Georgia Tech Football: Jackets to receive official visit from four-star DE

ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 13: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Cheerleaders celebrate after a touchdown against the Duke Blue Devils on October 13, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 13: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Cheerleaders celebrate after a touchdown against the Duke Blue Devils on October 13, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets will have a big-time official visitor campus for this weekend’s showdown against The Citadel.

Four-star defensive end and top-150 player nationally, Jay Hardy will be taking one of his five official visits to Georgia Tech this weekend according to his Twitter account.

Hardy, a consensus four-star recruit is from Chattanooga, Tennessee making the Volunteers the favorite to land the top-five strong side defensive end. That being said, the Yellow Jackets are making a push for the four-star and putting together a strong official visit this weekend for Hardy could potentially help put the Yellow Jackets in front.

Hardy is easily one of the Jackets most coveted targets left on their 2020 board and by his offer list, it’s easy to see he’s one of the most coveted recruits in the nation. According to 247Sports profile, Hardy has a total of 38 scholarship offers reported so far and has some of the country’s top programs after him. Notable offers for Hardy include Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Penn State.

https://twitter.com/_Chilloutjay/status/1171223621840330752

That being said, the Jackets are the first ones getting an official visit from Hardy which is a good sign of where they stand in his recruitment. Especially considering that Hardy has a loaded offer list and can only take four more official visits following his to The Flats on Saturday.

The potential downside for having Hardy on campus so early this season is that without most of September, all of October and November, and part of December remaining for official visits, Hardy will be most likely visiting four other campuses before he chooses to sign in December or February. That could potentially allow another program to come in and swoop Hardy from the Jackets later in the cycle.

That being said, if the Jackets could get in the lead for Hardy, it would be huge for the program. Hardy at 6-foot-4.5 and 290-pounds possesses size that is hard to find especially on the Yellow Jackets roster. He has the potential to be a complete game-changer on the defensive line.

The Jackets currently hold four commitments from defensive ends in Kyle Kennard, Akelo Stone, JaQuari Wiggles, and Khaya Wright. They hold 21 commitments overall in the 2020 recruiting class and currently hold the country’s 25th ranked recruiting class according to 247Sports. We’ll have to wait and see if head coach Geoff Collins has another trick up his sleeve to land this big-time recruit.