Archive for October, 2010

THE TEN AT 10:

Tackle Taylor Gadbois (6-7, 275) has been a dominating force on East Paulding offensive line this season. (Photo by Chad Simmons/Scout.com)

1. Georgia Tech didn’t waste any time moving on after the de-commitment of Kyle Harris this week. Just a day after getting that news from the Pepperell offensive lineman, coach Paul Johnson was on the phone with East Paulding’s Taylor Gadbois extending an offer.

Gadbois, a 6-foot-7, 275-pound tackle, got the call Tuesday night. “Coach Johnson called and said they liked what they had seen and that they thought I could help them,” he said. “I told him that I was honored and I appreciate it.”

Tech is the best opportunity Gadbois has had so far. His previous offers have come from Illinois State, Indiana, Middle Tennessee State and Troy. Why, Gadbois was asked, hadn’t a prospect of his size playing on a good team not attracted more recruiting interest to this point?

“I definitely have to say because I didn’t play my junior …

Continue reading Ten@10: Tech wastes no time in offering East Paulding OT Taylor Gadbois »

For decades, Georgia has been a state raided from all sides for its rich football talent. Auburn, Clemson, Florida, FSU and Tennessee traditionally have gotten some of their best players out of the Peach State. And the Georgia Bulldogs, as the state university’s team, were most often the competition at the middle of the fray.

But there’s a new opponent with which UGA is trading licks this year. And it’s a tough time to be going toe-to-toe with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The defending national champions have been on a three-year roll under coach Nick Saban. And unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the Tide has identified Georgia has its new No. 1 recruiting market outside of Alabama.

“It just happened over the last couple of years, since Saban has been Alabama’s head coach,” said Chad Simmons, South recruiting manager for FoxSports.com and Scout.com. “It’s didn’t happen under Mike Shula or Dennis Franchione or Mike DuBose. But Alabama under Saban has made it very clear they’re going …

Continue reading Georgia going head-to-head with Bama for best-of-best in state »

For a long time, Kyle Harris said knew he wanted to back out of his commitment to Georgia Tech. Finally this week he got up the nerve to call the Yellow Jackets’ coaches and tell them what he’d been thinking.

Harris, a 6-foot-3, 283-pound offensive lineman from Pepperell, officially de-committed from Georgia Tech on Monday morning.

“The reason I de-committed is I just didn’t feel like Tech was the place for me,” Harris said shortly after leaving Pepperell’s practice Tuesday evening. “I talked to my family about it and my whole family said I needed to do what’s best for me. There were just a lot of things that didn’t fit.

“I want a degree in teaching. At Georgia Tech, I was going to have to do something else, then go to Georgia State to get my teaching certificate. And I’m smart. I do well in school. But the valedictorians at my school go to Georgia Tech. I just didn’t feel like it was me.”

Harris was asked why, then, did he commit to the Yellow Jackets back in June?

“They …

Continue reading Pepperell OL Kyle Harris ‘de-commits’ from Ga. Tech (updated) »

THE TEN AT 10:

1. Tennessee landed its sixth commitment from the state of Georgia this past weekend. Vincent Dallas, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound wide receiver/defensive back from Cedar Grove High School, pledged the Vols during a pep rally at the school this past Friday. The three-star prospect is expected to play wide receiver in college.

In the end, Dallas said he chose Tennessee over Florida. But he had offers from about 20 schools, including Georgia Tech, Auburn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and West Virginia. Georgia did not offer him.

Heading into Friday’s game, Dallas had 28 catches for 562 yards and seven touchdowns despite missing the first three games with a foot injury. He had about 800 yards receiving and five interceptions as a junior, coach Ray Bonner said. Bonner believes Dallas may be even better at defensive back at UT.

Dallas joins five other Peach Staters on the Vols’ 2011 commitment list. The others are DB …

Continue reading Ten@10: Cedar Grove’s Vincent Dallas becomes Vols’ 6th commit from Georgia »

The pain Georgia felt from losing Milton power forward Julian Royal to Georgia Tech was eased somewhat over the weekend as the Bulldogs landed a commitment from a 7-foot junior college center.

John Florveus, a 7-foot, 220-pound center from Hillsborough Community College in Tampa committed to Georgia after taking an official visit to the school over the weekend. The sophomore will have two years of eligibility remaining when he enrolls at UGA next summer.

“I felt like it was the best situation for me to develop and grow and come in and be part of a winning program,” said Florveus, who chose the Bulldogs over Washington State, Marshall, UTEP and Iowa State. “I liked everything about the school and the program and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Florveus said he finished his freshman season averaging 8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game at Hillsborough. The Hawks were Suncoast Conference champions.

“It went all right,” Florveus said of his first season. “It was a …

Continue reading Georgia basketball gets commitment from 7-foot JUCO center »

THE MONDAY MORNING REWIND:

Looking back at the players, plays and games that caught our attention over the weekend. Let us know what you saw and heard.

There were at least a half-dozen major college prospects on the field Friday when Griffin and Union Grove did battle in the Channel 2 Sports Zone Friday Game of the Week. But one stood out more than any other.

Defensive end Xzavier Dickson was all over the place for the Class AAAA No. 5-ranked Bears. The AJC Super 11 selection had three sacks, batted down a pass and registered eight tackles in all as Griffin rolled to a 24-0 victory.

Meanwhile, coach Steve DeVoursney is utilizing Dickson a lot more on offense this season. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound athlete actually starts at wide receiver for Griffin. And while he didn’t catch a pass on this night — the Bears didn’t need to throw it very often — Dickson’s exceptional speed and athleticism were evident as he ran routes, cracked back on linebackers and blocked down field.

“I think I …

Continue reading Rewind: Griffin DE Xzavier Dickson puts on show in TV game »

This whole recruiting thing was pretty easy for Dakota Ball. Alabama offered him a scholarship first and he had always liked Alabama. So Thursday, halfway through his junior year, Ball committed to the Crimson Tide.

“I really didn’t want to wait any longer to commit to Alabama,” explained Ball, a 6-foot-2, 282-pound defensive tackle at Pepperell High. “I just felt like they were the right choice if I was going to play college football.”

There are some connections. Ball has an uncle and several cousins who went to Alabama, including one who is currently enrolled there. And he has a lot of extended family living in Birmingham. But that’s not the main reason Ball chose the Crimson Tide.

“I went to two games this year (Penn State and Florida) and I just really enjoyed it every time I was over there,” he said. “It’s a great place to play football.”

Georgia, Georgia Tech and Tennessee were the runners up in the recruiting battle for Ball. He spent time on all three campuses and …

Continue reading Alabama was an easy call for Pepperell DT Dakota Ball »

THE TEN AT 10:

1. Some good news for Jeff Greene this week means bad news for Starr’s Mill’s opponents. The 6-foot-6, 200-pound wide receiver, who is committed to Georgia Tech, had the cast removed from his right hand earlier this week. Greene has been playing with cast for the last four weeks after dislocating his thumb in the first game of the season.

“It feels good,” Greene said. “I feel a lot more confident now. I feel like I can catch anything thrown my way.”

Greene hasn’t done too badly one-handed. After initially missing two games, he caught seven passes with the cast on his dominant right hand. Included in that total was 62-yarder for a touchdown in last week’s 48-0 win over McIntosh. That victory improved the Panthers to 7-0 on the season and they’ve won by an average of 28 points per game. They’re at Northgate this Friday.

Greene said he is continuing to get recruited by Mississippi State, Tennessee and Cincinnati, teams that were in on him before he pledged the …

Continue reading Ten@10: Tech commit Jeff Greene ready to shine with cast removed »

Georgia commitment Zack Witchett has been kicked off his team.

The wide receiver/defensive back from Atlanta’s Washington High School was dismissed from the squad by coach Stanley Pritchett after an undisclosed incident with a member of the coaching staff on Tuesday.

“He had an incident yesterday and I had to discipline him,” Pritchett said Wednesday. “Right now, it’s permanent.”

Pritchett would only say it was an “internal rules violation” and declined to provide further details.

Pritchett said he intended for the situation to be handled internally. But Witchett posted a diatribe about the situation on his Facebook page on Wednesday and the news soon found its way to Internet fan forums and blogs, including this one.

“He made it worse for himself,” Pritchett said. “That’s what I told him.”

Witchett has since deleted that post and changed his status on his Facebook page. Now it reads:

“BIG MISUNDERSTANDING! I APOLYGIZE (sic) AND I WAS WRONG! BUT RESPECT HAS TO BE GIVEN TO BE …

Continue reading UGA commit Zack Witchett kicked off his Washington High team »

The Bulldog nation waited with great anticipation to see what disciplinary measures Georgia coach Mark Richt was going to take with junior tailback Caleb King. But no one watched with more interest than former Bulldog Demetre Baker.

Baker was the first UGA player to feel the wrath of what he referred to as Richt’s “no tolerance” disciplinary policy. Baker was arrested on a DUI charge on Sept. 25 — the very week the policy was implemented — and was promptly dismissed from the team the next day.

King was arrested and jailed Monday on an outstanding warrant for an unpaid speeding ticket in Walton County. The junior running back from Norcross was handed a two-game suspension on Tuesday.

“As far as the no-tolerance rule, Caleb got just two games,” Baker said Tuesday night. “But I guess his situation was different than mine. I guess his wasn’t as bad. But that’s not my decision to make. I feel what I did was wrong and I don’t blame anybody else. Coach Richt made it clear what his …

Continue reading Ousted Bulldog Demetre Baker will transfer to South Alabama »