A 30 on his ACT? Yeah, that’s the uncommon way we will start this edition of the Intel, which shares the latest Georgia football recruiting info. We chose that path after learning several interesting things about 3-star Marist School (Atlanta) safety Kyle Hamilton. We don’t chat with many players on a daily basis quite like this 2019 prospect.

Kyle Hamilton is underrated. That’s not just because the recruiting industry has tagged him with a 247Sports composite ranking as the nation’s No. 82 overall safety for 2019.

He’s a lot better than that.

That listing pegs him as the No. 126 player in Georgia, too. Hamilton is a lot better than that, too.

Georgia doesn’t seem to be too concerned about those rankings.

The Bulldogs are probably a lot more enamored with his 30 score. The one on the ACT. That score puts him in the 93rd percentile of test takers, according to PrepScholar.

Hamilton blends that noggin with good length plus football savvy plus athleticism (check the first play on his highlight tape) in a unique package.

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound prospect visited UGA Tuesday. He said he is being recruited by three very big names: Smart, running backs coach Dell McGee and defensive coordinator Mel Tucker.

The Bulldogs will need one or two safeties in this class, and it appears Hamilton is already quite wanted and needed in Athens.

“Coach Kirby kind of laid it all out for me,” Hamilton said. “He told me if I were to commit, they would take me immediately. So there is a lot of high interest on both sides. They were telling me how much they wanted me to be there so it was good to feel wanted.”

Here’s an easy bet: There are not 82 safeties or likely even 126 players from the 2019 class who have heard that from the Bulldogs.

Georgia signee John FitzPatrick shared a glowing evaluation of his teammate. It reinforces everything that is quickly found on the first play of Hamilton’s highlight reel. (Be sure to catch that play.)

“He’s an absolute stud,” FitzPatrick said. “Could play any position. At safety, he flies in from 20 yards out and takes people out.”

When the recruiting industry catches up with his evaluation, they will see what a lot of schools right now are learning about Hamilton.

  • He’s the son of a former pro basketball player who played for 15 years in Europe. His father also played basketball at Southern Miss when Brett Favre was there.
  • His second cousin just so happens to be former Duke basketball player Antonio Lang.
  • Hamilton’s older brother plays basketball at Penn.
  • He played free safety last season for Marist. Most of the schools see him at rover or as a nickel-type safety.
  • The assistant athletic director at LSU is a close family friend. That was the school he loved growing up. The Tigers have offered.
  • The 2019 prospect has benefited from some quality growth spurts. He shot up about five or six inches during his freshman year. That transformed his body from a 5-foot-7 kid who weighed right around 135 pounds.
  • He grew another three inches between the beginning of his sophomore and junior seasons.
  • Hamilton blends that 30 ACT with a 3.6 grade-point average at Marist.
  • He was born in Greece while his father was playing overseas.

When DawgNation drops its lists and rankings of the top players in the state of Georgia for 2019, be prepared to see Hamilton’s name way up there.

How Kyle Hamilton views his opportunity at UGA

Hamilton brought up a lot of things he liked about the Bulldogs. He said the program likely would get an official visit.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart has been one of the primary recruiters for Kyle Hamilton. (Kyle Hamilton/courtesy)/Dawgnation)

Do the Bulldogs have a shot?

“Definitely,” he said. “It is close to home and obviously football-wise they are one of the best in the country. They played for a national championship last year. Then academically they are a really good school. The Terry College of Business is a really good school so it is a very good fit.”

Georgia coaches have indicated they want to sign him for several reasons, he said.

“They feel like I can make a very big impact for them not only on the field but be a good representative of the program off the field, too.”

Duke is probably recruiting him the hardest, he said, but he said the Bulldogs also are making a push. Stanford has also already offered.

The best play on his tape is the first one.

“That’s where I bite on a play-action against Blessed Trinity,” he said. “I bite on an ‘iso’ play action and I had the deep middle of the field. They had somebody running a corner post so he cut outside and was running back inside so I started running down the field and I was able to pick the ball off without even really seeing it. I just saw the receiver’s hands go up and I put my hands through his hands to break the play up.

“But then I felt my hands on the ball and thought I could probably pick it off.”

He did.

The mentality he brings to the defensive huddle is why he doesn’t play basketball, even though it runs in the family DNA and he’s pretty good at it.

He’d just rather play football.

“I just play because I love it,” Hamilton said. “There’s no other sport like it really. It is the greatest team sport in the world. You can be the best running back in the country but if you don’t have a good line then nobody is going to know how good you are. It just brings people together, and it is fun to play and it is fun to make a big hit honestly.”

He already has visited Clemson, Duke, Georgia and Vanderbilt. The junior will visit Notre Dame on Thursday and Ohio State on Friday. He said he hopes to visit Michigan, Northwestern, Stanford and Virginia later this spring.

Miss any Intel? The DawgNation recruiting archive will get you up to speed just as fast as former Georgia linebacker Lorenzo Carter ran the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine this month.