The turn into the New Year changed a lot in the athletic career of Chauncey Bowens.
The North Palm Beach (Fla.) Benjamin School running back, a varsity starter since his freshman campaign, came in verbally committed to Florida after another banner season. The film got more and more eyeballs on it and the pursuit of potentially flipping his decision became a common theme among the nation's top programs.
From the moment Georgia got involved through running backs coach Dell McGee in early December, a change of heart was in motion.
"I knew a couple months ago that I was going to Georgia," Bowens told Rivals. "But I stayed committed to see if my feelings towards Florida were going to change."
Bowens took an unofficial visit to Athens in the spring before kicking off what was supposed to be a busy June official visit slate with a return to the home of the defending national champions.
Of course, it was on the first visit that Bowens went public with his UGA commitment. A trip to Florida, originally set for this coming weekend, was suddenly off. The same goes for the other programs in pursuit.
The rising-senior had seen enough.
"You can't go wrong with Georgia," Bowens said. "Their work ethic and dominance is exactly what I’m looking for in a program. They constantly visited my school when they were allowed to and they completely went all in with my recruitment."
The all-in aspect can be taken in one of many ways, but the program played consistent in winning this recruitment. Bowens laughs when thinking of Kirby Smart visiting the school of Bowens via helicopter.
It's Smart's running backs coach, though, who was on Bowens throughout the flip process.
"Coach McGee is a true professional," Bowens said. "He expects the best out of his backs and works them. He holds them to standards which allows them to be future NFL draft picks."
Georgia has done well searching for Sunday level talent in south Florida over the last decade or so, especially at the running back spot. Sony Michel, James Cook and Kenny McIntosh have all found great success in Athens and for the former two, even beyond.
It's Michel who the Bulldog staff compares Bowens to.
"There's more work to be done, but it's a good feeling," he said of the nod to the fellow Floridian. "They think I can do everything and contribute in all aspects."
The current group of Bulldog commitments, pushing their lead larger in the Rivals team recruiting rankings, shared that good feeling when Bowens told them of his flip plans during a photo shoot on Saturday.
They weren't alone.
"Every coach in the room was extremely excited and they all congratulated me," he said. "All of the commits that we’re there did the same thing.
"My recruitment is shut down and I’m locked in with the Dawgs."
