Archive for August, 2012

Did Florida release a recruit? Or simply lose him to Vanderbilt? (AP)

Did Will Muschamp withdraw the scholarship offer to one of the Florida’s recruits? Did the prospect de-commit on his own? Or did Vanderbilt simply recover and beat out the Gators in a head-to-head battle?

Details are still emerging on DB Tre Bell of New Jersey, who had been committed to Florida since April.

Over the weekend, Bell announced on Twitter that he was now pledged to Vanderbilt.

What happened? The Gainesville Sun’s Zach Abolverdi offered this insight:

A source close to the situation told The Sun that UF’s coaches wanted to see Bell in action this summer so they could critique his play, something several of Florida’s commits were required to do. But Bell never attended any of Florida’s camps in June and didn’t work out when he came down for Friday Nights Lights on July 27. The source said Bell refused to participate because his coach, Rich Hansen, advised him against it.

With many more …

Continue reading Did Florida Gators withdraw DB’s scholarship offer? »

FSU-bound DE Davin Bellamy

As expected, one of the state’s most-heavily recruited prospects committed to Florida State on Saturday.

Davin Bellamy, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound defensive end from Chamblee High School, picked Florida State over Vanderbilt, among his 33 football scholarship offers, which also included UGA and Georgia Tech.

“I just felt like I had to make a decision to go with the school that would be better for my career and help my chances of going pro,” Bellamy told the AJC. “I thought Florida State could do that for me.”

UGA was thought to be a serious contender for the 4-star recruit but Bellamy said he hadn’t heard much from Bulldogs since Brookwood’s Shaun McGee committed to UGA last month. “Georgia was definitely among my favorites but they lost communications with me. A lot of people are telling me that Georgia will come back on me later in the year.”

What if Georgia comes back after him? “If they do, I’m 100-percent committed to Florida …

Continue reading Davin Bellamy: FSU lands 4-star DE who will still visit other schools »

Does anybody really think that Davin Bellamy will pick Florida State over Vanderbilt on Saturday?

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Bellamy is a 6-foot-4, 235-pound defensive end from Chamblee High School who is one of the state’s most-heavily recruited college prospects with 33 football scholarship offers. His first offer was from Georgia Tech, and he also claims a UGA offer.

At Chamblee’s media day shortly after noon on Saturday, Bellamy will commit to either Florida State or Vanderbilt.

Who do you think Bellamy will pick? We’ve been wrong before, but how often does Vanderbilt beat out FSU for a top recruit?

DE Davin Bellamy has 33 offers

We asked Bellamy: Are any of his friends predicting a Vanderbilt upset? “Well, they do think with my personality, I will go to Vanderbilt and be the man as soon as I step on campus. But most people know my dream is to play in the NFL, and most people think Florida State would get me there. …

Continue reading Davin Bellamy: FSU or Vanderbilt for 4-star DE? »

Some of Atlanta’s college football prospects will be writing a weekly diary for the AJC until February’s signing day. They will be sharing their thoughts, opinions, adventures and perspectives on the recruiting journey.

Rashard Fant is considered one of the state’s top sleeper prospects. He has been overlooked by many colleges because he attends the small private school of Our Lady of Mercy. However, he has impressed enough as an “athlete” to earn early college football scholarship offers from Florida State, Utah, Ole Miss and Kentucky, among others. Many other colleges will be evaluating him as a senior.

The year 2012 has been quite a rollercoaster for me with football.  I came into the year with zero college football scholarship offers, and I went into the spring with zero offers as well. During spring practice, I had more than 50 college coaches come to my school to visit me. I left spring with one offer, from Western Kentucky.  During this summer, I caught the …

Continue reading Recruiting Diary: Our Lady of Mercy ATH Rashard Fant (Vol. I) »

UGA, Alabama, and Florida are reportedly the top three for 5-star Laremy Tunsil (247sports)

UGA will be one of the five official visits for the No. 1-ranked offensive lineman in the country, according to multiple reports.

Laremy Tunsil is a 5-star offensive tackle who is 6-foot-6, 290-pounds and from Columbia, Fla.

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Tunsil declared this week that he will take his five official visits to UGA, Alabama, LSU, USC and Ole Miss. He is also considering Florida and Florida State.

Tunsil recently told USA Today that Alabama, UGA and Florida are his top three.

“I’m in love with Georgia, I can tell you that right now,” Tunsil told ESPN’s Kipp Adams. “I have a relationship with all the coaches there … I would have to say that Georgia has given me the best guideline so far on how they would use me and develop me in college …”

Tunsil also said he was not bothered by the recent …

Continue reading UGA will get an official visit from 5-star football recruit »

One of Alabama’s top football recruits was allegedly encouraged by an Alabama assistant coach to transfer high schools to help with his academics, according to the Pensacola News Journal.

Defensive tackle Darius Paige transferred from Washington High School in Pensacola, Fla., to Alabama’s Foley High School this week. Washington assistant George Schellang charged that Paige was encouraged to transfer by Alabama assistant Jeremy Pruitt.

“Darius came in the office one day during the summer after (former head) coach (Mike) Smith left and sat down and told me coach Pruitt, who is the Alabama coach who was recruiting him, wanted him to go to Foley High School,” Schellang said. “Basically, he said (Foley High) could take care of him academically.

“My reaction was shock and dismay that a Division I coach would tell a high school athlete that he needed to transfer, that they had people there to help.”

In a Thursday story, Washington’s coaches stood by the allegations to the

Continue reading Alabama accused of encouraging recruit to transfer to high school that would “take care of him” »

UGA DT commit "Moose" Johnson (247sports.com)

Longtime UGA recruit DeAndre “Moose” Johnson said the rumors that he will miss his senior season with an injury are not true.

But the 6-foot-3, 311-pounder definitely has a painful injury.

Earlier this summer, Johnson damaged his left wrist while lifting weights. He thought it was something minor and would quickly go away. “All I know was that it started swelling and I couldn’t move it until the swelling went down.

“Moose” is not sure exactly what the injury is, with an X-ray showing that “no bones were out of place.” He is scheduled for an MRI later this month. Before practices, he wraps it up with rolls of bandages that make his left wrist look like a club. But he hasn’t missed any practices.

“I will play through the pain,” he said.

DECISION DAY: One of the state’s most-heavily recruited prospects, Davin Bellamy, will commit to either Florida State or Vanderbilt around noon on Saturday. Georgia Tech was …

Continue reading INSIDER: UGA football recruit battles back from injury »

Tennessee's Derek Dooley has 16 commits for 2013, including two from Georgia (AP)Jonesboro High School teammates Cameron Sutton and Taurean Ferguson will be playing for rivals SEC schools.

Jonesboro High School teammates Cameron Sutton and Taurean Ferguson will be playing for rivals SEC schools.

Sutton committed to Tennessee over Arkansas, Pitt and Georgia Tech, among others, on Tuesday night. The 6-foot, 180-pounder will play cornerback. Ferguson, who also is a Jonesboro corner, committed to Vanderbilt earlier this summer.

“Cam went to Tennessee’s camp in July and kind of fell in love with them right away,” Jonesboro coach DeTimothy Floyd told the AJC. “He took his parents back up there to visit the campus and talk to the coaches. Once they checked out everything, they were all right with him committing.

“I think the biggest thing in Tennessee’s favor may have been the depth chart. Cameron may have the chance to play early. The closer on the deal was his …

Continue reading Cameron Sutton: Tennessee beats out Arkansas, Pitt and Georgia Tech for DB »

There’s a new tape out on Shaquille Johnson, who may be the best dunker in Georgia basketball history.

The first video on Shaq, that you can see here, got more than 2.3 million page views.

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I’m not sure if the new one is better, but it is against better competition – a lot of the slam dunks were in games during Milton High School’s run to the Class AAAAA state championship.

Johnson is an Auburn signee, and we can’t wait until this season when the college basketball world finds out about him, if they haven’t already.

What do you think after watching both videos? Is Shaq the best out of Georgia? Is there anybody close? If so, please state your case. Surely, we have some old-timers who saw Darrin Hancock, Jeff Sheppard, Kenny Walker, and Herb White.

But how can 2.3 million page views and counting be wrong?

THE LATEST

• INSIDER: Top UGA football recruit battles back from injury
• Georgia WR commits to …

Continue reading Is Shaq Johnson the best dunker in Georgia HS history? »

Missy Franklin to UGA? (AP)

The face of U.S. Olympic women’s swimming may attend college at UGA.

Missy Franklin, who is the darling of the 2012 Summer Olympics after winning four gold medals, told NBC’s Bob Costas on Sunday night that she will turn down millions of dollars of endorsements to realize her dream of swimming for a college team.

When Costas asked which colleges she was considering, Franklin replied “Cal-Berkley, Georgia, USC and maybe Texas.”

Franklin’s mention of the Bulldogs sent UGA fans on Twitter into a frenzy.

The 17-year-old Franklin is a rising senior at Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Colorado. At the Olympics, she also set the world record in the 200-meter backstroke. She talked about the decision to remain as an amateur with Costas:

“I have always wanted to swim in college. I love being a part of team. It is so important to me. A  lot of people think of swimming as an individual event, but there is such a huge team aspect behind [it] in …

Continue reading Missy Franklin: Olympic swimming star may attend UGA »