AJC > Sports > Football Recruiting > Blog > Archives > 2008 > September > 11
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Is Newnan’s Alec Ogletree the state’s top junior?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Newnan safety Alec Ogletree got home late from football practice on Thursday night and opened two letters.
One was a scholarship offer from LSU, the defending national champions, and the other was the same paperwork from Arkansas.
Another day at the office for the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Ogletree, who is just beginning his junior season at Newnan. He has already stacked up around 15 offers, with 20-30 more expected by his coach by the end of the season.
“I’m real appreciative of everything, and it feels great that these colleges want me,” Ogletree said. “But I’m not really thinking about recruiting right now. My mind is on doing everything I can to help my team win games and play for the state championship.”
Who else has offered Ogletree? Some of the bigger names are Miami, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Clemson. Ogletree seems to be handling his new-found celebrity status well so far.
“I’m just taking things as they go,” Ogletree said.
Permalink | Comments (16) | Post your comment | Categories: Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, FSU, Florida, Other schools, South Carolina, Tech, Tennessee, UGA
Road Trip: Top recruit set for Georgia-South Carolina clash
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Four SEC teams are pushing hard to score a commitment from Perry’s Johnnie Farms, one of the top uncommitted players in Georgia and Scout.com’s sixth-best offensive guard in the nation.
“Auburn, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama are really turning up the heat,” said Farms, one of the headliners on the AJC’s The Georgia Top 150.
The 6-foot-2, 280-pound Farms gets his first taste of the annual Georgia-South Carolina border war on Saturday afternoon when the Gamecocks host the Dogs at Williams-Brice Stadium.
“I’ve never been [to Columbia] for a game, but I went there for a camp,” Farms said. “I’m just trying to get familiar with the program and the coaches.
“I just met [South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier] this summer. I just started getting into college football, but I’ve looked up some history on him. He wins wherever he goes.”
Farms cited reasons to root for both teams on Saturday.
“I’ll always cheer for the underdog because that’s when you’ll have a game,” he said. “But I’m cheering for Georgia because I have a friend on the team, Ben Harden, who is from Perry.”
Farms is planning on attending the LSU-Auburn game on Sept. 20 and hopes to be in Athens the following weekend when the Dogs host Alabama.
The general consensus is that Auburn and Georgia are in the lead for Farms. But would he pull a shocker and commit to Spurrier on Saturday?
“I don’t plan on committing, but anything can happen,” he said.
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Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina, UGA
Another Bainbridge product for UGA?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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With receiver Michael Bowman of Ridgeland seemingly close to committing to Alabama over Georgia, Bainbridge’s 6-foot-3 wide receiver Melzie Johnson says then, ‘How about me?”
Even though Georgia has not shown a great deal of interest, Central Florida, Western Kentucky and Arkansas have. Johnson just hopes Georgia takes a closer look at him.
“I’ve always been a Georgia fan. My dream has always been to play there,” said Johnson, who is close friends with Georgia players Nick Williams and Darryl Gamble, who are from Bainbridge.
And even though he has not received an offer from a major-college program, that seems to be inevitable. He is qualified academically and a play-maker. He recently had two catches for 68 yards and a touchdown against Georgia-bound safety Shawn Williams of Early County.
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Road Trip: Blessed Trinity’s Crisafi headed to Music City
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Blessed Trinity guard Matt Crisafi will spend Saturday in Nashville, Tenn., a place he wouldn’t mind calling home during the next four years.
“This will be my fourth or fifth visit to Vanderbilt,” said the 6-foot-4, 300-pound Crisafi, who has scholarship offers from Delaware, Middle Tennessee State and Tulane and is being courted by the Commodores and Wake Forest.
“I talk to the offensive line coach and the offensive coordinator there once a week. I’ve been up there for camp for two years, junior day and their spring game.
“I just truly love Nashville. And the academics at Vanderbilt are top of the line when it comes to their business school. They compete in the SEC and seem to get better every year.”
Crisafi’s trek to Vandy for their game against Rice comes one week after a trip to Winston-Salem, N.C.
“It was real nice at Wake Forest,” said Crisafi, who is being recruited as a center and guard. “It was my third time up there. It’s quiet and quaint and they have a lot of pride.
“The coaches have been together a long time and they have a system that works. They still want to see my senior tape, but there’s a couple of scholarships still on the line there.”
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Kentucky commit Justin Jones gets another offer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Heritage tight end Justin Jones, who committed to Kentucky, got another offer this week.
The 6-foot-7, 245-pounder was offered by Savannah State. Heritage coach Chad Frazier said Jones was appreciative of the offer, but said his prized prospect remains loyal to the Wildcats.
“Justin will get an offer every now and then from out of the blue, but things really died down after he picked Kentucky this summer,” Frazier said.
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McEachern TE Terrell Mitchell sets official visit with UGA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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McEachern tight end Terrell Mitchell, who is quickly emerging as one of the state’s top prospects, told the AJC that he has set up an official visit with Georgia.
The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Mitchell said he will take his trip to Athens on Nov. 29-30, the weekend for the Georgia Tech game.
“Georgia is going to offer [Mitchell] if he gets a good test score, that’s what they are telling me,” McEachern coach Kyle Hockman said. “He can block and catch, and pretty much do it all tight end.”
Mitchell, who will take the SAT for the first time next month, made an unofficial visit last weekend to Georgia. He said he spent a lot of time talking with Georgia head coach Mark Richt and tight ends coach John Lilly.
“Coach Lilly said that they are going to sign one more tight end, and I’m one of three guys they are recruiting there,” Mitchell said. “I’d love to go to Georgia. It’s one of the top colleges in the nation, even if you don’t play athletics.”
Mitchell said he talked Wednesday night to Michigan, which has already offered a scholarship, along with West Virginia and South Carolina, among others. Many ACC and SEC schools have requested film or planning to scout Mitchell within the next few weeks.
Georgia already has one commitment at tight end - Arthur Fontaine of Dartmouth, Mass. The Bulldogs are also chasing hard after Orson Charles of Tampa, Fla. Charles, who favors Miami, is ranked as the nation’s No. 2 tight end by Rivals, and plays on the same high school team as quarterback Aaron Murray, who has committed to Georgia.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Post your comment | Categories: FSU, Florida, Other schools, South Carolina, UGA
Sandy Creek’s Johnson happy with East Carolina
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Sandy Creek quarterback Rio Johnson said he’s sticking with his commitment to East Carolina, and he’s only answering phone calls from the Pirates coaching staff.
“I look at the area code [252], and if it’s not from them, I don’t answer,” said Johnson, who was selected to the AJC’s The Georgia 150 list. “I’m not going to go visit anywhere else.”
Johnson made his commitment to East Carolina long before the Pirates pulled upsets of Virginia Tech and West Virginia, but those victories helped validate his choice.
“Kids are coming up to me and saying, ‘Yeah, ECU’s good.’ I knew they were pretty good,” Johnson said. “I was pretty excited about my choice before the upsets occurred. I guess it added a little excitement about me wanting to get up there early.”
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Busy weekend for Chapel Hill’s Johnstone: Babysitting, but no visit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Weekends are hectic this time of the year for recruits like Chapel Hill offensive tackle Taylor Johnstone. After the game on Friday night, the rest of the weekend is usually consumed by a film session with teammates and an unofficial visit to one of the schools.
Johnstone will be busy this weekend, but for different reasons. After Friday night’s game against Morrow, he’ll go home to get plenty of rest before rising Saturday morning to take the ACT. The rest of the weekend he’ll baby-sit for an 8-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy, the children of a couple who have been good friends with Johnstone’s parents for years.
“They’re really nice kids; I like doing it,” said Johnstone, who noted that he has been baby-sitting the siblings since he was in eighth grade. “[The five-year-old] is a handful. Man, he’s hard to keep up with. I’ll probably take them to the pool a couple of times and go bowling or something. No big deal.”
Prior to taking the ACT and babysitting, Johnstone hopes to shine against Morrow (0-2). Coaches from Georgia Southern have told him that they will be at the game to see him play. While a solid performance could result in Johnstone’s first official offer, he said he won’t be nervous.
“I’m used to it by now,” he said. “I try to think about [the coaches] as being just two more fans in the stands.”
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Alexander’s Mitchell likes Kentucky’s attention
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Usually, only the so-called “five star” recruits have the perk of being recruited by head coaches. But even though he is not in the five-star category, Alexander offensive tackle Kevin Mitchell still gets the royal treatment from Kentucky.
From the beginning, Mitchell, who has committed to the Wildcats, has been recruited by Kentucky offensive coordinator Joker Phillips. Phillips has been named by Kentucky athletic officials as the “head coach in waiting,” and will take over when current head coach Rich Brooks steps down. That could happen during Mitchell’s four-year stay at the school.
Mitchell said it was a big reason he committed to Kentucky, after being courted by Louisville, Indiana, Oregon and several other schools. He’ll take unofficial visits to Kentucky in the next few weeks to watch the Wildcats take on South Carolina and Arkansas. He’ll wait until after the season to take an official visit to Lexington.
“It definitely made an impression on me. Not many [recruits] get to talk to the head coach, or the future head coach, on a regular basis,” Mitchell said. “It helps you establish great trust right away.”
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Oklahoma State enters picture for Douglas County’s Caldwell
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Oklahoma State has contacted Douglas County coach John Oglesby about quarterback Tony Caldwell, Caldwell said Tuesday night.
“They asked for my grades and they want a highlight tape of my first three games,” Caldwell said. “They said they were looking at a few quarterbacks. But I’m pretty excited they’re interested.”
Caldwell already has solid numbers this season. Although the Tigers are 0-2, Caldwell is a combined 27-of-42 (62 percent) passing for 430 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. A big game Friday against a Fayette County (0-2) defense that has surrendered 58 points in two games could make for a nice highlight film to send to Oklahoma State.
Furman and Georgia Southern also are recruiting Caldwell and have requested film.
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