Where Will Five-Star Defensive Lineman LJ McCray Land?

With Onre Evans joining the Bulldogs' defense in 2024, Kirby Smart and Glenn Schumann look to add LJ McCray, but they aren't the only school in contention.

Yesterday afternoon was a good time for the Georgia Bulldogs coaching staff when they learned they flipped the commitment of 4-star cornerback Ondre Evans from LSU to Georgia. They now turn their sights toward five-star defensive lineman LJ McCray. McCray is set to announce his decision this Saturday, October 21, and is down to Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, and Miami. 

Miami

The 6' 6" Daytona Beach native would likely love to stay home to be able to play in front of his family and loved ones, and at a school like Miami, who could blame McCray? Mario Cristobal has pulled out the NIL stops before to try and land big-time recruits but hasn't seen the same success regarding the defensive and offensive line. Cristobal can land top-tier talent on the line, showing that when he was at Oregon and had Kayvon Thibodeaux. McCray was visiting the Hurricanes when they pulled off an impressive victory over Jimbo Fisher and the Texas A&M Aggies, but a glaring loss to Georgia Tech could sway McCray elsewhere. 

Georgia

The Bulldogs had McCray on campus early in the summer on June 16th for another loaded visit. Since then, McCray has not been back to campus but reportedly "had all questions answered" on that visit. After Kirby Smart lost his first recruiting battle to Dan Lanning with defensive lineman Aydin Breland, the Bulldogs are once again in a recruiting battle for a top defensive lineman in 2024. With a slim depth at the defensive line position currently, Georgia has beefed up that position in the 2024 class with five current commits; this could either drive away McCray or welcome him in with competition. 

Florida/Florida State

McCray has spent most of his visits throughout the summer and on Saturdays this fall between the Gators and the Seminoles. So far this year, Billy Napier and the Florida Gators have gotten McCray out on campus four times, most recently on September 16th when they upset Tennessee. But Mike Norvell and the Florida State Seminoles have shown the most promising future out of any Florida program. McCray has seen them play in Tallahassee twice this season. If any of the Florida schools were to land McCray over Georgia, it would be the Seminoles who have been able to nap Ny Carr and KJ Bolden from the Bulldogs' grasp. 

In conclusion, most of these recruitments nowadays are slightly anticlimactic, there's often times a strong sense of where the athlete might land. The overwhelming feeling in the industry on McCray is that it's still very much unknown where he will land on Saturday afternoon. 

With the Bulldogs off this week, their attention will be turned towards McCray and his decision this Saturday, October 21st, on the 247Sports Youtube Channel. 

Other Georgia News:

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• Reminder of What Georgia Has With Delp, Luckie, and Spurlin

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