Tuitt was believed by some to be a virtual lock for Georgia Tech early in the recruiting period before his surprise commitment to Notre Dame after a visit in mid-September. Because of Paul Johnson's ridiculous stance on Tech commits who look elsewhere, there now remains absolutely no chance that Georgia Tech will obtain the services of the ultra-talented defender. Or at least you would think so. It would be of no surprise to us if the oily Johnson were to make an "exception" for Tuitt should he decide to flip-flop once again.
Tuitt would have likely been an immediate anchor on a Tech defense woefully depleted of top-shelf talent. He reaffirmed his allegiance to the Irish despite Notre Dame's receipt of commitments over the weekend from two of the top four defensive end prospects in the country as ranked by Scout. Notre Dame now has six committed recruits who played the position in high school.
Further, Tuitt's defection is all the more profound an indictment of Paul Johnson's recruiting "talents" considering the pair reportedly met for "about an hour" as recently as Wednesday afternoon.
But hey, look on the bright side: at least Coach Johnson got Demontevious Smith out of the deal! I wonder why Notre Dame didn't want Tuitt's bestest buddy too? And don't forget Broddy Snoddy was lavished with that coveted third star from Scout.com! But I thought the services only downgraded the star rankings of recruits once they've committed to Tech? Or at least that's what the slurpers would have you believe.
By the way, special congrats are certainly in order once again to recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach Andy McCollum, who was directly responsible for Tuitt's recruitment. Similar to Calvin Johnson before him, Tuitt was a uniquely gifted in-state student-athlete who basically fell into Tech's lap, and one can't help but wonder what might have been had the bumbling Coach Johnson hired a more competent replacement for Giff Smith. The loss of Tuitt now slides Georgia Tech back to 0 for 28 on recruits who have received offers from both Tech and UGA, which makes this as appropriate a time as any for us to update THE BIG BOARD:
A list of committed 2011 prospects holding offers from both Tech and UGA:
Data obtained from rivals.com
| NAME | POSITION | STARS | RATING | STATE | COMMITTED TO |
| Sterling Bailey | DE | 4 | 5.8 | GA | Georgia |
| Devin Bowman | ATH | 3 | 5.7 | GA | Georgia |
| Chris Conley | WR | 3 | 5.7 | GA | Georgia |
| Watts Dantzler | OL | 3 | 5.7 | GA | Georgia |
| Zach DeBell | OL | 3 | 5.7 | FL | Georgia |
| Amarlo Herrera | LB | 4 | 5.8 | GA | Georgia |
| Nick Marshall | ATH | 4 | 5.8 | GA | Georgia |
| Justin Scott-Wesley | WR | 4 | 5.8 | GA | Georgia |
| Quan Bray | ATH | 4 | 5.8 | GA | Auburn |
| Anthony Chickillo | DE | 4 | 5.9 | FL | Miami, FL |
| Xzavier Dickson | DE | 4 | 5.8 | GA | Alabama |
| Doran Grant | DB | 4 | 6.0 | OH | Ohio St |
| Carlos Gray | DT | 2 | 5.4 | NC | NC State |
| Demetrius Hart | RB | 5 | 6.1 | FL | Alabama |
| Jeoffrey Pagan | DE | 4 | 6.0 | NC | Clemson |
| Brian Randolph | DB | 3 | 5.7 | GA | Tennessee |
| Terrance Smith | LB | 3 | 5.7 | GA | Florida St |
| Ja'Juan Story | WR | 4 | 5.8 | FL | Florida |
| Stephon Tuitt | DE | 5 | 6.1 | GA | Notre Dame |
| James Vaughters | LB | 4 | 5.9 | GA | Stanford |
| Jabriel Washington | ATH | 3 | 5.7 | TN | Alabama |
| James Wilder Jr. | ATH | 5 | 6.1 | FL | Florida St |
| Karlos Williams | DB | 5 | 6.1 | FL | Florida St |
Players with offers from Tech and Georgia who have not yet committed:
| NAME | POSITION | STARS | RATING | STATE | FAVORITE(S) |
| Chevelle Buie | RB | 4 | 5.8 | FL | ECU, Marshall |
| Ray Drew | DE | 5 | 6.1 | GA | Aub,Clem,UF,UGA,LSU,TN |
| Erique Florence | DB | 4 | 5.9 | AL | None |
| Tony Steward | LB | 5 | 6.1 | FL | AL,AU,Clem,FSU,UCLA |
| Xzavier Ward | OT | 3 | 5.7 | GA | none |
Hillarious!!!
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