Archive for the ‘Insider’ Category

Within the last couple of months, new Cincinnati coach Tommy Tuberville has been accused of going postal on an assistant coach, leaving Texas Tech recruits in the middle of dinner to accept a new job, and running off longtime recruits at Cincy (AP)

Pebblebrook High School defensive back Demetrius Monday de-committed from Cincinnati on Thursday after never hearing from new coach Tommy Tuberville.

“I think it’s messed up,” his father, Bryant Monday, told the AJC. “You wait until a few weeks before signing day to say something? They could have told us a month ago.

“Now we’re left with less than a month until signing day to figure something out. He had other scholarship offers but he hasn’t talked to those coaches in six months … since he committed to Cincinnati on July 25.

“It’s really disappointing.”

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Monday said he committed to Cincinnati over Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Ball State, Ohio and Georgia State, among others, last …

Continue reading Ex-football recruit on Tommy Tuberville: ‘It’s a bad situation’ (UPDATED) »

Monday was a rough day for Clemson in the state of Georgia.

Two wide receivers from the state that had been committed to Clemson decided to go to other schools.

Lassiter High School’s Ryan Jenkins flipped from Clemson (where his brother plays) to Tennessee (where his father played).

Demarcus Robinson also ended the year’s wildest recruiting soap opera.

The AJC Super 11 wide receiver from Peach County High School originally committed to Clemson, switched to Florida, changed back to Clemson, de-committed last week from the Tigers at an all-star while wearing a Florida hat, was set to announce for a fourth time on NBC on Saturday but canceled because he wasn’t ready, then announced on Twitter on Monday that he would be enrolling that same day at Florida.

I love my gators can’t wait to arrive on campus!

— Demarcus Robinson (@demarcus11robin) January 7, 2013

Jenkins made up his mind after visiting Tennessee last weekend. “After spending time with the coaches and walking …

Continue reading Clemson loses two Georgia WRs in the same day »

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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” »

Urban Meyer has made LB Trey Johnson a recruiting priority (AP)

Georgia will have only one player pick a hat on national TV during an all-star game.

It’s Trey Johnson, the linebacker from Central Gwinnett High School.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pounder will announce his college decision on ESPN during the Under Armour All-America game at 5 p.m. Friday. Here’s Johnson on his finalists:

• Ohio State: “I like the atmosphere up there, and I understand they need linebackers.”
• Florida: “I like the defensive scheme they have, and how good their defense was this year with Will Muschamp.”
• Tennessee: “They brought in the same defensive scheme that Auburn had, which is the same scheme my high school ran, so I feel like I fit into it well.”

Most people consider it “automatic” for Johnson to select Ohio State because that’s the only college that he toured on an official visit. What is Johnson’s response to that? “I made a ton of official visits. I took three trips to Florida. I’ve been …

Continue reading Decision Day: Will it be Ohio State, Florida or Tennessee for 4-star LB? »

In recruiting, there’s the initial commitment and flip. The rarest? A double flip.

AJC Super 11 WR Demarcus Robinson of Peach County High School completed the double flip on Monday when he switched his commitment for a second time, this time going from Florida to Clemson after returning from an official visit with the Gators over the weekend, according to his coach.

For the moment, Clemson appears to have won an intense recruiting battle for AJC Super 11 WR Demarcus Robinson of Peach County HS (AP)

Robinson, who is considered one of the state’s top prospects at his position, originally committed to Clemson but switched to Florida last week after an in-home visit last week with the Gators coaches, including Will Muschamp.

Despite losing Robinson, Clemson never gave up, dispatching several assistants to meet with the 4-star wide receiver last week.

Florida will have a tough time convincing Robinson to switch for a third time since Sunday night was the end of the NCAA’s …

Continue reading Demarcus Robinson: AJC Super 11 WR switches again, picks Clemson »

Auburn’s recruiting has taken some body blows since the firing of Gene Chizik.

At least six prospects have de-committed from Auburn since the coaching change, with 3-star linebacker Jarrad Davis of Camden County High School being the latest.

Auburn has lost 6 recruits since the coaching change. New Auburn coach Gus Malzahn has been hustling around the Southeast to recruit since taking the job (AP)

On Sunday, Davis switched his commitment from Auburn to Florida after taking an official visit with the Gators.

“When they had the coaching change at Auburn, he certainly didn’t know where he was going to stand with them,” Camden County coach Jeff Herron told the AJC. “So people started coming and looking at him, and they asked if he was open to looking at some other places – and he was, which he needed to be in that situation because we didn’t know for a couple of weeks what was going to happen at Auburn.”

Jarrad’s coach was informed on Friday that Florida was …

Continue reading Auburn loses another Georgia football recruit »

AJC Super 11 wide receiver Demarcus Robinson switched his commitment from Clemson to Florida on Wednesday.

Robinson is the third 2013 prospect from Georgia to de-commit from Clemson, following the Grayson High School duo of DT Robert Nkemdiche and DB David Kamara (both are undecided).

“I have a chance to play as a freshman, and I wanted to play in the SEC, so I’m a Gator now,” Robinson told the Gainesville Sun’s Zach Abolverdi. “They’ve recruited me harder than anyone else.”

A few months ago, Robinson had described himself as a “soft” commitment to Clemson, but then said he was solid after taking an official visit with the Tigers in early November. The Peach County High School standout expects to enroll early at Florida in January.

Despite the loss of Robinson, Clemson still has four commits from the state – Lassiter WR Ryan Jenkins, Grayson …

Continue reading AJC Super 11 WR flips from Clemson to Florida Gators »

Football fans around Atlanta will get a chance on Saturday to observe the state’s best prospect not named Robert Nkemdiche.

Montravius Adams, a 6-foot-4, 295-pound defensive tackle, will lead Dooly County High School against ECI for the Class A state championship (public) at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Georgia Dome.

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UGA is considered to be one of the frontrunners, along with Clemson and Florida, for Adams, who is also looking at Alabama and Auburn. He will likely take official visits to all five colleges before making his decision.

Adams is ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect in the state and No. 6 overall in the nation in the 247sports composite rankings, which combines the rankings of ESPN, Rivals, Scout, and 247sports.

The 5-star recruit may be one of UGA’s top two remaining recruiting priorities for the 2013 class on …

Continue reading UGA DT target Montravius Adams: Living up to the hype »

One of UGA’s former recruits will be playing for the archrival Florida Gators.

Trenton Brown, a 6-foot-8, 350-pound offensive lineman from Georgia Military junior college, revealed that he had committed to Florida over Oklahoma and Florida State this weekend. Brown had been secretly pledged to the Gators for a while, and finally went public on Sunday.

Florida landed ex-UGA OL recruit (AP)

“It was because Florida’s faithfulness, and them being here with me throughout the whole process, even when I was committed to Georgia,” Brown told the AJC. “They’ve been with me since day one. They were the most faithful.”

UGA and Brown had a tumultuous recruiting relationship. He originally committed to the Bulldogs in August, but began to waiver after Brown said Florida’s coaches let him know that another recruit (5-star OL Laremy Tunsil) talked to UGA’s coaches and said Brown might be playing offensive guard there. (Note: Tunsil is being recruited by UGA to play …

Continue reading Trenton Brown: Ex-UGA football recruit will be playing for archrival Florida Gators »

What’s the latest with Georgia Tech recruiting?

“Right now, we’re trying to get out and see all of our guys that are committed,” Paul Johnson told the AJC this week. “We were kind of late getting out because of the (ACC) championship game. So that’s kind of what we’re doing now.”
Georgia Tech has 15 commitments for 2013. There may not be much recruiting drama over the next couple of months because the Yellow Jackets just about filled all of their scholarship spots early.

Georgia Tech has 15 commitments for 2013, and may another one or two (AJC)

“I think it’s fairly normal; we’re usually to the point in December where we have only a spot or two,” Johnson said. “That’s been the case most of the time (with our staff). Occasionally, something happens, and you add one here or there. You know, somebody decides they’re not going to play or not coming back. You might pick up one, and that could happen.

“We may still take another guy or two. We’ll just …

Continue reading Georgia Tech may add another recruit or two »