Archive for the ‘South Carolina’ Category

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 …

Continue reading Coffee High DB Pernell Williams and the Florida Gators »

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 …

Continue reading Georgia Tech QB’s brother commits to Steve Spurrier over Jackets »

Nick Montana is considering UGA among his dozen offers. His father, NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana, accompanied Nick. (Jay Christensen/WizOfOdds)

UPDATE: Montana reflects on UGA visit

Nick Montana, son of NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana, says he is serious about Georgia. He told the AJC he wouldn’t be flying halfway across the country if he wasn’t.

The 6-foot-2, 177-pound Montana is one of the nation’s top college prospects and plays football at California’s Oaks Christian High. Montana and his legendary father toured the campuses of Alabama and Georgia this weekend.

He has a dozen scholarship offers, including South Carolina, Stanford, LSU, Ohio State, Florida State, Nebraska, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, Alabama, and Arizona. He also has serious interest from Tennessee, Southern Cal, and Oklahoma, among others.

Montana spoke with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the recruiting process:

Q. How was your visit to …

Continue reading QB Nick Montana talks about UGA, Alabama, Southern Cal and Tennessee »

Update: Nick Montana talks about Georgia, Alabama, Southern Cal and Tennessee [Click here]

Joe Montana with his two boys at the 1995 ceremony to retire his San Francisco 49ers jersey. Where's future QB prospect Nick Montana? Showing his calm and cool demeanor, even as an infant. Young Nick is sleeping soundly in his mother's arms to the left (San Jose Mercury News)

Nick Montana, son of NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana, will visit Alabama and Georgia this weekend. The 6-foot-2, 177-pound quarterback is scheduled to be at Alabama on Friday, and then tour Georgia on Saturday.

Montana claims no favorites and says his famous father’s ties to Notre Dame will not impact his college decision, according to TotalUGA.com. Montana also says distance won’t affect his recruiting process.

Montana is one of six QBs offered by Georgia, including Blake Bell of Wichita, Kan., and Gainesville High’s Blake Sims. Montana sports offers from South Carolina, Stanford, LSU, Ohio State, Florida State, …

Continue reading NFL legend Joe Montana’s son will visit with Georgia coach Mark Richt »

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 …

Continue reading Mother of Georgia’s No. 1 prospect would love to see twins stay together in college »

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 …

Continue reading Steve Spurrier tells Georgia’s top QB prospect he is nowhere near retirement »

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 …

Continue reading The best of the best of AJC recruiting coverage for signing day »

All year long, we’ve had to go by what the high school prospects and their respective coaches have had to say about recruiting. Their side of the story, their version of events.

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 …

Continue reading The mute button comes off the college coaches on signing day »

You can say one sure thing about Perry offensive lineman Johnnie Farms: He keeps things interesting.

Because when it comes to recruiting with the AJC Super 11 selection, everything is unsure. Ol’ Johnnie is going to keep us guessing right up until Wednesday. I’m sure I’m forgetting or missing some things here, but to the best of my knowledge …

• Farms tried to commit to Alabama, then was told the Crimson Tide were full of scholarships at his position 
• Committed to South Carolina 
• Switched to North Carolina, saying it had “a little better education than [South Carolina] 
• Steve Spurrier drove to Perry, to defend South Carolina’s academics and convince Farms to still take an official visit with the Gamecocks. Farms eventually declined.
• Scheduled an official visit with Central Florida, and then canceled in part, because it was the same weekend as his grandfather’s birthday.
• Recruiting trip to Auburn this weekend
• Upon returning from Auburn, Farms said he is still committed to …

Continue reading Never a boring recruiting moment with Perry OL Johnnie Farms »

Tucker coach Franklin Stephens did the right thing when he said South Carolina was “no longer welcome” on campus after its treatment of Jonathan Davis. Of course, he is going to defend his player. What else would you expect?

You know the story: Davis committed to South Carolina last month, and then had his scholarship yanked away last week. What happened? South Carolina is not allowed to comment because of NCAA rules. But  the Charleston Post and Courier reported that ex-Gamecocks assistant Ron Cooper offered Davis and accepted his commitment against the wishes of the South Carolina staff. Then when Cooper took a job with LSU, he wasn’t around to fight to keep Davis on the recruiting board.

Steve Spurrier accepted blame and said it was confusion among his assistants, according to Stephens. And Cooper is the easy scapegoat. He’s gone. But the responsibility is with Spurrier, who is in charge of the program. All things South Carolina fall under his domain.

Spurrier is one of …

Continue reading Tucker football coach did the right thing by banning South Carolina »