Five-star defensive tackle Elijah Griffin, ESPN’s top uncommitted prospect in the 2025 class, committed to Georgia ahead of Miami and USC on Friday afternoon, completing one of the country’s most important late-cycle recruiting efforts seven weeks before the early signing period begins.

Griffin, a dominant interior defender from Savannah, Georgia, is the No. 5 overall pick in the 2025 ESPN 300 and the No. 1 defensive tackle in the country in the current cycle.

The 6-foot-1, 280-pound defenseman was initially expected to extend his recruitment until the start of the early signing period on Dec. 4, but Griffin instead chose to commit to the Bulldogs after signing last weekend during the program Georgia had a 41-31 win over Mississippi State on Saturday.

With Griffin’s commitment, five-star defensive tackle Justus Terry, a former Georgia and USC player, becomes the last uncommitted player among the top 10 prospects in ESPN’s rankings for the 2025 class.

Griffin is now the highest-rated member of Kirby Smart’s 2025 class, which includes commitments from 16 ESPN 300 prospects, including nine from the top 100.

The No. 2 prospect in the state of Georgia, Griffin leads an impressive defensive class headed to Athens in 2025, joining outside linebacker Zayden Walker (No. 16 in the ESPN 300), defensive end Isaiah Gibson (No. 30) and cornerback Shamari Earls (No. 75) among seven ESPN 300 defensemen in the Bulldogs’ new class. Georgia’s 2025 recruiting class was ranked No. 5 in the latest ESPN team rankings for the 2025 cycle before Griffin committed Friday afternoon out of Savannah Christian Preparatory School.

The mid-October commitment ends a long-running recruitment between Griffin and the Bulldogs that began when Georgia offered the talented young defenseman at the age of 13. Griffin visited Athens frequently as he developed into a commanding defensive player at Savannah Christian, where Griffin led the Raiders to a state championship appearance in 2023 and began his senior season this fall with 69 tackles for loss, including 33.5 sacks.

Griffin took an unofficial visit to Georgia in January before attending Junior Day events at Florida and Clemson this spring, then took official visits to Miami and USC in June. A month later, Griffin narrowed his finalists down to Georgia, Miami and USC before attending the Bulldogs’ week 1 neutral opener against Clemson in Atlanta and returning to Sanford Stadium on Saturday.

Griffin was expected to visit Miami and USC again later in the fall, but his recruitment was completed earlier than expected, buoyed by a close relationship with the Bulldogs’ defensive line coach Tray Scott and years of recruiting efforts.

Griffin’s commitment could be the first of several dominoes Georgia drops in the final stages of the 2025 cycle, as the Bulldogs look to finish in the top three of the class for the ninth straight year since 2017. Georgia continues to pursue Terry, ESPN’s No. 7 prospect leaving Manchester, Ga., and has made progress in recent weeks toward possible flips of ESPN 300 safeties Eric Winters (Auburn commitment) and Lagonza Hayward Jr. ( Tennessee Commitment).

With Griffin off the board, Terry is the highest-rated of the eight top-100 prospects still uncommitted heading into the weekend, in a group that also includes four-star athlete Michael Terry III (No. 24 in the ESPN 300). and safety Jordan belong to Jung (No. 39).

Jahkeem Stewart, a junior defensive back and ESPN’s No. 1 prospect in the 2026 cycle, is also expected to announce a commitment following his reclassification to the 2025 class on Oct. 5 by the start of the signing period. Stewart has scheduled visits to Ohio State, LSU and USC over the next month and was part of Oregon’s 32-31 win over the Buckeyes last weekend.