Coffee DB Pernell Williams

Coffee defensive back Pernell Williams said he committed to the Florida Gators, but it appears that the reigning BCS champions have not yet accepted his commitment.

Here’s a quick recap: Williams said he got on the phone on Thursday morning with Florida assistants Vance Bedford and Brian White, and told them he was committing to the Gators. Then Williams texted reporters, saying he was excited about picking the Gators.

However, word later got back to Williams and his family that maybe the Gators hadn’t accepted the commitment just yet. Apparently, there was some miscommunication. Former UGA player Reggie Weeks, who is the brother-in-law of Williams, said he called Bedford late Thursday to clarify the matter.

“[Bedford] said ‘We definitely want Pernell and he has an offer from Florida,’” Weeks said. “He said they (Florida) didn’t want Pernell to rush into it so soon with committing where he might change his mind later on. So Florida is coming to …

QB Connor Shaw plays QB for his father, Flowery Branch coach Lee Shaw (right). Connor, one of the nation's top high school quarterbacks, is the younger brother of Georgia Tech's Jaybo Shaw. (AJC)

Big brother played a big factor in one of the nation’s top high school quarterbacks committing to Steve Spurrier and South Carolina over Georgia Tech.

Flowery Branch’s Connor Shaw is the younger brother of Georgia Tech quarterback Jaybo Shaw. Big brother’s presence had its advantages and disadvantages for the Jackets in recruiting.

“Jaybo and I are real close,” Connor told the AJC. “We always talked about how cool it would be to play with each other again after high school. He’s the main reason I wanted to go to Georgia Tech. However, ultimately it came down to us competing for the same job … My parents are excited for me. They are just trying to figure out which games to go to in a couple of years, the games at South Carolina or Georgia Tech.”

Connor picked South Carolina over offers …

Buford offensive lineman Kolton Houston committed to Georgia before Saturday’s G-Day, following in the footsteps of his father, former UGA football player Shane Houston. “Yes, I did,” Houston told the AJC. “Georgia is the right fit for me and I can’t wait to get here.”

“It’s a great honor to be a Bulldog and I can’t wait to play in front of 92,000 people ‘Between the Hedges.’”

The 6-foot-5, 270-pound Houston selected Georgia over around 15 offers, including Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Auburn, Florida State, and Michigan State. 

Houston has a lot of red and black in his blood. His father was a backup linebacker at Georgia in the late 1980s. Both of Kolton’s parents attended UGA.

Despite the family connections, Houston was a good catch for the Bulldogs. Kolton had started looking seriously at other schools because Georgia was taking longer than competing colleges with his evaluation. However, everything changed when Georgia’s Mark Richt finally …

Derrick Favors will make it official with Georgia Tech on April 15. Favors committed to Tech over UGA, Memphis, and N.C. State. (AJC)

Derrick Favors, who is ranked as the nation’s No. 1 basketball prospect by several recruiting services, said there’s no reason for Georgia Tech fans to worry over the next 10 days. Favors has been committed to the Yellow Jackets since January, and will officially sign the scholarship papers on April 15.

“There’s always rumors going around, but I’m 100-percent committed to Georgia Tech,” Favors told the AJC on Sunday night. “When I made my commitment, that was it. There haven’t been any reasons to change things. Georgia Tech hasn’t had a coaching change, and I’m real cool with the team, so I’m staying with them.”

The rumor mill for college basketball recruiting is at its peak. John Calipari was named Kentucky’s coach, and high-profile prospects committed or signed elswhere may follow him. If you recall, Calipari’s former school, Memphis, was a …

DT Denzel McCoy committed to Georgia Tech (AJC)

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said he felt like he could recruit against any school in the nation for the state’s top prospects.

Northview defensive tackle Denzel McCoy committed to Georgia Tech over 34 offers on Saturday. McCoy picked the Yellow Jackets because “they felt like home and they were close to home, along with great academics.”

The 6-foot-4, 270-pound McCoy said his second choice was Florida State, while he was also heavily considering Auburn, Notre Dame, North Carolina and Tennessee.

“Georgia Tech really cares about you as a football player and a person, they want to get you suited up for life,” McCoy said. “A lot of colleges talk about only ‘football, football and football.’ Georgia Tech talks about academics first, and then football.”

McCoy attended Georgia Tech’s spring practice on Saturday. He had been thinking about holding off with his college decision, but changed his mind after meeting with school officials …

Paul Johnson already has two in-state prospects committed to sign with Georgia Tech next year (AJC)

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson and UGA’s Mark Richt say they expect to battle it out more this year over the state’s top prospects.

Westlake linebacker Michael Taylor is the latest homegrown talent to be recruited by the archrivals. Georgia Tech offered Taylor on Thursday; UGA extended the scholarship papers on his 17th birthday in February.

“It means a lot to get offered by both Georgia and Georgia Tech,” Taylor said. “Both are great schools. Georgia is one of the top teams in the SEC, while Georgia Tech is one of the best in the ACC. It doesn’t seem to happen a lot, when [an in-state] player gets offered by both of them.”

It’s still early in recruiting for the 2010 prospects, but at least a dozen of the state’s top names have dual offers from the rivals. Some of the headliners are M.L. King tailback Mack Brown, Booker T. Washington wide receiver Antonio Goodwin, Gainesville …

Buford OL Kolton Houston has UGA and Georgia Tech offers (Photo by Brandi King)

Shane Houston tried his best to hide the excitement over his son, Buford’s Kolton Houston, being offered a football scholarship by Georgia. Shane played at UGA, and there’s just something special when your son is offered by your former team. It’s one of those father-son things. Shane tried to put on his best “game face” but it wasn’t really working.

“It definitely means a lot for Georgia to offer,” Shane said on Monday evening. “Any father would think that. It was honor. It felt special. Now it’s in Kolton’s hands on what to do with the recruiting process.”

The son is not sure what to do just yet. For Kolton, Georgia is offer No. 13, including Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Clemson, Auburn and Michigan State. The 6-foot-5, 270-pound offensive lineman said the lack of a Georgia offer, especially with the family connections, created an uneasy situation.

“It started getting a little discouraging,” Houston …

Alec Ogletree is ranked as the nation's No. 1 safety by Rivals with 35 scholarship offers, but he says his twin brother may be more talented than him (AJC)

Newnan High’s Alec Ogletree is considered the state’s No. 1 college prospect and holds 35 early scholarship offers. He says his twin brother, Zander Ogletree, may be better than he is, and Zander has been mostly ignored by college scouts.

“The only reason I can think that I have all these offers and [my twin brother] doesn’t is because of height … because he can play, I mean, he’s really, really good ,” said Alec, who was heavily courted by Georgia coach Mark Richt during UGA’s Junior Day. His five early favorites are Miami, FSU, Alabama, UGA and Florida.

The football stars were born two minutes apart on Sept. 25, 1991. Alec has grown to 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, plays safety in high school, and has college coaches drooling with his presence. Zander (the older twin) stands 5-11 and 205 pounds, plays some mean linebacker, and …

Douglass DE Garrison Smith likes Georgia, and his brother played at archrival Georgia Tech (AJC)

Who will be UGA’s first commitment for 2010?

Somebody has got to be first. Who will it be? How much longer will it take before one of the highly-regarded juniors coveted by Georgia finally pledges to sign with the Bulldogs?

Juniors are committing to colleges all over the country. Texas has 20 early commitments, while Florida has seven, according to Rivals. South Carolina has three, as does Alabama, including North Gwinnett’s Austin Shepherd. Georgia Tech has one 2010 commitment, Collins Hill tailback Charles Perkins.

What about Georgia? Last year by signing day, the Bulldogs had five early commitments, all in-state players. UGA recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner was asked why he didn’t think the Bulldogs had any juniors committed this year by signing day.

“That’s not true,” the poker-faced Garner said. 

Garner could’ve been teasing. But more than likely, one of Georgia’s junior …

Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson (AJC)

It’s one thing to sign a heralded recruiting class. It’s another to see if they all make it through college admissions to football practice in the summer.

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson feels really good about his 21 recruits, led by Flowery Branch’s Izaan Cross. ”As long as everybody finishes with the grades they have now, I think everybody is good,” Johnson said last week. “As long as they maintain in school what they have and get there. It’s a sliding scale with test scores and GPAs, as far as NCAA qualifiers go. If everybody we have stays with what they have, then we should be OK.” 

UGA wrapped up its 2009 class with recruit No. 20, tight end Orson Charles of Tampa. At least six Georgia recruits have told reporters over the last few months that they were “close to meeting college entrance requirements,” with the biggest names being ECI teammates Washaun Ealey and Dexter Moody, along with defensive end Montez Robinson of Avon, …

Stephen Hill

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said Tech’s 45-42 win over Georgia, snapping a seven-game losing streak, has had an impact on the recruiting trail.  ”Certainly, it doesn’t hurt when you can beat your in-state rival. It’s got to help. It gives you more credibility within the state. But it can’t be an one-time deal. We’ve got to be able to repeat it.”

“Georgia has a lot of advantages in the state, from perception or whatever. And a lot of it they created themselves. They’ve done a nice job. You try to find guys that fit your system, and there are good enough players in the state of Georgia that both schools can get good players.”

Johnson and Georgia coach Mark Richt have both said they expect to compete against each other more often for the state’s top 2010 prospects. “Have we got to come head-to-head sometimes? Sure we will,” Johnson said. “We did last year. Not a lot, but some.”

Stephen Hill was the state's only player deciding between offers from Georgia and …

“The state is very important,” Johnson said. “We wanted to try to make an emphasis on that, and we have. There’s a chance we may take everybody in-state this year [with our 2010 scholarships]. We may take them all from Georgia.”

Georgia Tech expects to sign between 12-15 players next year, and already has its first commitment with Collins Hill tailback Charles Perkins. “I think there’s a lot of good players in Georgia, there’s some great high school coaches, and football is important,” Johnson said. “We’re one of the two bigger in-state schools and we need to make sure that we are very thorough here.”

“Now does that mean we won’t go outside? No. But if we are going outside of the state, those guys need to be remarkably better than the guys we can find in the …

Tucker sophomore James Vaughters

Why waste any time talking about the state’s top juniors? That group, those 15 and 16-year olds, they are old news. The sophomores are stealing the spotlight. And that’s correct for all of you keeping score at home: These kids will graduate in 2011. They won’t take the field in college (best-case scenario) for three more years. Maybe the economy will be back by then.

Tucker’s James Vaughters is the latest member of the 2011 club, joining others such as Gainesville linebacker A.J. Johnson (Tennessee offer) and Valdosta tight end Jay Rome (UGA, Alabama). Vaughters is 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, sports a 4.0 GPA, and boasts extra early offers from N.C. State and Central Florida.

Since when did Central Florida start offering 2011 kids in Georgia? That’s a good question. I had to ask that to Tucker coach Franklin Stephens. “As you know, [Tucker senior] Jonathan Davis signed with Central Florida. The Central Florida assistant is David Kelley, who …

Steve Spurrier

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier told Georgia’s top quarterback prospect he is “nowhere near retiring” from the Gamecocks.

Flowery Branch quarterback Connor Shaw spent around 30 minutes with Spurrier during South Carolina’s Junior Day on Saturday. One of the first things they talked about was Spurrier’s future with the Gamecocks.

“I always hear these rumors, just like everybody else, that Coach Spurrier is going to retire in two years, so I asked him about it,” Shaw said. “He [Spurrier] told me  ’I'm definitely staying until we accomplish more things at South Carolina … [and] I’m nowhere near retiring.’”

Shaw, the younger brother of Georgia Tech quarterback Jaybo Shaw, is one of the state’s top 2010 prospects and has early offers from South Carolina, Tech, Stanford, West Virginia and Wake Forest.

With Spurrier, rumors about his impending retirement are constantly used against South Carolina on the recruiting trail. Even one of Spurrier’s former assistants, …

UGA coach Mark Richt was recently asked what “commitment means.” 

“When we offer a kid, we don’t ever want to renege that offer,” Richt said. “If we offer a QB, and we’ve assigned one scholarship to that position, and we offer five or six, we tell each one of them that ‘We’re looking to sign one.’ When one gets committed, and we trust that he’s solid, then we let everybody know we’re full. I don’t really look at that as reneging an offer. I think everybody offered has the chance to take that one. It one of those ‘whomever takes it first, gets it’ type of things.”

“That’s why I tell our coaches ‘Don’t be quick to offer. If you offer him, and he commits, he’s ours. We’re not backing off that. So, at times, we probably offer a little bit slower, in some cases, than other schools.”

“You hope that a young man is going to stand firm with his …

Collins Hill tailback Charles Perkins loves to finish first in everything, which made him an ideal fit as Georgia Tech’s first commitment for the 2010 recruiting class.

“I wanted to be first,” Perkins said. “I believe I was the first junior that Georgia Tech offered, and I know I am the first one that committed.

“To me, it’s an honor to be first. [Tech] showed me a list of its first commitments over the years, and there were some big-time names on there … Derrick Steagall, Quincy Carter [who later played at Georgia] and others.”

When Collins Hill runs the ball, Perkins is usually the first one down the field. He finished with 1,244 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns during his junior season.

But that was not the first thing that Eagles coach Billy Wells told recruiters about Perkins, who also considered offers from Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Central Florida and Wisconsin.

“Charles is a young man with outstanding character… . That’s the first thing out of my mouth to …

Georgia Tech's Giff Smith

And you thought all the recruiting fun ended for a while with last week’s signing day.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Behind the scenes, Georgia recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner and his counterpart, Georgia Tech’s Giff Smith, are arguably under more pressure now.

January and February are THE most important months of the year for making inroads with the state’s top prospects for the following year. You know, Georgia’s top juniors, which will make up the 2010 recruiting classes for colleges. Both schools have sent out a flurry of early offers, and more will be on the way.

Now what we’re talking about here is UGA and Tech, with regards to high school prospects in Georgia (not other states). And we’re talking about the elite guys, the state’s top 10-20 juniors. If UGA and Tech really want them, they have a short “window of opportunity” to let it be clearly known before the intense invasion of out-of-state colleges begins later in the …

Paul Johnson

The AJC posted more than 200 recruiting articles, columns, profiles, videos and photo galleries on Wednesday. There was so much at such a dizzying pace that I decided to pick out some of the best ones for you to read in case you missed them:

UGA recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner makes public apology to wife. This revisits what many say is one of the funniest recruiting press conferences they’ve ever seen, and it was all caught on tape.

One Valdosta player signs with Georgia, another with Georgia Tech. Whenever Antonio Foster says “45-42, 45-42, 45-42, 45-42, 45-,42, 45-42″, Mike Gilliard reminds him UGA won seven out of eight meetings.

Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson addresses what “commitment means.” Here we go with the philosophical debate. This could get pretty deep with the posts underneath.

Marlon Brown pulls prank on UGA players. That speedy and sneaky Marlon. He had UGA’s players thinking he was headed to Ohio State.

South Carolina reveals its …

On Wednesday, the college coaches finally have permission to speak and put their spin on everything.

NCAA rules prevent colleges from commenting on prospective student-athletes. That ends on Wednesday, as soon as the prospects sign off on the scholarship papers.

In Columbia, S.C., what will Steve Spurrier have to say about how the situation was handled with Tucker’s Jonathan Davis? Will he even address it? Or just “let it go” and talk about the prospects they did get? Members of the South Carolina media have promised to ask Spurrier about Davis, therefore stay tuned.

At Georgia Tech, Paul Johnson appeared to take a “hard-line” stance toward Georgia Tech commitments visiting other schools. Quarterback Dontae Aycock of Tampa, Fla., was a “secret commitment” to Tech three weeks ago and warned against …

I’m not saying that Favors would’ve “saved” Dennis Felton’s job in the long run. But he would’ve bought Felton at least one more year. College ADs don’t tend to pull the trigger on the “fire button” as quickly when you have the nation’s No. 1 recruit arriving the following season. There are countless examples of basketball coaches on the “hotseat” who were able to buy a little more time by landing a big-timer.

Anyways, this is a moot point because Favors picked Tech, not UGA. But it does remind you the high stakes of recruiting, and its rippling effects.

One last thing: South Atlanta coach Michael Reddick said on Thursday that Favors will sign with Georgia Tech on April 15, the first day of the “late” signing period. However, Favors hasn’t signed any paperwork yet, only given a verbal commitment. I expect him to sign with Georgia Tech. But what if UGA …

Miller Grove WR Stephen Hill

We all know who won the football game. Someone posts “45-42″ at the bottom of nearly every recruiting article, even if it has nothing to do with Georgia Tech or Georgia.  

But who will win the head-to-head recruiting battle between the two archrivals? That has been really hard to say so far because Georgia Tech and Georgia haven’t really fought it out with recruits this year. Now both have offered the same player, i.e. Alabama lineman William Ming (committed to Alabama), Norcross defensive back Prince Kent (Miami), Buford lineman Dallas Lee (UGA), etc. But Georgia and Georgia Tech have yet to be the two finalists for any in-state prospect, which is bizarre when you look around and see classic recruiting wars between Auburn and Alabama, South Carolina and Clemson, and all the Florida schools. It’s like comparing apples to oranges.

However, we may finally have some “apples to apples” after Georgia offered Miller Grove wide receiver Stephen Hill …