5-star Georgia quarterback commit Dylan Raiola will be playing with some of the best high school football talent in the nation during his 2023 senior season.
Per a report from Rusty Mansell of DawgsHQ, Raiola is transferring to Buford High School in Georgia, where he will play his senior season for their powerhouse football program.
This will be the fourth high school Raiola has attended. Most recently he was enrolled at Pinnacle High School in Phoenix, Arizona. He has attended two schools in Arizona, one school in Texas, and now he will be closing out his prep career in Georgia.
Raiola transferred to Pinnacle in January after playing his junior season at Chandler (also in Arizona). According to Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports, Raiola would have been forced to serve a five-game suspension due to Arizona’s in-state transfer policy had he remained at Pinnacle.
Raiola, the nation’s No. 1 player in the class of 2024, will be playing alongside some serious talent at his new school. The Buford Wolves, who have won 11 state championships this century, already had three 5-star players on their roster for the 2023 season before Raiola’s announcement.
That includes 2024 safety KJ Bolden, who ranks as the No. 7 player in America and is a top UGA target. There’s also defensive lineman Eddrick Houston, the No. 19 overall player in the 2024 class who is considering UGA, Alabama and Ohio State. And 2025 linebacker Jadon Perlotte, a Georgia commit and the No. 26 ranked prospect in the nation.
There’s a few big takeaways from Raiola’s move to Buford. For starters, if you follow Georgia high school football, this is obviously huge. The Wolves have built a super team in Buford, Georgia.
Secondly, Raiola will be way more valuable as a recruiter playing in the heart of Georgia than 2,000 miles away in Arizona. Georgia already has the nation’s No. 1 ranked, but it’s not finished yet. Look for Raiola to spend time recruiting not only his teammates Bolden and Houston, but other in-state prospects as well. He’ll also be roughly an hour drive from Athens, making it very easy to drop in and greet a top recruit at UGA.
Elevating Raiola’s competition at the high school level should only help prepare him more for Saturdays in Athens. Sure, Arizona has some good talent, but it’s not Georgia talent. The question marks surrounding his experience against elite speed and athleticism can be erased following this season.
