Archive for September, 2012

Darren Dowdell, who has missed half of his senior season with a leg injury, committed to Kentucky on Sunday.

Kentucky-bound TE Darren Dowdell of Grady HS (AJC)

The 6-foot-4, 232-pound tight end from Grady High School picked Kentucky over Louisville and N.C. State among his football scholarship offers, which also Wake Forest, Maryland and Indiana.

“They’ve been my leader for a while,” Dowdell told the AJC. “When I went up there again this weekend with my dad, I got a chance to interact with the coaches and players. I felt like I was at home.”

Dowdell plays both sides of the ball at Grady, but is being recruited by Kentucky as a hybrid tight end.

“I think Kentucky is getting a super player, a guy that can make plays,” Grady coach Ronnie Millen said. “At tight end, he’s a guy that can catch, and he can block. They will be able to use him in a lot of different ways in that offense.”

Dowell, who has a 3.4 GPA and plans to major in Sports Medicine or Mathematics, …

Continue reading Darren Dowdell: Kentucky edges Louisville and NC State for TE-DE »

Alabama appears to be on the way to another No. 1-ranked recruiting class (AP)

Onetime UGA recruit, Derrick Henry, finally revealed his highly-anticipation on Friday afternoon.

He’s Alabama bound.

The 5-star RB from Florida’s Yulee High School picked Alabama over runner-up Tennessee, followed by UGA.

It was not a surprise that Henry committed to Alabama, as he had been favoring the Crimson Tide since early last summer.

“The way Coach Saban has his program, the way his players are when they come out, it’s amazing,” Henry told al.com. “My position playing running back with Mark (Ingram) and Trent (Richardson) what they did there and what T.J. (Yeldon) has already done there. The way they run their program, it’s like a business-style program. That’s their mentality and how they approach everything, even in the classroom.”

Henry committed to UGA in the summer of 2010, and stayed loyal to the Bulldogs for nearly a year.

Not only did Henry go from being an UGA commit to Alabama, …

Continue reading Derrick Henry: Alabama beats out Tennessee for ex-UGA commit »

UGA-bound running back Stanley Williams, the marquee football recruit at Apalachee High School has transferred but plenty of other prospects remain at the Barrow County school.

Rakim Peters, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound defensive end, is mulling over scholarship offers from Clemson, Missouri, Mississippi State, Kentucky and Syracuse.

“He’s pretty good in space, but he’s also strong enough and big enough that he can play that defensive end position in a four-man front,” Apalachee coach Shane Davis said.

Apalachee also features Johnny Thompson, a 6-3, 215-pound tight end that has committed to Purdue. Due to injuries, Thompson has had to play offensive tackle and had 21 pancake blocks in his first two games.

After his sophomore season last year, Williams transferred from Apalachee to a nearby private school, George Walton Academy. Williams committed to play at UGA after his freshman year in high school.

Apalachee plays host to Clarke Central at 7:30 pm Thursday in a game that …

Continue reading UGA-bound RB is gone but other stars remain »

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.

Kyle Wilson is a wide receiver who transferred to Sandy Creek High School from Alpharetta this summer for his senior year. The 6-foot-3, 180-pounder is still waiting on his first football scholarship offer.

Sandy Creek WR Kyle Wilson (AJC)

I’ve been getting a lot more interest from schools I haven’t even targeted, which is good.  They tell me that they’ve been watching me and to keep doing what I’m doing.  I don’t know how it will turn out, but I am thankful that I am in a good situation this year.  I’m waiting to hear back from a few D1 schools that are reviewing my highlights from this season so far.  I really feel confident that I can play at the next level and be a key factor in a program.  I’m looking forward to being a part of …

Continue reading Recruiting Dairy: Sandy Creek WR Kyle Wilson (Vol. III) »

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Will UGA land the commitment of 5-star RB Derrick Henry again?

The Bulldogs are listed as one of the three finalists for Henry, along with Alabama and Tennessee.

Henry will finally make his highly-anticipated decision at 3 p.m. Friday at Florida’s Yulee High School, unless he changes the date again.

You know the story on Derrick Henry: He committed to UGA two summers ago, and remained pledged to the Bulldogs for nearly a year, before opening up things in June.

Could UGA land Henry again? After all, another UGA commit for 2013, WR Tramel Terry, committed, de-committed, and recommitted to UGA. But it seems far less likely with Henry, especially since he hasn’t visited UGA since the summer.

Who will get Henry? Alabama was almost everybody’s pick but now Tennessee appears to be making a strong push. Henry visited Tennessee last week.

Bama, Vols or UGA? (247sports)

Yulee coach Bobby Ramsay …

Continue reading Derrick Henry: UGA, Alabama or Tennessee for 5-star RB? »

• RELATED: Does UGA have a chance at flipping top Alabama footbal recruit?

JC offensive lineman Trenton Brown has officially de-committed from UGA.

The move did not come as a surprise for UGA, as Brown had been hinting at it for a couple of weeks. Two recruiting websites, ESPN and 247sports, went ahead and removed Brown’s name from the list of UGA’s 2013 commitments last week.

On Wednesday, Brown’s coach at Georgia Military junior college said the 6-foot-8, 360-pounder had informed UGA’s coaches last week that he was opening back up his recruitment, according to the Athens Banner-Herald’s Marc Weiszer:

“From what he told me, he felt like he wasn’t shot straight with what their plans for him were,” Bert Williams said. “I can tell (Brown and his father) were kind of upset with things as far as what they anticipated him playing.”

Brown wanted to play offensive tackle, but was worried that UGA might play him at guard.

The Bulldogs now have 27 commitments for …

Continue reading Trenton Brown: JC offensive lineman de-commits from UGA »

Does UGA have a chance at the speedster who some rank as the state’s No. 1 prospect at RB?

Tyren Jones of Walton High School has been committed to Alabama since early last spring. Jones is the member of the AJC’s Super 11 team.

The 5-foot-8, 192-pounder has maintained that he will visit some other schools. Earlier this month, Jones told DawgNation that one of his official visits will be to UGA.

UGA is also in the sweepstakes for the other RB who is ranked by some as the state’s best – Alvin Kamara of Norcross High School. Kamara has UGA and Alabama as his co-leaders.

Ironically, both Jones and Kamara could be affected by Friday’s decision of 5-star RB Derrick Henry, who de-committed from UGA and is now deciding between Alabama, Tennessee and the Bulldogs.

Continue reading Tyren Jones: Does UGA have a chance at Alabama RB commit? »

DT Montravius Adams, pictured here at the Georgia Dome for Auburn-Clemson, is planning to visit UGA this weekend (247sports.com)

UGA will get a chance to entertain the state’s top uncommitted prospect and his mother this weekend.

Montravius Adams, the 5-star defensive tackle from Dooly County High School, told the AJC he will make an unofficial visit to UGA with his mother for the Tennessee game. He’s ranked as the nation’s No. 2 overall prospect by 247sports.com.

Auburn and Clemson are the rumored frontrunners for the 6-foot-4, 310-pounder who visited Florida State last weekend. Alabama is also considered to be among the favorites for Adams.

Wilcox County coach Mark Ledford, who has coached several D1 signees including former UGA DB Nick Marshall, said Montravius lives up to the hype. “I just think he’s another kid from our area that has the potential to be a great college football player. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a kid with that size be as explosive as he …

Continue reading INSIDER: Celebrated 5-star recruit will visit UGA this weekend »

UGA is back in the sweepstakes for DB Brendan Langley, who once listed the Bulldogs and Alabama as his co-leaders before eventually committing to South Carolina last month

A new recruiting sales pitch by UGA has gotten the Bulldogs back into the running for one of the state’s top defensive backs.

UGA has told Brendan Langley, a 4-star defensive back from Kell High School, that he can play both football and basketball in college.

Langley committed to South Carolina over UGA, among other schools, last month.

“Yes, the basketball opportunity really helps out Georgia — that’s the only reason they’re back in it at all,” Langley told the AJC. “If it weren’t for the basketball, I don’t think I’d be looking at them like this. I mean, I’m committed to South Carolina. But Georgia has something just as good to offer. I definitely want to look into it.”

This past weekend, Langley made an unofficial visit to UGA for the Vanderbilt game. Before the football game, Langley …

Continue reading Brendan Langley: UGA back in race for one of state’s top DB recruits (UPDATED) »

What happened between Kelsey Griffin and UGA?

The 4-star defensive tackle offered some insight on late Friday after his football game for Mill Creek High School.

4-star DL Kelsey Griffin (AJC)

Earlier in the day, Griffin sat with his parents in front of TV cameras and publicly committed to UGA. However, a few hours later, his coach stated to the AJC that he was not pledged to the Bulldogs.

Apparently, Griffin made a commitment that UGA was not ready or willing to accept.

“I did not affirm my commitment,” Griffin said. “For right now, that’s all I have to say. It wasn’t confirmed. It wasn’t official. So right now, I’m uncommitted.”

Why didn’t UGA accept the commitment? What was the reason? Did Griffin think he had a committable football scholarship offer from UGA and he did not? What gave Griffin or his coach the impression that he did? What caused the misunderstanding? Which side was responsible for it? How did UGA explain it to his coach on late Friday …

Continue reading Kelsey Griffin on what went wrong with his brief commitment to UGA (UPDATED) »