Commitment: Five-star athlete Malaki Starks chooses UGA

(Photo from Starks’ Twitter)

The Georgia Bulldogs didn’t have to look far as five-star Jefferson (Ga.) High School product Malaki Starks decided to stay close to home. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound athlete announced his commitment live on Fox 5 Atlanta on Thursday night. This is a huge get for Georgia head coach Kirby Smart and his staff.

Per the industry-generated 247Sports Composite, Starks is the No. 29 ranked player nationally, No. 4 athlete in Georgia and No. 4 overall player in the Peach State. He is a member of the 2022 recruiting class and is UGA’s ninth commitment in that cycle. Interestingly enough, eight of the nine commitments from Georgia’s 2022 class are from the state.

Starks ended up choosing Georgia over Alabama and Clemson.

On the field, Starks is a two-way workhorse at the high school level. He’s rushed for 1,537 yards and 24 touchdowns. but also hauled in eight passes for 157 yards and two scores as a receiver. Starks has also thrown 11 touchdown passes, too.

On the defensive side of the ball, he’s racked up 41 total tackles and two interceptions from the secondary. Jefferson High is known as a track and field powerhouse, and already this spring, Starks has already run a 10.88 in the 100m dash. He’s also registered a 22-1 long jump mark. He also plays basketball for the Dragons as well.

In 2020, he was awarded MaxPreps All-Georgia second-team selection on defense. Starks led Jefferson to a 14-1 record and a shot at the GHSA 4=AAAA state championship but fell just short. As mentioned before, he rushed for over 1,500 yards and averaged 8.9 yards per attempt while running a triple-option offense, which is rare nowadays.

Starks joins fellow five-stars Gunnar Stockton and Deyon Bouie, and four-stars, Tyre West, Bear Alexander, Marquis Groves-Killebrew, C.J. Washington, Darris Smith and Donovan Westmoreland as apart of UGA’s 2022 recruiting class.