Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
WR Gowdy commits to Georgia Tech
Deerfield Beach wide receivers Bryce Gowdy and Deajaun McDougle will head their separate ways next year.
Gowdy committed to Georgia Tech, while McDougle will play for Maryland. The pair of Bucks receivers announced their college commitments at a ceremony at Duffy’s in Deerfield Beach on Tuesday, along with teammates Jaylan Knighton and Kervins Choute. Knighton committed to Florida State, while Choute picked Central Florida.
“The coaching staff, they’ve got crazy excitement,” Gowdy said. “It’s in Atlanta — the 404. I love that. On top of that, I love the new offense. We talked about the offense a little bit; they throw the ball like crazy.”
Gowdy picked the Yellow Jackets over, Oregon, Penn State, Syracuse and West Virginia. McDougle selected the Terrapins over offers from Ohio State, Oregon, Purdue and South Carolina. Choute picked UCF over South Florida.
Under previous coach Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech ran a run-heavy, triple-option offense. But under new coach Geoff Collins, the Yellow Jackets will pass much more. Gowdy said he would not have committed to Georgia Tech if they still ran the option.
“They need receivers because they weren’t really recruiting receivers like that [in the old offense],” Gowdy said. “So now they need receivers. So I know I’ll go in there and be a bigtime player, a big-impact player my freshman year. I feel like I’m going to start something great over there.”
Gowdy said Georgia Tech’s location in Atlanta gave the Yellow Jackets an edge over Syracuse.
“You can’t beat Atlanta,” Gowdy said.
McDougle bucked the trend set by Gowdy and Knighton and picked a Big 10 school.
“It was definitely a tough choice because I had bigger programs [offer],” “So choosing that five [teams] was definitely a long, hard process, but it’s definitely worth it. At the end of the day, I’m very thankful.”
“I’ve actually been there three times,” McDougle said. “The second or third time, it definitely started to feel like home. It feels like a place I can go and it’ll also be home for me.”
McDougle joins McArthur four-star linebacker Ruben Hyppolite in Maryland’s 2020 class.
“We were talking, and it seems like we both have a chance to come in and have a big, immediate impact on the team,” McDougle said.
Gowdy and McDougle are two of the top wide receivers in Broward County. Gowdy is rated a four-star prospect in 247Sports’ composite rankings, while McDougle is rated a threestar prospect.
The site ranks Gowdy as the No. 311 overall player and No. 54 wide receiver in the class. McDougle is listed as the No. 382 overall player and the No. 65 receiver in the class.
McDougle racked up 853 receiving yards and eight touchdowns as a junior. Gowdy and Choute’s 2018 statistics are not available.
Choute is rated a threestar prospect in 247Sports’ composite ranking. He is rated the No. 1,657 overall player and the No. 92 strong-side defensive end in the 2020 class.
“I like the coaching staff; they have some fun people there,” Choute said. “I could see myself playing in one year or two, so that’s why I decided to go there.”
Gowdy, McDougle, Choute and the Bucks kick off their season against Miami Carol City at Traz Powell Stadium at 4 p.m. on Aug. 24. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
“The only thing I have to work on is getting that state championship,” Choute said.