Archive for the ‘Alabama’ Category

Three members of Georgia Tech’s 2010 recruiting class were selected this week to play in the Offense-Defense All-America Bowl.

AJC Super 11 quarterback/athlete B.J. Bostic of Jefferson County, DT Shawn Green of Grayson and DT Denzel McCoy of Northview were invited to play in the high school all-star game Jan. 2 in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The game, in its third year of existence,  pits nationally-ranked high school all-stars from the East against others from the West. It competes with the UnderArmour (Jan. 2, Orlando) and U.S. Army (Jan. 9, San Antonio) All-America games.

Now for some other news and notes:

• Word is that Union Grove athlete Jordan Akins is about to land a scholarship offer from Georgia. Akins is a 6-foot-3, 190-pound multi-skilled athlete who plays quarterback, wide receiver, defensive back and kick returner for the Wolverines, depending on where they need him when. He received a scholarship offer from Georgia Tech last week and holds offers from Ole Miss, UConn, …

Continue reading 3 Tech commitments invited to national All-Star game »

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 »

Pope offensive lineman Thomas O’Reilly received an official scholarship offer from Georgia Tech on Friday. And the Yellow Jackets made quite a splash in doing so.

Tech didn’t simply mail O’Reilly an offer letter. It was hand-delivered by assistant coaches Brian Bohannon and Todd Spencer.

“They came in and gave me a letter which I then gave to Thomas O’Reilly offering him a scholarship,” Pope coach Matt Kemper said. “They hand-delivered it but they followed all the channels and did the right things.”

It was just the first of what promises to be dozens of offers for this 2011 prospect. The 6-foot-3, 313-pound O’Reilly also is being recruited by Georgia, Alabama and Vanderbilt, among others.

“Thomas is a heck of a player and a good kid and he’s going to have decisions to make,” Kemper said. “I’m sure this is the first of a lot of offers. Everybody in the country will probably end up offering this kid.”

You’d have to say the Yellow Jackets have the inside track.

“He’s been going …

Continue reading Tech coaches hand-deliver offer to Pope’s O’Reilly »

The text messages started hitting Garrison Smith’s phone while he was still in Tuscaloosa on the Alabama campus.

“Are you really at Alabama?” he was asked. “Are you there on a visit?”

The answers were “yes” and “yes.” But the five-star defensive tackle from Douglass High, one of the prize commitments in Georgia’s 2010 class, assured one and all that the Bulldogs have nothing to worry about.

Smith went on to explain that while he did attend the Alabama-Tennessee game as a guest of the Crimson Tide, he was there mainly to support former Douglass teammate Jonathan Atchison, a freshman linebacker at Alabama.

I’ll let Smith explain:

“I was free this weekend,” he said. “I didn’t have a game on Saturday. So I had been talking to John and he’d been telling me to come down. He told me his family was coming down to see the game and spend a weekend with him and I should come. I told him it wasn’t problem, it was cool. So they told me I could ride with them and get away for the weekend. I …

Continue reading UGA 5-star commitment Garrison Smith talks Bama visit »

Wide receiver Tai-ler Jones recently committed to Notre Dame. He said he grew up a Georgia Bulldogs’ fan. So says linebacker A.J. Johnson, who committed to Tennessee last week. Safety Daunte Carr lists “Georgia” as a school of interest on his recruiting profile but committed to Stanford this summer. Quarterback Blake Sims, a longtime Alabama commitment, says he grew up dreaming of playing for the Bulldogs.

What do all these prospects have in common?

They all live an hour’s drive west of Athens and play football for Gainesville High School. That’s the home of the Red Elephants, the No. 1-ranked team in Class AAA.

So if all these Gainesville players are so crazy about Georgia, how come none of them are headed that way?

I called Red Elephants’ coach Bruce Miller Tuesday to find out if he thought there was some kind relationship problem with UGA. Not at all, he said adamantly.

“Here’s what I think happens: I think Coach Richt is a man of such character that he doesn’t want to make …

Continue reading Gainesville coach: Relationship good with Georgia »

Gainesville quarterback Blake Sims grew up dreaming of becoming a Georgia Bulldog but has been committed to Alabama since April. (AJC photo)

Georgia is making a major push to recruit Gainesville quarterback Blake Sims. And it has created a bit of a moral dilemma for the player and his family.

Sims, an AJC Super 11 selection and one of the early favorites for all-classification player of the year honors, has been committed to Alabama since April. But Bulldogs’ head coach Mark Richt, who has had a relationship with Sims and his family for four years, has taken a personal interest in changing Sims’ mind and convincing him to come to UGA instead.

“That was pretty cool,” Blake’s father, Sonny Sims, said of getting a phone call from Richt on Monday. “Coach Richt has been part of Blake’s life for a long time.  We’ve got pictures of Blake with Coach Richt as a 9th grader. That’s why we couldn’t understand why Georgia didn’t snag him early because he’d been groomed all his life for …

Continue reading UGA, Richt make major push for Bama commit Sims »

Another one-time Florida State commitment has landed elsewhere.

After decommitting to Florida State late last month, Lowndes County's Ed Christian committed to Auburn on Sunday. (AJC Photo by Jason Getz)

Lowndes offensive lineman Ed Christian, an AJC Super 11 selection, committed to Auburn after going there on an official visit this past weekend. The 6-foot-5, 280-pound tackle originally committed to the Seminoles way back in February, just a week after national signing day. He “decommitted” to FSU late last month when questions started to arise over the future of the program. He attended the Auburn-Ball State game on an unofficial visit that weekend.

Christian credited Auburn assistant coach Curtis Luper for reigniting his interest in Auburn. He said Luper called him out of the blue last month.

“I wanted to experience another college,” Christian told Auburn.Scout.com. “I gave them that chance and it was my overall best visit to a school. This school (Auburn) treats you the …

Continue reading Super 11 OT Christian picks Auburn after FSU spurn »

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 »

How did JaWuan James spend his time in Knoxville this past weekend? Limping around with one ankle taped underneath his socks and shoes.

JaWuan James

North Gwinnett’s much-sought-after offensive tackle sprained his ankle during last Friday’s win over Chattahoochee. Nonetheless, he made the trek up to Tennessee with his parents for his first official visit of the fall. As a result, he had an excellent view of the Vols’ 45-19 win over Georgia last Saturday. He was in their locker room after the game.

So James heard Kiffin say that Georgia was the most important game of all for Tennessee and that it would never lose as long as he was there.

“Yeah, I heard him say that,” said James, getting treatment on his ankle as he talked late Tuesday afternoon. “[Kiffin] was talking about how winning this game was big for them because Georgia has some of the best players in the South coming out every year. Florida does, too, but it’s a lot farther away. Georgia is only a few hours down the …

Continue reading JaWuan James hears Kiffin’s ‘Georgia speech’ firsthand »

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 »