Four-star OT recruit Juan Gaston chooses UGA over Vols, Ducks, Gamecocks

No real surprise here

Juan Gaston, a 6-7, 345-pound offensive tackle prospect from Westlake high school in Atlanta, GA., who had 35-plus offers, picked UGA over Tennessee, Oregon and South Carolina during his announcement streamed via YouTube from his high school. Gaston is currently ranked a four-star prospect, the 20th-best player in Georgia, the 16th-best tackle prospect and the 169th-rated player nationally, according to the 247 Sports composite rankings.

Gaston came to the table wearing a UGA hoodie, but then proceeded to remove hoodies/ long-sleeved shirts from all the finalists and ended up with a Georgia hat on his head.

The Dogs have been the favorite for, well, probably the duration of his process, but there was a slight sliver of hope for Tennessee fans likely rooted in a couple things: the four unofficial visits he took to Knoxville prior to his official visit on June 14th and the lack of chatter from him or his support system throughout his recruitment. His mom, Phenix Gaston, did an interview with On3 National Recruiting Analyst Phillip Dukes on August 1st, the day before the Juan’s decision. Here’s the portion where she discusses the Vols and the impression they left from the OV:

The Vols offered Gaston back in May of 2022, preceding his first unofficial trip to Tennessee for the dramatic win against Alabama that same year. Then he returned unofficially in July of 2023 for the “Rocky Top Kickoff,” event, then again in November of ‘23 for the Vols/ Dogs contest that Georgia won 38-10 after Jaylen Wright took a 75-run to the house for a TD on the game’s first offensive play from scrimmage. Gaston came back for another visit during spring practice in April before his official visit on July 14th — a weekend that the Vols hosted several players who have since committed to UT.

Regardless, he’s from Westlake HS in Atlanta, GA., and it’s already difficult enough to snatch a player from Georgia that Georgia wants. Then, it appears he’s from a fairly tight-knit family, so the spot closest to home, and, well, ya know the multiple recent national championships don’t hurt.

Tennessee has three OL commitments currently, but it’s hard to tell this early where those guys project to play. Four-star Nic Moore is likely to stay as an interior OL, while four-star Douglas Utu and three-star Antoni Kade Ogumoro are listed as tackles and seem to have close enough size to stay there. I’m sure the coaches would have loved to get at least one of Gaston and Josh Petty, a top-40 player overall and the 5th-best tackle prospect in the class. He announces August 12th but is considered a pretty heavy FSU lean.

On the bright side, UT still has the commitment of five-star tackle and the No. 2 ranked prospect in the country David Sanders, Jr., on the horizon, and the Vols are well in the thick of that race. He will decide on August 17th between Ohio State, Nebraska, UGA and Tennessee. Sanders took official visits to Ohio State (June 21st), Alabama (June 18th) and Tennessee (June 14th), but then snuck in visits to Nebraska and Tennessee during the last weekend of July.

The staff has signed 12 total OL prospects in the last two classes, so if it lands Sanders, I’m not sure how many more offensive linemen they would take this cycle. I don’t think the coaches would take a body just to take one, but the OL is most definitely an area where it’s much better to have too many guys than not enough.