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Blake Baumgartner, ESPN Staff Writer
Quarterback Dylan Raiola, the No. 1 overall player in the 2024 ESPN 300, is transferring to Buford High School in Buford, Georgia, sources told ESPN.
Raiola, who committed to Georgia last month after decommitting from Ohio State in December, headlines a 2024 recruiting class for Kirby Smart’s two-time defending national champions that features 13 ESPN 300 prospects.
He will join a Buford program that features fellow five-star prospects athlete Khalil Bolden (No. 15 overall) and defensive end Eddrick Houston (No. 30 overall).
Raiola, 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, had already previously transferred from Chandler High School (Arizona) to Pinnacle High School (Arizona) after last season. The Arizona Interscholastic Association could have handed down a five-game suspension because of the association’s transfer policy.
Raiola’s father Dominic — a former NFL offensive lineman — told ESPN that Pinnacle High School’s first game is Aug. 23 and the AIA wouldn’t have heard the hardship case until Aug. 15.
“After meeting with the head coach at Pinnacle High School, he was very confident that Dylan would have to sit games and Dylan didn’t want to sit games,” Dominic Raiola told ESPN. “He wanted to play right away. And I think for our family, where we are, it just made total sense. Let’s get him in a program because you can say he is moving to another high school, this, that, and the other. But I think people would rather see Dylan play than sit. And so we’re excited about it.”
Raiola threw for 2,435 yards with 22 touchdowns and five interceptions for Chandler as a junior.
He would become the first No. 1 player in the ESPN 300 to sign with Georgia since Justin Fields in 2018.
“We’d have to be on a red eye every Friday night to get out there,” Dominic Raiola said. “And after talking to Tua Tagovailoa’s family and Craig Young, Bryce’s dad, they did it when their kids went to the SEC and it worked out for them.”
