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Monday, May 21, 2007
Prospects aplenty at Walton, Roswell, Northview, Chattahoochee
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Categories
Very few high school football coaches outside of Cobb County knew about Walton’s Chase Thomas only three months ago.
Now after a meteoric rise, the rising senior defensive end is known across most of the country by coaches, but at the collegiate level.
Almost overnight, Thomas has turned into one of the state’s elite prospects with 15 early scholarship offers, including ones from Florida, LSU and Auburn. At this pace, by the time his senior year begins in August, Thomas projects to have 30 offers or more.
Even Thomas admits he is surprised by all the new-found fame.
“If you would have told me a few months ago that I would have 15 Division I offers by May, I would’ve laughed, especially with some of these elite colleges,” Thomas said. “I’m really blessed. All my childhood dreams are coming true.”
The rapid rise of the 6-foot-4, 210-pounder has to do with three things:
— Outstanding size and speed.
— Stellar academics. He carries a 3.8 GPA.
— An aggressive marketing campaign from Walton’s coaches and his father.
“So far it has been a lot of fun, getting all of the attention and seeing head coaches at practice that you watch on TV,” Thomas said.
Here’s an early look at some of the area’s other top college prospects:
— Roswell: The defending Class AAAAA co-champions have three players who with early offers: Linebacker Ebele Okakpu with seven (including Vanderbilt and Central Florida); receiver Garrett Embry with four (led by Baylor) and tailback Alex Daniel with three (led by Central Florida).
Coach Tim McFarlin also expects quarterback Dustin Taliaferro, defensive end Curtis Hazelton, kicker Jim Broadway and linebacker Zack Waddell, among others, to play in college.
Hazelton is set to spend the majority of the summer participating in college camps. His objective?
“I want to go there and really just show the coaches what I can do and hope I can get some offers,” said Hazelton, who will attend camps at Central Florida, Vanderbilt, Duke and, possibly, North Carolina. “And I want to work on footwork and speed.”
Hazelton, who plans to major in sociology and business marketing, would like to play at Duke or Vanderbilt.
“With Vanderbilt, it seems like they have a strong program that’s getting better,” Hazelton said. “With Duke, it seems like I’d get to play early.”
— Northview: Quarterback Justin Tuggle is the big-name player, being the son of former Falcons linebacker Jesse Tuggle, but it is teammate Cordian Hagans, who starts at defensive end and tight end, who is currently generating the most interest.
Hagans has early offers from eight colleges, including Georgia, Boston College and LSU.
College scouts are mixed over the college position of Tuggle, who has offers from Mississippi State and Indiana. About 30 colleges were scheduled to observe Northview’s spring practices, and coach Don Savage said as many as nine seniors could play at the next level.
— Chattahoochee: The Cougars usually have at least one linemen draw attention from the big schools, and this year it’s Justin Smith. He has early offers Ole Miss and Marshall and appears to be on the brink of several more.
— Marist: Cooper Taylor has yet to start a varsity game at quarterback, but has early offers from Duke, Mississippi State and Marshall. Taylor is being recruited as either a defensive back or athlete who could play several positions.
Coach Alan Chadwick said it appears to be on of the program’s stronger years for prospects, with as many as seven seniors likely to have the opportunity to play in college.
SOUTH CAROLINA QB CATCHES RECRUITERS’ EYES
Several Division I-A coaches lined up recently to get a glimpse of quarterback Reid McCollum during spring drills at Summerville (S.C.) High.
Heading the list of notables was South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier.
“Spurrier came by and said he liked what he saw,” said McCollum, who was also scouted during spring practice by representatives from Duke, N.C. State, Virginia, Florida State, Louisville and Tennessee.
McCollum, who threw for nearly 3,000 yards as a junior, is awaiting his first offer.
“What they’re saying is when the first one comes, they’ll all start coming,” said McCollum, who downplayed a report on Scout.com that he is leaning toward South Carolina and Wake Forest. “I’m interested in whoever is interested in me.”
The 6-foot-5 McCollum is being recruited as a pro-style quarterback.
“I’m pretty tall and am more of a pocket passer,” McCollum said. “I can scramble when I need to, but I like to throw it downfield.”
McCollum is a second-generation player under John McKissick, the nation’s winningest high school football coach. McCollum’s top target, receiver A.J. Green, is a Georgia recruit.
“It’s really an honor for me to play for him,” McCollum said. “My dad played for him in high school. He really is a legend. He’s real easy to talk to. And he knows everything there is about football.”
KING RELIEVED MADNESS IS OVER
Habersham Central wide receiver Tavarres King originally thought he’d wait until the fall to announce where he was going.
But …
“[Recruiting] has been pretty tiring, I am not going to lie,” said King, who on Friday picked Georgia over Clemson and others. “Fifty, 55 text messages every day, that isn’t too fun for mom paying that bill.
“It has its ups and down. A month ago, I sat down with my parents. I sat down in the den and I was like, ‘I am ready to get this thing over with and I am ready to focus on my senior year and get that started.’ ”
It was at that time that King settled on Georgia. While he did let the Georgia coaches know of his decision prior to Friday’s news conference — John Eason, the Bulldogs’ wide receiver coach, was in attendance in Mount Airy — no one else knew.
“I knew Georgia was the leader,” said Anthony King, Tavarres’ father and a former Clemson star. “But he didn’t tell me before this.”
JACKSON’S PLAN: ‘KEEP EVERYBODY GUESSING’
Toby Jackson is going to know where he wants to play his college football pretty soon.
But the Griffin defensive lineman isn’t going to tell anybody until much later.
“I like to keep it a secret,” Jackson said. “[I want to] keep everybody guessing. I’m not going to say anything until after the season, close to signing day.”
Until that time he is going to continue to entertain most of the big schools in the Southeast. Right now those schools at or near the top of his list include Georgia, Tennessee, Florida State and Alabama.
“I like a lot of different coaches right now, but after talking to them for a while some of them start to say the same thing and you are like, ‘I just heard that from another coach,’ ” Jackson said.
What Jackson is hearing a lot of are opinions on what position he will play at the next level. Alabama sees the 6-foot-4, 244-pounder as a defensive end. Florida State has said he could be an end or outside linebacker. Tennessee is leaning more toward defensive tackle.
Georgia said it doesn’t matter. The Bulldogs are willing to wait and see what his body does before they put him in a position.
“I’ve still got a lot of growing to do so it is hard to tell where I am going to be,” Jackson said.
Jackson does want to be in a place with a demonstrative coach.
“I like a coach that is really hands on and gets in there with his players,” he said. “Somebody with energy.”
LOADED LINEUP FOR SCOUT.COM CAMP
Scout.com will hold an invitation-only combine starring 100-plus of the Southeast’s top junior prospects Saturday at Georgia Tech.
Organizer Scott Kennedy estimates that 90 of the 119 players who have RSVP’d will sign Division I scholarships less than a year from now.
On the guest list:
Alabama
— Anniston: OT Antoine McClain
— Auburn: Dee Finley S
—Bibb County: OL Ben Jones
— Blount: DE Willie Bohannon
— Hoover Spain Park: DE William Green
— Mountain Brook: OT Tyler Love
Florida
— Hialeah Senior: DE Corey Liuget
— Hollywood Hills: RB Chris Anderson
— Miami Monsignor Pace: OT Greg Shaw
Georgia
— Banneker: DE Steven Fowlkes, S Darrell Simmons
— Berkmar: LB Kevin Minter
— Blessed Trinity: OL Matthew Crisafi, OL Ben Kopacka, OT Harris Howard
— Calhoun: RB Adam Urbano
— Callaway: OL Ronald Byrd
— Carrollton: DT Nick Craig
— Cartersville:— S Donovan Tate, WR Tim Baker
— Carver (Atlanta): LB Arsenio Clemmons, S Darren Myles, WR Tiunte Little
— Carver (Columbus): QB Deron Furr, WR Jarmon Fortson
— Chamblee: WR Malcolm Beyah
— Clarke Central: OL Trevino Woods, RB Darrieon Robinson
— Coffee County: OG B.J. Brand
— Columbia: S Kenny Harris, RB Taurean Rhodes
— Creekside: CB Terrance Parks
— Dacula: LB Brad Chahoy, S Blair Frost
— Douglas County: RB LaVonte Page, RB Carl Robinson
— East Coweta: FB Tim McGill
— Fayette County CB Brandon Boykin, S Matt Daniels
— Flowery Branch: QB Jaybo Shaw
— Gadsden City: LB Jerrell Harris
— Gainesville: DE Keith Wells, WR Tyler Adetona
— Grady: LB Darryl Farley, WR Demarcus Watts
— Griffin: DT Rashad McMullens, DE Toby Jackson
— Habersham Central: CB Josh Anderson, LB Daniel Franklin
— Harrison: CB Jamal Austin, RB Alphonso Griffin, TE Kyle Madden, WR Darvin Adams
— Heard County: RB Dontavius Jackson, OL Darvel Nelson
— Henry County: WR Chris Jackson, QB Drew Little, WR Jamal Patterson
— Jefferson County: OT A.J. Harmon
— Kennesaw Mountain: TE Bryce Ros
— King: OL Aaron Hawkins
— Lithonia: LB Elton Ford
— Lovejoy: S Michael Greene
— Mays: LB Bernard Smith
— Mill Creek: LB Collin Stewart
— Monroe: OL David Noel, QB Sherman Stephens
— North Cobb: OL Matt Britain, QB Matt Roark, RB Calvin Middleton
— Northgate: DE James Searcy
— Northview: QB Justin Tuggle
— Paulding County: QB Zach Thomason
— Peachtree Ridge: CB Cameron Demps, CB Brandon Sanders, RB Antonio Hayes, RB Brandon Davis, QB Asher Clark, CB Derrick Bryant
— Prince Avenue Christian: QB Jon Richt
— Roswell: DE Curtis Hazelton, LB Ebele Okakpu, QB Dustin Taliaferro, RB Alex Daniel, WR Garrett Embry
— Sandy Creek: WR Braxton Lane
— South Forsyth: LB Tyler Smith
— Statesboro: LB Sherrod Natson
— Stockbridge: DT Randy Salmon, QB Tyler Bass, RB Rashad White, S Vance King
— Tucker: ATH Jonathan Davis, OL Robert Jones, OL Nico Lipscomb, S Jamoris Slaughter
— Washington County: LB Brandon Watts
— West Hall: LB Daniel Drummond
— Woodward Academy: RB Jamal Paige, OL Trenton Turner
Louisiana
— Clinton: CB Prentiss Waggner
— Destrehan: WR Tim Molten, RB Jerico Nelson
Mississippi
— Kosciusko: S Kendrick Pressley
— Louisville: QB Clayton Moore
North Carolina
— Butler: CB Robert Blanton, QB Jacob Charest, S Spencer Adams, S E.J. Whitley
— Hickory: LB Austin Johnson
— Terry Sanford: TE Dwayne Allen
— Westover: S Lorenzo Williams
South Carolina
— Bamberg Ehrhardt: DT Daquan Bowers
— Calhoun Falls: RB Jeffrey Ford
— J.L. Mann: S J.T. Floyd
— Loris: LB Jonathan Willard
Tennessee
— Montgomery Bell: OT Preston Bailey
— Smyrna: WR Rodriguez Wilks
QUICK KICKS
— Auburn and N.C. State sit atop the wish list of Thomas County Central’s Debrale Smiley. “My goal is to be the best running back in the state,” said Smiley, who is awaiting his first offer despite rushing for 1,500 yards as a junior.
— Georgia-bound defensive tackle Deangelo Tyson of Statesboro has lived in a group home since he was 11. He said the environment has been a confidence booster: “I’ve got a lot of people who love and care for me and want me to succeed.”
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Toby Jackson’s plan: ‘Keep everybody guessing’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Categories
Toby Jackson is going to know where he wants to play his college football pretty soon.
But the Griffin defensive lineman isn’t going to tell anybody until much later.
“I like to keep it a secret,” Jackson said. “[I want to] keep everybody guessing. I’m not going to say anything until after the season, close to signing day.”
Until that time he is going to continue to entertain most of the big schools in the Southeast. Right now those schools at or near the top of his list include Georgia, Tennessee, Florida State and Alabama.
“I like a lot of different coaches right now, but after talking to them for a while some of them start to say the same thing and you are like, ‘I just heard that from another coach,’ ” Jackson said.
What Jackson is hearing a lot of are opinions on what position he will play at the next level. Alabama sees the 6-foot-4, 244-pounder as a defensive end. Florida State has said he could be an end or outside linebacker. Tennessee is leaning more toward defensive tackle.
Georgia said it doesn’t matter. The Bulldogs are willing to wait and see what his body does before they put him in a position.
“I’ve still got a lot of growing to do so it is hard to tell where I am going to be,” Jackson said.
Jackson does want to be in a place with a demonstrative coach.
“I like a coach that is really hands on and gets in there with his players,” he said. “Somebody with energy.”
