Ten at 10: Florida OL hits Tech, UGA on spring recruiting tour
THE TEN AT 10:
1. Zach DeBell, 6-foot-6, 260-pound offensive lineman from Tarpon Springs, Fla., made an unofficial visit to Georgia Tech on Monday and was checking Georgia Tuesday morning before heading up I-85 to Clemson. It’s all part of a spring break recruiting tour that began in Miami for the Hurricanes’ spring game and will end Thursday in Chapel Hill, N.C. In between was a Nike Combine in Miami. . . . DeBell and his father Steve have been putting up some serious miles on their white Ford Explorer. After the Miami excursion, they got up before the sun Monday morning in Tarpon Springs to make the 440-mile drive to Atlanta. After attending the Tech practice and touring the campus and facilities, they spent the night with friends in Marietta and rose early again Tuesday to head to Athens and UGA. After Clemson Tuesday afternoon they’ll be off to South Carolina and North Carolina before heading home. . . . “They’re all schools I was interested in and they’re all about two hours from each other,” said DeBell, who said he studies up on each school during the drives. “It’s some good father-son bonding time, too.” . . . DeBell’s stock has risen sharply as he has gotten in front of coaches and scouts. The left tackle who competes in the 100-meter dash for his high school track team currently has offers from Clemson, South Carolina, UCF, Florida International, Iowa State, Minnesota, and South Florida. I’ll have more on DeBell later this week.
If you want to sign Tampa's James Wilder Jr., you're going to have to offer him as a running back. (Photo by Chris Hays, Orlando-Sentinel)
2. James Wilder Jr. makes it clear in an Orlando Sentinel story by colleague Chris Hays that he does indeed hope to play running back in college. The dilemma for recruiters is, do you give Wilder what he wants or talk him into what you want? He is considered Florida’s No. 1 overall player but also ranks No. 1 in the state at defensive end and is projected as a potential college All-American at linebacker. And the 6-foot-2, 223-pound athlete is still growing. Georgia has offered Wilder — the son of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ great back of the same name — as a running back. But it will be a battle to get him out of the sunshine state. It will be a battle for Wilder anywhere.
3. Storm Johnson had 15 yards on four carries in Miami’s spring game on Saturday. The 6-foot-1, 216-pound running back from Loganville, an early enrollee at The U,” was singled out as a “reason for excitement” by Sun-Sentinel beat writer Shandel Robinson. Johnson had 104 yards on 10 carries in their previous controlled scrimmage. . . . Also from last Saturday’s spring game in Coral Gables, Stephenson High early-grad Tyrone Cornelius recorded for four tackles and two pass breakups.
4. The Georgia Bulldogs last week got a baseball commitment from Joey Delmonico, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound catcher from Knoxville. Delmonico is the son of former Tennessee coach Rod Delmonico. Joey is in his second season at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Tenn., where he’s batting .375 and is second on the team in RBI. He hit .491 as a senior at Farragut High. Delmonico said it was between the Bulldogs and Florida State, his father’s alma mater. “Georgia needed a guy who could catch and throw [from the catcher's position] and hit,” Delmonico told the Knoxville News-Sentinel. “They wanted to make it a done deal. So I committed.”
5. UGA is working hard to get some players out of Florida’s St. Thomas Aquinas High. The Bulldogs offered wide receiver Phillip Dorsett from the Fort Lauderdale powerhouse over the weekend, according to both Rivals and Scout. The Bulldogs tried hard to nab cornerbacks Lamarcus Joyner and Cody Riggs out of there last year but they signed with FSU and Florida, respectively. Dorsett is a 6-foot, 170-pound prospect with exceptional speed. He has 10 offers but lists Georgia, Florida and North Carolina at the top. He said he plans to visit UGA this summer along with offensive lineman Bobby Hart and wide receiver Rashad Greene, teammates who also have offers from the Bulldogs.
6. Donte Williams, a 6-foot-9 forward from Miller Grove High, took an official visit to UGA this past weekend. He didn’t commit but told DawgPost.com’s Fletcher Page Georgia is now No. 1 on his list, which includes Auburn, Georgia State and UCF.
7. Milton coach Scott Walker told UGASports.com’s Kipp Adams reports that Dai-Jon Parker is no longer considering playing football in college. The 6-foot-3 athlete had multiple offers as a wide receiver but also is a standout shooting guard and backcourt defender in basketball.
8. For a 2012 kid, Dakota Ball sure does have a lot of offers. The latest for Pepperell’s star defensive lineman came from Tennessee on Sunday, according to Scout.com. He also has tenders from Georgia, Alabama, Clemson and Maryland.
9. Add another name to Georgia’s wish list of offensive linemen. Kyler Kerbyson, a 6-foot-5, 290-pound tackle at Catholic High School in Knoxville, Tenn., told the Knoxville News-Sentinel he plans to accept the Bulldogs’ invitation to attend one of their remaining scrimmages this spring.
10. A prospect who would very much like to get an offer from UGA is Dublin-West Laurens cornerback Rodney O’Neal. O’Neal, (5-11, 170) who attended the Bulldogs’ scrimmage this past weekend, told Scout.com’s Chad Simmons he’d commit to Georgia if it offered. “I just love Georgia, my family and friends love Georgia, and I have thought about going there since I was little,” he said. “They are recruiting me in baseball and football too, so that is pretty cool.”
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89 comments Add your comment
put up a fence around ga
March 30th, 2010
2:53 pm
why are we going to other states to recruit kids that will only at the end of the day stay in their home state. there are plenty of kids in ga to recruit and we are talking about florida kids> UGA will never win a national championship until they get state pride and keep our kids in state.
hey cat shabazz
March 30th, 2010
3:22 pm
i think that paul hewitt has already created that gravy train for black athletes. could that be why there are far more underachieving black athletes than white athletes? just saying!
KeithB
March 30th, 2010
3:23 pm
UGA would have a darn scary backfield with Wilder Jr. in the mix with Ealy and King! Too bad you only play with 1 ball! Man!
GatorGrowl
March 30th, 2010
3:23 pm
Tdawg…No, James Wilder Sr was not an elusive nor an elite speed guy. But he was one of the most powerful backs I’ve seen. He would run over and thru guys and he as a true Iron man. I saw him run the ball down here in Tampa sometimes five or six times in a row and he was tireless.And he WAS a punishing runner. I DO agree that Jr would be better served at LB and could well grow into a rush DE, but he will have that ultimate choice to make because he DOES have the talent level to play all three. He might even decide to switch positions during his career. But either way, he’s gonna get it done and I just hope he’s wearing orange and blue when he does.
TonyBarbeeFan
March 30th, 2010
3:28 pm
Donte come to Auburn! We’ve got a great new coach in Tony Barbee who’s bringing the dribble-drive offense from Memphis! You’ll get to showcase your athleticism not to mention play in our new 92 million dollar basketball arena that’s coming up. UCF just got a brand new coach, UGA is well, UGA and they really suck at basketball. Georgia State isn’t even worth mentioning…don’t even know why you would have them on your list.
COME TO AUBURN. BE PART OF SOMETHING SPECIAL.
Ramblor
March 30th, 2010
3:28 pm
Good job, Chip. Your bias continues. 9 out of the 10 involve UGA is some fashion. Keep the bias going.
DAWGFAN
March 30th, 2010
3:42 pm
CAT SH_T, you are the reason racism will never go away
English
March 30th, 2010
4:05 pm
Donte! Donte! Donte! Donte! Donte!
We know you’ll do the right thing, I mean who wants to sit on the bench all game and have a stadium full of fans or play most of the minutes in a game. Yes, there’s a difference but if you want to go to school to play basketball you’ll play for GSU. If you want to go to school to watch basketball you’ll pick one of the other programs. You’ll only get noticed by the professionals if you actually play and not just look good in a uniform.
Donte! Donte! Donte! Donte! Donte!
Become a Panther and pick State.
DRickTD
March 30th, 2010
4:22 pm
Reports that I have say Georgia Tech is cleaning up
on the recruiting trail. WOW
TampaGator
March 30th, 2010
4:33 pm
Kind of early to be talking recruiting, don’t you think? Didn’t the recruiting season just end. Wilder is a freak however. He is already a man among boys and will be in college too…no matter where he goes. I hope he will be a Gator.
English
March 30th, 2010
4:43 pm
Hey Cletus,
So are you the America Sarah Palin refers too? I was trying to find out what her target audience is. Do Tea/Republican party members like the idea that Palin speaks for them? Does she do more harm than good?
Donte! Donte! Donte! Donte! Donte! Pick GSU!
renegade#1
March 30th, 2010
4:47 pm
grammar police hug a nut don’t anybody care but you, or is it hug the nut.
TonyBarbeeFan
March 30th, 2010
5:09 pm
Donte…what English is trying to say is he doesn’t think you’re good enough to get time at Auburn…but just good enough to play sub-500 ball for a program at Georgia state that is like .300 all-time and hasn’t had a winning season in several years.
Auburn fans think differently. You can play here and get plenty of time. If you’re good enough (which you are), you’ll play.
ugaaccountant
March 30th, 2010
5:12 pm
Ramblor
March 30th, 2010
3:28 pm
Good job, Chip. Your bias continues. 9 out of the 10 involve UGA is some fashion. Keep the bias going.
These blogs are always biased against UGA. You should be thrilled with the negative spin he puts against the team.
DirtyDog
March 30th, 2010
6:36 pm
TonyBarbeeFan: Dude, give it a rest Auburn basketball is awful!!! Why would you build a brand new 9,000 seat arena when nobody will ever watch b-ball in the state of Alabama.
Cletus Dooley Earnhardt SR.
March 30th, 2010
6:45 pm
He Englesh, nice too meat you. Well, to, anser, your’e qestyon, I AM the aMerrica that the great saRa Palin reefers. too. wE lOve colege footaball of colegse’s that w e never wentt too. we lovve jeezeus, and we hatte stinkin liberals. im a teeparty memberr and fouunder of the glenn beck fancllub: lilburnn chapter. she is greaat for our movment becuse she is inteligent and smarty, and she wears glassses. she shows us thatt even thou we live in tralors, and cant know anyything about thee world, we can one day run for pesident of amerrica.
Cletus Dooley Earnhardt SR.
March 30th, 2010
6:56 pm
Oh, yea, bless sweeet baby jeesus
AND
GO UGA!
naganole
March 30th, 2010
7:00 pm
Gerald- The state of GA has plenty of talent to stock UGA with the occasional out of state blue chip recruit. UGA’s offense don’t remind you of FSU in the 90 not because of lack of talent, but because Richt left that vaunted “fast break” offense at FSU. It was believed that there was no way a “gimmick” offense like that make it in the SEC. Urban Meyer says “Hi”.
UGA trying to land Wilder makes some sense (considering Crowell is Bama bound). He’s the kind of guy UGA needs to be thinking about when going out of state; not trying to grab a kid like Bobby Hart out of STA when GA OL are just as talented, if not more so.
ugaaccountant- Chip only calling it like he sees it. We had local writers in Tallahassee bowing down to Bobby Bowden while the castle crumbled around him. Look at the writing on the wall. CMR tolerated for YEARS a bad DC in WM. His state is in the top 10 (arguably top 5) in producing talent and he goes after the scraps elsewhere when he has diamonds right under his nose. Honestly, do you think it’s more likely a GA or AL goes out of state? Richt has what, a 7 year head start on Saban and he’s already locked down AL? Rude awakening comes signing day 2011. Looking like UGA might land as few as 3 of the top 10 guys in GA. But go ahead, Chip, praise UGA. Status quo means less competition… =)
wiley
March 30th, 2010
7:29 pm
Fred one of the best conferences? What I think you meant is this ” Come play in a league that only has one good program. There are several programs that see limited success…ie Florida, Vandy, and Tennessee since Bruce Pearl arrived.” I love proofreading!
wiley
March 30th, 2010
7:30 pm
Just to clarify…im not talking football.
TonyBarbeeFan
March 30th, 2010
7:42 pm
DirtyDog…it’s still worlds better than freaking Georgia State. hahaha
MaconKnight
March 30th, 2010
7:47 pm
Chip,
Can you tell me when was the last time UGA signed the number player in the state? my guess is Brandon Miller 2004. If this true I can see why some of the fans are saying CMR has peaked out.
Dawggie
March 30th, 2010
7:57 pm
Gerald-
We run a Pro offense, FSU ran a version of whats now called the spread offense. There are reasons why we continue to get top rated QB’s and the spread offenses never have a QB drafted highly. Richt has seen and ran both, he chooses to run Pro Style. The whole “state” thing is bs, if not, then why would UF recruit in Ga at all?
You must be an ACC guy…just sayin’
hugedawgfan
March 30th, 2010
8:19 pm
I want to be just like Lizard King. Long live the Lizard King, he’s my hero.
pound 4 pound
March 30th, 2010
8:29 pm
Here we go again chasing Florida players while teams like Alabama,Tenn,and Fla are destroying this state. I honestly dont think cmr respect Ga players because he actually treats florida players like priority while he is in a state that has the best high school players in America. We cant continue to lose players like Eric Berry , Greg REED, and Mack brown to rival teams. keep your eyes in the state and make sure all our top players are recruited and shown respect and we should be alright.I
I know one of you Dog Dummies are going to make this sound as if i am saying dont recruit out of state when all i am saying is take care of state first.
Chip Towers
March 30th, 2010
9:12 pm
MaconKnight: I can’t tell you that but I’ll look into it and find out.
Pope UGA XXIII
March 30th, 2010
9:58 pm
The only attractive thing about Ga State is that you can walk to
the Varsity, then get robbed walking back to the dormitory.
Commuter schools don’t draw.
GT Fan
March 30th, 2010
10:05 pm
Enter your comments here
Sarcastic
March 30th, 2010
10:05 pm
The qualifications for getting into UGA are(1) you must have a case of any brand of beer,(2) You must spell Georgia (JAWJA). and (3.)You must audition by yelling GO DAWGS, as loud as you can.(athletic ability also helps some)
Yeah C'mon
March 30th, 2010
10:44 pm
UGAsports.com has Donte Williams as a soft verbal to the University of Georgia. Congrats to donte and UGA!
http://uga.rivals.com/default.asp
put up a fence around ga
March 30th, 2010
11:22 pm
once again why are we going to other states to recruit kids that will only at the end of the day stay in their home state. there are plenty of kids in ga to recruit and we are talking about florida kids> UGA will never win a national championship until they get state pride and keep our kids in state.
Red Dog 77
March 30th, 2010
11:22 pm
Once again, The talent pool is so deep in the 2011 class, all the top schools should do well. That is, the schools that have extra scholarships to give……………..Like, well ummm The GEEEEOOOORRGIA BULLDOGS !!!……….Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, yes with UGA’s numbers, it should be a top five class for us. With that said, to me that doesn’t mean squat………..Winning games in 2010 will make all the difference in the world as to whom we get. I continue also to agree with the gentleman who made the post regarding chemistry a couple nights ago. I have said the same thing over and over, chemistry is the name of the game, with atheletic parady the way it is in the SEC. Chemistry and depth means championships. Nick Saban, at Alabama has my respect as a coach, not so much as a man. The one thing he manages to do is create chemistry, hell some of the same kids who lost to La. Monroe a couple years ago won a national championship last year ! again its chemistry…………..Coach Todd Grantham has brought that chemistry to Athens, couple his fire with the brilliant CMR, and wala………Here we go DOG NATION……….hold onto your hats………Our time is coming………There is a fire burning out of control in Athens, and it is called the GEEEEOOOORRRGIA BULLDOGS !!! GO DOGS GATA !!!!
Recruiting Update 31Mar: Leather Helmet Blog
March 31st, 2010
4:03 am
[...] James Wilder Jr. - AJC – 10@10 makes it clear in an Orlando Sentinel story by colleague Chris Hays that he does indeed hope to [...]
CELLUS
March 31st, 2010
6:12 am
Is it really easier to enroll in FSU/UF/Miami than UGA/GT??????
naganole
March 31st, 2010
9:53 am
It’s much more difficult to get into GT than any of the other schools you mentioned CELLUS. GT, UF, UGA, FSU, UM.
BigDawg
March 31st, 2010
10:17 am
I’ve heard from some of Dontae Williams’ friends that he is leaning toward Georgia State over UGA and Auburn. He loves downtown and believes they will win more games than either of the SEC bottom dwellers. He likes coach Fox but winning only 14 games with two huge, talented players simply is not enough.
Fred
March 31st, 2010
10:59 am
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA SUCK IT AUBURN,UCF,GSU!
DONTE WILLIAMS COMMITS TO UGA! WHOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Mark Fox is doing a great job recruiting!
Recruiting Update 01Apr: Leather Helmet Blog
April 1st, 2010
4:02 am
[...] James Wilder Jr. - AJC – 10@10 makes it clear in an Orlando Sentinel story by colleague Chris Hays that he does indeed hope to [...]
Ten at 10: Tech gets 3rd commit from 'Tom Fulry' (April Fools!) | newslions.info
April 6th, 2010
1:26 pm
[...] Offensive line prospect Zach DeBell, who made “The Ten” earlier this week after he visited Georgia Tech and Georgia on his Southeast recruiting tour, ended up getting an official offer from Clemson on his visit there [...]