Tech appears to lead FSU for Union Grove DE Williams
Some recruiting prospects are making as big of a deal out of going public with their commitments as they are the actual signing of the letters-of-intent. Not Anthony Williams.
The four-star defensive end from McDonough’s Union Grove High plans to do the first-day-of-school thing this morning, then attend football practice this afternoon. After that he’ll call either Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson or Florida State coach Bobby Bowden and let them know he plans to sign with them in February.
Or maybe he won’t. He hasn’t really made up his mind yet. Either way cake and confetti probably won’t be involved.
“A lot of people try to make it real big. I’m probably going to go low key,” said the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Williams, who will definitely decide before his first game Aug. 22. “As far as letting the media know and all that, it doesn’t really matter to me how big or how small it is. I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do.”
The one thing Williams is sure of is he will pick from between Tech and FSU. He had his choice of scholarship offers to pick from, including Auburn, Florida, LSU, N.C. State and Ole Miss. But he said Sunday Tech and FSU have far out-distanced the others. And it would appear the hometown Yellow Jackets are playing the role of favorite.
Williams said relationships would play a big part in his decision and those appear to go pretty deep on The Flats.
- He spoke of his friendship with Tech commitment Denzel McCoy, a defensive tackle from Duluth with whom he talks “every other day,”
- He’s also a buddy of another Tech pledge, safety Isaiah Johnson of Sandy Creek High. “I played with [Johnson] back in recreation ball when I was little. We played together two or three years then I played against him in middle school. Both our families are real close,” Williams said.
- And, of course, Williams has ties to Steven Sylvester and Kyle Jackson, a pair of sophomore linebackers at Tech who also graduated from Union Grove and played for coach Steven Collins.
Then Williams spoke of his love of attending football games at Georgia Tech. He said he’s especially looking forward to one the last weekend of November at Bobby Dodd Stadium and sounds pretty intent on attending as the Jackets’ guest.
“Coach Johnson really wants your word to be your word once you commit,” Williams said of the Jackets’ coach. “Remember that guy last year? So if I commit to Tech, I really want to keep my word. I really love going down there to watch games, especially when Tech plays Georgia at home this year.”
Would a future Seminole care so much?
In other recruiting news over the weekend, Carver-Columbus quarterback Devin Burns, once a wannabe Georgia Bulldog, committed to Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen, according to Scout.com. Burns’ high school coach, Dell McGee, banned the Bulldogs from recruiting at Carver after they withdrew a scholarship offer in mid-July.
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68 comments Add your comment
Saint Simons
August 3rd, 2009
6:50 am
((((( 45 42 ))))) hahahahahahaha
Top Dogg
August 3rd, 2009
7:22 am
38-3 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
LongintheTooth Dawg
August 3rd, 2009
7:22 am
Saint Simons, you know, after all the so called Glory Years at Tech, it’s sad that you can only find one game to be proud of. I guess that’s about all you’ve got.
T
August 3rd, 2009
7:52 am
Top Dogg… I hate to tell you this, but 38-3 has NOTHING to do with Georgia. Try this one on for size … 49-10, LOL. I am your worst enemy, a BS from Florida and a MS from Georgia Tech. LOL…
RW
August 3rd, 2009
7:56 am
Top Dog—49-10 will be mild compared to what’s going to happen this year.
Saint Mobile
August 3rd, 2009
8:18 am
((( 41 30 ))) hahahahahaha
BhamWreck
August 3rd, 2009
8:21 am
Come get a national championship with the Yellowjackets.
naganole
August 3rd, 2009
8:26 am
This is the AJC trying to make this more than it is. He’s not going to FSU because he would be the 3rd best DE in this class behind Cummings and Miller, and we’ll probably get a commit from at least one more high 4* DE before HS football season starts. Tech gives him a chance to see the field on something other than special teams. Don’t worry, he’ll sign with GT…
JACKETfan
August 3rd, 2009
8:45 am
Aside from the childish UGA comments…
Williams would be a huge pickup on the D-line and challenge another spot. Next years recruiting class will have two very solid players coming in on the D-line who will turn into stars one day if Williams commits. Tech has been doing an excellent job in recruiting stud defensive players… which is great, because I think Tech will always have a strong offense with CPJ here, and if we gather up a strong D, lookout.
Chip Towers
August 3rd, 2009
9:41 am
Out of nine comments the early part of this morning, three of them include “ha, ha, ha” and another one “LOL.” Nice job, folks. . . .
naganole: I’m not trying to make something of anything. This kid is a 4-star recruit from Atlanta. I don’t care if he’s going to attend Shanghai Junior College, I’m going to follow his recruitment. . . .
OK, back to your childish taunts.
jconservative
August 3rd, 2009
9:56 am
Chip Towers, re the “childish taunts. The “taunters” have classic cases of an inferiority complex regarding their teams. And, the shame of it, is that neither side has a reason to feel that way. But they do!
Tom
August 3rd, 2009
9:59 am
Shanghai JC only offered him as a mid-wicket or silly. They were never really in it.
jconservative
August 3rd, 2009
10:13 am
I like men
Georgia On My Mind
August 3rd, 2009
10:18 am
Chip…if you post anything on an AJC site with any research, simblance of intelligence, reseasoning, logical thinking, lack of bias, or just plain common sense or basic insight for discussion…you are treated like crap. 95% of the bloggers that read the AJC recruiting sites are most likely 5 years old or less or did not graduate from any of the colleges for which these kids are being recruited. It is getting to the point where you ask yourself this question: Why bother posting? You just get rudely insulted and/or rudely blasted for thinking above a 5 year old level…i.e. Saint Simmons who uses a blog site for his 15 minutes of fame in his life each day…how sad. Anyway, it is good to see Georgia Tech getting some good recruits and building a fine program under Johnson. It would be nice to see the Yellow Jackets back in the national picture every year, battling Georgia for state bragging rights. It would also be great to see the Georgia/Georgia Tech rivalry take on national significance again…that is, after Georgia loses to Florida and Ga. Tech beats FSU, of course.
Georgia On My Mind
August 3rd, 2009
10:24 am
Can’t be a significant game if Georgia loses to Florida…sorry, should have read (in my last post): “Georgia beats Florida and Tech beats FSU, of course.” Typed too fast.
Anonymous
August 3rd, 2009
10:27 am
Chip Towers,
I have no idea what your latitude as an AJC columnist is to delete the crap posts within your blog, but if you have that authority, I suggest you use it. There are a lot of long-time AJC sports bloggers who would be more active on the site if the crap posts were immediately deleted by the “moderator.”
Just a thought.
JBTs
August 3rd, 2009
10:45 am
I am a UGA fan. However, I want Tech to have good seasons also. When they made the Paul Johnson hire I said 10 win seasons will follow and they will. I would love nothing more then UGA and Tech to both be undefeated each year when they play. Union Grove have sent a few players to Tech now and I hope this young man will follow. Good luck. I wish you 4 seasons of only loosing 1 game.
Atlanta Gator
August 3rd, 2009
10:49 am
“Would a future Seminole care so much?”
God forbid, maybe his parents raised him right, and he doesn’t want to burn any bridges regardless of what program he joins.
E
August 3rd, 2009
10:49 am
Anonymous, I agree, I stopped posting months ago (until this one of course)…. I still read the blogs, I just dont post. The AJC needs to try to clean up the blogs, if you start deleting their crap post enough, they will eventually go away.
Anonymous
August 3rd, 2009
10:55 am
E,
From time to time, I have been known to hit the “Report this comment” button underneath a particularly foul-mouthed blog entry, but the AJC generally won’t remove a comment unless it’s profane, racist or over-the-top sexually obscene. That leaves a lot of latitude for very obnoxious and juvenile posts.
Ken
August 3rd, 2009
11:20 am
Chip, Once again, good article…. Immature tech fans will always gloat about something…
Ron Mexico
August 3rd, 2009
11:21 am
Williams sounds like a class act. Would love to have him on The Flats next season. Go Jackets!
Paddy
August 3rd, 2009
11:29 am
Recruiting inside the state of Ga is a win-win for Tech. UGA has been doing this for years with great success. UGA can now afford to go outside its boundries to pick off top talent. CPJ will do the same in years to come also. Yet Tech is behind the curve in the state but making the right moves that HS coaches and players appreciate. These two schools can’t sign them all but they are sure making it tough on others wanting to come in and raid this state of its better players. Congrats to both.
BG
August 3rd, 2009
11:46 am
Saint Simons 1 win in 8 years! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Paul The Vol
August 3rd, 2009
11:52 am
Chip, most of us are as frustrated with these immature clowns as you are. The nice thing about “for pay” sites is that the flamers get quickly banned from site and so the “discussions” are kept on a pretty civil level. I can actually trade information back and forth with Georgia and Florida fans without things getting childish and nasty.
If the AJC and it’s bloggers want to have a good discussion and feedback then they have to start deleting the flamers on a consistent basis. Otherwise, the idiots hiding behind an anonymous screen name will never stop.
GA Tech Insider
August 3rd, 2009
12:10 pm
Chip;
Nice article about a quality young man. I would also like to commend you for getting the recruiting article out even though GA Tech has just opened up the Fall Practice.
Looks like you are staying busy; keep up the good work reporting on behalf of the Yellow Jacket faithful. I’m sure I speak for more than a handful when I say thanks. In spite of all of the juvenile comments being tossed around these blogs, there are a few of us who actually frequent them for your good work.
GTI
Alan
August 3rd, 2009
12:12 pm
To get rid of the 38-3 45-42 posts, create a rating system whereby each post can be rated 1-5 stars, with 5 being the best post. Have it set where if a post averages anything less than 2 stars, then it gets removed or hidden and you can only see it if you click on it. Yahoo does something similar with their message boards. Or you can also create a ignore feature where you can click ignore user and there posts never show up when you visit the site in the future. just my .02
reebok
August 3rd, 2009
12:20 pm
Tech fan here….there sure are a lot of losers on both sides of Clean Old Fashioned Hate…grow up, people.
Thx for the recruiting update…I hope the young man chooses to come to Tech…it would be nice if 4-star recruits became routine for the Jackets!
Hedgepruner
August 3rd, 2009
12:54 pm
With all due respect to our coach who is doing an outstanding job of recruiting in state against Saint Richt, please find us a kicker / punter and do it with a scholarship, we will not be a contender until we have a kid that can keep our defense in good field position and can kick a FG from 30 to 40 yards consistently. 45-42 THWG
Paddy
August 3rd, 2009
12:57 pm
reebok…I believe 4 star recruits will be the norm before long. But with the type of player CPJ recruits those 3 stars quickly become 4 star and better with great coaching, much like you see at Penn St, TCU, Utah and other places.
Go Gators!
August 3rd, 2009
12:58 pm
BG – 3 in 19 years! No ha ha, or LOL needed!
Try selling out a 55,000 seat stadium......
August 3rd, 2009
1:30 pm
**** Free Tech Football ticket with test drive!!! *****
Try selling out a 55,000 seat stadium......
August 3rd, 2009
1:30 pm
**** Free Tech Football ticket with fill up!! *****
Try selling out a 55,000 seat stadium......
August 3rd, 2009
1:31 pm
**** Free Tech Football ticket with 2 Honey Nut Cheerios proofs of purchase!!! *****
Try selling out a 55,000 seat stadium......
August 3rd, 2009
1:32 pm
**** Free Tech Football ticket with purchase of hot dog and medium Coca Cola Classic!!! *****
BLAZER
August 3rd, 2009
1:34 pm
THANKS FOR REMINDING BG!
Try selling out a 55,000 seat stadium......
August 3rd, 2009
1:35 pm
**** EVERY Tech home game this year will be a promotional Singles Night!!…oh wait….. I’m being told every Tech home game already is a Singles Night…..
World of Warcraft Night at Tech!!!!!…… SELL OUT!!!!
Chip Towers
August 3rd, 2009
1:36 pm
Last thing on these “juvenile posts.” I have tremendous latitude to monitor, delete or permanently ban posters on this blog, as do all our bloggers. But as is the case with most of us in the newspaper business, we happen to be big believers in Freedom of Speech. So we tend to limit our “policing” to racist epitaths and vulgarity. We also like to spend most of our time pursuing news and information so monitoring is not something we want be consumed with. I just try to encourage and cajole. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t. . . . Now, blog on!
Ramblinwreck83
August 3rd, 2009
1:41 pm
Ken, that’s calling the kettle black if you think Tech fans are immature and gloat about everything. UGA fans are some of the most obnoxious fans in college sports. Have you ever been to a game? I’ve been and seen first hand how they act and it wasn’t even a UGA/Tech game.
Try selling out a 55,000 seat stadium......
August 3rd, 2009
1:46 pm
**** Free Tech Football ticket with police report proving you were mugged within 4 city blocks of Tech campus!!! *****
Try selling out a 55,000 seat stadium......
August 3rd, 2009
1:48 pm
**** Free Tech Football ticket with proof of immediate ties with Al Qaeda!!! *****
mtraininjax
August 3rd, 2009
1:52 pm
Chip, freedom of speech? The founding fathers never intended to have grown-ups act like babies. Its your playground, you make the rules. Many of us would appreciate a little clean-up.
superDawg
August 3rd, 2009
1:54 pm
I have a standing bet with my tech friend if UGA beats gt then i use his season ticket for UGA games.This will be his first game in a long time.I hope he enjoys seeing gt get beat in person.
Try selling out a 55,000 seat stadium......
August 3rd, 2009
1:57 pm
**** Free Tech Football ticket with valid V-card!!! *****
Try selling out a 55,000 seat stadium......
August 3rd, 2009
2:00 pm
**** Free Tech Football ticket with homemade apple pie, exhibiting a hole poked into it…..!!! *****
Hedgepruner
August 3rd, 2009
2:06 pm
Try selling out a 55,000 seat stadium…… you are a typical uga flamer hydrant humper that probably never grazed the UGA campus as a student, the reason you have that many seats in your stadium is to accommodate all the trailer trash fans like yourself that never went to school there .I bet you dont even attend the games, you just like to repeat what you heard some folks say, who cares how many fans you put in the stands we still beat your arses 45-42….THWG
superDawg
August 3rd, 2009
2:06 pm
Tech fans won’t leave early this year after the UGA beatdown.They will need protection walking around campus.
Try Selling out a 55,000 seat stadium.....
August 3rd, 2009
2:17 pm
Mr. Hedgepruner…. try selling out a 55,000 seat crackerbox before you talk about how awesome Terroist Tech fans are. Try exerting some of that “fan” energy into rooting for your team as opposed to rooting against another. Then on un-sold out gameday, you will have a full crackerbox as opposed to Nerd Herd members a few blocks away at a bar, dedicating their time rooting against a program they envy so bad.
ps. you are cute when you’re mad. I bet the folks of midtown just loooove you.
Duke Yellowjacket
August 3rd, 2009
3:32 pm
Chip:
It’s ‘epithets’.
BTW, where did you get your journalism degree ;0)?
Gerald Ball
August 3rd, 2009
3:37 pm
This kid will probably wait to see has the better season. I think that Georgia Tech and FSU will have about the same record. If FSU wins the ACC title, they get him. Otherwise, he stays in Atlanta and is yet another 4 star recruit (and on defense no less!) to drive the UGA fans crazy over the fact that Tech is now getting decent talent. Not UGA talent, mind you, but decent talent.
Really, UGA fans ought to be concerned. Tech is pretty much going to clean up in the Atlanta suburbs that are south of I-20 and 285, because unlike the north of I-20/285 folks, the players from that area actually LIKE downtown Atlanta and already go there to socialize. So, those folks aren’t going to go skulking off to Clemson, South Carolina or Auburn just because UGA doesn’t want them like the northern suburb kids do. They will be extremely happy to go to Tech. Also, the schools are better in those suburbs than they are in Fulton County Schools and Atlanta Public Schools, so lots of those kids will be able to pass Tech’s admissions requirements. That will be a huge pipeline of talent for Tech to mine for years to come.
Gerald Ball
August 3rd, 2009
3:39 pm
As for Devin Burns, Maryland was a better situation for the kid than UGA anyway. Burns was not a Georgia kid, he is from Texas, so he did not grow up wanting to be a Bulldog. Also, Maryland runs a spread option offense, so he may actually get a shot to play WR there.
Gerald Ball
August 3rd, 2009
3:40 pm
Make that Devin Burns may actually get a shot to play QB there, which he would not have at UGA.
bravewin
August 3rd, 2009
3:46 pm
Ga fan here, Hope the young man chooses to stay in state. He could do a lot worse that playing for CPJ and staff. A question for the Tech fans. Does it hurt recruiting if a young man simply doesn’t have an interest in engineering? If he wants to go to GT what are the options other than engineering? I’m sure there are several, I just haven’t heard what other options are out there.
GA Tech Insider
August 3rd, 2009
4:05 pm
Welcome to the Flats, Anthony!
Try selling out a 55,000 seat stadium......
August 3rd, 2009
4:14 pm
<———————–
Tech75
August 3rd, 2009
4:16 pm
bravewin, there are many other options for kids who are not interested in engineering.
Many athletes find a home in the College of Management. Other popular non-engineering (but by no means easy) courses of study can be found in the College of Computing, the College of Architecture, College of Liberal Arts, College of Science, etc.
More detail can be found at: http://www.gatech.edu/colleges/
TheItalianDawg
August 3rd, 2009
4:17 pm
All gaytor Fans, you know we still own your a$$es (look at the record) and that is after you winning 16 in the past 20 years to make it interesting, if you wanna talk about 49-10, how about destroying you 75-0. and I look at it like this in the past 5 years you have won 3. I’m excited to see how often you win when the game is moved from Jax in 2010.
Saint Simons
August 3rd, 2009
4:17 pm
((((51-7))), (((1-7))), (((38-3))), hahahahahahahaha
TheItalianDawg
August 3rd, 2009
4:21 pm
Oh! I almost forgot, GATech fans Fu@K you too! Go Dawgs
Try selling out a 55,000 seat stadium......
August 3rd, 2009
4:25 pm
SEC > ACC
Tech75
August 3rd, 2009
4:29 pm
Ummmm…Hey Gerald. The North Fulton and East Cobb high schools are generally regarded as the best high schools in the state academically…
Tech will do better in the northern suburbs when it can provide a broader curriculum outside of engineering, so that kids who look at ACC schools like UNC, Duke, Wake, and also Vandy won’t feel that they’ll be unnecessarily restricted in their choice of major.
So many kids end up changing their majors before they graduate that some kids do not want just a few choices of majors; they want a school with a plethora of choices. Tech has some choices outside of engineering, but they are somewhat limited.
There have been more choices developed lately, and as an institution we need to continue to do that, as long as we can have “top 10″ quality degree-granting programs.
We don’t need “Communications” or “Early Education” majors (plenty of those out there elsewhere).
Or classes like “Theory of Basketball”…the UGAGers will never live that one down!
KJ
August 3rd, 2009
4:30 pm
“probably never grazed the UGA campus”
I would have grazed the UGA campus, but your mom beat me to it.
Burn.
Tech75
August 3rd, 2009
4:32 pm
Hey TheItalianDawg…what is that… a wiener marinara?
Is that what passes for sophistication now in Athens?
Not Disappointed
August 3rd, 2009
4:47 pm
Real mature theitaliandawg. As a true Jacket Fan and alumni I still pull for the pups as long as they are not playing my Jackets!!! This hate stuff is to overrated. My brother went to georgia; I went to tech. Grow up!
Ken, great article on the young man that is considering Georgia Tech.
Anthony Williams, we would love to have you at the flats for sport and education. Study hard you will enjoy the rewards of a Georgia Tech Degree. Go Jackets!
Devin Burns congrats on going ot Maryland. Ralph is one of the best and my favorite Offensive Coordinator. He will help you grow. Best of luck young man.
BS
August 3rd, 2009
4:49 pm
Chip,
Why even allow comments? Only garbage is posted here. There is no meaningful discussion and I doubt the young athletes like the comments.
Atanta Gator
August 3rd, 2009
5:11 pm
Is that the real ItalianDawg making those comments? Of has the blog troll hijacked his handle?
BIG BEE
August 3rd, 2009
8:38 pm
TOPPDAWG, 38-3—yeah, but the Dawgs didn’t have anything to do with it. All they should be concerned with is 45-42. Right??
Not Disappointed
August 4th, 2009
7:39 am
Welcome aboard Mr. Anthony Williams. Welcome to your extended family on the Flats. Best of luck young man! Ramblin Wreck!