Georgia’s recruiting efforts likely won’t be dramatically impacted after the abrupt departure of an assistant football coach.
Scott Lakatos, UGA’s defensive back coach, resigned for “personal reasons” on Thursday, less than a month away from signing day.
UGA has three commitments from defensive backs, including Shattle Fenteng, a former Grayson High standout who plays at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. Fenteng was contacted before the news went public Thursday by UGA defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.
“Coach Grantham let me know what was going on,” Fenteng said. “It made me feel good that he called, and it helped me understand the situation. I feel like coach Lakatos is leaving for the right reasons. He has some family issues that he needed to take care of.
“I really don’t know yet how I feel about (the change). I don’t know how I’m going to react. But, so far, I don’t see a difference.
“Coach Grantham said he is going to try to hire someone within the next week. He’s waiting for some NFL guys to call him back. He said he wants to get a good coach so he can develop me to go to the NFL.”
UGA’s other recruits at defensive back are Kendall Gant of Lakeland, Fla., and Brooks County High’s Malkom Parrish. Neither is likely to be influenced by the coaching change.
“Coach Lak was my Dawg,” Gant said in a text message. “And, no, that doesn’t affect my commitment to Georgia.”
Brooks County coach Maurice Freeman said, “Malkom is much closer to (Georgia offensive coordinator) Mike Bobo than he was the defensive backs coach, so that hasn’t fazed him very much at all. Mike Bobo is the guy that’s recruiting Malkom. It hasn’t swayed him at all.”
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Fenteng is scheduled to take his official visit to UGA on Jan. 16. He also scheduled a recruiting trip to Ole Miss for Jan. 24 — but planned that before Lakatos’ resignation. Fenteng also is hearing from Auburn and Ohio State.
“UGA is my No. 1 right now, and I’m committed there,” he said. “But I still want to take my visits and see stuff for myself. I have five visits to take, and I think it would be dumb if I didn’t take more than one.”
The Bulldogs have 16 commitments for their 2014 class and hope to sign at least one more defensive back, with the top target being M.L. King High’s Wesley Green.
Green committed to South Carolina over Clemson in June, but backed off the pledge in September because he “wasn’t hearing much” from the Gamecocks. Green has heard an awful lot since then from South Carolina, which has held on and now is considered the co-leader, along with UGA.
“South Carolina and Georgia, those two are where he’s mostly leaning,” M.L. King coach Cortez Allen said.
“Auburn still has an offer out there for him. Alabama came back in on him, and Ole Miss is still there. So he still has other schools that have shown interest and that he talks to. But from what I understand, South Carolina and Georgia are the two schools he’s going to focus on.”
Green will take an official visit to South Carolina on Jan. 17 and will go on a recruiting trip to Georgia on Jan. 24. His primary recruiter from the Bulldogs is defensive line coach Chris Wilson, while Grantham has gotten personally involved with Green.
“He likes a lot of the same things about Georgia that he does about South Carolina,” Allen said. “At first, Wesley was kind of weary about the fact that they had so many defensive backs sign in last year’s recruiting class.
“But he has talked to coach Grantham. He likes the confidence that coach Grantham has stated with him about being able to come in right away and compete.”
The resignation of Lakatos will have a minimal affect on Green’s decision.
“I don’t know if it will have that big of an impact on Wesley just because coach Grantham and coach Wilson are basically handling his recruiting with Georgia,” Allen said.
“I don’t think he’s had a whole lot of conversations with (Lakatos). I’m sure it has crossed his mind, ‘Who is going to be the new DB coach?’ But the relationship he has been built with coach Wilson and coach Grantham, I think it will overshadow (the loss of Lakatos) a little bit.”
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