AJC > Sports > Highschools > Blog > Archives > 2009 > February > 01 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USFootball factories: Westlake, Tucker, Buford
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The best high school football teams aren’t always the ones producing the most college players. Otherwise, Lowndes would’ve had more than nine playing college football in 2008, right?
This data comes from a friend of mine who searched college rosters online last fall. He couldn’t find some rosters (though he got all of them in Division 1-A), and he’s found several names that he missed the first time, so the info is not precisely correct.
But even if it’s a bit off, the results of his research are pretty startling. He found the same number of college players at Lowndes as he did at Meadowcreek - a team that has won only one game in the past five seasons.
In all, there were 2,105 Georgia players found on college rosters. That does not include junior college teams.
With National Signing Day upon us, I thought you might be interested in some of what was found:
Westlake had more college players than any other Georgia school with 33. They included Cameron Newton of Florida, Kiante Tripp of Georgia, Mario Edwards of Georgia Tech, Charles Mustafaa of Kentucky, Morrice Richardson of Notre Dame and Addison Williams of South Carolina.
Buford, a Class AA school, ranked second with 31. They included Matt Pridemore and Ryan Wood of Duke, Omar Hunter and T.J. Pridemore of Florida and walk-ons Twoey Hosch and Billy Johnson of Georgia.
Lowndes (9) and Northside of Warner Robins (13) had low numbers considering their winning traditions. Neither had a former player on the roster of a BCS conference school. The only former Lowndes players on rosters of Division 1-A schools were Darriet Perry of Florida International and Kelly Dawsey of Western Michigan. Northside has only one Division 1-A player: Western Michigan’s Mario Armstrong.
Class AAAAA was the big producer of college players. With 787, AAAA has more than AAA (354), AA (272) and A (140) combined. Class AAAA has 552.
Tucker had 26, the most of any school in AAAA. Other class leaders were Weslake (AAAAA), Baldwin (AAA), Buford (AA) and Hawkinsville (A).
Here are the numbers by school. And please realize the numbers won’t be exact, but in the ballpark:
Class AAAAA
Westlake 33
Stephenson 26
Walton 26
Douglass 24
Lovejoy 24
Camden County 22
North Gwinnett 22
Grayson 20
Dacula 18
Roswell 17
Brookwood 15
Central Gwinnett 15
Marietta 15
McEachern 15
Peachtree Ridge 15
Chattahoochee 14
M.L. King 14
Norcross 14
Parkview 14
South Cobb 14
Collins Hill 13
Creekside 13
Newnan 13
North Cobb 13
Northside (Warner Robins) 13
Etowah 12
Kennesaw Mountain 12
Pope 12
Redan 12
East Coweta 11
Houston County 11
Kell 11
Union Grove 11
Warner Robins 11
Campbell 10
Coffee 10
Harrison 10
Lassiter 10
Milton 10
Duluth 9
Lowndes 9
Meadowcreek 9
Mundy’s Mill 9
Tift County 9
Wheeler 9
Woodstock 9
Riverdale 8
South Gwinnett 8
Berkmar 7
Luella 7
Valdosta 7
Centennial 6
Chapel Hill 6
Cherokee 6
Greenbrier 6
Mill Creek 6
North Forsyth 6
Alpharetta 5
Colquitt County 5
East Paulding 5
Northview 5
Shiloh 5
Bradwell Institute 4
Groves 4
Newton 4
South Forsyth 4
Windsor Forest 4
Jenkins 3
Savannah 3
Morrow 2
Pebblebrook 2
Beach 1
Class AAAA
Tucker 26
Sandy Creek 21
Marist 20
Mays 18
Banneker 17
Stockbridge 16
Chamblee 14
Fayette County 14
Northgate 12
Salem 12
Southwest DeKalb 12
Westside (Macon) 12
Dalton 11
North Clayton 11
Stone Mountain 11
Tri-Cities 11
Starr’s Mill 10
Villa Rica 10
Whitewater 10
Bainbridge 9
Clarke Central 9
Lee County 9
Lithia Springs 9
Northwest Whitfield 9
Osborne 9
Rome 9
Douglas County 8
Habersham Central 8
Hiram 8
Sprayberry 8
Statesboro 8
Lakeside (Atlanta) 7
Lithonia 7
Sequoyah 7
Winder-Barrow 7
Americus-Sumter 6
Brunswick 6
Evans 6
Griffin 6
Hardaway 6
Jonesboro 6
Murray County 6
Forsyth Central 5
Glynn Academy 5
Harris County 5
Paulding County 5
Ware County 5
Butler 4
Effingham County 4
Hephzibah 4
Loganville 4
McIntosh 4
Monroe Area 4
North Springs 4
Upson-Lee 4
Woodland (Cartersville) 4
Apalachee 3
Heritage (Conyers) 3
Jones County 3
Josey 3
Lakeside (Evans) 3
Madison County 3
Mt. Zion (Jonesboro) 3
South Effingham 3
Thomas County Central 3
Wayne County 3
Westside (Augusta) 3
Cass 2
Dutchtown 2
Harlem 2
Ola 2
Richmond Academy 2
Rockdale County 2
Alexander 1
Cedar Shoals 1
Cross Creek 1
Forest Park 1
Miller Grove 1
Class AAA
Baldwin 14
Grady 14
St. Pius 14
Hart County 12
Peach County 12
LaGrange 11
McNair 11
Shaw 11
Washington 11
Gainesville 9
Carrollton 8
Cartersville 8
Flowery Branch 8
North Atlanta 8
Oconee County 8
Perry 8
Riverwood 8
Carver (Columbus) 7
Cedar Grove 7
Dunwoody 7
Mary Persons 7
North Hall 7
Stephens County 7
Burke County 6
Eagle’s Landing 6
Towers 6
East Hall 5
Glenn Hills 5
Southside 5
Troup 5
Woodward Academy 5
Cedartown 4
Clarkston 4
Haralson County 4
Southeast Whitfield 4
Spalding 4
Thomson 4
West Hall 4
White County 4
Cairo 3
Columbia 3
Dougherty 3
Gilmer 3
Jackson 3
LaFayette 3
Richmond Hill 3
Ridgeland 3
Washington County 3
Westover 3
Benedictine 2
Central (Carroll) 2
Chestatee 2
Columbus 2
Crisp County 2
Elbert County 2
Franklin County 2
Jackson County 2
Kendrick 2
Lakeview-Ft. Oglethope 2
Liberty County 2
Northside (Columbus) 2
Carver (Atlanta) 1
Eastside 1
Johnson (Gainesville) 1
Lumpkin County 1
Pickens 1
Ringgold 1
West Laurens 1
Worth County 1
Class AA
Buford 31
Greater Atlanta Christian 17
Blessed Trinity 12
Calhoun 10
Charlton County 10
Dublin 10
Decatur 9
Westminster 9
Dawson County 8
Lovett 8
Albany 6
Coosa 6
Henry County 6
Jefferson County 6
Brooks County 5
Gordon Central 5
Greene County 5
Laney 5
McIntosh County Academy 5
Model 5
Adairsville 4
Chattooga 4
Heard County 4
North Oconee 4
Northeast (Macon) 4
Pepperell 4
Putnam County 4
Southwest (Macon) 4
Thomasville 4
Armuchee 3
Dodge County 3
Riverside Military 3
Rockmart 3
Swainsboro 3
Vidalia 3
Calvary Day 2
Central (Macon) 2
Crawford County 2
Cross Keys 2
Dade County 2
Fitzgerald 2
Jefferson 2
Lamar County 2
Macon County 2
Manchester 2
Morgan County 2
Rabun County 2
Rutland 2
Toombs County 2
Appling County 1
Berrien 1
Bleckley County 1
Brantley County 1
Cook 1
Long County 1
Mitchell County 1
Monticello 1
Pierce County 1
Pike County 1
Screven County 1
Union County 1
Class A
Hawkinsville 11
Wesleyan 10
Pacelli 8
Landmark Christian 7
Lincoln County 7
Athens Academy 6
Darlington 6
Seminole County 6
Savannah Christian 5
Savannah Country Day 5
Bowdon 4
Washington-Wilkes 4
Whitefield Academy 4
Aquinas 3
Clinch County 3
Dooly County 3
Greenville 3
Johnson County 3
Treutlen 3
Trion 3
Turner County 3
Walker 3
Wilcox County 3
Bremen 2
Fellowship Christian 2
Holy Innocents 2
Telfair County 2
Twiggs County 2
Bacon County 1
Brookstone 1
Claxton 1
Commerce 1
Eagle’s Landing Christian 1
Georgia Military 1
Gordon Lee 1
Irwin County 1
Miller County 1
Mt. Pisgah Christian 1
Our Lady of Mercy 1
Pelham 1
Portal 1
Prince Avenue Christian 1
Randolph-Clay 1
Social Circle 1
Towns County 1
Permalink | Comments (10) | Post your comment | Categories: Extra Point
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Comments
By Gamer
February 2, 2009 2:32 PM | Link to this
Todd, Great review! I wish some of the non-metro teams could get as much exposure from coaches. They come in great numbers to Atlanta where they can check out many schools/players. Of course, the old saying is, if you are good they will find you. I just don’t believe some of the coaches push their players enough in the class room so they can go to a 1A schools.
By Mark
February 2, 2009 4:01 PM | Link to this
With the way that program is going look for Camden,after 5-6 more AAAAA state titles,in the next 7-8 years to top this list.Go Wildcats
By bohgey
February 2, 2009 4:29 PM | Link to this
Great post Todd. Didn’t Newton get the boot after the laptop scandal?
As a Lowndes grad, I don’t get why there are not a lot of D-I players. I suppose that there are more team efforts here than at most schools. When we have a star, is is a rare find. Those that come from Valdosta and Lowndes are great though. Think back to Jay Ratliff (Dallas Cowboys/Auburn Tigers)and Randall Godfrey (Dallas/Tennessee/San Diego/Georgia Bulldogs).
We all hope Reid is along those same lines.
By Reeze
February 2, 2009 4:57 PM | Link to this
Todd Holcolm: Not rocket science ….It’s three factors involved here….1)Student/athlete 2)Parents of student/athlete’s 3) Teachers,Counselors and Coaches of student/athlete’s….Got to have total involvement….I’d guess Westlake,Tucker,Buford,Stephenson and others have figured this out…….Neither school has had more talent than Northside or Lowndes past couple seasons,maybe Tucker,…..Good read,…dig a little deeper,you’ll find those ugly worms…..embarrass some folks,it might just get them off their butts.
By Ernest
February 3, 2009 12:50 PM | Link to this
Great data Todd! As Reeze indicates, it would be interesting to drill down further to see if we could notice tendencies or even predict possible scholarship offers. This is a good start.
By blue jag
February 3, 2009 8:46 PM | Link to this
I know Stephenson have not won championships, but when you talk about having D-1 prospects. This is a school that have had a player win national championship in the past 4 years. Every weekend in the fall you will see a Stepehnson product playing on national televison(not sitting on the bench).
By jaguar pwer
February 5, 2009 8:41 PM | Link to this
i would have to agree with blue jag on this one. stephenson has been open for 13 years and to put out that many d-1 athletes compared to schools that have been open for decades is spectacular. i know they have not won championships YET but you have to say that someone down at stephenson is doing something right. not only are their players going to d-1 colleges but starting and doing outstanding jobs at their positions. i did some research and some include jermaine cunningham(florida starting defensive end), perry riley and kelvin shepphard(both starting at lsu at linebacker) and also former players like reggie ball(ga tech), kregg lumpkin(uga) demario minter(uga)and many, many more. but not only are we having d-1 athletes but also d-1 aa and d-2. if they did a poll on those i bet stephenson would lead in that area. all stephenson need is a coulple championships to be considered on of the best schools ever in ga.
By AstroFan
February 7, 2009 1:54 PM | Link to this
Good Review Todd. I might have to save this information. This is like the only recognition we can get over at Doug. We put players in college. I can believe it with Stephenson, we have to play them every year. There is always a lot of talent on the field, but we can’t seem to figure out how to do it at the state level.
By BTW Parent
February 7, 2009 3:11 PM | Link to this
Great Info Todd !! This is good bragging info for the various schools, but I would not read much into this because some athletes do not live in the school district where they play. While some schools strictly have athletes that live in the district.When you have good athletes with good grades you can expect a high participation rate in college. I think you can give a deal of credit to coaches when you can equate the high number of college players at a school directly with the state championships they win. Here you have a set of coaches that can claim many college players and you have another set of coaches that can claim state championships. It is a matter of what you have at your particular school and brag on that, but very seldom can you brag on it all unless you were at the Atlanta Public school that won the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP IN FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL AND IN ONE YEAR and SENT OVER 20 KIDS TO COLLEGE ON SCHOLARSHIP. THEY SAID THAT WAS A ONCE IN A LIFETIME TEAM HOWEVER.(Southwest High School in 1974)
By don
February 10, 2009 12:51 AM | Link to this
who were the three from turner county and where did they sign?