top-ranked recruiting class on Wednesday during National Signing Day after flipping five-star defensive back KJ Bolden from Florida State at the opening of the early signing period. With Bolden's commitment, Georgia secured a class score of 315.33 points from 247Sports.
Georgia's top-ranked class features 28 commits, including 10 top-100 prospects. Four of those players hold five-star rankings in the 247Sports Composite. The group is headlined by IMG Academy cornerback Ellis Robinson IV, who is considered the No. 1 prospect at his position and the No. 3 overall talent within the 2024 cycle, according to 247Sports.
Bolden, linebacker Justin Williams and defensive lineman Joseph Jonah-Ajonye round out the group of Bulldog commits who hold five-star rankings in the 247Sports Composite. Williams and Bolden join Robinson as the top prospects within the class at their respective positions.
Robinson, who stands at 6-foot-1 and 185-pounds, committed in February, less than a month after the Bulldogs repeated as national champions. He had 32 known offers during his recruitment and kept his word to Georgia even after taking visits to Miami and Alabama in the months between his verbal pledge and National Letter of Intent signing, according to 247Sports.
"[He's] how you want a cornerback prospect to look these days with his length and speed," 247Sports Director of Scouting Andrew Ivins wrote in an evaluation of Robinson. "A two-year starter at IMG Academy that opposing quarterback's shied away from – and for good reason. Swallows up wide receivers out on the perimeter as he uses the sideline to his advantage while maintaining phase."
Williams, the second-highest ranked member of Georgia's class behind Robinson (No. 9 overall), committed to the Bulldogs in July and also had 32 known offers during his recruitment, according to 247Sports. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound linebacker out of Oak Ridge High School in Conroe, Texas, was named the Defensive Player of the Year for his district as a junior in 2022, and he could be a household name on the Bulldogs defense before long with his potential.
"Limitless pursuit range," 247Sports' recruiting analyst Gabe Brooks wrote in an evaluation of Williams. "Almost never out of a play because of sheer athleticism. Effortless speed. Hard to evade in space because of acceleration rate and gear-changing ability even when opened up at full tilt."
The full lineup in Georgia's 2024 recruiting class can be seen below. To get a sense of just how deep this group is, 24 of the 28 players set to join the Bulldogs in this haul have at least a four-star rating in the 247Sports Composite. No other recruiting class for the 2024 cycle can say that, though Alabama is currently second with 20 commits boasting a four-start rating or higher in the 247Sports Composite.
With Georgia clinching the top-ranked class, it marks the 16th consecutive recruiting cycle in which an SEC program has finished No. 1. Alabama, which currently tracks to finish second in the 2024 rankings behind the Bulldogs, took home last year's recruiting title with a 2023 signing class that earned 328 points from 247Sports. Prior to that, Texas A&M set the all-time record with a 2022 class that earned 333.13 points, breaking the record Alabama set in 2021 with 327.8 points.
