Archive for the ‘Florida State’ Category

With 4,244 yards passing and 54 touchdowns, Lassiter's Hutson Mason is finally starting to generate recruiting interest from ACC and SEC schools. (Photo by Brant Sanderlin)

When you start to knock down state records like so many plastic ducks in a carnival booth and you’re doing it in the playoffs it tends to bring you a little attention.

Such is the case with Lassiter quarterback Hutson Mason, who had at least one ACC coach and one SEC coach in the stands last week when he passed for 530 yards and eight touchdowns in a 70-49 second-round win over South Gwinnett this past Friday.

The following night, Mason got a call from Bob Price, longtime recruiting coordinator and assistant coach at Virginia and an eye witness to the record-setting feat.

“When I picked up the phone he just started laugh,” Mason said Monday, laughing himself at the recollection. “He said, ‘really, man, 550 yards? Really?’ He said, ‘I’ve never seen such a thing in high school.’ He goes, ‘there’s absolutely …

Continue reading ACC, SEC interest in Hutson Mason cranks up »

It was not long after lunch when I reached Deon Rogers on Monday and by then it had already been for him a very long day.

It began about 4 a.m. when he and Treasure Coast High School teammate Jeff Luc arose in an Athens hotel room for the ride to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport to make an 8 a.m. flight. By now he was back in Port St. Lucie, Fla. — just north of Miami on Florida’s east coast — driving to practice to begin preparations for a first-round playoff game Thursday night.

“Yeah, I’m pretty tired,” said Rogers, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound linebacker who committed to Georgia this past summer. “But it was a really good trip. I really enjoyed myself. It was kind of like this summer. I had fun with Coach [John] Jancek and Coach [Mark] Richt and the other players. I’m loving Georgia and I’m feeling real comfortable there.”

That’s good news for the Bulldogs. Next to Frostproof, Fla.’s, Nickell Robey, Rogers is probably considered the shakiest of their commitments for the 2010 …

Continue reading Luc, Rogers happily worn out after long trek to UGA »

Georgia got the fifth and final official visit from Marcus Lattimore, the No. 1 running back prospect in the country, according to Scout.com.

Lattimore told Scout’s Chad Simmons that he definitely intends to make an official visit to Athens on Jan. 29 (subscription required), the last weekend before national signing day on Feb. 3. He made an unofficial visit to UGA on Sept. 12.

“Georgia mainly got the last visit because I like the coaches down there,” Lattimore told Simmons on Thursday. “I especially like Coach [Mark] Richt and how he treats his players down there. I never really got a chance to hang out with any of the players when I visited there before, so I am going to do that and just check out the campus this time.”

A number of schools had been battling to get the final official visit from Lattimore, who has already had paid trips to Auburn (Oct. 31) and Penn State (Nov. 7). He currently has official visits scheduled for Oregon on Jan. 15 and North Carolina on Jan. 22. …

Continue reading Nation’s top back Marcus Lattimore to visit Georgia »

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 »

Apparently Chad Simmons of Scout.com and I are on the same wave length.

The respected Southeast region recruiting analyst put up a report this morning on Calhoun wide receiver Da’Rick Rogers, a five-star prospect, AJC Super 11 selection and a University of Georgia commitment.

It just so happens that I am heading up to Calhoun this afternoon to talk to Rogers, quarterback Nash Nance (a Vanderbilt commitment) and coach Hal Lamb in a previously arranged meeting. My father lives in Calhoun — starred for the Yellow Jackets in the mid-1950s — so I’d planned for a while to get up there and meet in person this phenomenal football player.

Simmons didn’t really steal my thunder, though. Rogers told him what Coach Lamb told me last week, that he remains “solid to Georgia” despite continued intense overtures from Tennessee, Florida and Southern Cal. Hopefully I’ll be able to glean a few more insights from Da’Rick today.

If there are some specific questions you’d like me to ask Rogers, …

Continue reading Checking out Da’Rick Rogers, and other fun stuff »

You have to like Avery Walls’ proactive approach to recruiting.

A junior defensive back at Union Grove, he already has landed an offer from Oklahoma because he and his parents sent a “recruiting packet” they put together that included personal information, video highlights and academic information. They did the same thing for Stanford and it resulted in an official offer from the Cardinal Monday night.

“I talked to Coach [Jim] Harbaugh last night and he asked me if I’d received my official offer letter,” Walls said. “I said I hadn’t seen it. We talked for a while and he was telling me a lot about the school and the campus about the football program. It’s a very prestigious school. I feel great about it.”

Walls (5-10, 180) transferred to Union Grove from Sandy Creek last year. As a safety this season, the junior has four interceptions and leads the team 60 tackles, 10 pass breakups, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery for a touchdown.

Walls has been to at least two …

Continue reading Avery Walls adds Stanford to his list of official offers »

Storm Johnson landed nicely after LSU reneged on him this summer. The Loganville tailback committed to Miami on Sunday.

It was only fitting that a guy named Storm would end up a Hurricane.

Storm Johnson, a Loganville tailback and one of the top rushers in the state, committed to the University of Miami on Sunday. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound senior made the decision without ever seeing the Hurricanes’ Coral Gables campus. He’ll do that during an official visit on Dec. 12.

“I just felt like they were the top of my list,” said Johnson, who transferred to Loganville High from Buford over the summer. “I got along well with the coaches. I like my running backs coach and head coach Randy Shannon. Education-wise, it’s a private school and will be a great education. . . . When I go down there that will be just icing on the cake.”

Johnson said he chose Miami over Michigan State and Oregon, in that order. Florida State, Kentucky, Alabama, North Carolina and N.C. State also were recruiting …

Continue reading RB Storm Johnson commits to Miami Hurricanes »

Justin Tukes, a 6-foot-5, 225-pound tight end and defensive end at Worth County High School, has committed to UCF.

Tukes had offers from UAB and Georgia State. Coach Scotty Ward thinks BCS schools’ missed on him.

“He’s kind of under the radar, I’d guess you’d say,” Ward said. “I mean, we had a lot of big schools through here in the spring and he went to some camps, so they know about him. I just think Central Florida got one heck of a player.”

Ward also thinks some major schools have overlooked offensive and defensive lineman Sherrod Loud. Loud committed to Georgia State earlier this year.

“Sherrod is the best defensive lineman I’ve ever coached,” he said of the 6-foot-1, 285-pound senior. Ward said more schools are “getting in the mix” with Loud, including Western Michigan and UAB.

Now, for your reading pressure, some of our weekly links:

• Here’s some good recruiting news for Georgia, which has seemed to have gotten only bad news lately: Remember five-star wide receiver …

Continue reading UCF lands South Georgia TE, and other news and links »

It’s Friday afternoon and that means it’s almost time for Friday night lights!

We turn our attention south of Atlanta tonight to find the biggest conglomeration of talent on the gridiron as North Clayton plays host to Griffin in a battle of Class AAAA unbeatens.

There will be a bunch of Division 1 talent on both sides of the ball but Comcast Sports Southeast (CSS), which is broadcasting the game live at 7:30 p.m., will surely focus on one matchup in particular — North Clayton’s Clarence Jackson vs. Griffin’s Xzavier Dickson.

Jackson is a longtime Ole Miss commitment who has been making a case as one of the best running backs in Atlanta and is way above average as a linebacker. Staring him down from the other side of the ball will be Dixon, a huge defensive end who the Bears move all over the place to gain matchup advantages and keep offenses guessing where he’ll be. Though just a junior, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Dixon already holds offers from Alabama and Auburn (says Bama …

Continue reading ‘Prospects on Parade’ in N. Clayton-Griffin game »

Storm Johnson said he liked everything about his official visit to Michigan State this past weekend.

Well, almost everything.

Loganville's Storm Johnson, who has over 700 yards rushing and 12 TDs in five games this season, still doesn't have a true leader in recruiting. (AJC Photo)

“It was kind of cold,” Loganville’s star running back said with a grin when I visited him at practice earlier this week. “Forty degrees and raining. It was freezing and this is October! But I guess you learn to deal with that and get used to it.”

And Johnson said he probably could get used to it. He has learned a lot about adaptability and flexibility these past few months.

Johnson transferred from Class AA juggernaut Buford to Loganville after last season. Late this summer, Johnson committed to LSU only to find out afterward the Tigers were no longer interested in his services. Since then Johnson’s recruitment has been, quite literally, all over the map.

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” …

Continue reading Storm Johnson’s recruitment full of twists, turns »