Georgia’s run on junior college talent kept rolling over the weekend, and this time the Bulldogs landed the country’s top JUCO defensive lineman in a flip from an SEC rival.
Christian Mays, the 6-foot-5, 340-pound defensive lineman from Northeast Mississippi C.C., has switched from Tennessee to Georgia, 247Sports has learned. Mays, who had been committed to Tennessee since the beginning of June, took his official visit to Athens over the weekend for the Auburn game and came away as Georgia’s latest addition.
The Bulldogs had been tracking Mays as a possible flip target since offering him in September. At the time of the Tennessee pledge, Georgia was not deeply involved in the race, but that changed quickly once the offer went out. Georgia then got him on campus for an official visit during the season and moved into the lead from there.
Mays is now the second JUCO commitment Georgia has added this fall, joining Alius Mayo. That gives the Bulldogs two of the top three JUCO prospects in the nation in the 2027 class. Mayo is the nation’s No. 1 cornerback, while Mays sits at No. 1 among defensive linemen and No. 3 overall in the 247Sports JUCO rankings.
He also gives Georgia a true nose tackle presence in the class. Mays joins Waylon Wooten, Marcellus Young Casario and Antwan McKoy in Tray Scott’s defensive line group, and he stands out as the most 0-technique type in the Bulldogs’ 2027 haul so far.
The commitment pushes Georgia to 24 pledges in the 2027 cycle. The Bulldogs now hold a 247Sports team recruiting score of 251.59, putting them just behind Florida in the chase for the No. 8 class in the country.
Mays is the fourth player to flip to Georgia this fall, following Mayo, Braylon Miller and Nash Johnson. He is rated as a four-star prospect.
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