Archive for the ‘Georgia’ Category

Why do high school football stars enroll early in college?

Mainly, it’s to get a headstart on competing for a starting position.

 Loading …

QB Brice Ramsey has his reasons for graduating from Camden County High School this month so he  could enroll at UGA for the start of the spring semester on Jan. 7. Ramsey will be joined at UGA by his high school teammate, DB JJ Green, who is also committed to the Bulldogs.

“It was for academic and football advantages,” Ramsey told the AJC. “You get to come in and play with the team, along with make the transition to college without having it all piled onto you in July and August.”

Ramsey is one of 17 high school, prep school, or junior college prospects committed to UGA that have said they plan to begin college classes in two weeks. The Bulldogs are only counting on 10, …

Continue reading UGA may have hit its ‘magic number’ of 10 »

Pretend you’re sitting on Santa’s lap.

If there’s one prospect that could wish for … for your favorite college football team, who would it be?

Post the prospect’s name and college team below, i.e. Robert Nkemdiche for Ole Miss. Or for Alabama, LSU, Clemson or whomever.

Just to make things interesting, we’ll only allow Santa wishes for uncommitted prospects, even though some of the committed prospects will surely waver over the next five weeks.

If you’re UGA, who do you put atop your wishlist?

Some would think the top priority would be 5-star LT Laremy Tunsil. That would give UGA Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall as tailbacks, with Tunsil and John Theus at tackles for the next few years. Some would ask Santa for 5-star DT Montravius Adams with the Bulldogs being wiped out on defense next year due to graduation and early NFL departures. Or there’s RB Alvin Kamara.

If you’re Georgia Tech, this class could be full already but the Yellow Jackets will likely add one or two more …

Continue reading Which football recruit is on your Christmas wishlist? »

Last year, the SEC passed new rules on “over-signing,” including an annual 25-man limit for conference teams.

This year, UGA coach Mark Richt told the AJC that he expects to finish with a recruiting class of between 30-35 players. The Bulldogs already have 30 commitments for 2013, with at least a couple of more targets on both sides of the ball.

How can that be? How can UGA sign 30-35 if there’s a new rule with a 25-man limit?

“Early enrollees.”

Both UGA and Alabama will take advantage of the SEC's loophole in its over-signing rules, especially the Bulldogs, which could finish with a super-sized class of 35 (AP)

The recruiting term will soon, if it’s not already, be as famous as over-signing, which is defined as a college team signing more recruits than they have scholarships available. Over-signing was made famous by coaches like Houston Nutt and Nick Saban.

Early enrollees is the loophole when the SEC talked tough and passed the over-signing rules last year. What …

Continue reading How can UGA sign 30-35 recruits under the SEC’s new over-signing rules? »

UGA’s recruiting coordinator, Rodney Garner, was hired by Auburn on Thursday night.

How much will Garner’s departure affect the Bulldogs with recruiting?

It’s too soon to tell — but probably not as much as one would think.

Garner was considered one of the best recruiters in the business 10 years ago, but his impact with the team’s current recruiting class was limited, especially after the Bulldogs hired Daryl Jones as Director of On-Campus Recruiting. Mike Bobo and Todd Grantham are considered the team’s premier recruiters. Garner’s loss will likely be felt more as the team’s defensive line coach as he guided a steady flow of Bulldogs into prosperous NFL careers.

 Loading …

If there is any impact with loss of Garner, it will be with UGA’s defensive line targets – since Garner coached the position with the Bulldogs.

Georgia …

Continue reading Who will UGA hire as its next recruiting coordinator? »

UGA is looking for a few good men to finish up its 2013 recruiting class.

The Bulldogs have 30 commitments, and will likely finish up with 33-35 by national signing day on Feb. 6.

 Loading …

Which prospects is UGA targeting to fill out those last remaining spots? Recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner can’t reveal names due to NCAA rules. But he did mention some positions of need to the AJC this week:

“There’s still some defensive line spots that we need to fill because of the attrition that we’re going to experience there,” he said. “There’s probably an offensive tackle there. We definitely need a tackle more than a guard-type body. And another skill guy, the best available athlete we can find.”

Garner feels good so far about this year’s class – which will be Georgia’s largest since signing 31 in 2002.

“We’re excited about this class,” …

Continue reading UGA looking for a few good men to finish out 2013 class »

• UPDATE: Tahj Shamsid-Deenhad 31 points and 10 assists in Columbia’s 69-58 win over Miller Grove

One of the state’s top point guards will be on display when state champions collide at Miller Grove High School on Friday.

The Columbia boys play against Miller Grove at 7:30 p.m. Friday, preceded by the girls teams from both schools at 6 p.m. All four teams are defending state champions.

The best player on the court may be Columbia’s Tahj Shamsid-Deen, the 5-foot-9 point guard who has signed with Auburn.

“If Tahj was 6 feet, we wouldn’t be having a conversation about how good he is because everybody would know,” said former Columbia coach Phil McCrary, now an athletic coordinator for Dekalb County Schools. “The kid is so much heads and shoulders above so many point guards that people say are better than him. The only thing that coaches question is his size. But how can you question his size when the kid hasn’t been anything but a winner all of his life?”

Since his …

Continue reading Auburn signee leads team to win over state champs »

UGA is expected to have its largest signing class in more than a decade, with 30-35 in February. On Thursday, Mark Richt commented on two junior college players that signed with the Bulldogs this week.

• DT Chris Mayes, 6-4, 330, Mississippi Gulf Coast junior college. Richt: “Chris Mayes of course is a guy we signed earlier and then he had to go the junior college route. If I’m not mistaken, I think Chris played his freshman year and the second year he redshirted. I’m pretty sure. I think he’s got three years to play three, like (Mark) Beard did. And that’s starting to happen more and more in the junior college ranks, which I think is fantastic for these guys. For a guy like that to come in and have three years of eligibility after graduating from junior college — and graduating at the midyear — (means) a guy gets spring ball and three seasons. It’s really about as good as it gets … He’s a big noseguard — well, D-lineman. I don’t know if he’ll end up being the nose or not, but …

Continue reading Mark Richt comments on UGA’s JC signees »

Mark Richt will have his best shot at 5-star Montravius Adams on Jan. 25 (AP)

Montravius Adams, who is ranked as the nation’s No. 2 overall prospect by 247sports, will take one of his last recruiting trips before signing day to UGA.

The 6-foot-3, 300-pound defensive tackle from Dooly County High School has selected four of his five official visits, according to his coach Jimmy Hughes. Adams will go to:

• Florida after the Under Armour game on Jan. 6
• Clemson on Jan. 11
• Alabama on Jan. 18
• UGA on Jan. 25
• TBA for Feb. 1

What about UGA? “My mom really likes Georgia, and they’re my hometown school,” Adams told the AJC on Wednesday. “I really like the coaches. I know their coaches aren’t about to leave. Their coaches are stable, which means they don’t leave a lot, like some of the other schools. Also, at Georgia, you can get a great education.”

Adams was also asked about a Dawg247 report that Rodney Garner, who is both UGA’s recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach, is a …

Continue reading 5-star DT Montravius Adams will visit UGA on Jan. 25 »

Texas A&M’s move to SEC is paying off with its recruiting efforts in Georgia.

The Aggies landed another big-time talent when Tommy Sanders committed to them on Tuesday night.

LB Tommy Sanders (kjccc.com)

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound linebacker is from Crisp County High School and played the last two seasons at Butler junior college in Kansas. He is ranked as a 4-star recruit by ESPN.

Sanders picked Texas A&M over runner-up Ohio State, while also considering offers from South Carolina and Mississippi State.

“Playing in the SEC, coming from the South, that was a goal for me,” Sanders told the AJC. “Texas A&M had been recruiting me for a while, I’ve got a good relationship with the coaches, and there’s a good chance for me to come in and be a leader on that defense.”

Coming out of high school, Sanders committed to Central Florida but never enrolled because of NCAA Clearinghouse issues.

After having his NCAA appeal denied, Sanders finally decided to attend a junior …

Continue reading Georgia LB commits to Texas A&M over Ohio State »

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 »