Master’s for an academic liability? Dogs could make it so
By DARRYL MAXIE / dmaxie@ajc.com
When Jakar Hamilton was getting ready to graduate from Strom Thurmond High in Johnston, S.C., he thought he was headed for a collegiate career under Steve Spurrier’s tutelage. The Gamecocks were clearly his favorite.
Academics, however, clearly were not.
Upon failing to qualify, Hamilton — with a little advice from South Carolina coaches — detoured to Georgia Military Academy in Milledgeville, where he became a junior college All-America defensive back. Now the 6-foot-2, 196-pound college sophomore, once an academic liability, could choose to attend Georgia in part, he says, because it has offered to pay for him to get his master’s degree.
How’s that for a 180-degree turnaround?
Time has passed and South Carolina has faded from the picture. His choices have come down to Georgia and Alabama, and he’s expected to announce his commitment by the end of the week.
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43 comments Add your comment
nola dawg fan
July 6th, 2009
11:26 am
congrats on getting your academics turned around Jakar. Go ahead and commit to UGA… it will be the best decision of your life
The Dawg
July 6th, 2009
11:26 am
Jakar, you have shown what you can do, both on and off the field. We would love to have you as a DAWG to boost our football team and our academic “team”.
Come on up and help us out!
GT.....Seriously, WTF????
July 6th, 2009
11:31 am
Make the right choice son, come be a part of the bulldog nation.
chipperdawg
July 6th, 2009
12:11 pm
Honest, hard work seems to be paying off for you, Jakar! Congrats and well done!! Shows alot about your character… we’d be proud to see you playing between the hedges, but I wish you luck in whatever your choice and pray the the Lord continue to richly bless you!
Pi$$onaDawg
July 6th, 2009
12:52 pm
Tell your friends and young kids that CLASS WORK MATTERS. Pick the best school for Educatation and Football. Please pass on what you learned about what SCHOOL has to mean in your life to get ahead or an opportunity. Congrats young man best of luck.
Hairofthedawg
July 6th, 2009
12:59 pm
Hey Jakar,
UGA is in need of DB’s and we never have enough men of character! Best of luck and stay healthy where ever you choose. Go Dawgs!
Nachos
July 6th, 2009
1:06 pm
Darryl Maxie looks like Urkel
jimmy
July 6th, 2009
1:15 pm
bulldogs with good gpa’s get good jobs bulldogs with masters get the best jobs
Diamond Dawg
July 6th, 2009
1:59 pm
The hedges are callin
TommyGator
July 6th, 2009
2:28 pm
This begs for the old jokes about UGA academics. You know the ones:
I have a masters in math from UGA. It was printed on the back of my parking ticket.
Congrataltions on upgrading your academics over the last twenty years, but you gotta admit, the headline here is a great straight line…
Will
July 6th, 2009
2:39 pm
Jakar, yourself and Sanders Commings will make the SECs best safety combo. Oh, let’s not forget Brandon Smith who will be the first shut-down UGA corner since Champ Bailey which will mean more pics for you and Sanders.
Where in the hell are all of you UGA haters a few weeks ago who were saying the 2010 class was going to be CMRs worst ever? Kiss my Hairy Dawg ASS!
Dawg Gone Mad man
July 6th, 2009
3:22 pm
You can get a Masters Degree in Recreation and Leisure (I am not kidding) at UGA. Maybe that is what you want, UGA, USC and LSU are Academic cesspools. Ha HA
GT_THWG
July 6th, 2009
3:29 pm
That’s a great story. Good for him and whichever program he chooses. How many players even entertain the thought of a masters? Keep up the hard work!
IRAQI-DAWG
July 6th, 2009
3:58 pm
Good move to come to UGA!!! Even out here in Iraq, there are Dawg haters (FLA fans)!! Jakar, come BETWEEN THE HEDGES…Its your calling!!! Plus, you get to play against public enemy #1…The team from the next state down!!!!!!!
Conservatism leads to Paranoia
July 6th, 2009
4:18 pm
Dawg gone mad man,
Bet you couldn’t get into Georgia.
Matt
July 6th, 2009
4:35 pm
If he decides to go to Bama are some of the UGA fans going to start saying that he had character issues?
This is a good story. Glad to hear that this guy got his academics turned around. Now if football does not work out for him, he’ll be able to fall back on his degree or something along those lines. I hope he keeps up the work.
Prove It!
July 6th, 2009
6:23 pm
Don’t just make them promise to pay for it; do it and make them pay for it!
a fan
July 6th, 2009
6:59 pm
garrison smith lists his top ten schools. UGA along with all the major programs in the south made the list. Vandy even made the list and Tech did not. Let’s here it nerds, what’s yalls excuse? had to post this on this blog because this is the most recent blog.
a fan
July 6th, 2009
7:20 pm
hear
BG
July 6th, 2009
9:16 pm
Come on down Jakar. We need cornerbacks. GO DAWGS!
matt
July 6th, 2009
9:25 pm
a fan:
Did Garrison Smith name a favorite or just a top 10? I know the LSU staff is after him hard but I think it’ll be tough to pluck him from UGA.
Recruitnik
July 6th, 2009
9:27 pm
Jakar Hamilton will start next year for the Dawgs. He is that. He is one of the fastest and best juco players coming out. He can play safety, corner, or wr. That is just how talented he is. He is all dawg btw. Congrats on a great school choice Jakar.
James T
July 6th, 2009
9:46 pm
Any school in the SEC or ACC or any BCS conference can offer him that. Shouldn’t be a difference maker.
Flo-Ri-Duh!
July 6th, 2009
10:06 pm
Jakar Hamilton is a safety – not a cornerback and I don’t care what UGA is offering Bama has deeper pockets and alumni with deeper pockets.
a fan
July 6th, 2009
11:36 pm
matt-
the top ten includes in no order
UGA, Aub, Fla, Fsu, Southern Cal, OSU, Okla, LSU, UT, and Vandy.
Bamafan
July 7th, 2009
3:30 am
He will be wearing red and black UGA all the way!!
Denver Dog
July 7th, 2009
8:49 am
Only a sick Gator fan, Tommy Gator, could make fun of a kid who has done well, and improved his stock in life. What a great story!
No body from UGA is going to take any flak from a Gator about academics. This from a follower of the “don’t taze me bro” school of hard knocks. Grow up and quit picking on kids that are doing the right thing now. I’m not writing about the 24 arrests since the dawn of the age of aquarius with Urban and Tim.
Nachos
July 7th, 2009
8:51 am
Nick Saban is scared of the UGA black jerseys!
AJ
July 7th, 2009
11:02 am
Got to improve their GSR, huh? The overall football student-athlete at Georgia has a GSR of 48%.
Oh and 30 arrests for UGA in the same time period as UF’s 24 as long as you are counting. But with a lack of success comes an indifference from the media. If UGA won more, the press would care more. Everyone takes a shot at you when you are at the top of the mountain. Not so much when you are in the foothills.
Bulldawg
July 7th, 2009
11:13 am
That’s pretty funny TommyGator – a gator alum calling out the dawg’s on our academic’s. I don’t think UF ranks higher than UGA in any undergrad or grad studies. Well, that’s probably not true – there might be one or two, but for the most part UGA outperforms UF in most all undergrad and grad rankings – from journalism, vet, ed, business to grad studies like law and MBA.
Get a clue.
Bulldawg
July 7th, 2009
11:45 am
Correction:
academics, not acedmic’s
Steve Patterson
July 7th, 2009
3:11 pm
Why do you continue to steal information from ugasports.com.
You also appear to noe be simply plagiarize our content.
This is now the 3rd atrticle I have forwarded to the legal department
of yahoo-rivals.
Poor, just POOR.
Darryl is no journalist!
July 7th, 2009
3:12 pm
Darryl,
I enjoyed this article the FIRST time I read it over on UGASports.com when Anthony Dasher wrote it. Have you no shame or integrity as a journalist. pathetic!!!
Paddy
July 7th, 2009
4:07 pm
Love to read these “feel good” stories. Congrats, hope you will choose UGA and keep the momentum going.
Tursiops
July 7th, 2009
4:14 pm
Stealing articles for UGAsports.com again huh? Do your own reporting in the future…thanks!
Dawgsroll
July 7th, 2009
4:17 pm
Probably the best plagiarized piece I’ve read since my senior thesis.
Seriously, your plagiarizing skills are formidable.
You’re really very talented.
If there were a World’s Greatest Plagiarizer award, you’d win…hands down.
I bow down to your skills.
bill_in_atl
July 7th, 2009
5:26 pm
Please ignore this sarcastic libtard Dawgsroll character. Not all of us can afford the rivals subscription so we are happy to get their pay-site details for free.
Keep the updates coming!!
And for the record I think we all know Joe Biden is the World’s Greatest Plagiarizer.
Tursiops
July 7th, 2009
6:19 pm
bill- so u can’t afford .33 cents a day for the subscription?
dawgs2269
July 7th, 2009
6:34 pm
bill_in_atl
So, rather than pay for information, you would rather read it for free after it has been blatantly ripped off from someone who earns their living writing for UGASPORTS.COM? You are no better than the thief who stole this article to begin with. Think about how Steve, Dash and the rest of the staff support their families diptard. They sell subscriptions and advertising space on the site.
I bet you are one of those “fans”, that get mad that someone wants to charge more than “face” value for their extra tickets. Nevermind that the minimum contribution for season ticket holders makes the total cost per ticket in excess in $200 per game.
Darryl is no journalist!
July 7th, 2009
6:42 pm
Dang dawgs2269 just OWNED bill_in_atl!!
bill_in_atl
July 8th, 2009
9:02 am
It’s truly sad that some people struggle with such obvious sarcasm. Maybe it’s just a common trait of child beaters like Dawgs2269. I don’t know.
“Darryl is no journalist!”, do you beat your children for no reason? If so it might start to indicate some semblance of a pattern. Please let me know. This is important science I’m working on. Thanks.
MikkUGA
July 10th, 2009
12:48 pm
Sanders Commings has moved to CB and Makari Pugh moved to safety. Congrats to you Jakar, you have showed what one can accomplish when they put their mind to it. You have been great on and off the field and the Dawgs would love to have you there.
southgadawg88
July 10th, 2009
9:15 pm
….Congrats young man..you stepped up and took care of business in the classroom which will open doors for you to pursue your dreams.Good luck to you!