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Monday, February 4, 2008
Georgia junior commit Mettenberger gets new coach
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Georgia-bound quarterback Zach Mettenberger will enter his senior year at Oconee County operating under his third coach in four seasons at the Watkinsville school.
Mitch Olson of John F. Kennedy High in La Palma, Calif. was introduced as Oconee County’s new coach at a school board meeting Monday evening.
South Gwinnett’s John Small had been the rumored front-runner to replace the departing Nick Saltaformaggio.
The 6-foot-5 Mettenberger is looking forward to showcasing his skills in Olson’s pass-oriented offense.
“I know he’s a California coach and that he throws the ball a lot,” said Mettenberger, who hopes to meet Olson on Thursday. “That’s what teams in California do a lot, throw the ball.”
Mettenberger said life hasn’t change much since committing to the Dogs last week.
“I’m still the same Zach Mettenberger,” he said. “I’ve got a couple of congratulations here and there.”
Mettenberger said he will likely back off his original plan to attend several camps this spring and summer.
“I’ll probably still set up a few visits,” he said. “But I will stick with my commitment to Georgia unless something drastic happens.”
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Banneker’s Fowlkes apparently still headed to Rocky Top
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Banneker coach Benny Crane believes 6-foot-5, 215-pound defensive end Steven Fowlkes will honor the commitment he made to Tennessee in August.
Rumors persist that the Banneker standout will sign with Arkansas and new coach Bobby Petrino on Wednesday.
“Steven is committed to Tennessee,” Crane said Monday evening. “He visited Arkansas [on Jan. 25] and enjoyed himself there, but as far as I know he’s committed to Tennessee.”
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Georgia’s 2009 class could be filled by spring
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Athens — Chad Turner could only watch and wait.
Neither of which he was used to doing. Here he was, a 6-foot-4, 270-pound lineman, used to accomplishing his goals aggressively.
But this time his goal — a college scholarship — was beyond his control.
“You see other people are going places,” said Turner, a senior at Emanuel County Institute. “You see that schools are offering players. They are starting to fill up, and you think you should be in there.”
Appalachian State liked Turner, but the player and his coach were convinced he was a solid Division I-A prospect.
“But he was just a late bloomer,” ECI coach Milan Turner said.
Turner always had the size. His athleticism just needed time to catch up. That made Turner not unlike many other high school athletes around the country. Given time, they will grow into formidable players. College coaches no longer have time.
Since the latter part of the 1990s, influenced by Penn State’s willingness to offer scholarships to juniors, coaches have begun to identify and secure commitments from players before their senior seasons.
Georgia already has five of its projected 15 commitments locked up for 2009.
The 2008 class, Turner’s class, can’t even sign until Wednesday.
“If you don’t get in there, you are going to miss out on where you want to go,” said Chestatee linebacker Chase Vasser, a junior who committed to Georgia last week. “I didn’t know how much I wanted to be at Georgia until I almost couldn’t be at Georgia.”
Vasser canceled eight visits when he committed to Georgia. ECI’s Washaun Ealey and Dexter Moody skipped a trip to Florida after accepting Georgia’s offers. Others have done the same.
The Bulldogs could be finished with their 2009 recruiting class by the end of the spring before any of the recruits play a snap in their senior year. Commitments do not bind the player or the school to the other. Nothing is final until signing day. But it is rare for a school to withdraw an offer from a committed player.
“It’s just the way things are going now,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “You can’t hardly keep it from happening.”
Many times, especially when space is limited like it will be for Georgia in 2009, offered players accept. If they don’t, even if they are highly rated players, they might end up like Zebrie Sanders.
He is a top offensive line prospect out of Ohio. Georgia wanted him. Florida wanted him. A lot of places wanted him. But Sanders waited before calling Florida.
“I actually felt kind of stupid, but I called Florida State, and I called Georgia and told them thanks for the interest and everything but I was going to commit to Florida,” Sanders said. “Then I called Florida, and they said no.”
The Gators, whom Sanders had repeatedly asked to keep a spot open for him, didn’t have any scholarships left. Florida State called Sanders back, and he committed.
“If I had a chance to do it all over again, I would probably do it the same way,” Sanders said. “But there is a pressure, period. Whether you commit early or you wait longer, there is a lot of pressure.”
The pressure is not just on the players. With commitments no longer coming just from seniors, college and high school coaches must make quick decisions.
“People get so many early offers it puts pressure on us to offer kids when we really haven’t done a sufficient background check or evaluation on the kid,” Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo said. “And kids can grow so much between their sophomore to junior and their junior to senior year. I think you miss out on a lot of kids.”
That is exactly the way Georgia Military College coach Bert Williams sees it.
“The last couple of years we have taken a few qualifiers who we felt had the potential to be D-I guys,” Williams said. “But they maybe just developed late or in their senior year, and they don’t have the offers that they would have if they would have developed earlier.”
Those that have developed and have offers may not be giving their all to their high school coach in their senior years because their future is determined.
“All these colleges are coming in and offering these guys early, and now you have got kids who kind of shut it down,” Bobo said. “They have got offers from eight to 10 Division I schools.
“It has kind of taken away the power of the high school coach to coach and mold those guys. You see that a lot. That’s a problem.”
It’s one high school coaches are becoming accustomed to dealing with and understanding.
“It’s nobody’s fault,” Turner said. “You can’t fault the college coaches because everybody is doing it. It’s become a necessary evil.”
For instance, the Bulldogs were done with their 2008 class months ago. That allowed more time to concentrate on 2009. The more time the coaches put into that, the more prepared they are to offer a player by Aug. 1 of his junior year.
Because of that cycle there have been suggestions of an early signing period in November.
“It would be nice to know early,” Richt said. “I think it might be good for high school coaches and families. On the other hand, I am afraid you would spend [too much time during the season recruiting].”
All of which brings us back to Turner, the lineman from ECI. While teammates Ealey and Moody were drawing interest for the 2009 class, he wondered if he was going anywhere this year.
Finally in December, Florida State made an offer. Turner turned them down.
“They wanted me to grayshirt and come in January of 2009,” Turner said. In other words, he would graduate ECI, not play football in the fall of 2008 or be with the team and be the first recruit of the 2009 class for the Seminoles.
Turner didn’t want to wait and accepted an offer from Division I-AA Appalachian State, the three-time defending national champs.
“I didn’t want to wait to play,” Turner said. “And I wanted to be at a place that plays for titles.”
Permalink | Comments (26) | Categories: FSU, Florida, Other schools, UGA
Buckeyes get Gainesville’s Wells
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Ohio State could have two Georgians starting on its defensive line when the Buckeyes open their season in 2008.
Keith Wells, a 6-5, 232-pound defensive end from Gainesville, committed to the Buckeyes on Monday. He said he hopes to start at end, beside defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, who starred at Peachtree Ridge.
“I definitely want to play [and not redshirt],” said Wells, who said he has qualified academically, and hopes to major in mechanical or civil engineering.
Heyward hosted Wells when he visited Ohio State’s campus in Columbus last year.
In the end, Wells said Ohio State is the type of school with the type of athletics department that made him feel comfortable.
“It was a mixture of stuff,” Wells said. “It wasn’t just one thing. Ohio State was one of those schools that you had to look for one thing that was wrong.”
Notre Dame, and Tennessee were among the schools that were interested in Wells.
“All of the big dogs were in here last week,” Gainesville assistant coach Todd Wofford said. “[Phil} Fulmer and Charlie Weis and all those guys. [OSU’s Jim] Tressel, he’s someone else. He stands out a little bit different than the rest.”
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Allen discusses his UGA choice
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Dwayne Allen made it clear to his coach, Wayne Inman, that he was going to Clemson on Saturday night when the two talked.
Allen, a four-star tight end, continued that line of thinking the next day. “Clemson. Clemson. Clemson. That is where I am going,” he told himself.
All morning Monday, “it was Clemson,” Allen said.
Then something changed at 1 p.m.
“I didn’t even know until I picked up the Clemson hat, threw it over to my coach and it was Georgia,” said the Terry Sanford (Fayetteville, N.C.) product. “Georgia is where I wanted to be.”
So Georgia is where he is going. Finally. Allen, 6-4, 245 pounds, has been at the center of really the only drama involving the 2008 class. He was one of Georgia’s first commitments in December of 2006. But then he reopened his recruitment process. The door was open even wider when Georgia tight end coach Dave Johnson left for West Virginia.
Then he took an official visit to Clemson and things started to change.
“I am glad I took that visit,” he said. “There were a lot of wonderful people at Clemson.”
People Georgia had to go up against. And people who had ironically already convinced Georgia coach Mark Richt’s son, Jon, to sign with Clemson.
“(Georgia) didn’t push too hard,” Allen said. “They didn’t say anything negative (about Clemson). When it came down to it, it was just Georgia.”
Permalink | Comments (134) | Categories: Clemson, FSU, UGA
Tucker’s Lipscomb commits to Auburn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Tucker defensive back Neiko Lipscomb, who spent the weekend visiting Ole Miss, committed to Auburn late Sunday night.
“I have made my decision and I am going to play for the Tigers,” Lipscomb told Inside the Auburn Tigers. “I made my decision [Sunday evening] and I am excited about it.”
Scholarship availability played a role in the the 6-foot-2 cornerback’s decision. He had also shown interest in Alabama and Georgia. Neither of those programs had offered Lipscomb as of Sunday.
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