Georgia’s recruiting push gets a major checkpoint on Friday, when four-star safety Ta’Shawn Poole reveals where he plans to play college football.
For Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs, the timing matters. Georgia once held commitments from two top-100 defensive backs, but both players flipped elsewhere, leaving the class without a single defensive back pledge. Poole represents the kind of addition that could change the mood quickly: a high-end safety, one of the best players in Georgia, and a prospect with the ability to step in and make an impact right away in Athens.
Poole is the highest-ranked uncommitted prospect in Georgia, and his decision will come off the board Friday through the @247Sports + @CBSSportsCFB network.
His final three schools are Georgia, Tennessee and Florida State. All three hosted him for official visits this summer, along with Clemson, but the Tigers did not make the cut.
Poole is set to announce at 6:00 pm EST on Friday, July 17. The exact viewing method has not been confirmed yet, but the commitment is expected to be streamed online, likely through one of the 247Sports and CBS Sports YouTube channels.
Right now, the momentum appears to be with Florida State. The Seminoles have two predictions on 247Sports, logged on June 14 and June 16, shortly after Poole’s official visit there.
Georgia’s visit came the following weekend, so the Bulldogs may have made up ground since then. On3 also leans heavily toward Florida State, giving the Seminoles a 92 percent chance to land him, with Georgia sitting second.
If Georgia were to pull this off, it would count as one of the biggest wins of the 2027 cycle. Poole is ranked No. 64 overall in the country, and the Bulldogs badly need help in the secondary. They also need to keep building in-state momentum, especially with only two commitments currently coming from players ranked inside the top 20 in Georgia.
In a few days, Georgia will find out whether it landed the kind of defensive back it needs. The odds may not favor the Bulldogs, but the decision is still coming, and until Poole makes it official, the door remains open.
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