Archive for January, 2013

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Vonn Bell, the 5-star safety from Ridgeland, nearly committed after the completion of his senior season. One of the main reasons he waited was to give a fair shake to his childhood favorite, Tennessee.

His other two finalists are Ohio State and rumored frontrunner Alabama.

“I waited because I wanted to go visit the campuses again, and give Tennessee a chance because they lost their coach at the end of the year,” Bell said. “I want to give everybody an equal and fair shot.”

How does Bell feel about the Volunteers? “They’re in a slump right now but I think Butch Davis … I mean, Butch Jones, is the guy that will bring them out of that slump.”

Bell had a lot of nice things to say about Urban Meyer and his national championship at Florida. But he may have saved his highest praise for Nick Saban.

“Alabama … it just speaks for itself,” Bell said. They are in …

Continue reading Vonn Bell on Nick Saban: “He’s a DB coach, and he’s going to be coaching me” »

It was a rough week and rough month for Dooly County defensive tackle Montravius Adams.

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The 6-foot-4, 300-pounder injured his ankle on the first day of Under Armour All-America practice and was diagnosed with a stress fracture. Adams, who was in a walking boot for the rest of the week, said it was related to being injured on a “chop block” in the loss to ECI in the Class A state championship game.

After Friday’s Under Armour game in St. Petersburg, Fla., Adams left immediately for an official visit to Florida.

He has also scheduled trips to Clemson, Alabama and Georgia this month.

He is deciding between Auburn, Ole Miss, North Carolina and USC for his fifth and final visit.

Adams had mixed feelings about defensive line coach Rodney Garner being hired away from Georgia. “It didn’t really change things. Well, it affected it a little bit. Me and him were really …

Continue reading Montravius Adams: 5-star DT to visit Clemson, Alabama and UGA next »

Mackendy Cheridor, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound tight end from Columbia High School, committed to Georgia State on Sunday.

“When I visited there, they really showed me that they wanted me to be a part of the program,” Cheridor told the AJC. “They told me I could be one of the best tight ends in the conference.”

Cheridor picked Georgia State over scholarship offers from Florida International, Western Carolina, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and Eastern Kentucky. Syracuse and and Arkansas have also called about him.

You can watch Cheridor’s highlight film by CLICKING HERE.

RELATED: Cheridor’s teammate at Columbia, offensive tackle, Charles Rutledge, has committed to Tennessee Tech.

Continue reading TE Mackendy Cheridor commits to Georgia State »

UGA suffered a big blow when Naim Mustafaa switched his commitment from the Bulldogs to Oklahoma State.

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound defensive end from Alpharetta High School said he let UGA’s coaches know his decision a few days ago, and went public with it on Saturday. He starts college on Monday.

For the second year in a row, one of UGA's football recruits switched to … Oklahoma State. LB Naim Mustafaa let the Bulldogs know a few days ago (247sports)

“I kept re-evaluating my decision, and I felt like Oklahoma State was better off for me,” said Mustafaa over the telephone from Oklahoma City’s airport.

“I really like the area in Stillwater, and the team, and the tradition of the Oklahoma State program, and all of that.

“It’s hard not going to Georgia because I’m from Georgia. But I want to go to the NFL one day, so I have got to do what’s best for me.”

Mustafaa thinks he will be better fit as a defensive end in Oklahoma State’s 4-3 defense rather than in UGA’s 3-4 as an outside …

Continue reading Longtime UGA DE commit Naim Mustafaa flips to Oklahoma State »

Brice Ramsey, UGA’s QB of the future, would’ve liked to have had a better performance to end his high school career. Then again, the Camden County product wasn’t going to beat himself too much after Friday’s Under Armour All-America game.

Camden County QB Brice Ramsey is one of 13 UGA commits that will begin college classes on Monday (247sports)

It was, after all, an all-star game, where kids are thrown together for only a few days. In these games, the offenses are always at a disadvantage, and everything is pretty unorganized. Think of it on the same level of a “pickup” basketball game.

Ramsey completed 5 of 16 passes with three interceptions for 64 yards in the White team’s 16-3 loss to the Black.

“It was tough,” Ramsey said. “You come out there and try to get everyone on the same page. And when everyone is not on the same page, it makes for chaos. That was what kind of happened tonight. But it was a good experience and a lot of fun.”

After the game, rather than taking it …

Continue reading UGA-bound QB Brice Ramsey shakes off three interceptions, ready for college »

UGA officials confirmed on Friday that 13 of its recruits have enrolled early in college.

The Bulldogs, which have 30 commitments for 2013, originally had 17 recruits that intended to start class on Monday for the spring semester. However, only 13 were cleared through admissions. The others will have to wait until May.

UGA needed to hit the magic number of 10 early enrollees circumvent the SEC’s new over-signing rules on a 25-man annual limit on class size. Under the rules, 10 of this year’s recruits will be “back-counted” toward the 2012 scholarship numbers, permitting the Bulldogs to sign 25 in February.

With 13 total enrolling early, 10 of those will count toward last year, and the other three will go toward this year’s numbers.

The last admittance of the group was John Atkins, a defensive tackle from Virginia’s Hargrave prep school.

On Thursday, Atkins told the AJC that he was approved by the NCAA Clearinghouse after his coach discovered that one of his grades had been …

Continue reading UGA confirms that 13 football recruits have enrolled early »

Ohio State-bound LB Trey Johnson (right) with his Central Gwinnett coach Todd Wofford

ST. PETERSBURG, FL. – The best linebacker from Georgia not named Reuben Foster committed to Ohio State on national TV on Friday.

Central Gwinnett High School’s Trey Johnson picked Ohio State over Florida and Tennessee during the Under Armour All-America football game on ESPN. Johnson de-committed from Auburn last month after the coaching change.

“Ohio State is getting an SEC-caliber player, which is what Urban Meyer is trying to bring to his Ohio State teams,” Central Gwinnett coach Todd Wofford told the AJC.

“It’s the same format that Brian Kelly did with Notre Dame and their defense – bring as many kids from the south up north, and have them outrun the offenses.

After Friday’s game, Johnson was scheduled to meet in the team hotel with Meyer. He’s also supposed to sit down with Auburn’s defensive coaches, which are desperately trying to lure him back to the Tigers before …

Continue reading Trey Johnson: Ohio State beats out Florida and Tennessee for ex-Auburn LB commit »

Robert Nkemdiche (No. 1 jersey) blows by another offensive lineman at a national all-star game. Will No. 1 keep the No. 1 ranking after this week? We'll find out in another week or so, but probably (Photo courtesy of Chris Hays/Orlando Sentinel)

LAKE BEUNA VISTA, FLA. — Robert Nkemdiche is already ranked as the nation’s No. 1 overall college football prospect.

This week, if it was possible for the defensive end from Grayson High School to soar any higher in everybody’s minds, Nkemdiche might’ve done it.

The 6-foot-6, 285-pounder won over his teammates, his coaches and the recruiting media with his athletic skills and friendly personality leading up to the Under Armour All-America game at 5 p.m. Friday. The ESPN-televised all-star game features 90 of the nation’s top high school players.

“God is very good, and it’s all God making it happen,” said Nkemdiche, who is favoring Ole Miss, where his older brother plays linebacker.

Despite Nkemdiche’s longtime …

Continue reading Robert Nkemdiche: Last defense of No. 1 ranking »

UGA got some unexpected good news with one of its commitments on Thursday.

John Atkins, a 6-foot-4, 310-pound defensive tackle from Virginia’s Hargrave prep school, was told that the NCAA Clearinghouse had corrected a mistake on his transcript — allowing him to enroll early at UGA.

UGA DT commit John Atkins (hargravesports.com)

“I feel good, I feel blessed,” Atkins told the AJC on Thursday evening, while making the six-hour trip from Virginia to Georgia.

“I couldn’t believe it when I heard it. They told me ‘You’re going to Georgia, and you will be there by tomorrow.”

Atkins will provide immediate help this spring to a UGA defense that will be depleted by graduation and NFL departures. He will play nose tackle.

Last year, Atkins signed with UGA out of Thomson High School but failed to meet NCAA academic requirements. This year, Atkins went to Hargrave to improve his academics and hoped to enroll at UGA in January but was told he needed to stay at the prep school longer to …

Continue reading UGA gets some unexpected good news »

Whomever RB Alvin Kamara visits on Feb. 1 will likely have inside position (AJC)

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. — Alvin Kamara, the AJC’s Mr. Football, has two major decisions to make over the next month:

The biggest one is picking a college, with the Norcross High School running back listing Alabama and UGA as his co-leaders, and Oregon somewhere in the mix. He’s got a month to figure that out.

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The other one is a little more pressing: Next week, Kamara will finally decide which college he will visit on Feb. 1, the final recruiting weekend before signing day.

“I’m not certain where I will take that last visit, I’m still trying to figure it out,” Kamara said. “Both Alabama and Georgia want that last visit, so I still got to wait and see.”

Kamara has developed close friendships with the assistants from both of his co-leaders who are in charge of recruiting him, Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby …

Continue reading Alabama and UGA fighting it out for last visit with AJC’s Mr. Football »