Sting Factor: Kayin Lee backs off Georgia pledge
When a major program loses a key recruit Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from one to 10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
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THE STORYLINE
Georgia had a lot of success at Ellenwood (Ga.) Cedar Grove by signing four-star defensive tackle Christen Miller and three-star DE Carlton Madden Jr. in the 2022 class. It looked like that was carrying over to 2023.
Four-star cornerback Kayin Lee from that school committed to the Bulldogs in September, and had a great relationship with then-assistant coach Jahmile Addae. But after the season, Addae announced he was leaving Georgia to join coach Mario Cristobal’s new staff at Miami and that made Lee rethink his recruitment. In recent days, the Ellenwood Cedar Grove standout backed off his pledge to the Bulldogs.
A team that is so used to winning recruiting battles lost a four-star cornerback in the 2023 class.
Miami becomes a major contender for Lee, and LSU just recently offered him as well. With more than 20 offers, he will have plenty of options and more could be coming now that he’s back on the market.
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LOCAL REACTION
“Lee’s decommitment doesn’t come as a huge shock. It’s only natural for prospects to explore options following a position coach leaving, as is the case with Addae. Lee has also collected offers from the likes of LSU, Texas and Cincinnati in recent weeks.
"Georgia still has four-star corner Marcus Washington committed and is in hot pursuit of other top corners such as Cormani McClain and Tony Mitchell. The strong tandem of Kirby Smart and Will Muschamp, along with Fran Brown settling into his new role as the defensive backs coach, should still give Georgia a strong defensive back class, even with Lee’s departure.” - Jed May, UGASports.com
Sting Factor: 5
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NATIONAL REACTION
“Washington is already committed and the Bulldogs have some other elite targets at cornerback, so this is not going to be a massive setback. But some concern should set in if Washington starts looking around and others go elsewhere. Addae was an important piece to Georgia’s recruiting success, so he will be missed, but Brown has already started in as the new defensive backs coach, and in many ways the program sells itself.
"Lee is an in-state prospect from a school that produces top talent, so the Bulldogs would have probably preferred to keep him in this class. But if he ends up being more loyal to Addae or wanting to look at some of those new offers, it won’t be the end of the world for Georgia’s 2023 class.” - Adam Gorney, Rivals national recruiting director
Sting Factor: 6