Georgia wasn’t expecting Isaiah McKenzie to leave after his junior season of college football.
Head coach Kirby Smart admitted this, saying he knew immediately after McKenzie's decision that the coaching staff would have to find a way to re-tool the roster to replace McKenzie's production.
Enter Ahkil Crumpton, a little known 5-foot-8 junior college prospect out of Los Angeles Valley College. Crumpton, who committed to Temple out of high school but began his college career in the junior college ranks, showcased his return ability with Los Angeles Valley by averaging 43.1 yards per punt return.
“We think he upgrades our roster and helps us,” head coach Kirby Smart said.
Smart officially welcomed Crumpton to the team during his Monday news conference. While Crumpton announced his commitment to Georgia on July 18, his recruiting coordinator at Los Angeles Valley, CJ Clayborne, told The Telegraph that Crumpton had been committed to the Bulldogs for much longer.
Crumpton, however, was waiting to finish one final upper-level math course to be eligible for competition in the SEC. Crumpton revealed his college choice when he was close to completing the math class.
Crumpton will be considered a junior with two years of eligibility remaining.
Before Crumpton chose Georgia, his other possible destinations were Utah State and UC-Davis.
While Smart said he would need to see if Crumpton compares favorably to McKenzie, he did like his film during the recruiting process.
“Does he remind you of Isaiah? That’s hard because we’re just now laying our eyes on him,” Smart said. “We really haven’t gotten to see him other than tape. I would be remiss to say now. I have to wait and see how practice goes. He's built similar. Isaiah’s pretty good by the way.”
To see if Crumpton can contribute in McKenzie’s role, Smart said the Bulldogs may run live return drills this season.
“We’ll probably do some live returns to find out about those guys,” Smart said. “We can’t test them Sept. 2. We have to find out before.”