Cooper Mays was once sought out and given the opportunity to play for his older brother Cade Mays at Georgia on a scholarship.
Sedrick Van Pran, the top-ranked prep center, was eventually given priority by the No. 1 Bulldogs, and Cooper decided to play for Tennessee at home in Knoxville.
There will be one more plot in the Georgia vs. Tennessee game on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Neyland Stadium (TV: CBS).
Because of this, Georgia-born Cade Mays, a former FWAA Freshman All-American, returned to Tennessee to play alongside Cooper.
A victory over Georgia would mean a great deal to Cooper Mays and his program. This week, Mays stated that he keeps in touch with Georgia guard Tate Ratledge because the two were close throughout their recruiting years.
Gaining an advantage against Tennessee is a major step toward our goal of restoring our program’s prominence, according to Cooper Mays. “Trying to piece that together, I’ve defeated all three of the Big Three with the exception of Georgia.
“I believe that everyone will be prepared to play when they go out.”
Coach Kirby Smart said there’s a lot riding on the Tennessee matchup.
“We discuss rivalries every week, and it really depends on where the opponent is,” Smart stated. “Therefore, the five states that border us and touch us are unique if you draw a line around our state.”
According to Smart, some Bulldogs players also cherish the rivalry with Tennessee.
“This is the big rivalry between the Ladd McConkeys and Tate Ratledges of the world because they are North Georgia natives who grew up across the state line from Tennessee, and there are a lot of Tennessee fans in North Georgia,” Smart remarked.
It’s a fantastic rivalry that dates back a long way and was really competitive in the 2000s. It was very back and forth when I wasn’t here.