All-American Bowl: Georgia lands Tyrique Stevenson
SAN ANTONIO -- Georgia's multiyear recruiting momentum continued to snowball on Saturday, as UGA snatched up cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, a former Florida commit and in-demand prospect from the Sunshine State during the All-American Bowl on NBC. Kirby Smart and his staff beat out every Florida-based school in addition to programs like Alabama, Auburn and LSU to land Stevenson, who is coming off of a stellar offseason.
Stevenson was once seen as a Miami lean, but Georgia erased the hometown school’s lead in a hurry on its way to landing his letter of intent.
HOW IT HELPS GEORGIA
Stevenson is one of the elite defensive backs in this class, but yanking him out of Dade County, just miles away from Miami’s campus, makes luring the Rivals100 member to Athens extra impressive. Georgia has been a player for many of the Sunshine State’s top prospects this year, and the program’s presence in the region has to be frustrating to Miami, which has lost a handful of recruits to UGA already.
Stevenson is a physical defensive back who boasts a safety's build despite covering like a corner, making him a versatile defensive weapon. He’s shined on Friday nights and in elite camp settings, where he’s proven himself capable of covering the elite prospects in this class. Originally a Florida commit, Stevenson waffled back and forth between Miami and UGA for quite a while, but the Dawgs did a nice job of essentially locking him up late in the summer and holding on until he made it official on Saturday.
HOW IT HURTS MIAMI
How bad did Miami want to land Stevenson? Well, the program held a preseason practice at the four-star defensive back’s high school. The effort was for naught, though, as the Miami Southridge star spurned the hometown team in favor or UGA, which he seemed to slightly favor since the summer. Some thought the coaching change from Mark Richt to Manny Diaz might help the Canes make a late charge to change Stevenson's mind, but it never really materialized. It's been a year to forget for Hurricanes fans on the recruiting trail and the school with some high-profile members of the 2019 class getting away. So while Stevenson was never actually committed to the Hurricanes, the sting from this ranks near the same level as losing a pledge.
