Archive for the ‘South Carolina’ Category

A third Buford football player is headed to the Southeastern Conference to play football.

Du’Von Millsap, a 6-foot-5, 330-pound offensive lineman, committed to South Carolina late last week, Wolves coach Jess Simpson confirmed. Millsap chose the Gamecocks over Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, Clemson and several others.

“Yeah, he’d been up there a couple times last spring and last summer and always liked them a lot,” Simpson said. “But he waited to make a decision. He’s been putting it off a while now and decided he just wanted to go ahead and get it over with.”

Millsap, who plays mainly offensive tackle and some defensive tackle for the Class AA Wolves, projects as a guard in college. Teammates Kolton Houston (Georgia), a offensive tackle, and Jessell Curry (Auburn), a linebacker who stars for Buford at running back, are also headed to SEC schools.

Houston and Millsap give Buford a mighty pair of bookend tackles, especially for a Class AA school.

“He’s just a big guy that bends well …

Continue reading Buford’s Du’Von Millsap commits to South Carolina »

Quick, name the state the produces the most football talent for the Southeastern Conference.

If you said Florida, you’re wrong.

According to a survey done by Doug Segrest of The Birmingham News, the state of Georgia has more residents on SEC rosters than any other state with 86. Florida is a close second with 84.

Segrest reveals all kinds of cool facts in his research, including:

• Every SEC school has at least two players from Georgia among its top 22 starters. The state of Florida provides at least one on every depth chart. Of course these numbers fluctuate from week to week.
• Alabama produces the third-most SEC players with 66 and Louisiana (46) and Tennessee (39) round out the top five.
• Somewhat surprisingly, the state that produces the sixth-most SEC players isn’t an SEC state. It’s Texas with 37.
• There are 28 home-grown players on Georgia’s two-deep, most of any school. Florida and LSU are next with 25 each.
• Vanderbilt has more starters from Georgia (11) than any …

Continue reading Survey says: Georgia producing the most SEC players »

It’s not often in this hyperbolic sports world that we live in that any event can live up to expectations. But somehow the St. Thomas Aquinas-Byrnes game did this past Friday.

The nationally-televised game (ESPNU) matched the nation’s No. 1 (STA) and No. 2 high school teams and featured about two dozen Division 1 prospects. A few of those recruits are considering Georgia.

And they did not disappoint in the game, won by St. Thomas Aquinas 42-34.

STA’s Lamarcus Joyner, who ESPN ranks as the No. 1 cornerback in America (No. 2 by both Rivals and Scout), ended up being the star of the game, but not for anything he did on defense (Byrnes had over 500 yards offense). Joyner had two touchdowns on a 93-yard kickoff return and a 52-yard pass reception. He still lists Georgia as one of his school considerations, along with Florida, FSU, Ohio State and Southern Cal.

Byrnes running back Marcus Lattimore is considered the top back in the nation by Scout and No. 2 by Rivals and ESPN. And he …

Continue reading Georgia targets shine in STA-Byrnes game on ESPNU »

North Clayton’s Clarence Jackson showed there’s more to him than just toss-sweep right this past weekend as he put the ball in the end zone three different ways in the Eagles’ 34-13 win over Mt. Zion-Jonesboro.

Jackson had his normal productive night running the football with 18 carries for 110 yards and a touchdown but he also had two receptions for 56 yards and a TD and scored on a 93-yard interception return.

To top it off, Jackson was crowned “Mr. Homecoming” at halftime.

Jackson’s exploits this season continue to draw the attention of recruiters, even though he has long been committed to Ole Miss.

“[Tennessee] Coach [Lane] Kiffin is on him hard,” North Clayton assistant coach Demarco Mitchell tells me.

Jackson was one of several committed prospects that had big nights this weekend. Some others were:

• Jefferson County QB B.J. Bostic: The Georgia Tech commitment had 150- yards passing and 3 TDs and 100 yards rushing on 11 carries.
• Collins Hill RB Charles Perkins: The …

Continue reading N. Clayton’s Clarence Jackson drawing attention of Kiffin, Vols »

Sometimes in our zest for all things recruiting we forget about the fact that not all these prospects have grown up following one college football program or another.

Stephenson’s Mike Thornton is just such a recruit. Arguably the best uncommitted prospect in the state and certainly in Atlanta, this 6-foot-2, 280-pound defensive tackle attended his first college football game EVER the weekend before last when he made an unofficial visit to Athens. This past weekend he attended his second one when he went to Auburn for the West Virginia game.

As you might imagine, Thornton is walking away wide-eyed and excited about the experience.

“It was great,” he said of his first trip to Athens. “It was something I never expected. I didn’t expect to be as big or as crowded or as loud as it was.”

Of Auburn, he said, “It was great, too. Of course there was a weather delay and a lot of rain. I think as far as playing and everything Auburn looks like they’re pretty set. They looked good. As …

Continue reading Visits: Stephenson’s Thornton gets look at Auburn, Georgia »

There’s a very good chance the state player of the year could come from Gainesville this season. Just which player is another question.

The Red Elephants, ranked No. 1 in Class AAA, feature a pair of AJC Super 11 selections in quarterback Blake Sims and wide receiver Tai-ler Jones. Both had them have lived up to those distinctions. Then there’s the matter of their lesser-known teammate Tyson Smith. As far as big plays per opportunity, his ratio is out of this world.

All their talents were on display this past Friday as Gainesville rolled to a 55-12 victory over North Hall.

>The quarterback Sims — an Alabama commitment — completed 14-of-21 passes for 275  yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another.

>The wide receiver Jones — a Stanford commitment — caught 10 passes for 239 yards and three touchdowns and added a fourth TD on a 47-yard fumble return. A 58-yard punt return TD was called back for a penalty.

>Then there’s Smith, a running back that coach Bruce Miller likes …

Continue reading Top performances from state’s blue-chip prospects »

Grayson’s Kori Gaines could not believe it when the ball came his way yet again.

He had already snatched away two interceptions from Dacula last Friday night and now here came yet another pass. This one was traveling the trajectory of a miniature rainbow. To Gaines that ball looked like a pot of gold.

“It was just this little blooper,” Gaines said. “All I had to do was step under it and catch it.”

He did, and Gaines’ third interception put the finishing touches on another dominating night for the Grayson defense. They cruised on to a 44-0 victory.

And so it has gone for Gaines this season. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound BYU commitment patrols the back line of a stifling defensive unit. He lives off the occasional scraps the Rams’ fierce front seven happens to let through and picks off the occasional errant aerial.

“I definitely credit our D-line and the linebackers [for the big night],” Gaines said. “It’s great to play behind them. They put massive amounts of pressure on quarterbacks …

Continue reading BYU commit Kori Gaines mans the back line for Grayson »

With 18 commitments already on the books and as few as 21 scholarships possibly available, Georgia would appear to be fairly well set for the Class of 2010. But there’s at least one glaring omission on the Bulldogs’ shopping list so far.

A game-breaking tailback.

Georgia has just one commitment from a running back so far and that’s from Southwest DeKalb’s bruising Kendrun Malcome. The 6-foot, 215-pound Malcome is good back in his own right — he rates four stars from Scout.com, three from Rivals.com — and no doubt will make a good college player. But he’s more of a “downhill runner” than a “home-run hitter,” to use recruiting jargon, and he might even end up being a fullback when it’s all said and done.

There are three consensus 5-star tailbacks uncommitted at this point. While Georgia has an outside shot at one of them, Auburn appears to be trying to corner the market all of them.

The consensus top three backs in America: Lache Seastrunk of Temple, Texas, Marcus Lattimore of …

Continue reading Georgia scouring the South for game-breaking tailbacks »

Georgia freshman cornerback Branden Smith — and several recruits — learned about redemption on this 61-yard TD run against South Carolina. (Photo by Jim Hipple/UGA Sports Communications)

What Georgia did with Branden Smith against South Carolina on Saturday helped them win the game against Gamecocks. But it may have also helped them win over minds of some recruits.

Smith had a couple of key plays in the Bulldogs’ 41-37 victory. First he fielded a kickoff four yards deep in the end zone and fumbled it over to South Carolina on the Georgia 8-yard line after he decided to bring it out. Just five minutes later, the freshman cornerback was back on the field, this time on offense. And this time he held onto the ball, taking a reverse pitch and showing blazing speed on the way to 61-yard touchdown.

While the touchdown play did wonders for Smith’s confidence — not to mention the Georgia scoreboard — it really resonated with the many elite recruits there to watch the game.

“I really …

Continue reading Georgia’s handling of Branden Smith impresses recruits »

Georgia appears to have reaped some recruiting rewards — at least in the short term –  during its thrilling 41-37 win over South Carolina on Saturday.

The Bulldogs hosted dozens of elite prospects for the game on unofficial visits, including a number of players that are also considering South Carolina. It appears that Georgia moved up at least a notch or two for virtually all of them.

The Bulldogs appear to have made some major headway with running back Marcus Lattimore, who is considered the No. 1 back in America. The Duncan, S.C., resident, who stars for Byrnes High School, did not previously have Georgia among his top five but does now after his unofficial visit.

“I have to say that they are back in it for me,” Lattimore told Scout.com’s Chad Simmons. “Georgia has never pressured me and that meant a lot. . . . Me, my dad, and my cousins went down to the game and it was crazy. The atmosphere, the crowd, the game, it was all ridiculous. The students were so loud the entire …

Continue reading South Carolina game moves Dogs up with several recruits »