Jake Garcia’s parents had to legally separate for the 4-star QB to be eligible to play after transfer to Georgia high school
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Parents often don’t get enough credit when it comes to the sacrifices they make for their children. In the case of Jake Garcia’s parents, they literally ended their marriage — at least, temporarily — to help the four-star quarterback compete on the field for his senior season of high school football.
If you haven’t been following Garcia’s story, the California native is one of the elite high school quarterback prospects in the nation for the 2021 recruiting cycle. 247Sports Composite Rankings list Garcia as the No. 4 pro-style passer in the country and the No. 39 overall recruit in the nation.
Back in September of 2019, Garcia committed to USC and looks to be the next in a long line of touted signal-callers to play for the Trojans. While that’s still the case, Garcia’s senior season at La Habra High School was derailed when California announced that no high school football would be allowed to be played in the state this fall.
Instead of sitting out the final season of his high school football career, Garcia found an opening with Rush Propst’s Valdosta High program in Georgia. So Garcia packed his bags, moved across the country and plans to finish his high school career at Valdosta before signing with USC.
The only problem with that plan?
Georgia requires all moves like this one to be a “bona fide move,” meaning the athlete must move with his parents in order to be eligible to play according to Mark Schlabach of ESPN.
Garcia’s mom, Yvonne, couldn’t make the move from California to Georgia because of her job so his father, Randy, legally separated from his wife to move with Jake to the Peach State.
Talk about a commitment to football.
“It’s been hard, but it’s worth it,” Yvonne said. “It’s a sacrifice and it’s worth it.”
Randy and Yvonne plan on getting back together after the season.
If USC had any doubts regarding the commitment to football from their latest QB pledge, this story should end any doubts on that matter.
Photo credit: Los Angeles Times
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
