Want to attack every day with the latest Georgia football recruiting info? That’s what the Intel brings. This entry is about the latest trip that Cedar Grove cornerback Kayin Lee took to Athens this week.
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Kayin Lee has now been to check out UGA three times. His first trip was to see South Carolina beat UGA during his freshman year in 2019.
The top 100 overall prospect in the 2023 cycle was also back in Athens in June just after the NCAA lifted its dead period after a 16-month freeze on recruiting visits.
The recruiting intensity from one of his dream schools growing up had been stout during the pandemic and Georgia reflected that the first time they got to see “Big Play K” in person on campus.
The rising junior at Cedar Grove High in Metro Atlanta appreciated the way Georgia head coach Kirby Smart took a keen interest in him during the 7-on-7 portion of the team camp he attended.
“When I was doing drills and stuff he had his eyes straight on me,” Lee said. “When we were at 7-on-7 it felt like he was hands-on with me at the same time. He wanted to see me jump and high point balls and stuff and he talked to me after the games.”
“We talked a lot after the whole 7-on-7.”
That was a great trip. It was one that firmly placed UGA among Lee’s Top 10 that he named earlier this month.
And the bar set there was just cleared considerably this week. Lee told DawgNation that his trip on Monday to Athens was his best yet to Athens. For sure.
It went very well. He loved everything about it.
Lee got in a golf cart and got a lot of personal time. There was another photoshoot. He got to tour portions of the UGA campus he had never seen before.
“They showed so much love,” Lee told DawgNation. “I got a chance to look at everything. My Dad and I had a great time and all.”
There’s an abundance of elite DB prospects in the South for the 2023 cycle. Lee certainly belongs right at the top of any board. The 247SportsComposite scale places him as the nation’s No. 9 CB and at No. 87 overall for the 2023 cycle.
Lee was named the Defensive Player of the Year for his region as a sophomore. That was on a defense filled with at least eight other college prospects, including three Cedar Grove defenders with SEC offers.
While scanning through the names of the top cornerback targets for UGA in the 2023 cycle, his name will be at the very top of the list. Maybe even the top given his connection forged with the staff and the location. As far as prospects that DawgNation has studied extensively in the South, perhaps the 5-star Aaron-Joshua Harris out of Alabama is the only other true peer on the board at the cornerback position.
Kayin Lee: It is wise to prioritize this big-play CB
Wherever Lee goes, he will be ready to play and play early. John Adams, his coach at Cedar Grove, has explained why.
“His competitive nature elevates his God-given ability,” Adams said. “He listens to everything. Just like a sponge. Since he came here his ninth-grade year, he’s done everything I have told him to do as his position coach and at 110 percent every day. You see great things in him every day from his demeanor and just seeing the growth every day. He’s just one of those kids you enjoy coaching.”
“He’s becoming a vocal leader on our team but he already leads by just his example. I think a lot of people want to be like Kayin or work like Kayin on our team.”
Lee has changed his body considerably over the last few months. He’s a chiseled 175 pounds. The rising junior at Cedar Grove earned an offer from Ohio State after camping in June.
He ran a 4.41 and a 4.46 at that camp. He also looked like a wolf in all those drills. Not to mention highly coachable.
Arkansas, Notre Dame and Ohio State should also be seen as a few viable contenders for Lee.
Lee doesn’t have a set timetable for a commitment decision. It could be next month.
“It could be anytime right now that’s the way it is looking like,” Lee said earlier this month.
He was looking to visit Florida, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Pitt in July. That is no longer the case.
Schools are again open for just this week in July prior to another dead period before the season begins in September. Yet Lee feels he will not visit any other schools this month. He might even take another trip back to UGA on July 31 for the star-studded cookout that UGA is planning for its major targets.
He saw a great deal of the Buckeyes and Bulldogs in July.
“They both treated me like family,” Lee said. “Already. I know coach [Ryan] Day and coach Kirby [Smart] are both great people and they both like what I do. Especially Kirby.”
There are others clearly in the mix here. Lee speaks highly of Arkansas, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Pitt and UCF, too. His former high school coach, Jimmy Smith, is now the running backs coach at Arkansas. He also has a strong bond with a couple of coaches at that program.
Clemson has yet to offer, but when Lee was there he said it felt like “family” at that program, too.
Lee plans to be an early enrollee in January of 2023 for his class.
SENTELL'S INTEL
(check on the recent recruiting reads on DawgNation.com)
- BREAKING: Elite RB target Branson Robinson chooses UGA
- Dani Dennis-Sutton breaks down his final three with a July 22 decision day approaching
- Kayin Lee: Georgia and Ohio State made two very big impacts on this 2023 priority DB
- Nation’s No 1 DT Walter Nolen places UGA in his top five
- Carlton Madden Jr: Fast-rising prospect says “it just feels like it is right” about UGA
- 2022 RB commit Jordan James says “It’s the ‘Dawg Way or no way”
- Nolan Smith set to give back to his native Savannah with camp
- 4-star WR target Kojo Antwi commits to Ohio State
- Last 24-hour stretch shows that commitment season has arrived in July
- Andre Greene Jr: 484 reasons that show why he’ll be a major player in college
- Oscar Delp: Priority TE target sees for “main leaders” after his June officials
- Pearce Spurlin III: 2023 TE commits dishes on the scavenger and Arch Manning hunts
- AJ Harris: Bulldogs appear locked into a big-time battle for the 5-star CB
- JaCorey Thomas: The 4-star ATH breaks down his sudden commitment to UGA
- 5-star 2023 QB Arch Manning (yes that Manning family) set to check out UGA
- Priority WR Kojo Antwi breaks down a tough home stretch of his recruitment
- Massive 6-foot-8 OL Jacob Hood points to what he really likes about UGA
- Nation’s No. 3 RB prospect Branson Robinson sets commitment date to honor his late uncle
- Carlton Madden Jr. and the 500-something peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that led to a “dream school” UGA offer
- Jalon Walker: Why the All-American LB called UGA the “best university in the world”
- The 5-star reviews are all in about the new facilities in Athens
- Tykee Smith: What did UGA really get in All-American transfer DB?
- Oscar Delp: The big OV takeaway? He believes TEs will be featured at UGA
- Branson Robinson: Why yes he did think a few times about committing to UGA on his official visit
- Branson Robinson: The choir boy RB target than can run a 4.49 and bench press 410 pounds
