Alpharetta becomes recruiting hotbed

Alpharetta is a city in north Fulton County known as a hotbed for high-tech companies. It seems the area is becoming rich in college football prospects, too.

Alpharetta High, a school that won its first region championship in football last year, has seven players with reported major college scholarship offers.

Milton High, now part of the newly formed city of Milton that broke off from Alpharetta, has five players who already are committed to FBS (formerly Division I-A) schools, including Carl Lawson, the No. 2 defensive tackle recruit in the country behind Grayson’s Robert Nkemdiche. Milton would’ve had a sixth, but Clemson-committed WR Ryan Jenkins transferred to Lassiter.

Like Alpharetta, Milton doesn’t have great tradition in the sport. Its last region title came in 1952.

Below is a look at 14 schools that have at least three players with scholarship offers from FBS schools. Note that scholarship offers are based on reports of players, coaches and recruiting services. They can’t be reported accurately because no official data exists. If there are other schools that could be on this list, let us know.

*Alpharetta: QB Josh Dobbs (Arizona State) and WR Carlos Burse (Vanderbilt) could be the top passing combo in the state this season. They’re two of perhaps seven FBS prospects for the Raiders. DE Naim Mustafaa (Georgia) and WR Blake Rowlinson (Troy) also are pledged. DT D’Von Isaac, C DeAndre Wise and WR Rodney Morris have offers from mid-major schools.

*Camden County: Camden, a program with three state titles in 10 seasons, has four big-time recruits in one class for the first time in its history. QB Brice Ramsey and RB/DB J.J. Green are headed to Georgia. LB Jarrad Davis is going to Auburn. OL J.P. Vonashek, a transfer from Glynn Academy, has committed to South Carolina.

*Colquitt County: The Packers, a state contender in Class AAAAAA, don’t have any four-star prospects or above, but three players are committed to top schools. They are LB Johnny Ward to South Florida, OL Octavius Jackson to Florida and WR Bobby Hill to Ole Miss.

*Flowery Branch: The Falcons look pretty good at cornerback with Darius Curry (committed to Oklahoma State) and Noel Padmore (offers from Indiana and Syracuse). In addition, OL Chandler Bridges has committed to Louisville, and LB Kris Smith, who transferred from Greater Atlanta Christian, has offers from Cincinnati, Ole Miss and Purdue.

*Grayson: DE Robert Nkemdiche leads three Rams headed to Clemson. DB David Kamara and LB Wayne Gallman are the others. OL Jack Banda has committed to Arizona, while DL Zach Barnes is going to Tennessee. Ryan Carter, a defensive back with an offer from Ole Miss, figures to become Grayson’s sixth major D-I signee. Grayson won Class AAAAA last season and holds several preseason national top-10 rankings.

*Heritage of Conyers has three with FBS offers – OL/DL Michael Raiford (committed to Navy), LB Dustyn Moore (committed to Kent State) and LB Chase Alford (Air Force offer). LB Dominque Packer has several FCS offers.

*Lassiter: QB Eddie Printz (committed to UCLA) has a shot at the state record for career passing yards. He’ll have two FBS-bound receivers in Ryan Jenkins (Clemson) and Juwan Dickey (offers from UCLA, Oklahoma State).

*Lovejoy: The 2011 runner-up in Class AAAA has three players with D-I offers. RB Travis Custis, who rushed for more than 1,800 yards last season, has committed to Georgia Tech. TE/DE Arshad Jackson has committed to Auburn. DE Zane Fields, recruited as a linebacker, has an offer from Middle Tennessee.

*M.L. King: The Lions have eight seniors with FBS offers, and that might stand up as the best in the state. But only two are committed – OL Joshua Outlaw (Florida) and DE Jacarthy Mack (Louisville). Three with offers are being recruited as safeties, although they’ve played mostly linebacker in high school – Hector Stanback (Memphis offer), Carlos Garrett (Iowa State offer) and Jeremy Tyler (offers from Oklahoma State, Clemson and six others). Garrett was M.L. King’s leading tackler last season as a linebacker. Tyler was a part-time starter. Stanback came from Southwest DeKalb. Then there are WR DeMarquis Polite-Bray (Tennessee and Ole Miss lead) and LB Emmanuel Bell (Akron), both reserves last season.

*Milton: With five seniors already committed to major FBS schools, the Eagles have never had a recruiting class like this. Three are offensive linemen: Eason Fromayan (TCU), Josh Harris (Wake Forest) and Cory Helms (Wake Forest). They’ll block for RB Peyton Barber (Ole Miss). But the real blue-chipper is Carl Lawson, rated the No. 1 defensive tackle in the country. He has committed to Auburn. Expect an improvement from last season’s 4-7 finish.

*Norcross has four players with major college offers, two who are juniors in DE Lorenzo Carter (Florida State and RB Myles Autry (both Florida State, Vanderbilt and others). RB Alvin Kamara is a consensus top-10 recruit in Georgia, and DB Shon Akins has committed to Cal.

*North Gwinnett has two players committed to FBS schools in Donnie Miles (North Carolina) and Jalen Brooks (Maryland). Devondre Seymour has offers (Georgia and others). OL Alex Soehr has been recruited by Ole Miss, though it is unclear if the Rebels have made an official offer.

*Northgate: The Vikings (11-1 in 2011) should have a pretty fair defense this season. Linemen DeAndre Johnson (Georgia) and Sean Spencer (Vanderbilt) are committed to SEC schools, while DB/WR Brandon Facyson has picked Virginia Tech. Facyson might be more potent in high school as a receiver.

*Parkview has three – RB Chris Carson (Miami and 14 other offers), LB Kyle Williams (Indiana and seven other offers) and DB Shaq Vereen (Air Force and four others). Junior DB Bryce Lewis has an offer from Vanderbilt.

*Sandy Creek: Expect three seniors to sign. They are CB Shaquille Wiggins (Georgia), OL Alan Knott (South Carolina) and LB Corey Griffin (offer from Indiana). We’re not counting WR Demare Kitt (Georgia) or any other juniors on this list.

*Stephenson: The Jaguars are the defending “college signee” champions in Georgia, if not the nation. On Signing Day 2012, Stephenson put 14 players into FBS schools to play football, and 12 of those were BCS schools. This year, only six have reported FBS offers so far. OL Edmend Banks and DL Khari Waithe-Alexander are committed to Southern Miss. LB Dallas Kight has committed to South Carolina. DE Jonathan Wynn has committed to Vanderbilt. CB Ali Groves is headed to South Carolina. QB Justin Holman is committed to Central Florida.

*Tri-Cities: No school has more blue-chip linemen than Tri-Cities, which had its best season in 2011 (10-3). Shamire DeVine and Jeremi Hall are committed to Georgia Tech. Marcus Adams has picked Western Kentucky. Dominique Threatt has committed to South Florida.

*Walton: Four future SEC players start on offense for the Raiders, the AAAAA runner-up in 2011. They are RB Tyren Jones and QB Parker McLeod (both Alabama) and linemen Brandon Kublanow (Georgia) and Jake Boynton (Kentucky).

Story produced by Georgia High School Football Daily, a free e-mail newsletter. To join the mailing list, click here.