Archive for April, 2009

By DARRYL MAXIE / dmaxie@ajc.com

Georgia men’s basketball coach Mark Fox has his first signee. Vincent Williams followed through on his oral commitment and signed a letter of intent to play next season.

“We are very happy to have Vincent join our program,” Fox said in a statement released minutes ago by the university. “Our team is going to need depth on the perimeter and outside shooting ability. Vincent provides us with both of those. Just as important, he really wants to be a Georgia Bulldog. We are looking forward to having him join us.”

Williams, a 6-foot-1 point guard from Florida’s South Dade High who averaged 26 points a game last season, joins Franklin County’s DeMario Mayfield as Bulldog signees. Mayfield signed last November.

Continue reading It’s official: Williams signs »

By DARRYL MAXIE/ dmaxie@ajc.com

You’ve gotta love this: Auburn coaches are pulling out all the stops in their efforts to land the best young talent in the state of Alabama. The newest tool: a white, stretch limo with the Auburn logo on the doors, and orange and blue flags flapping in the breeze. The first theater for battle is the city of Mobile.

The war cry — not War [expletive] Eagle, in this case, although somebody likely stood up and shouted that out of the sun roof — is “that Mobile’s a battleground, and we’re all here to stake our claim,” according to what Davidson High football coach Fred Riley told ESPN. The limo has already been by his school.

You can see it for yourself at the link below:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4107736

Continue reading War limo!!! »

Click here to go directly to the story

Continue reading NCAA rules prevent UGA’s Mark Richt from attending Troup High graduation »

By DARRYL MAXIE / dmaxie@ajc.com

Vincent Williams, a point guard from South Dade High in Homestead, Fla., is about to become new coach Mark Fox’s first signee. According to ugasports.com, Williams has committed to sign a letter of intent to play for Georgia.

Williams, a 6-foot-1, 150-pound guard, averaged 26 points and 6.2 assists last season, reportedly chose the Dogs over Charlotte, North Carolina State and Oklahoma after making an official visit to Athens over the weekend.

Williams would join 6-3 Franklin County guard DeMario Mayfield in Georgia’s current recruiting class. He signed in November when Dennis Felton was still the Dogs’ coach. Daniel Miller, the 6-11 Loganville Christian Academy center, was granted a release from his letter of intent by Fox and signed a financial-aid agreement the next day with Georgia Tech.

Continue reading Report: Dogs to sign point guard Williams »

By DARRYL MAXIE/ dmaxie@ajc.com

Pope offensive lineman Grant Ramsay has a third scholarship. This one comes from East Carolina.

The 6-foot-5, 278-pound junior from the Marietta school has offers from Minnesota and Central Florida and has taken official visits to both campuses. There is no word as to when he’ll visit Greenville, N.C., and tour the campus.

Continue reading [Quick update] Pope’s Ramsay: The offers keep on coming »

By DARRYL MAXIE
dmaxie@ajc.com

The Dexter Moody Watch continues at Tennessee.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound linebacker from Emanuel County Institute in south Georgia has sent out all the right signals – which basically means (a) saying, “I’m going to [sign] as soon as they offer,” (b) making sure to get that quote in the Knoxville News-Sentinel just in case the Tennessee staff happened to be reading the local paper, and (c) showing up in Knoxville, not only for the Orange and White game, but also to get a little face time with the administration just in case (a) and (b) didn’t make it obvious.

But Moody seems to be on the backburner while Vol fans buzz about B.J. Coleman’s decision to leave the school because he didn’t feel he was getting a “fair shake” in the quarterback competition.

Still, this seems to be a matter of when rather than if. We’ll stay tuned.

Continue reading Moody: A matter of when, rather than if »

Chris Burnette

UPDATED: One of the feel-good stories of this year’s college football recruiting process took more twists Thursday.

Troup High School’s Chris Burnette, one of Georgia’s top recruits, learned he won’t be his school’s valedictorian. But he held out hope he still might speak at graduation, and Georgia began the process to request NCAA permission for Bulldogs coach Mark Richt to attend the LaGrange school’s commencement.

Richt had promised Burnette that if he earned the school’s No. 1 academic honor, he would do his best to show up at the May 23 ceremony to hear the valedictory address.

UGA officials did not know Thursday if Richt would still try to attend the graduation.

But compliance director Eric Baumgartner said earlier in the day that an effort to get NCAA permission had begun. “We are working on a waiver request on behalf of Coach Richt,” he said.

Richt was asked several questions about Burnette at a Georgia booster club meeting in Roswell on Wednesday, and …

Continue reading UGA’s Mark Richt requesting waiver to attend football recruit’s graduation speech »

David Pickle (right), managing director of publishing at the NCAA (dantudor.com/Selling For Coaches)

The NCAA formally responded to AJC staff writer Michael Carvell’s April 17 online column, “UGA’s Mark Richt should break the rules in the name of academics,” in its Double-A Zone blog Tuesday.

David Pickle, the NCAA’s managing director of publishing, wrote on April 21 that “Atlanta Journal writer Michael Carvell recently encouraged Georgia football coach Mark Richt to stage an act of civil disobedience to call attention to what Carvell believed to be wrong-headed NCAA legislation,” going on to state that Carvell’s public call to action in the case of, as Pickle put it, “Georgia recruit Chris Burnette, one of the nation’s top-rated offensive lineman [sic] – and also valedictorian at Troup (Georgia) High School [sic]” didn’t take into account the NCAA’s flexibility provisions regarding such matters and that, again quoting Pickle, “[Georgia] did not ask for a waiver before …

Continue reading NCAA criticizes AJC blog on Richt/Burnette graduation issue, questions journalists’ ‘damning commentary’ »

By Darryl Maxie, dmaxie@ajc.com

Georgia’s loss became Georgia Tech’s gain Wednesday when 6-foot-11 center Daniel Miller of Loganville Christian Academy signed a financial-aid agreement with the Yellow Jackets, a day after gaining his release from the letter-of-intent he signed with Georgia last fall.
“He’s very happy with the decision,” said Preston Towns, Miller’s father. “And Tech seems very happy with the decision.”

Tech coach Paul Hewitt confirmed those sentiments in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
“We feel very fortunate to add a student-athlete of Daniel Miller’s caliber to our recruiting class,” Hewitt said. “My staff and I are looking forward to the opportunity to work with him. We feel that he will fit in great with our other players and take full advantage of our player-development program.”

He joins a class that already has been ranked No. 3 nationally by Rivals.com, headlined by 6-9 forward Derrick Favors of South Atlanta.

Miller signed with Georgia in November, …

Continue reading Basketball prospect Daniel Miller switches from UGA to rival Georgia Tech »

Derrick Favors gets more hardware (AJC)

South Atlanta’s Derrick Favors, who is ranked as the nation’s No. 1 basketball prospect, has to clear some more room on his trophy shelf.

Favors, who signed with Georgia Tech, was named USA TODAY National Player of the Year on Tuesday night. He has also been awarded Parade Magazine’s Player of the Year, among others, along with claiming MVP honors at the McDonald’s All-America high school basketball game.

“I’m just as proud as I can be of Derrick … it’s just one of those years where everything is falling in place for him,” South Atlanta coach Michael Reddick told the AJC.

“I’m happy for him, and I’m proud for his family and our school. It couldn’t happen to a better person.”

The 6-foot-9 Favors averaged 28.1 points, 13.3 rebounds, five blocks, four steals and three assists while leading South Atlanta to the Class AAA state championship as a senior. He signed with Georgia Tech over UGA, North Carolina State and …

Continue reading South Atlanta’s Derrick Favors named USA TODAY Player of Year »