Archive for the ‘South Carolina’ Category

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BREAKING NEWS: Lane Kiffin flashbacks? Vanderbilt coach recruits Atlanta in a helicopter! click here to read

The mean and nasty offensive lineman nicknamed “The Finisher” got his “dream offer” on Saturday.

UGA coach Mark Richt offered an early football scholarship to Walton High School’s Brandon Kublanow, who is likely the state’s No. 1 junior prospect on the offensive line. UGA offered the 6-foot-3, 280-pound Kublanow at the center and offensive guard position.

“As soon as we got to Georgia on Saturday, they said Coach Richt wants to see you,” Kublanow told the AJC. “My mom and I talked to Coach Richt for about 45 minutes. At the end of the conversation, [Richt] said ‘you have an offer from us and we really want you to come here.’

“I was a little surprised. Some people had told me that I might be getting an offer, but I was still surprised. And I’m really excited …

Continue reading UGA offers football scholarship to ‘The Finisher’ … Alabama, Florida and SC may be next »

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Jhaustin Thomas, one of the state’s top defensive ends, committed to South Carolina on Saturday. He is commit No. 8 from the state of Georgia for Steve Spurrier’s 2012 college football recruiting class.

Thomas is a 6-foot-6, 240-pounder from DeKalb’s Columbia High School who was also hearing from Auburn, Tennessee and Alabama.

“South Carolina is getting a kid with a lot of upside,” Columbia coach Mario Allen told the AJC. “He’s still learning football and he’s still growing. But I think he will definitely be a kid who can probably help South Carolina in his first year. He’s 6-6, close to 6-7, and can run. He has a dominating presence on the football. South Carolina is getting a kid who will work hard and is going to come out and compete on a daily basis.”

Last week, Thomas was matched up against Cedar Grove offensive tackle Brandon Greene, …

Continue reading Steve Spurrier lands ‘dominant’ Georgia DE Jhaustin Thomas »

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Remember about a month ago when Chaz Elder was scheduled to announce between UGA and South Carolina and decided at the last minute to delay?

Fast forward to now and things are just about the same: The defensive back from Banneker High School has South Carolina as his leader, followed by UGA and Vanderbilt. Elder will likely pick a school toward the end or after his senior season.

“For the most part, it’s the same three schools with everybody chasing South Carolina … nothing has changed,” Banneker assistant Ryan Andrews said.

UGA had a chance to plead its case when Elder made an unofficial visit for the South Carolina game. That was likely Elder’s only recruiting trip during the season because Banneker has construction at the school, forcing it to move games to Saturdays at a neutral location.

Banneker DB Chaz Elder (AJC photo by Michael Carvell)

Elder is back to health after missing two games with an …

Continue reading South Carolina still leads for DB Chaz Elder, followed by UGA and Vandy »

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UGA both gained and lost a commitment at wide receiver over the weekend.

Tramel Terry, who is a candidate to be South Carolina’s No. 1 overall prospect for 2013, de-committed from UGA on Sunday. The day before, M.L. King senior wide receiver Blake Tibbs committed to UGA (click on story link).

Back to Terry: The speedy wide receiver from Goose Creek High School had made the surprising decision to commit early to UGA a couple of months ago at Dawg Night prospect camp.

“Yeah, I pretty much rushed my decision,” Terry told the AJC. “I don’t want to be committed to Georgia unless I’m 100 percent in. I have other schools I’m looking at. Georgia is still on top of my list. I just feel like I wasn’t committed even when I was, so it was time to go ahead and do this.”

The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Terry said he has a top three, claiming UGA as the leader, following by South …

Continue reading WR Tramel Terry de-commits from UGA »

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Georgia Tech offered a football scholarship to the offensive lineman who has been nicknamed “The Finisher” by college scouts.

It the first offer for Brandon Kublanow, the 6-foot-3, 290-pounder from Walton High School who is an early favorite to be the state’s No. 1 college prospect along the offensive line for 2013. Kublanow is a UGA fan and the Bulldogs could be the next to offer.

“The Finisher” earned his nickname after devastating and dominating blocking skills were caught on tape by Rivals and Scout at last month’s Corky Kell Classic at the Georgia Dome. Kublanow had 13 pancake blocks against Peachtree Ridge, including a couple where he fell on top of the defender as he was making the block and – to the amazement of scouts – stayed on top of the defender and shoved his helmet into the artificial turf, as if to make sure he got the …

Continue reading OL Brandon Kublanow gets Georgia Tech offer; UGA may be next »

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Will UGA be able to flip the commitment of Miami LB recruit Raphael Kirby?

The Bulldogs have a chance.

The 6-foot, 210-pound linebacker from Stephenson High School will make an unofficial visit to UGA for Saturday’s game against Coastal Carolina.

Kirby made the decision to take the last-minute recruiting trip after talking with UGA recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner on Thursday night.

“We had a long conversation and Coach Garner said he wanted me to come up for a visit soon; I told him that I’m not really doing anything this weekend, so I’m going on Saturday,” Kirby told the AJC.

“Georgia is one of the schools recruiting me the hardest. They let it be known that they are excited that I am coming to visit. And I’m excited to go on the visit and have a good time watching college football.”

It is a surprising turn of events in the relationship between UGA and Kirby. When the star linebacker …

Continue reading Raphael Kirby: Will UGA be able to flip commitment of Miami recruit? »

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• Breaking news: Miller Grove’s Brandon Morris commits to UGA over Auburn and Arkansas (read here)

How does UGA’s 0-2 start affect football recruiting?

The Bulldogs have 14 players committed to sign football scholarships with the team in February, along with four high school juniors pledged the sign with UGA the following year.

Many of Georgia’s commitments made unofficial visits to Georgia for Saturday’s 45-42 loss to South Carolina, including 5-star offensive lineman John Theus of Jacksonville and Thomson High School defensive tackle John John Atkins (UGA’s most recent commit). As far as junior prospects, Camden County QB Brice Ramsey, Newnan safety Tray Matthews, and Goose Creek (S.C) wide receiver Tramal Terry – both early commitments to UGA — were among those in …

Continue reading How does UGA’s 0-2 start affect football recruiting? »

The next few days are pretty big for Rico McWilliams, one of Georgia’s top college football prospects at defensive back:

• Tonight, McWilliams will lead Lovejoy High School against North Clayton in a 7:30 p.m. Thursday game that will be televised on WSB-TV digital channel 2.2 and at this link on www.wsbtv.com.
• On Saturday, the 6-foot-1, 170-pound McWilliams, who is committed to South Carolina, will watch his Gamecocks play against UGA, a team that didn’t give him much love during the recruiting process.

Rico McWilliams is one of 7 Georgia players committed to South Carolina

Neither UGA nor Georgia Tech were one of McWilliams’ 25 scholarship offers, which included Nebraska, Arkansas, Michigan State, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt.

“I’m at a Georgia high school, so it kind of bothered me at first that I didn’t get recruited by Georgia or Georgia Tech,” McWilliams told the AJC. “But I look at it like everything happens for a reason. Maybe I didn’t do enough last year for them to recruit …

Continue reading DB Rico McWilliams proud to be South Carolina Gamecock after being ignored by local schools »

Lassiter junior QB Eddie Printz committed to SMU (AJC photo)

One of Georgia’s top junior quarterbacks will be playing at SMU for former Atlanta Falcons coach June Jones.

Lassiter High School’s Eddie Printz picked Southern Methodist over offers from Kentucky and Cincinnati. Printz also had serious interest from a dozen other schools, including South Carolina, Florida and Mississippi State.

How did June Jones, the SMU football coach, lure one of Georgia’s best? “They’ve been on Eddie for quite some time,” the quarterback’s father, Ed Printz, told the AJC. “Eddie visited over the summer and really liked it. The coaches made it clear that it was a ‘committable’ scholarship offer. They are very high on Eddie and think he can do big things there. After watching SMU’s game on TV [Sunday night], Eddie said he wanted to commit, and I gave him my blessing.”

“The thing about SMU is that they were always serious. They didn’t say things like they wanted to see more film after three more …

Continue reading QB Eddie Printz to play at SMU for ex-Atlanta Falcons coach June Junes »

Mike Davis (AJC photo by Michael Carvell)

Could Florida be in danger of losing one of Georgia’s top running backs?

Stephenson High School’s Mike Davis, who committed early to the Gators, confirmed to the AJC that he plans to visit other schools but remains committed to Florida.

“I just want to take my visits with my teammates,” Davis explained. “There’s nothing there with me committing to another school. It’s just me going to have fun with my teammates while they are having fun. I want to enjoy the time with them because I know this might be my last time with them. Of course I’m committed to the Florida Gators. I’m not trying to go anywhere else.”

Which other schools may get visits from Davis? He isn’t ready to say. “I don’t know.” Davis had around 15 early offers when he committed to Florida last February over Alabama, South Carolina, Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia Tech and Penn State.  What about UGA or Georgia Tech? “I haven’t heard anything from Georgia,” he said. If Davis …

Continue reading Could the Florida Gators be in danger of losing star RB Mike Davis? »