Archive for December, 2010

There are four senior high school football all-star games being played Saturday around metro Atlanta, one each in Cobb, Gwinnett, DeKalb and Forsyth counties.

Here’s a little information on each. We don’t have rosters on the Forsyth-Fulton game, so if anyone knows top players involved, let us know.

DeKalb Senior All-Star Game

When: Saturday, 2 p.m.

Where: Hallford Stadium, Clarkston

Coaches: Jim Showfety (Dunwoody); Kip Hall (Druid Hills)

Top players: LB Patrick Callaway, M.L. King; DB Chris Sanders, Tucker (Georgia); DB Kadetrix Marcus, Stephenson (South Carolina); DB Jared Boyd, Stephenson (Duke); RB Bashr Coles, Tucker

Cobb All-Star Senior Bowl

When: Saturday, 2 p.m.

Where: Cantrell Stadium, Powder Springs (McEachern)

Top players: LB Jabari Hunt-Days, Hillgrove (Georgia Tech); DB Brian Randolph, Kell (Tennessee); QB Gage Henry, Hillgrove; DB Darren Waller, North Cobb (Georgia Tech); Rory Anderson, McEachern

Rivalries of Gwinnett All-Star Game

When: Saturday, 1:30 …

Continue reading Four football all-star games to be play Saturday in metro ATL »

Tony Parker is 6-foot-9 and 270 pounds (AJC)

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski made a rare in-season recruiting trip to Georgia to watch the big guy on Tuesday. Florida’s Billy Donovan and Georgia’s Mark Fox were in the stands at Miller Grove High’s basketball games last week.

It was just another day at the office — or in high-society recruiting circles — for Miller Grove power forward Tony Parker. The 6-foot-9, 270-pounder is one of the nation’s top college prospects as a junior, already boasting more than 40 scholarship offers.

Parker has lived up to accolades so far this season. He has posted double-doubles in seven of the eight games for Miller Grove (8-0), the two-time defending Class AAAA champion and the top contender to win it all again. Parker is averaging 19 points and 14 rebounds.

“You’ve got to consider Tony as one of the top candidates for Mr. Georgia Basketball,” Miller Grove coach Sharman White said. “He has got off to a great start this year and I think he still has …

Continue reading Duke, Florida, UGA and Georgia Tech hotly pursuing elite college prospect … »

Here are five of the top high school baksetball players to watch this season:

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, SG, Greenville: The 6-foot-6 senior is the leading candidate for this year’s Mr. Georgia Basketball. “He’s the best player in the nation with the least amount of publicity and should be the state’s lone McDonald’s All-American,” CourtCred.com’s Kerry Willis said. “He’s a shot hunter that has unlimited range … [and] also is more athletic that he gets credit for, capable of playing above the rim with his long arms.” Caldwell-Pope made a surprising early commitment to Georgia over Florida State and Tennessee, signing with the Bulldogs last month.

Everyone has their opinion, here's mine — Fayette County PG Adam Smith is the most prolific scorer in Georgia in years and my early frontrunner for Mr. Georgia Basketball. He destroyed some of the nation's best defenders over the summer in AAU ball. I still don't get how he was overlooked by so many big schools. (AJC)

Robert …

Continue reading 5 of Georgia’s top college basketball prospects to watch for 2010-11 season »

Here are the passing, rushing and receiving leaders in Georgia for 2010. These were compiled using nominations for all-state and other sources.

Please report any omissions that meet the criteria so we can update this and make it a more official list.

The top five passers all had seasons that put them in the top 10 of all-time in passing yards for the season.

Passing (minimum 2,200 yards)

4,218 – Taylor Heinicke, Collins Hill

3,612 – Jonquel Dawson, M.L. King

3,358 – Tyler Brown, Colquitt County

3,343 – Johnathon McCrary, Cedar Grove

3,331 – Justin Walker, Lee County

3,019 – Ryan Whilden, Valdosta

2,749 – Landon Curtis, Calhoun

2,764 – Cain Campbell, North Paulding

2,737 – Emmanuel Westmoreland, Central Gwinnett

2,728 – Nick Marshall, Wilcox County

2,664 – Tim Byerly, Chattahoochee

2,588 – Austin Brown, Flowery Branch

2,539 – Brett Montgomery, Peach County

2,519 – R.J. Dennard, Treutlen

2,443 – Carson Barnett, Landmark Christian

2,429 – Zach Folsom, Cook

2,425 – Ronnie Bell, …

Continue reading Season leaders: Heinicke, Robinson, Waller lead state in passing, receiving, rushing »

Coach K wants TP badly (AP)

One of the nation’s top juniors put on a show for Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski on Tuesday night.

With Coach K and two assistants watching inches inches away from the front row, Miller Grove’s Tony Parker had 20 points, 17 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in a 85-44 win over Douglass.

“It was great to see a basketball legend sitting across from our team,” Miller Grove coach Sharman White said. “He kept his eye on Tony, and it was a great moment for our kids and the school.”

What did Coach K say after the game? “He said that he really liked Tony, and that he thought he would fit well into the program.  He had a lot of nice things to say about our team. He was really impressed with our quickness and intensity on defense.”

A few fans asked the Duke coach for an autograph, but for the most part he was left alone.

The 6-foot-9, 270-pound Parker has more than 40 scholarship offers, including Georgia Tech and Georgia. Tuesday’s game was his seventh …

Continue reading Guess what Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski had to say AFTER scouting one of Atlanta’s top prospects in person?? »

Will Coach K invade Georgia to steal Tony Parker? (AP)

You gotta be good — well great — to get Coach K to make a special trip to Atlanta.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is scheduled to attend Miller Grove’s game at Douglass High at 7 p.m. Tuesday, according to Miller Grove coach Sharman White.

And who is Coach K here to see? None other than Tony Parker, one of the nation’s top juniors with more than 40 scholarship offers.

Parker is a 6-foot-9, 270-pound power forward who averages 19.5 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.

“Coach K isn’t coming for a casual visit — Duke loves Tony and they want to sign him very badly,” White said. “He’s a 6-9 guy who can make things happen in the paint. They like his ability to score, and they think he’s a great kid — a ‘Duke kind of kid.’”

Parker, who has built a close relationship with Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt, says he has no favorites.

“It’s exciting that Duke will be here,” Parker said. “They obviously have a great program and I’m …

Continue reading Duke’s Coach K to make special visit to Atlanta on Tuesday night — guess which prized recruit he is here to see?? »

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Buford’s record-tying fourth consecutive state football championship was a popular topic at one of oldest pharmacies in downtown Rome last week.

Some of the longtime customers at Winslette Pharmacy made it known they were rooting against Buford in the Class AA championship.

The pharmacy is owned by the brother of Charles Winslette, who was the head coach of West Rome High in 1985 — when the only other school in state history accomplished the four-year championship streak.

“I talked to some of them, and they were putting all kinds of jinxes on Buford,” Charles Winslette said with a laugh. “Some of them were really hoping that Buford wouldn’t win it, wouldn’t tie the record.

“I guess records are made to be tied and broken. And, from what I hear, with what Buford has as far as coming back for next year, I think they have an excellent chance of winning No. 5.”

In the north Georgia town, …

Continue reading West Rome ‘remembered’ — as Buford ties historic record of four state football championships in a row »

GPB Sports Central  airs Wednesday nights at 7:30 and this is the final show of 2010.

GPB Sports Central will return in 2011 on Jan. 26. Because GPB is in the middle of a pledge month, there will be no re-airing of Sports Central on Friday and Saturday.

*A look at all five championships games and interviews with the head coach and players of each team as well as the final football polls for all five classifications.

*GHSA executive director Dr. Ralph Swearngin talks about the two days of championships at the Georgia Dome, where more than 50,000 fans showed up for the five games.

*South Georgia radio voice Tommy Palmer saw all the games and gives his feedback on the action.

*Southwest DeKalb head coach Buck Godfrey talks about receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Atlanta Falcons at a lunch for GHSA head coaches before Saturday’s championships games.

*And finally, reporter Jon Nelson caught up with the winningest coach in Georgia, visiting Larry Campbell of …

Continue reading Lineup for GPB Sports Central »

Kelly Murphy of Walton High School as its 2010-11 Gatorade Georgia Volleyball Player of the Year.  Murphy is the second Gatorade Georgia Volleyball Player of the Year to be chosen from Walton High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Murphy as Georgia’s best high school volleyball player.

The 6-foot junior outside hitter led the Raiders to a 42-7 record and a second consecutive Class AAAAA state title this past season. Murphy recorded 28 kills and 10 digs in a 3-1 Class AAAAA state championship victory against Northview. The Class AAAAA Player of the Year as named by the Georgia Volleyball Coaches Association, she averaged 4.5 kills, 3.4 digs, 0.7 service aces and 0.2 blocks per game while posting a hitting percentage of .436 this fall. A returning Class AAAAA First Team All-State selection, Murphy produced 613 kills, …

Continue reading Walton High’s Kelly Murphy wins Gatorade Georgia Volleyball Player of Year »

Brookwood coach Mark Crews hasn’t gotten much sleep since his team won the Class AAAAA state football championship on late Saturday night.

“Maybe two hours of sleep,” Crews said on Sunday. “I usually don’t get much sleep after games anyways because I have so many things running through my mind about things we need to improve on before the next week’s opponent.”

“Last night was kind of strange, though. I couldn’t sleep well because I was thinking about what a great run our kids had and what our football program accomplished this season.”

Brookwood was crowned state championship in Georgia largest classification, while the other winners were Chattahoochee in Class AAAA, Sandy Creek in Class AAA, Buford in Class AA and Clinch County in Class A.

Another winner was the Georgia High School Association. Ralph Swearngin, the GHSA’s executive director, estimated a total of 50,000 fans attended five championship games over two days in the Georgia Dome — an increase of 20-percent or more …

Continue reading NO SLEEP for the champions »

Metro Atlanta teams won four state titles for the first time since 1970.  As recently as 2005, metro teams didn’t win any.

What does this mean? Probably that metro Atlanta won’t win any in 2015. The South will rise again. But metro Atlanta is only getting bigger.

Also, Camden County, Northside and Charlton County aren’t ranked. The last time that’s happened – with all three unranked in the end – was 1993.

I doubt that means anything either, unless we should do a better job in preseason rankings. All started No. 1.

The final rankings are very difficult to settle on this season, especially in AAAAA and AAAA, when so many top teams got toppled unexpectedly.

Congrats to Brookwood, Chattahoochee, Sandy Creek, Buford and Clinch County.

Let the criticism begin …

CLASS AAAAA

1. Brookwood (14-1)
2. Colquitt County (9-6)
3. Grayson (10-4)                 
4. North Gwinnett (11-1)  
5. Collins Hill (10-4)              
6. Valdosta (11-2)                
7. Lowndes (10-3)                
8. McEachern …

Continue reading Final rankings blog: We agree on No. 1 »

The AJC

Which team was the most impressive in the Georgia Dome this weekend?

It’s the championship round of HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS. This weekend, AJC high schools beat writer Michael Carvell welcomes discussion about the two days of state championship games at the Georgia Dome.

We are here to talk football, football and more football. Going to a game? Take the cellphone or PDA and let us know what’s going on at YOUR game. Got a score update, see a killer play? Keep your comments clean, respectful, limited to FOOTBALL TALK and POST THEM HERE. Personal insults won’t be tolerated and could get you banned from the board.

Here are the state finals games you can find stories and photos from this weekend on ajc.com…

Class A Championship: Clinch County bests Savannah Christian | Photos

Class AA Championship: Buford beats Calhoun in OT | Photos

Class AAA Championship: Carrollton falls to Sandy Creek | Photos

Class AAAA Championship: Chattahoochee tops Starr’s Mill for title |

Continue reading Weekend Forum: Talk Georgia HS Football State Championships LIVE! »

We talked about this last month, and here’s some more info …

The Cross Keys Lady Indians high school girls’ basketball team put to rest a 96-game losing streak with a 31-28 road victory over the Yeshiva Lady Lions last month.

Seniors Taylor Luxford and Tosin Adedayo had not tasted victory in three consecutive winless seasons (2008-09-10) in which Cross Keys went 0-20, 0-24 and 0-24 that added up to 68 of the 96 losses. The pair scored six points each on the way to their first victory.

Cross Keys lost the final two games of 2006 and went 0-26 in the 2007 season. The last victory for the Lady Indians came on January 28, 2006 when they defeated Carver of Atlanta 48-30.

The Lady Indians are coached by second-year head coach Bobetta Bailey.

– Courtesy of DeKalb Schools SID Mark Brock

Continue reading More details on Cross Keys snapping 96-game losing streak »

The Georgia News Network will broadcast all five championship games, which are available to GNN’s statewide radio network of 115 affiliates. The game feeds are at no charge to GNN affiliates with commercial time available for local sponsors.

This GNN / GHSA radio coverage will not effect the ability of hometown, season-long radio stations of participating schools to broadcast their team’s games live from the Georgia Dome.

In the Atlanta area, the games will continue to air on the 680 The Fan’s family of stations, which includes 1230 The Fan 2 and 1340 The Fan 3.

Continue reading 680 The Fan’s plan for radio coverage of state football championships »

Many of Georgia’s top high school football players and college prospects will be on display during the state championship games on Friday and Saturday at Georgia Dome. Here are 10 to watch:

Vadal Alexander, OT, Buford: The 6-foot-5, 330-pounder is among the state’s top 10 juniors, holding early offers from Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Auburn, LSU and Tennessee. Although Alexander was blessed with a lot of natural athletic ability and size, Buford coach Jess Simpson says it’s his strong determination that makes him special.

Timmy Byerly, QB, Chattahoochee: The 6-1, 205-pounder will get one last chance in the Class AAAA championship to impress scouts. Byerly is the ultimate dual-threat quarterback, carrying 199 times for 1,396 yards and 20 TDs, while completing 163 of 237 passes (69 percent) for 2,553 yards and 30 TDs. Byerly has offers from Air Force, Furman, Mississippi State and Navy, with others closely watching.

Alex Chisum, WR, Sandy Creek: Some think the 6-3, 185-pounder …

Continue reading 10 football prospects to watch at the Georgia Dome this weekend »