Georgia defensive tackle Trenton Thompson is returning to school this summer and is on pace to compete later this year, second-year Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart said Monday.
The 6-foot-4, 295-pounder withdrew from classes in February for an undisclosed medical condition. Thompson earned MVP honors during the 31-23 victory over TCU in last December's Liberty Bowl with three sacks, but he underwent shoulder surgery after the season and was not scheduled to go through spring practice even before withdrawing from the university.
"Trenton has done a great job rehabbing," Smart said on the Southeastern Conference's post-spring teleconference. "His shoulder is much better. He is able to move a lot better now than he was before. Medically, he has done really well."
Thompson was the nation's No. 1 overall prospect in the 2015 signing class and had 25 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss that year as a freshman. He racked up 56 tackles as a sophomore, including 9.5 lost-yardage stops.
Smart said Thompson is not taking classes this month but will return for summer school. The first summer-school session is scheduled to begin in early June.
Casting wide net
The Bulldogs made recruiting news this past weekend without landing a commitment.
After Georgia recently offered a scholarship to Ben Bryant, a 6-3, 190-pound quarterback from La Grange, Ill., Bryant announced the news on Twitter and promptly had his scholarship offer from Wisconsin pulled. Bryant had been committed to the Badgers since early December.
That turn of events produced headlines on the recruiting front, and it showed the Bulldogs are looking all over for quarterbacks in the 2018 class to join current Bulldogs sophomore Jacob Eason and early enrollee Jake Fromm. The top three Peach State quarterback prospects for the 2018 class - Trevor Lawrence (Clemson), Justin Fields (Penn State) and Emory Jones (Ohio State) - have committed elsewhere.
"Obviously we only have two scholarship quarterbacks on campus this fall, so we have a great need at quarterback," Smart said. "It's a great situation to come into, because when these guys arrive Jacob will be entering his junior year. We're casting a net far and wide and combing the country for the best guys, because I honestly think the success and fall of many programs is based on quarterbacks."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.