The first time many college coaches saw David Gabriel Georges being special was during Baylor School’s state title run as a junior. In the championship game against Brentwood Academy, Georges ran through defenders, broke tackles, and helped Baylor win the state championship. That’s when some major powerhouses started treating him like a must-have recruit. Now, the race for the five-star running back is getting closer to the finish line, with Ohio State and Tennessee leading away by a fair margin.

“I think Ohio State’s the program to beat coming into the summer official visits, but I’m not so sure Tennessee has played all their cards in this recruitment,” Recruiting analyst Steve Wiltfong said on the Rivals’ podcast. “We’ve seen the Vols be nearly undefeated for their top targets cycle in and cycle out in the Josh Heupel era. But coming into the OVs, my prediction is on Ohio State, and I feel good about it for several reasons.”

Georges, who comes from Chattanooga, Tennessee, is ranked the No. 10 overall player in the 2027 class and the No. 2 running back in the country as per 247Sports. He stands around 6 feet tall and weighs about 205 pounds. During the 2025 season, he rushed for more than 1,600 yards and scored 25 touchdowns.

His final list includes Ohio State, Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Georgia, but most recruiting insiders believe Ohio State and Tennessee are the two schools leading the battle. But given the number of times Georges has visited Ohio State (more than 3), Wiltfong’s take can’t be avoided. It all comes from the NFL pipeline Ryan Day has developed, along with his quality position coaches. Especially RB coach Carlos Locklyn, who has developed former OSU RBs like Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson.

“I think it starts with the relationship with position coach Carlos Locklyn,” Steve Wiltfong said. “He’s been on Gabriel Georges longer than anybody. He’s been up to Canada a few times to visit with his family, and he’s got several family members visiting Ohio State with him this weekend. And he’s been to the Buckeyes’ campus numerous times, including the spring game 2 years ago. He was at the win against Texas this past season. He loves the track record of offense; the way that Ohio State develops running backs is second to none.”

Earlier this month, the Buckeyes sent nearly their entire offensive coaching staff to visit Georges. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith joined running backs coach Carlos Locklyn, along with several other offensive assistants, during the visit. Schools usually make that kind of move only for their most important targets. One reason Ohio State feels confident is because of George’s relationship with Carlos Locklyn.

“Carlos (Locklyn) was David’s first offer when Carlos was out of Oregon. And I actually sent him the film, and I said, ‘Hey, buddy, you need to check this out.’ And so they’ve had a relationship for a long time,” Baylor’s head coach Erik Kimrey said in an interview with Cleveland.com’s Andrew Gillis. “I think that they’ve done a wonderful job developing the relationship with David. At the end of the day, we love David.”

Tennessee, however, is still in this race. The primary reason for that is David Gabriel Georges’ in-state connection. The 2027 recruit plays high school ball in Tennessee, and because of that, Josh Heupel has also built those relationships with him for several years now. Not just that, there were even moments where Georges hadn’t hesitated in showing his Tennessee love.

David Gabriel Georges can still move away from Ohio State

Georges wore Tennessee gloves during practice earlier this offseason. Small details like that do not decide recruitments, but they still keep excitement high among Vols fans who believe the hometown program still has a real chance. Even with that, other programs like Ole Miss have stayed involved, although far behind both Tennessee and Ohio State.

Pete Golding’s staff never backed away, even after predictions started leaning toward Ohio State (88.7% per On3). They remained in contact even after Kiffin departed for LSU, while other schools tried to separate themselves from the pack. Another reason Georges became such a huge target is his rare combination of size and speed.

“The Buckeyes culture, the consistency of the program, the pro-style philosophies and schemes that they utilize, and I think that Ohio State’s going to be very competitive on the NIL front,” Steve Wiltfong added. “They’re going to be tough to beat. Tennessee’s obviously considered the biggest challenger, Georgia, Ole Miss, some of the others involved, but Ohio State has been excited to get David Gabriel Georges back to campus for what I believe is his third time in Columbus at least.”

Analysts have also talked about his reported 4.38-second 40-yard dash all the time. At more than 200 pounds, that kind of speed is unusual. For Ohio State fans, it might be akin to watching elite physical tools like Adrian Peterson. The running back will announce his decision on July 22.