Archive for July, 2011

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Kurt Freitag, one of the state’s top college football prospects at tight end, announced his four finalists.

Freitag will pick between Alabama, Florida, Florida State and Miami. The 6-foot-3, 245-pounder plays for Buford, the four-time defending Georgia Class AA state champion.

Freitag will announce his college decision after one of the biggest “border war” high school football games of the season. On Sept. 10, Buford will play against Yulee, Fla., which features tailback Derrick Henry, who committed to UGA at Dawg Night. Henry is a candidate to be the Florida’s No. 1 prospect for 2013 (Georgia’s No. 1 for 2013 is Grayson defensive end Robert Nkemdiche in a landslide).

Back to Freitag: He’s one of around 10 seniors from Buford projected to sign with major colleges. The group also includes two players who are a candidates to be the best at their respective football …

Continue reading TE Kurt Freitag will decide between Alabama, FSU, Florida and Miami »

Chattooga HS (Ga.) QB Nathan Schuster (Photo courtesy of Brian Salmon, The Summerville News)

After Georgia State’s ridiculous amount of attrition at QB during the offseason, there may be no greater position need on the recruiting board.

Georgia State landed a top QB target with the commitment of Nathan Schuster from Chattooga High School.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder decided to commit to Georgia State, which was his first offer. He also was a scholarship candidate at Tennessee-Chattanooga, Jacksonville State, The Citadel and VMI. At the position of defensive back, Schuster was drawing interest from  Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Vanderbilt, among others.

“Georgia State was recruiting Nathan to play QB, and that was a deciding factor,” Chattooga coach Brad Waggoner told the AJC.  “Georgia State is getting a strong leader and an extremely hard worker. He’s the hardest-working kid in our program. He’s a great student (with a 3.8 GPA) and a grew up a coach’s son. He’s everything you …

Continue reading QB Nathan Schuster gets first offer from Georgia State and commits »

Carrollton TE Zach Gordon placed third in the discus at the state championship track meet in May (AJC photo by Michael Carvell)

Zach Gordon, who is considered by some to be Georgia’s No. 1 college football prospect at tight end, committed to Wake Forest on Friday.

The 6-foot-5, 245-pounder from Carrollton High School picked Wake Forest over Stanford among his 17 offers, which also included Kentucky, Virginia and South Florida.

“When I made my decision, I took football completely out of the equation,” Gordon told the AJC. “I thought to myself, ‘Which school would I like to be at, even if I wasn’t playing football?’ That’s what it came down to. And that’s why I picked Wake Forest. It’s that gut feeling you get when you know it’s right. Once I stepped on the Wake Forest campus, I got the feeling in my heart that it was the right place for me.”

Georgia has three tight ends that are candidates to be ranked No. 1 at the position — Gordon, Colquitt County’s Ty Smith (committed to …

Continue reading TE Zach Gordon picks Wake Forest over Stanford »

Isaiah Crowell has “left the building” at Carver-Columbus High School, awaiting the opportunity to save the world at UGA.

Crowell left behind plenty of talented teammates at Carver-Columbus, which is known for producing college football prospects on an annual basis. Carver had 20 seniors sign last Febraury and expects another strong batch this year.

One of Carver’s top 2012 prospects is Derious Bennett, a 6-foot-1, 275-pound defensive tackle who said he has around a dozen offers, including Arkansas, Wake Forest, Tennessee, Southern Miss, Duke, Houston and Marshall.

Bennett has nothing but praise for his former heralded teammate, Crowell.

“Isaiah is an amazing football player,” Bennett said. “He has tremendous character and is real humble. I think Georgia fans are going to be excited about what he does for them this season.”

Asked if there was anything that Georgia fans would be surprised to learn about Crowell as a person or football player, Bennett replied, “No, not really. …

Continue reading Carver-Columbus DT raves about former teammate Isaiah Crowell »

Lithonia HS OL Joe Harris commits to South Carolina over UGA and Clemson with his mother next to him on Wednesday (AJC photo by Michael Carvell)

(BREAKING: Click here to read about top UNC recruiting target in Georgia shocked by firing of Butch Davis)

Joe Harris, who is considered by some to be Georgia’s No. 1 college football prospect on the offensive line, committed to South Carolina on Wednesday.

“I love everything about South Carolina — it just shines brightly to me,” Harris told the AJC.

The 6-foot-4, 290-pounder from Lithonia High School picked South Carolina over UGA, Clemson and Mississippi State among his 13 early offers at DeKalb County’s football “Media Day.”

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“South Carolina is on the rise; they have some of the best players in the country with Marcus Lattimore and …

Continue reading OL Joe Harris commits to South Carolina over UGA and Clemson (UPDATED) »

Eastside DE Sheldon Rankins was "shocked" by the firing of Butch Davis. But not enough to still consider signing with North Carolina.

One of Georgia’s top college football prospects was “shocked” with the firing of North Carolina coach Butch Davis.

Sheldon Rankins, a 6-foot-3, 260-pound defensive end from Eastside-Covington High School, is a prime UNC recruiting target and admitted he would be committed to the Tar Heels right now if they weren’t under NCAA investigation. Rankins was caught off guard by Wednesday’s turn of events.

“It’s always a shocker to hear the head coach of the football team you really  like got fired … but you take it as it is and go with it,” Rankins told the AJC. “I was already looking at other options because of the NCAA sanctions, so it didn’t really affect me that much. Everything is still wide open.”

Rankins said his top two options are South Florida and Auburn, while he’s also communicating with N.C. State, Mississippi State, Louisville and …

Continue reading DE Sheldon Rankins ’shocked’ about firing of UNC’s Butch Davis »

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Joe Harris, who is considered by some to be Georgia’s top college football prospect on the offensive line, will pick between UGA, Clemson, South Carolina and Mississippi State on Wednesday afternoon.

The 6-foot-4, 290-pounder from Lithonia High School named his four finalists out of 13 early scholarship offers. He will announce around 4:30-6 p.m. Wednesday at a school function.

“I want to go to the university where I can see myself being the biggest success at as a football player, along with having a big impact on the team and helping them win,” Harris told the AJC on Tuesday night.

Harris on his four finalists:

• UGA: “It would be a good place to be for all four years. They play in the SEC, which is the best conference in college football.”
• South Carolina: “It’s a great place. They have a lot of young, talented and really skilled …

Continue reading Joe Harris to pick between UGA, South Carolina, Clemson and Mississippi State »

Tony Parker (No. 32) and Brandon Morris are double trouble as college basketball prospects out of three-time state champion Miller Grove (AJC photo)

Duke, Memphis and Ohio State are the leaders for Miller Grove High School’s Tony Parker, who is ranked among the nation’s top 25 college basketball prospects.

The top 3 national recruiting targets out of Georgia are all power forwards, and the 6-foot-9, 270-pound Parker is one of them. The other two are Southwest DeKalb’s Shaq Goodwin and Thomasville’s Robert Carter.

Duke, Memphis and Ohio State are Parker’s leaders, and he is also looking at a few other schools. “Those other three are his leaders, but Tony also is talking with North Carolina, UConn and UCLA,” Miller Grove coach Sharman White. “Tony is going to take some official visits during the fall. He hasn’t decided if he will sign early [in November] or wait until after his senior season.”

Another player from Miller Grove, the three-time Class AAAA state champions, is also …

Continue reading Basketball: Tony Parker has Duke, Memphis and Ohio State as leaders »

Stephenson OL Nicholas Gibbons committed to Memphis (AJC photo by Michael Carvell)

Stephenson High School now has 11 seniors that have both been offered and accepted D1 college football scholarships.

Nicholas Gibbons, a 6-foot-5, 290-pound offensive lineman, said he committed to Memphis over Boston College, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.

Gibbons said it’s special being part of the senior class at the Stone Mountain school, which is a candidate to lead the nation with the most players signing major-college football scholarships in February.

“It’s crazy being around that many good players,” Gibbons said. “It’s a good thing; it only makes you better, being around that kind of competition. Every one pushes each other. There’s always competition.”

Gibbons has a 3.0 GPA and wants to study Computer Engineering.

Here’s a list of the other Stephenson 2012 players that have committed (click on each link to read about each):

• RB Mike Davis (Florida)
• DT Jafar Mann (Florida)
• LB Darreon …

Continue reading One Georgia high school has 11 seniors committed to play D1 football »

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Georgia Tech’s pipeline to one of Georgia’s most successful high school programs is alive and well.

Will Adams, a 6-foot-6, 280-pound offensive tackle from Sandy Creek High School, committed to Georgia Tech over Kentucky among his 10 scholarship offers.

“It was down to Georgia Tech and Kentucky, and I kept thinking what does Kentucky have that Georgia Tech doesn’t have?” Adams told the AJC.

“There is a ton of tradition in my family with Georgia Tech. My grandfather went there, my uncle went there, my brother goes there, my best friend goes there, and my other best friend is going to go there. It’s a very prestigious school. No matter what I major in, it’s going to be a degree from Georgia Tech, which is going to give me the upper hand.

“Georgia Tech has won national championships and ACC championships. I don’t care what the NCAA says, they won the ACC championship …

Continue reading OL Will Adams, lifelong UGA fan, commits to archrival Georgia Tech »