By Dave Holcomb
SouthernPigskin.com

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The Yellow Jackets added former 4-star defensive back Myles Sims.

The honeymoon period isnt quite finished yet for new Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins, but every program and head coach can use wins in recruiting. Sometimes, major recruiting victories can even raise the goodwill within a fanbase.

Thats exactly what Collins did this past week, landing former 4-star defensive back Myles Sims.

To the average ACC football fan, this isnt necessarily a huge deal. Sims was a Top 200 player in the 2018 recruiting class but also outside the Top 15 cornerbacks and the Top 20 among Georgia prospects in the class. Hes also a freshman who didnt earn any playing time.

Still, landing Sims on the transfer market is a big deal simply because hes a 4-star recruit coming home.

Recruiting the state of Georgia has been one of the biggest problems for the Yellow Jackets over the years. Georgia has plenty of talent — in the 2019 recruiting class, the Peach State had eight players ranked in the Top 50 around the country according to the 247Sports composite rankings. But that talent largely chose to either go to Athens and the University of Georgia or leave the state entirely

In the 2018 recruiting class, Georgia Tech landed one 4-star player from Georgia — athlete James Graham, who was the No. 38 overall prospect in the state. The Yellow Jackets fared no better in 2019, successfully recruiting running back Jamious Griffin as their 4-star prospect from their home state. Griffin was the No. 40 overall Georgia prospect in 2019.

Without a full recruiting cycle, its no surprise Collins didnt recruit better than he did, but over his tenure, he must do a better job of recruiting against Georgia and keeping his states elite talent away from Clemson, Alabama, Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, and South Carolina.

Recently, even Ohio State and Michigan have landed more Georgia talent than the Yellow Jackets.

Sims said his decision to leave Michigan was a personal reason, but interestingly, hes the third player from Georgia to leave the Wolverines football program in the last six months. Maybe that will help give Georgia Tech at least an edge against Michigan in recruiting Georgia kids during the future.

Of course, landing Sims will only continue to move the needle for Georgia Tech recruiting in the next couple years if he fulfills his potential. At Michigan, he redshirted during his freshman season and then failed to carve out a role before entering the transfer portal in April. Michigan cornerback coach Mike Zordich said during spring practices according to MLive.com that Sims needed to show x9cmore consistencyx9d to earn more playing time.

Sims still has four years of eligibility remaining, but he will sit out the 2019 season because of NCAA transfer rules. He didnt play in a single game last fall.

Therefore, its unlikely his presence has an immediate impact in recruiting. As of May 19, the highest-ranked Georgia recruit the Yellow Jackets have landed in the 2020 class is wide receiver Ryan King, who is the No. 40 overall prospect in the state and a 3-star player.

But whether he was in search of more playing time, simply home sick or for any other reason, Sims returning to Atlanta is a significant deal for Collins and the Yellow Jackets. Convincing Sims to come back to the Peach State and commit to Georgia Tech is an early transfer win for the first-year coach.