Georgia suffered its second de-commitment of the week on Thursday evening with the departure of the only defensive back commitment among its 2019 class. That would be 4-star Dacula standout Jalen Perry.
Perry shared the news on social media via his personal Twitter account.
He is a highly-regarded player in every right but the Bulldogs will try to sign the very best players it can every cycle.
This does feel like the nature of the program and its success on the recruiting trail at this time.
If the Bulldogs are not providing the level of attention necessary to retain a long-time in-state commitment who rates as the nation’s No. 18 cornerback prospect, it is not a stretch to theorize they have their eyes on more desirable targets.
Perry also ranks as the nation’s No. 165 overall prospect for this cycle.
Georgia is chasing a pair of highly-rated cornerbacks in 4-stars Tyrique Stevenson and Kaiir Elam out of South Florida. Stevenson ranks as the nation’s No. 5 cornerback for this cycle. Elam is currently at No. 8 on the composite.
Spots will also be very tight in this class. The Bulldogs are also getting very good contributions from a trio of redshirt freshmen (Eric Stokes), true freshmen (Tyson Campbell) and sophomore (Mark Webb Jr.) cornerbacks this season.
That strong core of young talent also adds to the possibility the Bulldogs might only sign 3-4 defensive backs for this cycle. There are other pressing needs for the class of 2019, too.
Perry committed to the Bulldogs in October of 2017, but his decision drops the Bulldogs down to 17 commitments in the class of 2019. The news does not drop the program from No. 3 nationally in the 247Sports Team composite rankings for this cycle.
Georgia is expected to be tight on numbers in this cycle and there are at least 7-8 other very high priority targets for this class. There are at least 3-4 defensive backs that the Bulldogs are targeting as well.
Lewis Cine, the nation’s No. 3 safety and No. 59 overall prospect for this cycle, just took his official visit to UGA this weekend. He has set his commitment date for Oct. 10.
Perry was in Athens earlier this year for an unofficial visit.
