Archive for the ‘Clemson’ Category

It’s going to be a busy, compressed week, what with the Thanksgiving holiday coming, Georgia Tech and Georgia getting ready to tee off and the quarterfinals of the state high school playoffs upon us.

To get us started for the week I’m just going to give you a quick rundown of what’s out there regarding Tech and Georgia recruiting:

• Believe it or not there were some positives to come out of the Georgia-Kentucky game for the Bulldogs. According to Scout.com’s Chad Simmons, Valdosta tight end Jay Rome came to the game and said “the visit helped Georgia a lot. A whole lot.” The 6-foot-6, 240-pound Rome may be the top tight end in the South next year. He also likes Clemson and Florida.
• Both Scout and Rivals.com wrote stories over the weekend about Georgia being back in it for Washington wide receiver Antonio Goodwin. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Goodwin, who was also in Athens for the Kentucky game, is a four-star receiver in the Class of 2010 and committed to Auburn this past summer. …

Continue reading Some positives for UGA from Kentucky game »

As you may or may not know, today (Wednesday, Nov. 11) is the first day of the early signing period in college athletics. Of course, the most notable of the sports to participate in this process is basketball.

So far there hasn’t been much in the way of surprises. Those who had committed before the week-long window in which you can actually sign a scholarship have done so, for the most part.

For instance, Georgia got a letter-of-intent from the one commitment it had gotten for the Class of 2010 — 6-foot-8 power forward Cady Lalanne of Orlando-Oak Ridge High. Lalanne signed early this morning. The Bulldogs did receive some bad news, however. Center Shawn Kemp Jr., who’s at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia but hails from Canton, signed with Auburn earlier today. He was actually an Alabama signee out of high school but did not qualify.

Georgia State has received the paperwork from two of the three commitments it got this fall: point guard DaVonta White of Roswell-Centenniel …

Continue reading Georgia gets one, loses one on first day of early signings »

On the eve of the early signing period, Georgia Tech got its first basketball commitment for the Class of 2010 from Lakeville, Conn., guard Jason Morris.

The 6-foot-4, 190-pound shooting guard is rated the No. 84 player in the country by Rivals.com and the No. 18 player at his position by Scout.com. He chose Tech over Clemson. He will sign with the Yellow Jackets during the early signing period, which begins Wednesday.

Morris is an Augusta native who has attended The Hotchkiss School, a prestigious boarding school in rural Connecticut, for the last four years. He averaged 17 points and 7 rebounds as a junior last season.

Morris is looking forward to living closer to his family and that had a lot to do with his decision to sign with the Yellow Jackets.

“I couldn’t go wrong with either school as far as the basketball,” he said of choosing between Tech and Clemson. “What I was missing was that gut feeling. I got that when I was there [at Tech on an official visit] this weekend. …

Continue reading Jackets get commitment from 4-star shooting guard »

The college football coach that ends up with Adrian Hubbard on his team come national signing day in February will need to send a thank you note to senior class at Norcross High School.

Why? Because, ultimately, they were the ones that allowed Hubbard to return to the football field after a year’s hiatus. And now, the 6-foot-7, 227-pound defensive end/tight end is one of the unexpected grand prizes in Atlanta’s recruiting class of 2010.

Hubbard is a rarity in the modern age of college football recruiting. That is, he came into his senior year a virtual unknown. Hubbard played football as a sophomore at Peachtree Ridge but he transferred to Norcross as a junior in order to play basketball for the Blue Devils. He did not play football.

This past summer, Hubbard came to coach Keith Maloof and told him that he missed the game and wished to come out for the team. You could only imagine Maloof’s delight as he stared up at the at the towering athletic figure. But he did not accept …

Continue reading Norcross ‘late bloomer’ Hubbard covered up with offers »

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 »