ATHENS, Ga. — KJ Bolden's commitment to Florida State last August only intensified Georgia's blitz on the Class of 2024's No. 1 safety.
On December 20, Bolden gave in to Georgia's relentless pursuit and inked the letter of intent to play for the Bulldogs.
Bolden, the No. 15 overall prospect and former Buford star, enrolled in January and participated in spring practice. He immediately got the coaching staff's attention, including head coach Kirby Smart.
During SEC Media Days, Smart told the SEC Network that Bolden "has a chance to really help us out" and compared him to All-American defensive back and former Jefferson star Malaki Starks.
"He's athletic, he's intelligent, he comes from a really good high school program," he said. "He got 15 practices in the spring and he approaches every practice like a veteran. Like where he is right now is ahead of probably where Malaki (Starks) was at that time and Malaki was able to play as a freshman. I'm excited about what KJ is gonna do."
Bolden will join fellow Northeast Georgia teammates Starks (Jefferson), Dan Jackson (North Hall) and Jake Pope (Buford), as well as junior Jacorey Thomas (Orlando, Fla.) in the Bulldogs' secondary this Fall.
“I don't think there's any pressure in terms of hype as a recruit," Smart said about Bolden. "He may put that on himself, but we don't. We don't pick kids and say, well, this guy's got pressure, this guy doesn't. I think we've got to prepare him day-to-day with intensity. Each day is an opportunity for him to grow and get better. Sometimes freshmen can't rise to the occasion that number of times, and they have these off days because they've never had this intensity. He's going to be able to handle that well. Number one, because of where he came from and the program he played in, he's also a conscientious kid. We're going to push him, we're going to challenge him, and we're going to test him because he'll certainly get tested according to our schedule.”
