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Monday, September 8, 2008
LSU and Michigan in the mix for Auburn commit Harris of Lovejoy?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Lovejoy offensive lineman Andre Harris, who committed to Auburn in June, plans to make his first visit of the season to Jordan-Hare Stadium on Sep. 20 when the Tigers host LSU.
Harris, considered the 23rd-best guard in the country by Scout.com, said three other programs continue to actively recruit him.
“LSU really came on hard after I committed, and so has Michigan,” said Harris, a member of the AJC’s The Georgia Top 150. “And Boston College has kept in touch.”
None of those programs have offered - yet.
“I think I’d take my time to make a better decision if they offered, but I’d still be committed to Auburn,” predicted Harris, who hinted that he’d be willing to visit the campuses of LSU and Michigan.
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UGA fan Michael Bowman will commit to Alabama at game
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Ridgeland’s Michael Bowman, arguably the state’s top prospect at wide receiver, confirmed on Monday night that he plans to officially commit to Alabama when he watches the Crimson Tide play Western Kentucky on Saturday.
Bowman said his mother talked with Alabama coaches while he was in school on Monday. They wanted to make sure the prized prospect was still going to attend the game.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Bowman told the AJC on Sunday that he had decided to commit to Alabama rather than wait any longer on an offer from his “dream school” of Georgia. Bowman said the Bulldogs had promised an offer, providing he raised his test scores [he said he made a 16 on ACT last year, while Georgia wants a 19].
Bowman said most other colleges, including Alabama, had gone ahead and offered scholarships, with the assumption he would meet college entrance requirements. Bowman selected Alabama over LSU and Oregon, among others.
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Stanford-bound Patterson visits Georgia Tech
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Henry County receiver Jamal Patterson was among the recruits in attendance during Georgia Tech’s season-opening victory over Jacksonville State on Thursday Aug. 28.
Patterson, who committed to Stanford last month, originally showed little interest in the Jackets after reasoning that he’d have a minor role in Tech’s new, run-oriented offense.
But through two games, coach Paul Johnson’s triple-option offense is averaging 14 pass attempts per contest.
“I’ve been keeping up with their games,” said Patterson, who is rated as the 15th-best receiver in the nation by Scout.com. “And I’ve noticed that they’ve been throwing the ball some.”
Patterson, one of the headliners of the AJC’s The Georgia Top 150, insists that his heart is still with Stanford.
But he’s not prepared to shut off communication with the Jackets.
“I already knew a lot of the coaching staff [retained from the Chan Gailey era],” said Patterson, whose Tech recruiting coach is Brian Jean Mary. “It was just a ‘keep in contact’ type thing.
“When I talked to the staff, they knew I was committed to Stanford. But just because I’ve committed, we didn’t want to stop and not get used to one another.”
Patterson says he’ll attend at least one other game at Bobby Dodd Stadium this fall with friend Roderick Sweeting of Luella, who has committed to the Jackets.
The 6-foot-2, 203-pound Patterson plans to attend Saturday’s Western Kentucky-Alabama contest in Tuscaloosa.
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Class of ‘05: Only one-third of blue chips live up to hype
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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The chances of a blue-chip recruit living up to his billing in college is not so good, or maybe the class of 2005 was below average.
I was looking at the state’s 2005 signees last weekend and identified 28 players as blue-chippers, based on their selection to the AJC Super 11 team or being named a four-star recruit (or better) by Scout or Rivals, the major recruiting services.
Only eight of those 28 are starting for major-college teams today. Ten are no longer playing football, according to my best efforts at tracking them online.
And here’s a tip for four-star recruits: Take your schoolworkseriously. That seems to derail more top players than lack of talent.
Here’s a look at the 28:
Starting for BCS conference schools (8):
Duke Robinson, Washington: First-team All-American as a junior and a three-year starter at Oklahoma. Only Rivals listed Robinson as a four-star recruit, and he didn’t make the AJC’s Super 11 team.
James Davis, Douglass: Third-year starting running back at Clemson. Rushed for more than 1,000 yards each of the past two seasons. First-team All-ACC.
Tray Blackmon, LaGrange: Two-year starting linebacker at Auburn. Second-team preseason All-SEC.
Chris Scott, Lovejoy: Tennessee: Two-year starter at Tennessee. Moved from guard to left tackle this season.
Kyle Moore, Houston County: Two-year starting defensive end at Southern Cal.
Roderick Battle, Douglass: Two-year starting defensive end at Georgia.
Justin Mincey, Florida State: First-year starting defensive tackle at Florida State. Spent a year at Hargrave Military Academy.
Anthony Barnes, Cartersville: First-year starting linebacker at Georgia Tech.
Backups (7):
Carlos Thomas, Banneker: A nickel back and backup corner who has 20 career starts at South Carolina.
Darius Dewberry, Peach County: Linebacker at Georgia. Spent year at Hargrave Military College.
Brandon Sesay, Douglass: Defensive end at Texas Tech, pushing for a starting spot. Sesay signed with Georgia but went to a California junior college.
Paul Duncan, East Paulding: Backup guard for Notre Dame. Started at tackle last season.
Marcus Washington, Burke County: Part-time starting linebacker at Georgia in 2007, but out for the season with a shoulder injury.
Matt Dunham, Pacelli: Third-string tight end at Florida State.
Richie Rich, Wheeler: Third-string cornerback at North Carolina.
Playing at a smaller school (3):
Kalvin Baker, Pacelli: Signed with Florida but transferred to Tennessee State, where he’s a two-year starter at linebacker.
Mike Harness, Pacelli: Signed with Auburn but attended prep school, then signed with Jackson State, where he’s a first-year starter at right guard.
Brandon Perry, Hawkinsville: The first defensive tackle off the bench at Middle Tennessee.
No longer playing football (10):
Travis Barr, Chattahoochee: Played a season at Central Florida.
Antonio Clay, Twiggs County: Former starting linebacker at Clemson left school this year amid personal problems stemming from the death of his sister.
Dan Foster, Early County: Committed to Florida State but went to junior college and wound up playing a season at Eastern Arizona.
Tyler Horne, Newnan: Signed with UAB but quit the team before playing a game. Became a star third baseman at Shelton State Community College in Alabama and recently signed with Tennessee to continue his baseball career.
Charles Jackson, Tri-County: Signed basketball scholarship with Illinois but switched to football after two years and played on the offensive line for one season. Known as C.J. Jackson in college.
Tavares Kearney, Tucker: Signed with Georgia, left school, landed at Georgia Southern and played one season under Brian VanGorder.
Corey Moon, Decatur: Signed with Georgia but attended prep school, then junior college.
Mam Nyang, Wheeler: Played two seasons at Southern Miss.
Ian Smith, Cartersville: Played two seasons at Georgia, left the team for medical reasons.
Tony Wright, Peach County: Signed with Florida, never got there.
Permalink | Comments (27) | Post your comment | Categories: Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, FSU, Florida, Other schools, South Carolina, Tech, Tennessee, UGA
UGA-bound QB Murray suffers tough loss
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Quarterback Aaron Murray of Tampa, Fla., who has committed to Georgia, was intercepted with less than two minutes remaining in a 9-2 loss to rival Armwood.
The game between the two Florida powerhouses was televised by ESPNU. Six prospects ranked in the nation’s top 100 prospects by Rivals participated in the showdown, including Murray and tight Orson Charles for Plant.
Plant was on the 26-yard line in the fourth quarter when Murray’s pass attempt was deflected and intercepted, according to the St. Petersburg Times. Murray was targeting Charles on the play. He completed 17 of 36 passes for 120 yards.
“Aaron pumped to fake out the safety and I had the corner beat,” Charles said. “At the last second, Aaron’s arm got hit.
“We were all very disappointed. I was disappointed I couldn’t make a big play to help us win. We broke down the film [Sunday], and went over our mistakes. Hopefully we’ll get to see Armwood again in the playoffs.”
Charles, a member of the AJC’s The Super Southern 100 and nation’s No. 2 tight end by Rivals, is favoring Miami over Florida, Georgia and Florida State.
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SW DeKalb’s Mitchell has big game for recruiters
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Southwest DeKalb wide receiver Jacoby Mitchell picked a good game to show off his skills.
With Clemson and Middle Tennessee State recruiters in town to watch him play, Mitchell had four receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown in a 15-9 victory against Miller Grove last Friday.
“I did my thing at the game and I guess they liked what they saw,” said Mitchell of the recruiters - Clemson’s Chris Rumph and Middle Tennessee’s Willie Simmons. “I just gotta keep working hard.”
It was the first receptions of the season for Mitchell, who says he was still battling pain of a minot ligament strain in his left knee for the opener against M.L. King, a 21-12 loss.
Mitchell has offers from Bowling Green, Akron and Eastern Michigan.
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Stephenson QB Gilbert has mindset of RB
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Stephenson’s Carisseion Gilbert calls himself a “quarterback with a running back mindset.”
That’s not a stretch, considering Gilbert’s projection at the college level is running back and kick returner. The 5-foot-7, 180-pounder with sub-4.5 speed in the 40, was moved from running back to quarterback when the projected starter, Geoffrey Thomas, quit football to work on a college baseball scholarship as a pitcher.
“I still do all the running back drills at practice,” said Gilbert, also known as C.C., who has one offer, from UAB. “I consider myself a mobile quarterback.”
Gilbert played quarterback as a freshman at Newton High before transferring to Stephenson. In two games he has passed for nearly 200 yards and rushed for 130.
UAB’s offer is firm and Gilbert plans to visit Birmingham for an upcoming home game - the Blazers host Alabama State Sept. 20, Memphis Oct. 2 and Marshall Oct. 18.
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SW DeKalb’s Brant considers Army offer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Southwest DeKalb defender Brandon Brant faces a decision that virtually everyone courted by service academies must make.
Does he take the offer to West Point - “Everybody says go to West Point. It’s an academic opportunity you can’t pass up.”- or wait to see if another major program with a better football credential comes calling?
“It’s not an easy decision,” said the 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior said. “I’m not leaning either way.”
The problem is that Army is one of only two teams to make an offer so far. Appalachian State has offered, too, but hasn’t been calling as much lately, Brant said.
Middle Tennessee State, Akron, Western Kentucky, Miami (OH), Jacksonville State and Georgia Southern also have expressed serious interest, Brant said.
Brant said he’s not sweating the recruiting process yet. As a multi-functional player for the Panthers (1-1), he’s trying to focus on football on the field.
He leads Southwest defense as an outside linebacker/defensive end with 12 tackles and three sacks in two games. On offense, he might play any of the five lineman positions.
He says the responsibility has helped hone his offensive-reading skills as a linebacker, but it’s also caused a time crunch. It’s one of the reasons he hasn’t taken any visiting trips yet.
“It’s a very crowded schedule,” said Brant, who says he has received several invitations to visit. “I really can’t miss practice to take those trips.”
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MLK’s Kight gets Ole Miss offer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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ML King receiver Joel Kight added Ole Miss last week to his list of offers, but he’s stilling waiting to get that “gut feeling” before leaning in any direction.
MLK coach Corey Jarvis said the offer came after Kight, a 5-foot-10, 210-pound outside linebacker, had 10 tackles and a sack in a 21-12 victory against Southwest DeKalb in the season-opener.
Kight says he has received offers from Boston College, Oklahoma State, Indiana, UConn and Arizona State. Louisville has expressed strong interest.
“Whenever I get that gut feeling, that’s the one I’ll pick,” Kight said Sunday.
He has no visits planned, but expects to line up one with Ole Miss in the next couple of weeks. “I’m starting to get to that point [comparing his offers], but I still want to stay concentrated on the season.”
M.L. King (1-1), ranked fifth in Class AAAAA last week, fell to North Cobb 24-21 Friday.
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