Archive for May, 2010

Greetings and happy Friday afternoon. I’m about to hop into that wonderful Atlanta pre-weekend traffic and head over to Gainesville for the announcement of East Hall High football star Sterling Bailey. So if you see a blue Ford F150 pickup truck creeping up fast in your rear-view mirror, be kind and move over a lane. I promise not to flash my headlights.

Sterling Bailey

Bailey, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound defensive end, is set to make public his choice from an impressive college football scholarship offer list of more than 20 schools. His finalists are Georgia, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Florida, Notre Dame, South Carolina and Tennessee.

His announcement is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. I plan to be in attendance and will pass on the news just as soon as humanly possibly. Please return to this very blog at or around that time if you want to find out.

Bailey is the first of two announcements this weekend from major in-state prospects. Justin Scott-Wesley, an athlete from Mitchell County High …

Continue reading Tech/UGA target Sterling Bailey set to announce at 6:30 p.m. »

Kadetrix "J.J." Marcus (Photo provided by Kadetrix Marcus)

Reputations can be good things or bad things. In the case of Stephenson High School and Kadetrix Marcus, it’s a very good thing.

Marcus — who may end up being the best safety in the state before it’s over — literally landed of the Jaguars. Marcus transferred to the Stone Mountain school from Hillgrove High in Powder Springs between fall and winter semester and he’s currently going through spring practice with coach Ron Gartrell’s team.

And if you know anything about Marcus, you won’t be surprised to know that he’s now their starting safety.

“We were already moving into the area,” said Marcus, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound defensive back. “But football is a high priority for me so we wanted to go somewhere the football was good and I could grow as a player. There was no place better than Stephenson for that.”

Stephenson’s reputation for sending its players out with college scholarships didn’t hurt. The Jaguars had a record 29 …

Continue reading DB Kadetrix Marcus building a following at Stephenson »

THE TEN AT 10:

NOTE: Following is an “aggregation blog.” It’s a roundup of news and information from a variety of sources that is believed to be of interest to AJC readers. Material from sources other than the AJC is attributed.

Logan Gray's decision to work at wide receiver is essentially handing off the starting quarterback duties to freshman Aaron Murray. (AJC photo)

1. The likelihood that Georgia will sign another quarterback in its 2011 class decreased with Monday’s news that quarterback Logan Gray has decided to remain with the Bulldogs. Gray, a fourth-year junior, had been contemplating a transfer or full-time position change since redshirt freshman Aaron Murray was tabbed the No. 1 quarterback by the coaching staff after spring practice. On Monday, UGA sent out a news release stating Gray will remain at quarterback while also getting work at wide receiver. However, since Gray will be cross-training this summer, pressure remains on signee Hutson Mason to be …

Continue reading Ten at 10: Logan Gray news means 2nd 2011 QB less likely for UGA »

Justin Scott-Wesley, one of the fastest football players in the state, plans to make his football announcement after defending his 200-meter dash title at the state meet in Jefferson on Saturday. (Special photo)

Justin Scott-Wesley plans to make public his college choice after the Class AA 200-meter dash finals this Saturday at the state track championships in Jefferson.

This immediately tells us two things about the Mitchell County football star: One, he must be very fast; and two, he must be very confident. After all, making the finals in any state championship is hardly a given.

The answer is yes on both counts.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in what I do,” Scott-Wesley admitted. “I have come to a decision and I feel like everybody should be told. And I just thought, what better time to make your decision known than in the limelight of the state meet?”

The 200 is actually Scott-Wesley’s third event of the day on Saturday. He is also competing in the 100-meter dash and the …

Continue reading Justin Scott-Wesley plans for fast-ending to recruitment »

Hillside quarterback Vad Lee is making a name for himself in Durham, N.C., and in recruiting. (Photo by Ray Black III/newsobserver.com)

Vad Lee. You’ve got to love the name.

Like a lot of great sports names it has the dual traits of uniqueness and simplicity. It’s easy to remember and kind of fun to say, like Vida Blue or Vassa Cate or Coco Crisp.

But Lee wasn’t trying to be cool or memorable. “Vad,” he said, was an invention of necessity. His actual name is Lavaedeay, as in Luh-VAD-dee-A. And there is no deep, mystical meaning to it.

“Nah, it was just my mama putting some letters together and coming up with Lavaedeay,” Lee says with a good laugh. “Everybody used to call me that. But when I’d go to away games they could never pronounce it. So I just put Vad on everything now because it’s easier for everybody. I’m used to it. Everybody knows it now.”

If his football career stays on its current path, Vad Lee will become a household name beyond Tobacco Road.

Lee (6-foot-2, …

Continue reading Georgia Tech going hard after quarterback Vad Lee »

THE TEN AT 10:

NOTE TO READERS: Following is an “aggregation blog.” It’s a roundup of news and information from a variety of sources that is believed to be of interest to AJC readers. Material from sources other than the AJC is attributed.

1. Georgia football signee Demetre Baker won Florida Class 4A state titles in the shot put (62-10) and the discus throw (191-4) this past weekend, according to the Florida Times-Union. Both those marks shattered his previous bests. Baker (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) is a 3-star/4-star linebacker prospect from Jacksonville’s Orange Park High who signed with the Bulldogs this past February and will enroll at UGA this summer.

2. The AJC’s Michael Carvell updates us this week on the recruitment of “Mr. Georgia Basketball,” aka Marcus Thornton, who apparently has settled on May 21 as his decision date. The former Clemson-signee-turned-free-agent took a visit to Texas over the weekend and apparently was most recently at Georgia. At least that’s …

Continue reading Ten at 10: Georgia signee dominates Florida track meet »

Quarterback Greg Bingham, an invited walkon at UGA, was a four-year starter at Columbus High. (Special photo)

The Logan Gray situation at UGA remained unresolved as of Monday. So whether he stays at Georgia or stays at quarterback has yet to be determined.

What is known is the Bulldogs will be precariously thin at the position whether Gray is a factor or not. If not, freshman signee Hutson Mason would be entering college as the No. 2 quarterback behind redshirt freshman Aaron Murray and one of two invited walkons would be the third option.

For the reality of how precarious that situation is we need to look back to Georgia’s 1977 season. The Bulldogs that year went through five quarterbacks. Starter Jeff Pyburn, then a sophomore, was lost to a knee injury in the Florida game. Chris Welton (broken leg) and Steve Rogers (separated shoulder) went down in the Auburn game the following week and Randy Cook broke a leg in the Georgia Tech game.

That left freshman Davey Sawyer to …

Continue reading UGA’s walk-on QBs will be counted on as backups »

Future Bulldog Christian LeMay (file)

Georgia-bound quarterback Christian LeMay will be interviewed live on ESPNU tonight on SportsCenterU between 7 and 8 p.m.

LeMay announced on April 30 at his father’s church in Pineville, N.C., that he intends to enroll at UGA after graduating next fall.  Craig Haubert, an ESPN recruiting analyst, served as master of ceremonies for that event.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound athlete is considered one of the top quarterback prospects in the nation. He is ranked No. 1 at the position by The Sporting News and No. 2 by Scout.com. He chose Georgia over Clemson, Texas A&M, Auburn and Notre Dame.

LeMay has been staying busy since that announcement. Most recently he won MVP honors at a Nike camp in Blacksburg, Va.

LeMay earned North Carolina player of the year honors last season after leading Butler High School to a 15-0 record and the 4A state championship. He completed 68.5 percent of his passes for 3,296 yards, 44 touchdowns and two interceptions last …

Continue reading UGA-bound QB Christian LeMay to appear on ESPNU tonight »

North Atlanta's Marcus Mack (Photo by Rob Saye/SportsTracs.com)

Not every college football recruit is a blue-chip prospect holding multiple offers months before his senior season. But that doesn’t mean they won’t become terrific college football players.

Nowhere was that more evident than at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl luncheon at Fox Sports Grill earlier this week. There were 23 Georgians there who were being recognized for being U.S. Army All-America nominees. But for every 4-star, can’t-miss prospect in attendance there was another one still holding out hope for that first major offer.

Marcus Mack falls into the latter category.

By all accounts, the North Atlanta linebacer has all the measurables for which college football recruiters are looking. He’s nearly 6-foot-2, weighs 210 pounds and consistently breaks 4.7 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He’s also a smart kid with a 3.6 grade-point average.

But heading into the last weeks of his junior year, he still awaits that …

Continue reading N. Atlanta’s Marcus Mack hoping All-America nomination earns notice »

Distance didn’t end up being a factor for Dwayne Polee Jr., but he chose to go a different direction than Georgia.

The 6-foot-7, small forward from Los Angeles confirmed his commitment to New York’s St. John’s University on Thursday. Polee also considered the Bulldogs, Oregon, UNLV and UTEP, so staying in California was not a consideration for the L.A. City Player of the Year.

“I chose St. John’s because I felt that Steve Lavin and his staff could get me to the next level,” Polee told the AJC via text message Thursday.

The news first began to circulate Thursday via Twitter. Polee is scheduled to make an official announcement this afternoon in L.A.

Polee, a 6-foot-7 wing player from L.A.’s Westchester High, has been described as “the best dunker in high school basketball.” He averaged 21 points and 8 rebounds in leading Westchester to a 32-3 record and California Division I state championship.

Polee actually committed to Southern Cal as a freshman in 2007. His father, Dwayne …

Continue reading UGA target Dwayne Polee commits to St. John’s (updated) »