Archive for the ‘Clemson’ Category

A third Buford football player is headed to the Southeastern Conference to play football.

Du’Von Millsap, a 6-foot-5, 330-pound offensive lineman, committed to South Carolina late last week, Wolves coach Jess Simpson confirmed. Millsap chose the Gamecocks over Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, Clemson and several others.

“Yeah, he’d been up there a couple times last spring and last summer and always liked them a lot,” Simpson said. “But he waited to make a decision. He’s been putting it off a while now and decided he just wanted to go ahead and get it over with.”

Millsap, who plays mainly offensive tackle and some defensive tackle for the Class AA Wolves, projects as a guard in college. Teammates Kolton Houston (Georgia), a offensive tackle, and Jessell Curry (Auburn), a linebacker who stars for Buford at running back, are also headed to SEC schools.

Houston and Millsap give Buford a mighty pair of bookend tackles, especially for a Class AA school.

“He’s just a big guy that bends well …

Continue reading Buford’s Du’Von Millsap commits to South Carolina »

About the time Da’Rick Rogers got a coveted fifth star added to his recruiting ranking, the Calhoun wide receiver and University of Georgia commitment also got an impromptu visit from Tennessee.

Ed Orgeron, Lane Kiffin’s right-hand man in recruiting, dropped in at Calhoun High to try to get a foot in the door of Rogers’ recruitment.

“Yeah, Coach O came by a couple of weeks ago,” Calhoun coach Hal Lamb said. “He kind of  ‘bumped into’ Da’Rick like they all do. But that was the extent of it.”

Rogers was not particularly impressed.

“He’s a Georgia Bulldog,” Lamb said. “He’s solid.”

Rogers, a 6-foot-3, 207-pound senior, has been committed to Georgia since early June. And it’s going to be hard to pry Rogers away from the Bulldogs.

Lamb’s father, Ray Lamb, has been Georgia’s coordinator of high school relations since 1993. Not surprisingly, Rogers has been a regular at the Bulldogs’ football camps ever since he came under the tutelage of Hal Lamb at Calhoun.

It has been a …

Continue reading UGA 5-star commit Da’Rick Rogers not swayed by UT »

Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin just won another battle in the recruiting war he declared on Georgia. And this time the Vols’ victory came less than an hour from Athens.

A.J. Johnson, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound junior linebacker from Gainesville, committed to the Vols on Wednesday, shortly after completing a practice attended by UT assistant coach Ed Orgeron. He attended the Tennessee-Georgia game in Knoxville as an unofficial visitor on Saturday.

Tennessee was the first school to offer the swift-footed junior last December. He said he grew up a Georgia Bulldogs’ fan and camped there this past summer but the Bulldogs never offered.

“I’m guessing they were just waiting,” said Johnson, who has 80 tackles so far this season. “They didn’t come after me like Tennessee did. If Georgia had offered me I probably would have committed right there.”

Johnson, who had at least 12 offers, also attended camps at  Florida, Clemson and Auburn. He can’t sign an actual scholarship until February of …

Continue reading Kiffin strikes again as 2011 LB Johnson commits to Vols »

Kareem Martin said his official visit to Georgia Tech this past weekend went flawlessly and elevated the Yellow Jackets significantly in his eyes. But not so much that he’d be willing to cancel other trips.

So it will likely be after the football season before Martin lets Tech know whether or not he’ll be playing on The Flats next fall. But in the meantime he definitely like what he saw.

“I had a great time,” said Martin, who is also considering North Carolina, Clemson, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech. “It helped [Georgia Tech] a lot. I liked everything about it. But being an official visit, I need to take some official visits to other places so I can compare them fairly.”

Martin is a 6-foot-4, 240-pound defensive end from Roanoke Rapids, N.C. He is pretty much the Jackets’ only remaining target for the 2010 recruiting class. Tech already has 12 commitments for its February signing class and, unless there is some sort of roster attrition between now and then, it won’t be able to …

Continue reading Kareem Martin gets star treatment from Georgia Tech »

For every recruit, there is always going to be a first offer. No matter what it’s going to be memorable if for nothing else than being the first one, which legitimizes you as a college prospect.

For Union Grove’s Avery Walls, that first one was quite a doosie.

Union Grove safety Avery Walls has burst onto the recruiting scene as a junior. He recently received his first scholarship offer — from Oklahoma. (Photo by Jeff Hurndon/www.jhurndon.com)

Walls, a 5-11, 185-pound junior defensive back, got his first official scholarship offer from Oklahoma this past week. Usually it’s a mid-major school from the MAC or possibly some ACC or SEC bottom dweller that pulls the trigger first. Not a BCS powerhouse such as the Sooners.

“At first I was just speechless,” Walls said Tuesday. “I couldn’t believe it. Then I just felt real blessed.”

Walls  is a solid college prospect for sure. But he hadn’t previously received the treatment of some of today’s superstar underclassmen. So the offer …

Continue reading Union Grove’s Walls lands offer from Oklahoma, visits GT »

Georgia Tech has already built an impressive recruiting class and has almost completely maxed out with 12 commitments, all of them from the state of Georgia. But the Yellow Jackets wouldn’t mind adding at least one more special player, even if it upsets the all-Georgia theme.

Kareem Martin, one of the top defensive ends in North Carolina, will be on campus this weekend as Tech’s only official visitor. The 6-foot-6, 240-pound Martin is described by Roanoke Rapids High School coach Russell Weinstein as “a coach’s dream.” And one can see why, what with the 4.0 grade-point average in AP honors coursework and a 4.65 40-yard dash timed by college scouts.

“He’s an impact player on defense,” said Weinstein,  who said Martin finished third in state in the high jump last year. “He can play standing up on the outside or with a hand on the ground. He’s averaging 12 tackles a game for us and teams are scheming away from him. He’s three-sport all-conference in football, basketball and …

Continue reading Georgia Tech gets official visit from N.C. DE Kareem Martin »

North Gwinnett's 6-foot-5, 225-pound quarterback C.J. Uzomah has proven to be a much better under center than anybody anticipated, hence dozens of offers as a junior. (AJC Photo By Josh Weiss)

It has all been kind of overwhelming for C.J. Uzomah, but in a good way. Kind of like a warm wave crashing unexpectedly over his head while wading on a beautiful beach.

This time a year ago, North Gwinnett’s big quarterback was just a long, lanky receiver hauling in passes from all-everything quarterback Mikey Tamburo (now at Boise State). Today he is one of the most sought-after junior prospects in the state. He already has more than a dozen offers and they’re all from major SEC and ACC powers and beyond.

“I’m just kind of taking it in,” the soft-spoken Uzomah said shortly before taking the practice field on Thursday. “The first [offer] from UGA was a surprise, all the way to the very last one from Oklahoma State. It’s just a wonderful opportunity to continue my career after high …

Continue reading N. Gwinnett’s Uzomah attracting major recruiting attention »

There’s a very good chance the state player of the year could come from Gainesville this season. Just which player is another question.

The Red Elephants, ranked No. 1 in Class AAA, feature a pair of AJC Super 11 selections in quarterback Blake Sims and wide receiver Tai-ler Jones. Both had them have lived up to those distinctions. Then there’s the matter of their lesser-known teammate Tyson Smith. As far as big plays per opportunity, his ratio is out of this world.

All their talents were on display this past Friday as Gainesville rolled to a 55-12 victory over North Hall.

>The quarterback Sims — an Alabama commitment — completed 14-of-21 passes for 275  yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another.

>The wide receiver Jones — a Stanford commitment — caught 10 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns and added a fourth TD on a 47-yard fumble return. A 58-yard punt return TD was called back for a penalty.

>Then there’s Smith, a running back that coach Bruce Miller likes …

Continue reading Top performances from state’s blue-chip prospects »

Georgia appears to have reaped some recruiting rewards — at least in the short term –  during its thrilling 41-37 win over South Carolina on Saturday.

The Bulldogs hosted dozens of elite prospects for the game on unofficial visits, including a number of players that are also considering South Carolina. It appears that Georgia moved up at least a notch or two for virtually all of them.

The Bulldogs appear to have made some major headway with running back Marcus Lattimore, who is considered the No. 1 back in America. The Duncan, S.C., resident, who stars for Byrnes High School, did not previously have Georgia among his top five but does now after his unofficial visit.

“I have to say that they are back in it for me,” Lattimore told Scout.com’s Chad Simmons. “Georgia has never pressured me and that meant a lot. . . . Me, my dad, and my cousins went down to the game and it was crazy. The atmosphere, the crowd, the game, it was all ridiculous. The students were so loud the entire …

Continue reading South Carolina game moves Dogs up with several recruits »

Alabama commitment Blake Sims plays quarterback for Gainesville but is listed as the proverbial “athlete” by most of the recruiting services.

Friday night, the AJC Super 11 selection showed why.

On the Red Elephants’ third play from scrimmage, Sims shifted out to wide receiver and caught a short pass from running back Tyson Smith. After sidestepping an initial defender Sims turned it into a 71-yard touchdown reception. That was the first of two touchdown catches Sims hauled in from Smith during the 42-20 win over White County. He added another 77-yarder later.

Sims also showed off his skills under center by throwing three touchdown passes. His final numbers on the night: 88 yards passing, 148 yards receiving and 5 TDs accounted for.

No wonder nobody’s sure what to do with Sims in college. Rivals.com projects the 6-foot-183-pounder as a safety and rates him No. 29 in the country at that position.

“There’s a little bit of doubt about that,” Gainesville coach Bruce Miller said of …

Continue reading Bama has many options in Super 11 commitment Blake Sims »