ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia’s Kirby Smart opened up about Buford standout defensive back KJ Bolden’s recruitment on Tuesday.
Bolden who was thought to be a solid commitment to Florida State, flipped to the Bulldogs on signing day in December.
Smart and his staff never waivered on trying to get Bolden to Georgia. Smart spoke about his relentless recruiting of the five-star defensive back.
“I don’t see kids as committed to other places because they’re not,” he said. “They’re not signed. I just know that we recruit good football players. We evaluate every player the same, whether they’re committed or not. If there’s interest and conversation from them, and there are visits where they come to your campus, you just stay very consistent.
“We were consistent with KJ, the recruitment never stopped, and I told him that from the day he committed to the day he came to us, we’re not going to stop recruiting him because we think he’s a great kid from a great family and a really, really good football player. He and Ellis have a chance to make us much better in the day and age of college football, where you better have depth and players. When these guys leave, they’re going to have opportunities to play."
Bolden has already made an impression on the field during his first spring practice as a Bulldog.
“He is everything he was advertised to be in terms of being a good football player,” Smart said. He’s instinctive, learns well, and has toughness. I think he’ll contribute on special teams because he can run, hit, and tackle. I’m excited about him.
“The expectation of the outside world is he is going to set the place on fire, but we have good football players here. He’s going to compete with those guys and, hopefully, earn some ability to play.”
