Believe it or not: Guess which Georgia football player gets left off Parade All-America team? (Hint: Think RB)
UGA recruit Ray Drew (far left) is one of three Georgia players on Parade Magazine's All-America team for high school football
Thomas County Central defensive end Ray Drew, who signed with UGA on Wednesday, is one of three Georgia players that have been named to the Parade Magazine All-America team for high school football players.
The other two are Kell defensive back Brian Randolph (Tennessee) and Carver-Columbus defensive tackle Gabe Wright (Auburn).
The surprise omission was Wright teammate, Isaiah Crowell, who is considered by some recruiting analysts to be the nation’s top running back. Crowell signed with UGA over Alabama.
What do you think of Parade’s picks from Georgia? And did Crowell get a raw deal? Note: The Parade Magazine All-America team will appear in the upcoming Sunday newspaper.
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66 comments Add your comment
DeepDiver
January 31st, 2011
3:40 am
That is a notable omission, but not the FIRST of its kind.
GADAWG
January 31st, 2011
5:02 am
Who cares!You never know about these guys anyway until they get to college and especially if they get coached up when they get there.So these guys picking georgia good luck i unfortunately have not seen good coaching at georgia in a while.
Fan
January 31st, 2011
5:19 am
So what if Crowell isn’t ranked by everyone as the top RB of the 10,000 RBs in the country. I just want him to be good in college.
Victorious Sakrete
January 31st, 2011
5:43 am
Parade mag would not know a high school football game from a metrosexual tickle pile.
Their credibility is lower than that of Auburn and Robert Gibbs.
Barf
January 31st, 2011
6:24 am
Interesting, I left Parade off my list of top 1,000 meaningful periodicals.
G'Vegas Dawg
January 31st, 2011
6:37 am
Jasper Sanks and Kregg Lumpkin were both higher ranked RBs than Reggie Bush.
Ted Striker
January 31st, 2011
6:45 am
Different recruiting services have different criteria. I don’t see it as a big deal.
Prince of Alabama
January 31st, 2011
6:50 am
He won’t care once he puts on the Bama uniform!
Paddy
January 31st, 2011
6:52 am
Interesting reading but like the star systems of Rival & Scout, meaningless.
SidArnwine
January 31st, 2011
6:55 am
Guess which sportswriter has to beg for traffic by making you “guess” about the content. Terrible!!!!
UGASlobberknocker
January 31st, 2011
7:16 am
Who cares?..if you go back and look at the Parade AA teams from the past.. they are completely wrong a lot. a lot of complete misses.I think maybe the travel writer picks the team. This (and all pre season aa teams) are basically worthless. They mean about as much as those 2011 pre season Top 25s that are already out there. Good for conversation starters..thats about it.
SuperB
January 31st, 2011
7:26 am
Not a very valid team without Crowell or Jay Rome, and probably a couple others.
SuperB
January 31st, 2011
7:28 am
17%: Also, my associate once did a five-year study of parade A-A’s and how they did in college. Only 17% went on to make A-A in college.
ilovefb
January 31st, 2011
7:40 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu3ALtDgidA
swampjacket
January 31st, 2011
7:51 am
Remember…Caleb King was the second coming, the next Herschel….right! Rankings don’t mean everything!
Too Easy
January 31st, 2011
7:59 am
Parade honors high school achievements. It is not necessarily a predictor of college accomplishments. Let these 17/18-year-olds be so honored. Pretty sure Isaiah didn’t play the whole year (injuries).
Rick
January 31st, 2011
8:02 am
Two words Jasper Sanks.
Remarkable
January 31st, 2011
8:14 am
They got it wrong. Crowell is certianly far better than most other RBs. What Running backs made the list and how many players are on their list that they have to leave him off?
BobDawg
January 31st, 2011
8:19 am
.. I think it is GREAT! Maybe he comes in with a chip on his shoulder wanting to prove them wrong!
Todd Holcomb
January 31st, 2011
9:00 am
Congrats to those guys, but those aren’t the three I would’ve chosen from Georgia. Ray Drew and Gabe Wright didn’t make the AP’s all-state team, even as honorable mention, because the AP voters believed that other DL had better senior seasons. Drew made the AJC’s first team and Super 11 team (whose selections GHSF Daily coordinated), but he was not his region’s defensive player of the year. It was Northside LB Deilouse Jackson. I don’t doubt that both Drew and Wright will become super college players, but I think Xzavier Dickson, to name one, was a better high school defensive lineman than both.
Regarding Isaiah Crowell, he missed the whole or large parts of several games because of injuries. He didn’t put up the numbers to justify being an All-American. Unlike defensive lineman, running backs must deliver big numbers to make All-America teams like this one. If Crowell had been 100 percent throughout and played deep into games, he could’ve rushed for 2,500+ yards. He was that good, IMO.
War Wren
January 31st, 2011
9:12 am
Victorious Sakrete: “Their credibility is lower than that of Auburn and Robert Gibbs.”
That is so unfair to Robert Gibbs.
Walker, Texas Ranger
January 31st, 2011
9:48 am
Todd, I think you are wrong on Drew. I think he and the kid from Monroe are the best DL although Drew will be OLB. My other choice for the cover would either be Crowell or Rhome. I think the surprise of the state crop will be the QB from Wilcox. I think he will be the QB at UGA over Lemay and will end up as one of the best in the country.
Walker, Texas Ranger
January 31st, 2011
9:51 am
By the way, this is the Parade that comes in the Sunday edition. Not the football magazine that has the “Parade All-Americans”. So who cares, this cover is usually graced by some B lister with some sort of ties to Atlanta.
Northwestgafan
January 31st, 2011
10:01 am
Crowell has one of the worst attitudes I’ve ever seen in a high school football player. He’s very very overrated.
MikeP
January 31st, 2011
10:03 am
Crowell had a very ordinary senior season. Many running backs in the southeast had better stats than did Crowell and he seems to perform his worst in big games.
Short answer, he didn’t deserve to be on a Parade All-American team. AA is something that should be earned, and Crowell didn’t earn it this year.
Delbert D.
January 31st, 2011
10:22 am
Now I’m confused. Was Hutson Mason a Parade All-American, or merely a Sunday Edition Parade All-American?
Worm
January 31st, 2011
10:56 am
Victorious Sakrete-That’s funny!
G'Vegas Dawg
January 31st, 2011
10:59 am
If you have ever been to a practice, game, combine, or any other event where athletes are evaluated by a recruiting service, then you were probably as amazed as I was at the people doing the evaluating. The majority of these guys look like they are still in college and have no business evaluating anyone. IMO the people doing the evaluating should be former coaches or at least have some tie to the game.
Dawg2
January 31st, 2011
11:01 am
Parade don’t play the game….just makes money. Lets see what they do on the field next year.
JDawg
January 31st, 2011
11:20 am
Walker,
Didn’t the QB from Wilcox commit as a DB?
StingerSplash
January 31st, 2011
11:25 am
The only thing more meaningless is sports talk radio.
Moving on.
RxDawg
January 31st, 2011
12:02 pm
Well didn’t Crowell have to sit out several games due to injury? Maybe they awared the all-americans with what they accomplished and not on their potential. I wouldn’t fret over it too much.
BG
January 31st, 2011
12:10 pm
Crowell should have made the list!
dawgfacedboy
January 31st, 2011
12:10 pm
Walker- Neither will play unless Murray gets worse instead of better.
JDawg- yes it has already been said that he will most likely play CB.
MRBIGUNS
January 31st, 2011
12:23 pm
Crowell will be a bust just like Caleb King and Washed-up Ealey. They were great high school players but just average among athletes of their caliber!!!!!
GT Fan...
January 31st, 2011
12:27 pm
Recruiting “EXPERTS/ANALYSTS” are just like Meteorologists ….. their “forcasts” are more wrong than right, but they still lead throngs of followers – amazing.
GSU Eagle 91
January 31st, 2011
12:42 pm
It seems like CMR is still recruiting thugs as he has done each and every year of his tenure at UGA…
Why do boosters and fans of the UGA program put up with this?
Give me Facts, not your Opinion
January 31st, 2011
12:42 pm
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Brainiac(Dawg for life)
January 31st, 2011
12:49 pm
Pick any 1,000 volunteers, provide them each with the exact same info EXCEPT where “Official” groups have ranked all high school football players and you will see that no two volunteers will have the same rankings for the HS players. Even major college coaches don’t agree which kids are the best or will be the best in college.
joe
January 31st, 2011
12:49 pm
He didn’t make the list cause he works out with Shake Weights…
Groo's a douche
January 31st, 2011
12:51 pm
Give me an Amen if you know what I mean.
John
January 31st, 2011
12:52 pm
Didn’t watch nealry as many games as some of you, but I did see quite a few, and imo, that kid from Star’s Mill, Laskey is gonna be a good one for Tech.
jarvis
January 31st, 2011
12:54 pm
For those of us that think the “experts” don’t know what they are talking about, take a look at this.
It’s ESPN’s list of the #1 recruits in America for the last 25 years. Almost all ended up playing at least for a while in the NFL.
http://insider.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/insider/news/story?id=6062100&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncaa%2frecruiting%2finsider%2fnews%2fstory%3fid%3d6062100
BuzzGT
January 31st, 2011
1:26 pm
He will have 3 – 4 years in college to prove that he is #1.
einstein richt
January 31st, 2011
1:29 pm
Walker, Texas Ranger
January 31st, 2011
9:48 am
Todd, I think you are wrong on Drew. I think he and the kid from Monroe are the best DL although Drew will be OLB. My other choice for the cover would either be Crowell or Rhome. I think the surprise of the state crop will be the QB from Wilcox. I think he will be the QB at UGA over Lemay and will end up as one of the best in the country.
Nick Marshall was recruited as a DB at UGA and as a QB at GT. Kinda reminds me of a guy that was recruited as a DE by CMR but wound up being a “fair” QB at AU last year.
Pull My Finger
January 31st, 2011
1:33 pm
If we don’t find a line coach that can teach our lineman to block, it won’t matter who is running the ball.
gdawginkalamzoo
January 31st, 2011
1:34 pm
jarvis, nice link. Funny how Jeff George blamed his career failures on his “supporting cast”.
The Bummer
January 31st, 2011
1:38 pm
Crowell missed a number of games this year and his numbers may not have been there
Jerry
January 31st, 2011
1:51 pm
Perhaps Parade All Americans are determined based more on things like scholastic achievement, character, etc. Perhaps that’s what kept Isiah off of that list. I’ve seen him play and he ain’t really all that.
Chuck Uga
January 31st, 2011
1:52 pm
Let’s get Randolph away from Tennessee! Get ‘er done!
Chuck Uga
January 31st, 2011
1:53 pm
Gabe Wright, you need to look again at UGA! You can play next season!
Boca Baby
January 31st, 2011
2:16 pm
The stock of preemo UGA QB commit Christian LeMay has fallen significantly because he did not play his senior year. At one time he was the #2 QB on the top 150 prospect list. There is something to be said about not playing and putting up the numbers. But none of that takes away from the abilities of LeMay or Crowell for that matter. But whether LeMay is another Cam Newton or Crowell a Marcus Lattamore is yet to be seen.
me
January 31st, 2011
2:17 pm
GADAWG,
What the hell are u talking about?? The question was about the high schoolall-american team. We don’t need your negativity within our fanbase at the great UGA moron. Be gone!
Boca Baby
January 31st, 2011
2:27 pm
GADAWG: What is a while to you? Do you think good coaching had anything to do with UGA finishing #2 in 2007? Were you one of those who wanted to get rid of Dooley in ‘79 when Georgia went 5-5-1? Oh, you were not born yet. Then let me get you up to speed. The next three years UGA lost a total of three games and played in the NC game twice. But not as a result of coaching. Right. Of course your response would be, Herschel Walker. But what about ‘84 when, without Walker, Georgia beat #2 Texas in the Cotton Bowl. And Texas would have ended up National Champions because #1 lost later that night. But, not as a result of good coaching.
Newman
January 31st, 2011
3:36 pm
Crowell had over 1,600 yards rushing and averaged over 12 per carry in only 7 games.
heeldawg
January 31st, 2011
4:29 pm
GSU Eagle 91: What thugs are you talking about? Ray Drew, the ordained minister? ‘Cause that’s the Georgia recruit on the cover of Parade.
Every college program has its share of discipline problems. Richt has been quite aggressive in ridding the program of its bad apples (i.e. Zach Mettenberger, soon to be the starting QB at LSU, Jamar Chaney, Marcus Dowtin, et al). Georgia has had some thuggish players like any other big-time college program, but their infractions (traffic violations, DUIs, etc) pale alongside the shenanigans of folks like Auburn’s mercenary Heisman trophy winner (stolen laptop, three counts of plaigerism, eleven unpaid traffic violations–not to mention whatever REALLY happened with his recruitment), UT’s crew of armed robbery suspects and off-duty cop-beaters, Alabama’s drug dealers and Florida’s death threat-issuing/dead girl credit card-using/ automatic weapon-firing varmints. What about Reggie Bush, with his family essentially on the USC payroll? What about the pervasive agent-provided benefits that gutted North Carolina’s season this year? What about the starting QB for South Carolina with three alcohol-related offenses who served not ONE MINUTE’S penance in game time for all of his myriad infractions?
And don’t tell me about how clean Georgia Southern’s program is. Southern’s players aren’t at the same level. They’re just happy to be playing college football–an attitude that I actually envy, to some degree, and wish more big-time players had. Herschel was like that, as were David Pollack and D. J. Shockley. Ray Drew seems to be that way, too. Unfortunately, it’s an attitude which very few FBS players nowadays actually manifest after a lifetime of being told how great they are. So you can’t compare FCS players with the big-time FBS players talent-wise or attitude-wise. They are simply on different planets.
Anyway, the thuggishness that you see is a manifestation of the star mentality espoused by modern-day high school athletes. Simply put, we made them this way, with our emphasis on signing day theatrics, high school All-Star games and the like. As Pogo once said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” We’ve created a generation of entitled youth who feel are selfish and who feel that the world owes them something, and it’s showing up on the field and in the locker room. But my point is that Georgia doesn’t have a monopoly on this type of behavior. It’s the way of the world in big-time college football, and it’s sad.
biggdawgk
January 31st, 2011
5:16 pm
@heeldawg
Very well stated my friend. No reason for you to heel. I’m all for letting you off your leash.
Jborodawg
January 31st, 2011
5:18 pm
No big deal. Just one magazine. Rivals and Scout are usually way different too; as are the picks at the AJC. With hundreds of good RBs, who’s to say who’s #1 thru 10?
NGABulldog
January 31st, 2011
6:00 pm
IMHO,QB Timmy Byerly should have been on the list, all classification POY for the state of GA. That kid had a helluva year.
Destin Dawg
January 31st, 2011
6:24 pm
Crowell is not he answer… we should have recruited a stud RB… Saban did and still offer Crowell… ( who is overated.. injured in H.S. ??? he’ll get killed in SEC…) Crowell would never see the field at Bama… that’s why we’ll get him… he knows that !!!!
Tdawg
January 31st, 2011
7:09 pm
Jdawg Nick Marshall did or is going to sign with Georgia, did infact commit as a DB. I had the pleasure of watching the kid play and believe me when I say that he is a better QB than he is a DB. As a matter of fact he did not impress me that much as a DB. On the other hand he is one heck of a QB and has an unbeleveable arm for a kid of his size. Don’t get me wrong, he is not a runt of anything like that, as a matter of fact he and the LeMay kid are simular in size and neither one of them are the 6′4″ 220lb type QB’s. Nick is sneaky quick and rarely can a player put a good lick on this kid. To not give him a shot at QB would be a big mistake in my opinion. The kid threw a ball 70 yards in the air on the run and completed it to boot no less for christ sakes. I didn’t believe it myself until I seen it on tape. All I could say was WOW.
War Eagle
January 31st, 2011
7:38 pm
Crowell is another C. King, hope you land him
Bitter daws fan
January 31st, 2011
7:41 pm
crowell mom called all-burn the devil, up-state ala theres satan coaching the tide, hahahahahahahahah
Bleed red
January 31st, 2011
8:12 pm
Seen the kid play up at calhoun. Has a bad attitude and was not inpressed let Alabama have him
SickandTired
February 1st, 2011
12:09 am
Wow, this Crowell kid is being made out to be the second coming of Barry Sanders. He looks no better than anything Georgia has right now. Caleb King looked better in high school and played against better competition. Everyone has jumped on this guys band wagon and some people I put trust in just don’t see it. Good luck Mark Richt, you are a desperate man.
Big Bad Bob
February 2nd, 2011
4:01 pm
Does not surprise me at all. I have never put any stock in Parade Magazine. They are good for parades and know nothing about football. Crowell is the best running back in America and everyone knows it so it really doesn’t matter.