Five-star safety KJ Bolden flips commitment to Georgia from Florida State
In a complete shock, five-star safety KJ Bolden flipped his commitment and signed his national letter of intent to attend the University of Georgia on Wednesday afternoon. After a tumultuous final few weeks of his recruitment, Bolden ended up choosing the Bulldogs on signing day.
Bolden is the No. 1 safety prospect in the 2024 class and is a Rivals100 member. He is ranked currently as the 12th best prospect in the class and the second best prospect in the state of Georgia behind Buford (Ga.) teammate and Nebraska commit Dylan Raiola.
Bolden finishes his time as a Wolf with 56 tackles, two TFLs, six interceptions and six passes defended. As a receiver, Bolden finished with 1,173 receiving yards, 56 receptions and 17 touchdowns. He also had 97 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns.
For the final two weeks of his recruitment, it was believed that Auburn was the favorite to flip Bolden from the Seminoles. But, in the final days leading up to signing day, Georgia made a late push for Bolden, which turned out to be successful.
It has now been learned that Bolden knew up to three weeks prior to signing day that he would be signing with Georgia and told Georgia reporters that he would be signing with the Bulldogs on signing day.
After taking an unofficial visit to Auburn on Dec. 4 and hosting all three coaching staffs involved for in-home visits, Bolden took his official visit to Florida State on Dec. 15. After what appeared to be a positive weekend for the Seminoles, Bolden's departure was a bit awkward. After speaking with the media for a few minutes about his visit, a family member grabbed Bolden and cut the interview short. Bolden then agreed to return and finish the interview and when asked if he was signing with Florida State, Bolden confirmed that he would be signing with the Seminoles on Wednesday. He also dismissed rumors that he would be going to take a final, last-minute visit to Auburn before the dead period began.
After rumors swirled in the days leading up to Bolden's signing, he began his ceremony as the only Buford player to not have a hat in front of him (as Buford announces where they players are signing). Despite verbally committing to Florida State, Bolden then proceeded to pull a Georgia hat from beneath his desk, completing the flip in favor of the Bulldogs.
Bolden was a major priority for the Seminoles coaching staff and unfortunately for Florida State, they could not close the door on the No. 1 safety in the country.
