Archive for the ‘Big Story’ Category

Did UGA hire one of Robert Nkemdiche’s former high school coaches to get an advantage for the No. 1 college football prospect in the nation?

It’s a JFK conspiracy theory that has been debated here and here and other places all over the Internet.

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For the record, UGA recently hired Daryl Jones as its Director of On-Campus Recruiting – which is the most critical behind-the-scenes job in the recruiting department.

Jones was an assistant (in charge of defensive backs) at Grayson High School for 2009 season, when a talented freshman named “Big Rob” split time between the freshmen team and varsity roster. Soon after, Jones took another job running Under Armour camps before he was hired by UGA.

Nkemdiche and Jones are friends. So now the popular question for Internet message boards – Did UGA hire Nkemdiche’s former coach to get an advantage?

Grayson coach Mickey Conn …

Continue reading Robert Nkemdiche: Did UGA hire coach to get No. 1 prospect? »

The younger brother of UGA quarterback Christian LeMay has set a date for his college decision.

WR Uriah LeMay (Photo courtesy of 247sports.com)

Uriah LeMay, a 4-star wide receiver from Matthews, N.C., will announce on June 1. Due to the family connection, UGA is considered one of the schools to beat for LeMay, who has been poker-faced about his leaders and the recruiting process. On Tuesday, his father sent out this text message to the media:

Uriah LeMay has been nominated to 4 All American games thus far as he approaches his senior season. He has over 30 D1 offers and is now at a point where he is ready to announce his college school of choice. This announcement will take place at Champion Christian Center on June 1st @ 6pm.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound LeMay attended last month’s G-Day game to watch his brother, Christian, who is a red-shirt freshman.

“Obviously with his brother at Georgia, they have as good of a shot as anybody,” said Rusty Mansell, National Recruiting …

Continue reading Uriah LeMay: UGA QB’s younger brother ready to commit »

Nick Saban finally spoke about Justin Taylor: "We never get rid of any kids.We made an agreement, and the guy changed his mind." (AJC)

Three months after signing day, Alabama coach Nick Saban finally spoke publicly about his controversial recruitment of Justin Taylor.

Taylor, the running back from North Atlanta High School, had been committed to Alabama for nearly a year but was told a few weeks before signing day that he couldn’t sign with the Crimson Tide. Click here to read more

Saban said it because of Taylor’s knee injury that cut his senior season, asking him to enroll next January in a practice known as “grayshirting.” Speculation became rampant in the college recruiting world that instead it was a reason to oversign at Alabama and then manage the roster to keep as many recruits as possible within the rules. Taylor ended up signing with Kentucky in February over waiting on Alabama.

On Tuesday, Saban was asked to clarify Taylor’s situation:

“I don’t think I …

Continue reading Nick Saban addresses Justin Taylor controversy, Michael Jackson ball marker »

Only a few days after saying he “really wasn’t a Georgia fan,” one of the state’s top college football prospects at linebacker now has UGA as one of his finalists, along with Georgia Tech.

Naim Mustafaa, a 6-foot-4, 235-pounder from Alpharetta High School, told the AJC on Tuesday night that the two archrivals are his finalists, and that he will make his college decision later this spring – or by early summer, at the latest.

Then he corrected himself with the “finalists” terminology. “Georgia Tech and Georgia are at the top of my list. Behind them are Tennessee and Auburn. I’m still going to look at them some. But at the top of my list are Georgia Tech and UGA.”

Georgia Tech legacy has UGA as his co-leader after resolving a little miscommunication (Photo courtesy of 247sports.com)

What changed with UGA? The Bulldogs reached out to Mustafaa via Facebook last weekend. Apparently, UGA hadn’t been keeping in touch on a regular basis with Mustafaa, which …

Continue reading Naim Mustafaa: Georgia Tech legacy has change of heart, lists UGA as co-leader »

If you've seen this movie, then you know about Ole Miss's new football coach

“Have you ever seen ‘The Blind Side’ movie?”

That’s certainly one of college football’s most unique recruiting pitches.

And it’s used with effectiveness by Hugh Freeze, the first-year coach at Ole Miss. Freeze has a special connection to the 2009 movie: He was the real-life high school football coach of Michael Oher, the movie’s central character who was a “homeless and traumatized boy who became an All-American football player and first-round NFL draft pick with the help of caring woman and her family.”

Just about every sports fan — including many football prospects — has seen the inspirational Hollywood flick. The film’s popularity helps recruits remember Freeze when they are bombarded with attention from dozens of college coaches.

“No doubt, it helps … it’s an instant icebreaker for our assistant coaches or me, particularly for kids who have not heard of Hugh Freeze …

Continue reading Have you ever seen “The Blind Side” movie? »

Note: We are scheduled to have a live video stream of Tony Parker’s announcement at 4 p.m. today

What will Tony Parker do today?

The Atlanta schoolboy legend will make his highly-anticipated college decision shortly after 4 p.m. Monday.

Parker, who is ranked as the nation’s No. 20 overall college basketball prospect by Scout.com, will pick between hats from Duke, UGA, UCLA, Kansas, Ohio State and Memphis.

“Whichever college gets Tony, they will be getting a player with a good feel for the game and a great basketball IQ, along with an incredible post presence,” Miller Grove High School basketball coach Sharman White told the AJC on Sunday night.

Parker’s basketball coach didn’t offer any hints on the big decision, only saying, “I can imagine this weekend was either peaceful or stressful, depending on if he was confident with his choice.”

What will the AJC's Mr. Basketball do? It appears to be UCLA or UGA (AJC)

The 6-foot-9, 280-pound Parker did not return phone …

Continue reading Tony Parker: UCLA lands AJC’s Mr. Georgia Basketball (REPLAY) »

DE Naim Mustafaa is a Georgia Tech legacy but says his father is not forcing the Yellow Jackets on him (247sports.com)

Naim Mustafaa, a Georgia Tech legacy, says his father is not pushing him to follow in his footsteps to play for the Yellow Jackets.

And he said he’s not being pressured either way about archrival UGA by his pops either.

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound linebacker has early football scholarship offers from around 25 colleges, including both UGA and Georgia Tech.

Mustafaa has a top three of Georgia Tech, Auburn and Tennessee. His father, Najee Mustafaa (changed his name from Reggie Rutland), played safety at Georgia Tech in the mid-1980s and for seven seasons in the NFL.

“My dad is not really pushing Georgia Tech on me; he’s not the type to do that,” Mustafaa told the AJC. “He has told me to take my time with my decision, weigh out my options and take my visits. He said it’s my decision to make.”

UGA was one of Mustafaa’s first offers but the Bulldogs are …

Continue reading Naim Mustafaa: Georgia Tech rises, UGA falls … with 4-star DE »

UGA is one of the top contenders for LB Reggie Carter, who is set to make his college decision on Monday afternoon.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pounder from South Gwinnett High School also is being recruited heavily by Alabama, Florida State, South Carolina, Georgia Tech and Tennessee. Carter told the AJC on Monday that his finalists are UGA, Florida State and South Carolina.

UGA appears to be in good position to land Carter. This past weekend, Carter was scheduled to tour South Carolina but instead switched his travel plans to visit the Bulldogs with his parents. It was his second trip to UGA within the last couple of weeks, with Carter also visiting Alabama.

“I’m happy wherever the kid goes,” South Gwinnett coach John Small told the AJC on Monday. “He’s such a great kid. I know he’ll do great things wherever he goes because of the type of young man he is. I’m very excited about following his football career after high school.”

Carter has recovered 100-percent from a …

Continue reading Reggie Carter: Will LB commit to UGA today? »

OL Aulden Bynum of Valdosta has been attending UGA games since he was four weeks old

UGA scored a hat trick in recruiting on Friday.

The Bulldogs picked up three commitments for their 2013 recruiting class – LB Ryne Rankin of Orlando, OL Aulden Bynum of Valdosta, and WR Kyrin Priester of Snellville.

UGA, which may sign as many as 30 recruits next February, now has 12 commitments for next year’s class.

“I’m hearing I was one of three kids that committed today, and that will make a lot of people believe in Georgia and what they’re coaching over there,” said Rankin, who plays football for his father at Orlando’s East River High School.

The 6-foot-1, 231-pound Rankin picked UGA over Penn State among his 18 football scholarship offers, which also included Texas A&M and Ole Miss.

“It was Georgia because of the atmosphere, and people there,” Rankin said. “They’re also thin at linebacker. I’m going to be an early graduate, enroll there next spring, and work my …

Continue reading UGA scores 3 commitments in 1 day »

Wonder Twins: Elliott Berry (left) and Evan Berry claim they are not a "lock" to sign with Tennessee (AJC photo by Michael Carvell)

The twin brothers of University of Tennessee football legend Eric Berry are members of one of the nation’s fastest 400-meter relay teams.

Creekside High School’s Evan and Elliott Berry are two of the state’s top football prospects for 2014, holding early scholarship offers from Alabama, UGA, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Auburn, among others.

The Berry twins are also part of the Creekside relay team which won the Fulton County Championships with an eye-popping time of 40.96 seconds last week. The team’s other members are Auburn football signee Josh Holsey and Sidney Buchanan.

“Oh man, it’s crazy,” said Creekside’s Johnny White, who is the school’s football and track coach. “I’ve been doing this here for 9 years, and I plan on doing it for another 10 or 15. I don’t think we’ll ever have this kind of combined speed together on …

Continue reading Wonder twins! Brothers of NFL star showcase speed »