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The next generation of UGA football stars is out there, ready to head to Athens in the coming weeks, months and years. LaGrange High grad Trey Cook (class of 23) is currently a student at the school and helping ensure UGA gets only the best football players on campus.

Cook is a member of the Player Personnel department where he has spent over half of a year scouting out potential future Bulldogs.

“I’ve always loved Georgia recruiting, like, I remember being in middle school and celebrating with one of my coaches when Justin Fields committed, so I’ve always been super passionate about Georgia recruiting, but during my freshman year I didn’t really know that was actually a potential job for me,” Cook said. 

Those who remember Cook from his time as a Granger will remember just the kind of athlete he was. Cook was a member of the back-to-back 4A state runner-up LaGrange High baseball team, for whom he started as a pitcher and outfielder. He knows a thing or two about being an outstanding high school student-athlete.

“I feel like it was just yesterday I was playing baseball for LaGrange,” Cook said with a nostalgic tone. 

Cook, who is studying risk management and sports management, knows a thing or two about sports in general as well. He hopes to eventually go to law school and focus on sports law.

After some training and a couple of classes, Cook was ready to dive into the nitty gritty of his new role. It incorporates a wide range of responsibilities, from helping organize prospect camps during the summer to coordinating recruiting visits on game day to scouring through hours and hours of game film.

“Right when we started, we would have these meetings that were pretty much like in the film room at the facility, and they would basically just tell us, yeah, some of, like, some of the traits to look for, what not to look for, what matters,” Cook said. “It’s not just highlights. We’re looking for good plays. We’re looking for bad plays. We’re looking for body language, and how they carry themselves, all of that plays a factor.

“In the middle of June, LaGrange (High football) played in a seven-on-seven here and I told everybody that’s my school, that I went there. So I was excited to claim LaGrange and they went pretty far. I think they lost in the semis in Sanford Stadium. I remember watching them so that was really special.”

With classes getting more and more difficult as Cook’s time in school progresses, his days may be numbered in the Player Personnel Department, but Cook still has at least a year left in him.

“I’ll do it for at least probably another year, but it’s not the most convenient time-wise, but there are so many perks and I really enjoy doing it,” Cook said. “If you told me 5-10 years ago where I am now, being able to work in UGA recruiting every single day and be around the staff that I’ve loved my whole entire life I never would have believed you which is why that’s just not something that I can give up so easily.”