Archive for April, 2010

The silver lining in the whole Zach Mettenberger situation at Georgia may be in the way it will affect recruiting at the quarterback position for 2011.

Christian LeMay of Matthews, N.C., one of the top quarterback prospects in the country, is really liking the depth chart at Georgia. (Special photo)

Christian LeMay, arguably the top quarterback prospect in the country for the Class of 2011, already had the Bulldogs in his Top 5. But after Mettenberger was dismissed for disciplinary reasons on Sunday, the father of the Matthews, N.C., athlete thinks Georgia now may be hard to beat.

“Yeah, I think it definitely helps Georgia,” the Rev. Stacy LeMay said as he drove to Atlanta from Charlotte on Monday. “Christian feels even better about the situation, and he already liked Georgia a lot anyway. He has always felt very comfortable with Coach Richt. They have similar philosophies in life and in football. The possibility before this was pretty encouraging anyway. Now Georgia’s …

Continue reading Georgia now ‘even more attractive’ to elite QB prospect Christian LeMay »

Record-setting quarterback Hutson Mason is still a senior at Lassiter High School but he's already No. 3 on the Georgia Bulldogs' depth chart for next season and looking to move up. (AJC photo by Jason Getz)

Lassiter senior Hutson Mason will be enrolled at the University of Georgia in less than six weeks. For the Bulldogs that may be just in the nick of time.

Thanks to the disciplinary dismissal of redshirt freshman quarterback Zach Mettenberger, Mason has gone in a half-year from late-offer prospect to third-string quarterback for the Bulldogs. Only two players — redshirt junior Logan Gray and redshirt freshman Aaron Murray — now stand above him on Georgia’s QB depth chart.

A February signee, Mason will officially join the quarterback competition when he moves to Athens to start summer classes on May 31.

The whole thing has made for a bittersweet weekend of conflicting emotions for Mason, who calls Mettenberger his closest friend on the team. Mettenberger was his host on his …

Continue reading Hutson Mason suddenly in middle of Georgia QB race »

I’m still out on a medical leave but I wanted to make sure anyone who came here looking for the latest recruiting news saw where Georgia landed another commitment.

The Bulldogs landed No. 6 for 2011 in Ridgeland athlete Devin Bowman on Saturday. AJC high schools reporter Michael Carvell has the story on his Prep Zone Blog. A lot of schools offered Bowman as a running back but he’s agreed to play cornerback for Georgia.

Bowman’s commitment came on the heels of Friday’s announcement from North Paulding wide receiver Christian Conley that he’d decided on UGA. So suddenly recruiting is rolling for the Bulldogs here in late April.

I should be back in the saddle on Monday. At the current rate there could be at least a couple more commitments by then.

Continue reading Georgia lands commitment No. 6 in Devin Bowman »

Christian Conley showing off his new cap after Friday's announcement. (Special photo)

Wide receiver Christian Conley of North Paulding High School committed to the University of Georgia this morning.

According to head coach Heath Webb said, Conley made the announcement to teammates, coaches, friends and family “in an intimate setting at the North Paulding fieldhouse early Friday morning.”

“You know, Chris, he’s one of a kind,” Webb told me. “He’s kind of a low-key kid and that’s the way he wanted to do it. He came to school this morning and we called all his teammates down to the clubhouse and that’s when he told them.”

Conley issued a statement through his coach but has asked to be shielded from interviews until Monday so that his decision can “be a celebration within the Wolfpack family,” Webb said.

Here is Conley’s statement:

“Today my family and I are ending my recruitment. This decision was reached through much traveling and research but ultimately prayer. Through all of …

Continue reading N. Paulding WR Christian Conley commits to Georgia »

NOTE TO READERS: I apologize but there will be no “Ten at 10″ Thursday. I am having to take a short medical leave for the rest of this week (nothing serious, just something I’ve been needing to take care of for a while). So like last week when I was out of the loop, AJC high schools reporter Michael Carvell will be keeping an eye on all things recruiting. Check his Prep Zone Blog daily for updates. I anticipate everything getting back to normal and providing multiple daily updates next week.

Great shooters are either born or made. Sherrard Brantley likes to think he’s a little of both.

Brantley first felt the thrill of the swish as 4-year-old growing up in Dublin. His father was a big basketball fan and, as long as Brantley can remember, there was a goal in the backyard.

“Ever since he taught me how to hold a basketball that’s how long I’ve been shooting it,” Brantley said.

And he kept shooting and shooting and shooting.

Eventually Brantley helped shoot Dublin High to the …

Continue reading Shooting star Brantley hopes to keep rising at UGA »

Thomas O’Reilly grew up a fan of the Georgia Bulldogs. In fact, he attended his first game at Sanford Stadium as a seventh grader. His father took a picture of him in the stands that day and told his son that he’d one day he’d take his photo on that actual field.

Thomas O'Reilly

That’s going to happen now — but it will be on the visitor’s sideline.

O’Reilly, a 6-foot-3, 295-pound offensive guard from Marietta’s Pope High School, officially committed to Auburn on Tuesday night. I say officially because O’Reilly committed to the Tigers in his heart months ago.

“I actually had my mind made up a while ago,” said O’Reilly, who was named to the AJC’s Class AAAAA first-team offense as a junior last season. “After I went to their junior day back before national signing day, I told them I wanted to do it right then but I had to talk to my parents first.  I knew from the beginning that’s where I wanted to be. I had planned to [commit] Saturday at A-Day but I decided to go ahead and …

Continue reading Pope’s all-state OL Thomas O’Reilly commits to Auburn »

THE TEN AT 10:

1. Donte Williams, the Class AAAA Player of the Year, will make his commitment to the University of Georgia official when he signs his national letter-of-intent with the Bulldogs during a ceremony at Miller Grove High at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Wednesday is the first day of the spring signing period, which continues for the next month. The 6-foot-9, 210-pound forward committed to Georgia late last month after taking an official visit there. He chose the Bulldogs over Auburn, Georgia State, UCF, UAB and East Carolina. He averaged 13 points and 10 rebounds for Class AAAA state champion Wolverines, who had one of the most talented teams in the state. “I’m excited about it,” Williams said of the ceremony planned for him in the school’s media center. “I’m just glad to get the whole recruiting process over with. It’s kind of a relief.”

2. Williams is one of three players committed or signed to join the Bulldogs in 2010. Forward Cady Lalanne of Orlando signed back in the …

Continue reading Ten at 10: Donte Williams to make it official with UGA »

I’m headed down to Augusta this week to be part of the AJC’s Masters coverage team. Yeah, yeah, I know, but somebody has to do it!

Golf is a passion of mine, a game I play and very much enjoy covering and have been fortunate to do often for this publication. So I’m happy the folks in charge feel like I can be an asset this week at Augusta National. Besides, with the craziness that’s expected on the corner of Washington and Berckmans roads this week, we need all the help we can get.

You can read what everybody at the AJC is writing and keep up with pretty much everything that is happening with the Masters tournament this week at the All Things Masters blog.

Meanwhile, we realize recruiting is a passion for many as well and we promise to stay on top of it, too. So while I’m chasing Tiger Woods up and down Magnolia Lane, AJC prep writer Michael Carvell will be keeping an eye on the recruiting scene. The actual recruiting blog will be on hiatus for the week (though I’ll try to pop …

Continue reading Checking out the prospects at Augusta National this week »

Georgia Tech is hopeful it can parlay its signing of Synjyn Days into a three-for-one deal.

Days is, of course, the quarterback from Hillgrove High in Powder Springs who signed with the Yellow Jackets back in February. And those who read this space regularly should be familiar with Days’ younger brother, Jabari Hunt-Days, a fast-rising 2011 prospect at linebacker. Hunt-Days (6-3, 226) doesn’t currently have a scholarship offer from Tech but most expect he’ll get one eventually.

Now there is a third Days entering the picture for the Yellow Jackets. Rod Days Jr. is a four-star basketball prospect from Miami. He also happens to be the Days brothers’ first cousin.

Not surprisingly, he is being recruited by Georgia Tech.

“We’re planning to come up there for a visit,” said Rod Days, a 6-foot-6 swingman who averaged Miami’s Sagemont High School. “I’m not sure when yet. Me and my dad haven’t figured that out. But we’re coming, probably sometime around the end of April.”

If you haven’t …

Continue reading Is there a new Days a-rising for Georgia Tech? »

Northwest Florida's Sherrard Brantley was named Panhandle Conference Freshman of the Year. He averaged 13.7 points and shot 43 percent from 3-point range. (Photo from Northwest Florida College)

Sherrard Brantley will make official on Friday afternoon what he made unofficial with a Facebook post Thursday night –  he intends to become a Georgia Bulldog.

Brantley, a 6-foot-2 freshman guard at Northwest Florida College, committed to Bulldogs’ coach Mark Fox on Thursday, his junior college coach confirmed. The Dublin High graduate was to make an announcement sometime later on Friday. He will have three years of eligibility remaining at Georgia.

“He’s going to make it official today,” Northwest Florida coach Bruce Stewart said. “He’s a heckuva of player, one of the best I’ve had. Georgia got a good one.”

Georgia recruited Brantley to give them another outside shooter along the lines of senior Ricky McPhee, who is graduating this year. Brantley averaged 13.7 points at Northwest …

Continue reading Sherrard Brantley commits to Mark Fox’s Bulldogs (updated) »