Deejay Dallas, the talented 4-star athlete out of Glynn Academy, has had an interesting month. He led his high school to the state championship game at the Georgia Dome at quarterback and then chose to de-commit from UGA.
Yet he still wore UGA gear at the team hotel on Sunday evening after the Elite Juniors finished up their first practice session. He described the turn of events regarding his college choice as “stressful.”
“Everyone is coming at me now,” Dallas said. “They are like ‘Go here’ and ‘Go there’ now and I feel sometimes I wasn’t expecting all of this.”
The junior said UGA contacted him quickly after his decision.
“The day I de-committed Coach (Kirby) Smart texted me and said it really broke his heart when I de-committed, but I had to let him know he wasn’t the one that really put me on to Georgia.”
The 6-foot, 195-pound playmaker turned a lot of heads on the practice field on Sunday afternoon. He also made it clear he still loves UGA, the school and the community.
“Georgia is still a very big option for me,” Dallas said. “With the guys they are getting it wouldn’t be bad to join the fold there again.”
Dallas made it clear he would still be committed to UGA if Mark Richt was still the head coach.
“People think recruits just wake up and say ‘Well, I think I’ll de-commit today and open my recruiting back up’ but that wasn’t the case with me,” Dallas said. “My situation at Georgia changed. Everything changed at Georgia for me. There’s way more to the whole story.”
Dallas said that every coach he knew well at UGA was either gone or on their way out the door. That’s why he chose to open his recruiting back up. He didn’t know the new staff at UGA well.
He said Cal, Florida, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State and South Carolina have all contacted him since his de-commitment, but there was another intriguing school among that group.
That would be Miami and Richt.
“He was telling me he wanted me at Miami,” Dallas said. “He said the reason why he wanted me at Georgia was the player I am and the type of person that I am. That’s really what Coach Richt is all about. He’s a God-fearing man and a great coach. I’d love to play for Coach Richt, but if that opportunity doesn’t permit itself and I feel like that is not the right place for me I’ll have to look somewhere else.”
Dallas said he has some family that lives in the Miami area, too. That’s worth keeping an eye on.
He said he will enjoy playing receiver this week at the Elite Juniors. He also plans to now be a “package deal” with 4-star Brunswick receiver Shawn Smith. Smith is at the Rising Seniors game this week. That’s his cousin. Smith also has a UGA offer.
It also sounds like he does not want to disappoint anybody again so he will not make another commitment. He’ll enroll early upon graduation next December. The current plan is to announce his decision at one of the all-star events and move on to the college program that fits him best.
Will it be at receiver or at defensive back? Or will it be his first love at quarterback? It sounds like the most important thing to him is to play in the SEC or at a major program that is on television every week.
“The main goal is to go pro,” Dallas said. “That’s really what every athlete wants. The other thing will be going to school at a place where I feel like it is home. That’s really where my happiness and where I fit in at a place comes in.”
Jeff Sentell covers UGA football and UGA recruiting for AJC.com and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on who’s on their way to play Between the Hedges.