Georgia FS Jakar Hamilton transferring; ‘needs fresh start’
ATHENS – Georgia safety Jakar Hamilton is leaving the football program.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound senior from Johnston, S.C., confirmed that news to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday.
Hamilton, a former junior college transfer, was sitting out via medical redshirt this season due to a stress fracture in his ankle that developed in preseason camp. Unable to compete while other players have been asserting themselves at his position, Hamilton said he simply read the writing on the wall.
“It’s just personal issues, really,” said Hamilton, who started five games at free safety last season and played in all 13. “I was hurt and wasn’t going to be able to play this season and I just played it all out in my mind. [Bacarri] Rambo is having a good season, Shawn Williams is having a good season and they both have another year. And other guys are coming in.
“I just felt like I needed a new start and start fresh with another team.”
Hamilton said he plans to transfer but at this point does not know where he might end up.
“I’ve got a couple of schools in mind, but I’ve got to talk to my parents and see where I might best fit in. I’m pretty close to graduating so I’m trying to get my degree first and foremost.”
Hamilton said he met with head coach Mark Richt and they mutually agreed this was the best move for him. He was leaving UGA immediately and heading home.
Hamilton insisted that the decision was not prompted by any disciplinary issues.
“No disciplinary problems,” he said. “There have been some occasions that I might have had some attitude issues or whatever. But this really is just a case of me needing a fresh start.”
Hamilton, who starred at Strom Thurmond High School, transferred to Georgia after spending two seasons at Georgia Military College in Milledgille. A junior college All-American, he transferred to Georgia in 2010 and recorded 27 tackles and an interception last season.
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247 comments Add your comment
JDawg1785
September 20th, 2011
3:47 pm
Best of luck in whatever the future holds for you, Jakar!
15 games, 6 W's and 9 losses
September 20th, 2011
3:47 pm
SEC expansion
Come on man, do ypu really think Bama, LSU, FLA , AUBURN or TENN envy us???????????
bitter grantham
September 20th, 2011
3:48 pm
got ya———”GAYDAWG and TIDE ROLL ARE ONE of the same————–hahahahahah
————————————-TREE KILLERS———are gay
Gay Dawg
September 20th, 2011
3:49 pm
Douglas…If Ihad that attitude I would have stayed at bama and been ridiculed for my beliefs. I would also have never met Randy. Good luck Jakar. may you find your Randy.
Contractor
September 20th, 2011
3:50 pm
I am not sure how transferring works when it comes to football players and athletes, but for normal students you usually have to spend 60 hours in a degree program at the school you intend on graduating from, so he has two years of school (if he takes 15 hours a semester which is more than an athlete normally takes I believe), and one year of ball left, so hopefully he makes the right decision to find a way to finish school, or finish at Georgia, and then move on to play his last year of football.
Chi Town
September 20th, 2011
3:51 pm
If I lived in Athens I would leave too.
1eyedJack
September 20th, 2011
3:51 pm
Good luck Jakar. Thanks for your blood, sweat, and tears.
RECRUITING OPPORTUNITY!!!
1eyedJack
September 20th, 2011
3:53 pm
Gay Dawg, Randy huh? This morning it was Terry. Methinks you is a ho.
I-DOG
September 20th, 2011
3:55 pm
Good luck Jakar. Hope it works out for you somewhere else.
DawgByte
September 20th, 2011
3:55 pm
He never quite lived up to his billing as “The Hit-man”. I wish him the best of luck.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
September 20th, 2011
3:56 pm
Richt has got to find players who are willing to do it whatever the UGA way is. Hamilton may be a great guy but he is quitting on this teamand his teammates. Now we can all say we have X, Y and Z talent in place and incoming, but look at that list that Tony provided- it shows us that we never know what may happen. Who would have thought we would have depth issues at LB,OL or RB? The point is that Hamilton should have hunkered down on and off the field and wanted to compete and show this staff just why they recruited him in the first place. In football you are always one play away from seeing the field. It is unfortunate that it has played out this way, perhaps Richt didn’t fight to hard to keep him on the team, that is info we are not aware of but at this juncture it looks like a short sighted me first athlete.
Red
September 20th, 2011
3:58 pm
Why all the haters? Typical GA fans. This stuff is always rises to the top when a player leaves UGA.
Diandra M.
September 20th, 2011
3:58 pm
Wow, some of you are so disrespectful! If you don’t have anything NICE to say, then DON’T say it at all! Some of your comments really make the Bulldog Nation look bad. FANS ARE SUPPOSE TO SUPPORT THE PLAYERS AND THE COACHES, NOT TEAR THEM DOWN EVER CHANCE YOU CAN GET! And yes, I am screaming each word that is in all caps!
Bulldog59
September 20th, 2011
4:00 pm
So Hamilton gets to move on, and seems to want to finish his degree. Good for him.
We lose a good player who had a self-admitted attitude problem from time to time. We free up a one year scholarship for a walk-on, say maybe second-string Safety, Connor Norman, from nearby Peachtree Ridge High School. It would be a nice reward for a kid that has worked hard for the last three years.
Gay Dawg
September 20th, 2011
4:01 pm
Take a valium Diandra…..man I thought I was dramatic. You go girlfriend.
Cam Newton
September 20th, 2011
4:03 pm
He is transferring to Coastal Carolina because Richt want him to switch to TE.
Dawg48
September 20th, 2011
4:03 pm
Toney out of your 8 guys listed how many of them were actually starters and contributors besides maybe grey? Ealy was selfish dowtin was trouble and arrested come on man post better than that!
Bust
September 20th, 2011
4:05 pm
He came with all the accolades and hype but more hot air than anything. Hit Georgia Southern up they usually scarf up UGA and GT rejects.
Gay Dawg
September 20th, 2011
4:07 pm
Maybe WDE can put in a good word for him with the football program at Lagrange. LOL!
Rooster
September 20th, 2011
4:08 pm
Dawg 48 how do you know Ealey was selfish? Hell bozo never let hime run the ball!!! Ealey was far from selfish and could have have been a contributor this year if Richt would have done his job and kept him on the team. You need to know your facts before popping off at the mouth.
Caramel Street
September 20th, 2011
4:09 pm
FYI – Stop saying “Bulldog Nation” because outside of Georgia, there is no Bulldog Nation. If you go to a Red Sox game in any stadium in the country, there will be a large contingent of Red Sox fans. In some cases, they will outnumber the home team. Hence, the expression “Red Sox Nation”. If you go see UGA play anywhere but Athens, there will be a small contingent of fans in the upper end zone, just like every other team in the country. Red Sox Nation actually exists (along with the Cubs and Yankees, but they have enough class not to rip-off the expression). There is no such thing as Bulldog Nation (unless you’re in Athens…which is not a nation).
I-DOG
September 20th, 2011
4:09 pm
Tony,
Agre with part of yoru post: The eight that you mentioned and don’t forget Caleb King… there is our missing depth. Agree that on paper it sure would have been nice to have another RB or two, another very experienced LB and two more contributing OL from this group. However, it seems that most of the names on this list weren’t the right fit for Georgia and I think it was the players fault that they didn’t succeed at Georgia and not Georgia’s fault.
Big difference between Ealey and Crowell. Washaun was not a true freshman when he had those two critical game costing fumbles. In addition, he drove a vehicle when he was warned MORE THAN ONCE by the staff that he didn’t have a valid license and then he hit a parked car in the parking deck and didn’t take responsibility. My son isn’t old enough to drive yet, but even he knows… if you hit somebody’s parked car, you leave a note apologizing with your contact info and that you will be responsible for taking care of the damage.
Between fumbles, missed punishment runs, irresponsible driving, and suspensions… you just couldn’t count on Washaun.
All that being said, I don’t think we would have won either of those first two games if all of these players had stayed at UGA. No way to really tell, just my instinct. Think we have deeper problems in the program than just depth (pun intended).
Gay Dawg
September 20th, 2011
4:10 pm
Whatever Caramel street….next thing you will say is we ripped off the G on our helmets and didn’t come up with Dawg Walk!
P_The_Ricker
September 20th, 2011
4:11 pm
Don’t say that the team wasn’t trying to keep him or find opportunities for him. After the departure of King and move of Samuel over to RB, the staff was actually looking to move Hamilton to RB as well.
What many don’t know is that his half brother is Mike Goodson (RB for the Panthers) and that Jakar tore up the high school ranks at RB.
CMR Titanic
September 20th, 2011
4:13 pm
Another kid that knows the program is a sinking ship and really sees the writing on the wall.
Walker
September 20th, 2011
4:15 pm
Jakar; We would love to have you at Georgia Southern. You would fit in and possibly win a National Championship.
CMR Titanic
September 20th, 2011
4:16 pm
Losing to a team that barely beat Navy and the kool aid drinkers just keep drinking….. funny.
BigTimeTechFan
September 20th, 2011
4:18 pm
Oh come on, give the kid a break, he laid it out as to why, no issue at all, happens to every school. Tech seems to have some every year, Bama has some, Florida,…….
Best of luck to Jakar, this Tech fan wishes you well.
Bubbatavious
September 20th, 2011
4:20 pm
WTH is going on in Athens with so many guys jumping ship ? I know being 1 – 2 is depressing with its lone win over a high school team but sheesh……
frannie mae
September 20th, 2011
4:21 pm
UGA is in BIG BIG trouble……
bawbie
September 20th, 2011
4:22 pm
Fire Dave Perno !!!!!!
Howdy Doody
September 20th, 2011
4:23 pm
Enter your comments here
Makes Me Wonder
September 20th, 2011
4:24 pm
As I read the words posted here I have to believe the disrespectful, spitefull, comments DO NOT emanate from true University of Georgia fans. These comments are some the most rude, thoughtless you ever want to read. You people that post this trash and garbage, and that is exactly what is it, should take a course in humanity and civility. However, since many of you that make these posts probably didn’t (couldn’t) make it through the 9th grade much less graduate from a college or university, my point is meaningless. It makes me think that the REAL UGA graduates must want to bury their head in the sand when they read some of your words.
I-DOG
September 20th, 2011
4:25 pm
Caramel:
I saw Dawg Nation in Oklahoma State, Colorado, and Arizona state and the fans at all three of these schools and their local media remarked about how impressed they were with the turnout from Dawg Nation.
Red Sox nation is impressive and pulls from an extremely large population, but to intimate that only people in Georgia care about Georgia Football is incorrect.
Howdy Doody
September 20th, 2011
4:26 pm
loss to Boise….check…….. loss to South Carolina…….check ……. loss of another player from team….. check ………… Fire Mark Richt at seasons end…….check
Gay Dawg
September 20th, 2011
4:27 pm
Quit being such a queer Makes me Wonder. Man up boy!
Go Navy!
September 20th, 2011
4:32 pm
Best of luck young man! Make the best of every opportunity!
Tyrone Shulaces
September 20th, 2011
4:43 pm
He’s close to graduating. Get your degree, Jakar.
Zero sacks at home vs a community college with 195 lb linemen.
You have no idea how bad this is going to get, do you?
Get Derek. Get Chucky. Before January.
caleb
September 20th, 2011
4:45 pm
maybe the coaching staff needs a fresh start…..just saying…..
athdog
September 20th, 2011
4:49 pm
The ‘Hitman’ never did like to hit too much at this level. Perhaps a move to a smaller school/division will help him. The MOST important thing is for the young man to get his degree. He has zero future in the next level of football, and needs to get his degree so he doesn’t become another member of the underachievers club of America that our Commander in Chief so hopes to expand.
GMoney
September 20th, 2011
4:57 pm
Good….the “Hit Man” couldn’t tackle my 4 year old.
deal me
September 20th, 2011
4:58 pm
will richt award his scholarship to another walk on?
kennesaw gator
September 20th, 2011
5:04 pm
“Hamilton insisted that the decision was not prompted by any disciplinary issues.”
Hmmm… a Dawg football player leaving and NOT involving criminal activity – probably a first for UGA!
LoyalDog
September 20th, 2011
5:05 pm
Who cares? He says he wants to get his diploma and then drops out of school Does he really want to go to school? Good for Coach to take the high road and just let the dude have all the opportunities to see that he just cannot compete. I like Coach Richt, he does it the right way. He gives a player a chance to cut themselves. Jakar, you cut yourself. You will need to find yourself and it starts with looking in the mirror.
PT
September 20th, 2011
5:06 pm
It means nothing.
Ohio Dawg
September 20th, 2011
5:23 pm
Where is “Milledgille?”
KeepDreaming
September 20th, 2011
5:24 pm
BUST!!!
Jake
September 20th, 2011
5:29 pm
Can’t blame the kid, surprised 12 others havn’t transferred yet (Hutson Mason, Christian Lemay, Lynch, etc.)
Brucerugby79
September 20th, 2011
5:29 pm
Good Luck Jakar get the degree and have some fun with your last year—don’t listen to trolls on here true Dogs wish you the best—and hey you might want to try Rugby!
Good luck Jakar!
September 20th, 2011
5:36 pm
Once a bulldawg…always a bulldawg! Good luck Jakar!