For much of the last year, the national media pushed the narrative that Ohio State was the team to beat for 2027 five-star running back David Gabriel Georges.

VolQuest’s Austin Price maintained during that time that Tennessee was in a great position for Gabriel Georges, but that didn’t stop analysts from making early predictions for Ohio State to land the five-star recruit.

“I’m still riding with my prediction in favor of Ohio State for Chattanooga (Tenn.) Baylor School five-star running back David Gabriel Georges,” wrote On3’s Steve Wiltfong in May. “With the way the Buckeyes have developed and showcased running backs, to the consistency of the program, to the competitive NIL opportunities, Ohio State checks the most boxes and is the best fit.

Gabriel Georges committed to Tennessee earlier this week, and Ohio State fans and media have suggested that it’s because of the NIL package the Vols offered him.

Those same fans and analysts are under the impression that this recruitment took a turn after Gabriel Georges’ official visit to Tennessee in June.

But the truth is that Tennessee was always the leader in this battle.

Vols insider shares the truth on David Gabriel Georges’ recruitment

VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs joined 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will and he shared the reality behind Gabriel Georges’ recruitment.

“I don’t know exactly what the Tennessee package is or what the Ohio State package was,” explained Hubbs. “Ohio State offered him more money than they had ever offered a running back coming out of high school. So did Tennessee. How close were the numbers? Everybody’s going to debate all of that.

“The misnomer out of the Ohio State side is that everything changed after the official visit to Tennessee. That’s inaccurate. Tennessee was in better shape going into official visit season than anybody wanted to give them credit for. And the comfort level (with Tennessee) was the reason why. He had been [to Tennessee] six other times. He had been to Ohio State, I think, twice. He had two teammates [at Tennessee], who arrived last January, that he got a chance to hang out with. He sat in the stands with those guys last year watching games — he had a real comfort level (at Tennessee).”

“I think (Vols RBs coach) De’Rail Sims didn’t try to be anything other than who De’Rail Sims is,” continued Hubbs. “And that’s not a knock on (Ohio State RBs coach) Carlos Locklyn in any way, shape, or form. Carlos Locklyn did a hell of a job recruiting DGG. He’s the reason Ohio State was in it the way they were, in my opinion. But I think that the Heupel relationship, the investment that Josh Heupel made in recruiting David and obviously the family, [was important]. They had Alvin Kamara up on his official visit. They had a guy like Ovince Saint Preux who could speak French. He could help in conversations early on.”

“Now, the conversations with DGG got a lot easier over the course of the last year,” added Hubbs. “Because he’s slow in his conversation because he has to think about how he wants to say it in English. But the dialogue has become much easier to have with David than it was at the start of David’s junior year — when he was still adjusting and dealing with the language barrier.

“I think Tennessee did a good job with everything. I think their patience, and I think letting him have some freedom when he came up on a visit to just hang out with his guys — they didn’t take him station to station on every trip to see every building and to see everything. The freedom [was important]. And as one person told Austin (Price), the smiles that David had on his Tennessee visits were different than they were on his other visits. That tells you it was a comfort level thing, and not just a financial thing.”

Ohio State fans can say it was a money decision all they want, but they’re wrong. And not only are they wrong, but I think it’s incredibly disrespectful to Gabriel Georges.

Look, Tennessee and Ohio State will battle it out for elite recruits again in the future. And the Buckeyes will win some of those battles.

This battle, though, went Tennessee’s way because Gabriel Georges believes in his heart that Tennessee is the best place for him.