Report: Georgia K Rodrigo Blankenship will leave team if not put on scholarship, says his father
Published:
Georgia’s newest hero and internet sensation might not be on the team much longer.
According to a report from DawgNation.com, freshman walk-on kicker Rodrigo Blankenship will leave the team if the Bulldogs don’t offer him a scholarship next season.
Blankenship’s father Ken told DawgNation of his financial difficulties paying for his son’s tuition and that former coach Mark Richt, who was fired last season, promised Rodrigo a scholarship if he won the starting job.
Blankenship has done just that, hitting nine straight field goals to distance himself from fellow walk-on William Ham. The redshirt freshman kicked four field goals, including a 25-yard game-winner in the final seconds, to lift Georgia past Kentucky last weekend.
“Rodrigo has committed to the ‘G,’ but we are puzzled why Coach (Kirby) Smart has not yet committed to the ‘R,’” Ken Blankenship told DawgNation in an email. “His support seems to stop at the front gate of the scholarship house.”
“We determine that kind of stuff at the end of the year,” Smart said Monday at his weekly news conference. “We look at the whole and kind of where we’re at and go through recruiting. We’re obviously in hot pursuit of good specialists because that’s an area we’ve got to improve on. But that will be based off how (Blankenship) finishes up, the whole picture, where we are.
“He’s certainly done a great job and has gained a lot of confidence, which I’m fired up about.”
Marcus covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
