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Monday, September 29, 2008
Georgia Tech Invites Dublin’s Smith to Duke Game
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Georgia Tech has invited Dublin’s Rashard Smith to attend Saturday’s game against Duke.
“I’m not sure where I stand with Georgia Tech,” Smith said. “They just want me to come to a game and talk with them. We have a couple of guys from Dublin who play for Georgia Tech, so it will be fun seeing them play.”
Smith, a member of AJC’s The Georgia 150, also is considering attending the Boston College-N.C. State game in Raleigh.
The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Smith has offers from N.C. State, Purdue, Vanderbilt, East Carolina and Georgia Southern. He starts at quarterback and free safety at Dublin and projects to play cornerback in college.
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Henry County QB reflects on first big-time offer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Henry County quarterback Drew Little has set up an official visit with Boston College for Oct. 11. The Eagles were the first big-time college to offer Little, surprising him with the news last week.
During the weekend, Little realized the magnitude of the event.
“I’m so happy; it’s like all the hard work over the years has finally paid off,” Little said.
Boston College decided to offer Little after scouting his performance in the loss to Union Grove on Sept. 12. Little finished with around 330 yards passing in the game.
“This offer was a long time coming,” Henry County coach Mike Rozier said. “We always knew it was going to have to be the right system [for a drop-back passer], and he fits in well at Boston College. They have a quarterback right now [Chris Crane] that looks just like Drew.”
The 6-foot-5, 245-pound Little also has an offer to be Georgia State’s first-ever recruit.
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LaGrange’s Huzzie schedules official visit to Kentucky
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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LaGrange linebacker Qua Huzzie said he remains loyal to Kentucky, and he will take an official visit to the SEC school on Oct. 11.
However, Huzzie said he will travel this Saturday to Alabama to watch the Wildcats play on the road. Then the following weekend, he will make his recruiting trip when Kentucky plays at home against South Carolina.
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Huzzie said a published report last month stating he had interest in other schools, including South Carolina, was a misunderstanding. Huzzie said he talks often with Kentucky assistant Joker Phillips.
“I’m excited to take my family up there with me on my official visit to Kentucky,” he said.
Huzzie also considered South Carolina, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Duke before committing to Kentucky. He said he is still being recruited by Western Carolina.
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Alabama-bound Warmack talks with Saban
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Westlake offensive lineman Chance Warmack, who has committed to Alabama, said he was very proud of his future college team against Georgia last Saturday.
“Of course, with me going to Alabama, I told everybody all along that Alabama was going to win, but I didn’t expect it to turn out the way it did,” Warmack said. “That 31-0 lead at halftime was unheard of, especially in an SEC game with two big-time teams playing.”
The 6-foot-2, 320-pound Warmack was scheduled to attend the game, but said he was unable to make it.
Warmack said he talks to Alabama assistant Lance Thompson about once per week, and had a conversation with coach Nick Saban a few weeks ago. “Coach Saban just wanted to see how my season was going, and told me he was excited about me graduating early.”
Warmack plans to enroll at Alabama in January.
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SW DeKalb’s Mitchell ships off DVDs to colleges, hopes Oregon takes notice
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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The midpoint of the high school football season is highlight time for many college recruits.
With a few games under their belts, players who are still deciding — and possibly trying to grab the attention of other programs — put together highlight packages from the current season.
Southwest DeKalb receiver Jacoby Mitchell has hooked up with teammate Brandon Brant to produce a DVD Mitchell will start sending to colleges as soon as possible. Brant, who also did a DVD for running back Michael Johnson, charges $25.
“It’s a pretty good deal,” said Mitchell, who has offers from Akron, Eastern Michigan, Miami-Ohio, Bowling Green, Middle Tennessee and Western Carolina. “Brandon does a pretty good job.
Mitchell says the first disc he sends out goes to Oregon. The Pac-10 school hasn’t contacted Mitchell, but he dreams of playing there..
“I gotta send one to the Ducks,” said Mitchell. “I love the green and gold.”
Mitchell grew up playing for the Gresham Park Rattlers and learned to “bleed green and gold.”
Mitchell has been interested in Oregon — and its distinctive uniforms — for quite some time. He has surfed the Internet to learn as much as he can about the school and the program.
He knows it may be a longshot to attract Oregon’s attention, but he says he’s going for it. “It doesn’t hurt to try,” he said.
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South Forsyth’s Adams excited after Kentucky visit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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South Forsyth quarterback Brian Adams will pit his undefeated Kentucky Wildcats (4-0, 0-0) against anybody, even Saturday’s unbeaten Southeastern Conference opponent Alabama (5-0, 2-0), who’s riding high since dealing Georgia its first loss last week.
He’s pumped since returning with his dad from the Wildcats’ 41-3 domination of Western Kentucky last weekend, and he plans to camp in front of the TV at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. A Wildcats recruit, he’s a fan of the wild SEC, which last week featured Mississippi’s unlikely 31-30 upset of Florida.
“You look at that Ole Miss-Florida situation, and you never know what can happen,” he said. “It’s SEC football.”
Adams, a member of the AJC’s The Georgia 150, is projected to play at receiver for the Wildcats. He was impressed with how full Kentucky’s stadium was for last weekend’s nonconference game.
“It was a small game, but still had lots of fans show up,” he said. “It was packed out and pretty loud.”
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How It Went: Mettenberger believes UGA loss won’t effect recruiting
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Oconee County quarterback and Georgia commit Zach Mettenberger was delighted to see Sanford Stadium rocking Saturday night prior to the Dogs’ 41-30 loss to Alabama.
“Even though we lost, it was still an awesome experience,” said Mettenberger, an AJC’s The Georgia Top 150 selection.
Mettenberger spent several hours prior to Saturday night’s kickoff hanging out with Georgia commits Chase Vasser, a linebacker from Chestatee, and quarterback Aaron Murray of Tampa Fla. Murray was accompanied to Athens by teammate Orson Charles.
Charles, who is uncommitted, is considered one of the premier tight ends in the nation.
“I had met Orson before, but I had a chance to say hello to him on Saturday,” Mettenberger said.
Mettenberger believes Georgia’s lackluster performance against Alabama won’t have a negative impact on recruiting.
“That was just the game of football. You can’t expect to be perfect every time,” he said. “I don’t think any [recruit’s] opinion of Georgia changed.”
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How It Went: TE Orson Charles says UGA “equal” with Miami
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Georgia took an aggressive approach with highly-touted tight end Orson Charles of Tampa, Fla., on Saturday.
Bulldogs assistant Tony Ball got straight to the point after he shook hands with Charles before the Alabama game.
“He said ‘Why don’t you go ahead and commit? What are you waiting for?’” Charles said with a laugh.
“I just told him that I want to go through the entire recruiting process so I could make the right decision.”
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Charles has favored Miami over Florida, Florida State and Georgia, but now says the Bulldogs are “equal” with Miami.
“That’s because I haven’t been to a home game at Miami yet. I’ve been to games at Florida and at Georgia. And I think I’m going to Miami this Saturday [for the Florida State game].”
Charles made the Georgia trip with his teammate at Plant High, quarterback Aaron Murray, who has committed to Georgia. Murray said Sunday night that Charles may like the Bulldogs more than he is letting on.
“Orson loved it at Georgia,” Murray said. “He loved the atmosphere, he loved the coaches. He got to see a lot of the campus. It was a really, really good trip for him and we’ll see how it impacts his decision.”
Charles is ranked as the nation’s No. 2 tight end by Rivals.
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Basketball: Derrick Favors, nation’s No. 1 prospect, returns from Tech visit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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South Atlanta’s Derrick Favors, who is ranked as the nation’s No. 1 prospect by Scout, had a “good time” on his official visit this past weekend to Georgia Tech.
“We didn’t get the chance to talk about it for a long time at school on Monday, but Derrick said it went well at Georgia Tech,” South Atlanta coach Michael Reddick said.
Tech assistant Charlton Young also followed up with a call to Reddick on Monday, to say thanks for the consideration. Favors arrived on Tech’s campus on Friday morning and left on Sunday morning. Last week, Reddick explained Tech’s appeal to Favors.
“Georgia Tech, of course, is right here in the city, and that’s always a great thing. It would allow people around here, such as his family and his friends, the opportunity to see him play in person. And Georgia Tech has a great tradition of putting players in the NBA on a regular basis …”
The 6-foot-9 Favors has now made two official visits, to both Tech and Georgia. He is eligible to take three more recruiting trips, and will decide on those among his other finalists of Florida State, North Carolina State, Kentucky, Memphis and Connecticut.
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Alabama recruit Kellen Williams ‘not going to brag’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Kellen Williams decided to go to Athens after all.
The Brookwood offensive tackle and Alabama recruit, who rejected the Bulldogs’ offer to attend Saturday’s game, made the trip to Athens with his parents, both Georgia graduates. They met up with some of friends and watched the Florida-Mississippi game, but were back home in time to watch the anticipated showdown.
Williams said there was no trash talking to his parents because even though they’re Georgia alums, “they’re Alabama fans now.” Williams said he was shocked by the way the Tide jumped out to a 31-0 lead before winning 41-30.
“We weren’t expecting such a blowout,” he said. “We were expecting quite a close game and Alabama just came out and pounded it down their throat and made them like it.”
Williams said he didn’t pay much attention to reaction from last week’s online article, some of it critical of his decision to attend Alabama.
“I learned with the whole recruiting process you’re not going to make everybody happy,” he said. “People say negative things. I heard from somebody that it was said I couldn’t academically qualify for Georgia, but I got scholarship from Vanderbilt.
People always degrade you for no reason. I’ve just developed tough skin and keep working hard and good things happen.”
Alabama’s convincing win should quiet some of the Georgia fans, Williams said. “I’m just glad that Alabama went out and took care of business and not to be mean, but shut some of the Georgia fans up because they were just being ridiculous.”
“Obviously the better team won on Saturday. I’m not going to brag, but like [Brookwood coach Mark Crews] says, I’m just glad the good guys came out on top.”
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Former Clemson recruit, Northside LB Eric Fields, enjoys UGA
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Northside-Warner Robins defensive tackle Abry Jones, who has committed to Georgia, said playing in college with his high school teammate, linebacker Eric Fields, seems “a little more of a possibility” after the twosome watched the Bulldogs play Alabama on Saturday.
“Eric liked it a lot,” Jones said. “He came along to have fun. He was already interested in Georgia, and I think that [atmosphere] made him more interested.”
Both players are AJC Super 11 selections. Fields has backed away from an early commitment to Clemson, now saying he wants to take official visits with both the Tigers and Georgia.
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How It Went: Henry County’s Jamal Patterson surprise visitor at Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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One of the surprise guests on Georgia recruiting tickets for Alabama was Henry County wide receiver Jamal Patterson, who has committed to Stanford.
The Bulldogs appear to be taking another close look at Patterson, who is a lifelong Georgia fan. He was offered by about every big-time program except for the Bulldogs, picking The Cardinal among nearly 50 offers.
Georgia wide receivers coach John Eason observed Patterson catching five passes for 125 yards in Henry County’s win over Decatur on Sept. 5. Eason was at the game to scout Patterson’s teammate, MarKeith Ambles, who is one of the state’s top junior wide receivers.
Patterson, who is an AJC Super 11 selection, said Eason mailed an invitation to the Alabama game but has otherwise not had any contact with Georgia.
“I had a great time at the game, Georgia has a big-time program,” said Patterson, who added he was still solid with his Stanford commitment.
Would Patterson consider the Bulldogs if they offered? “I don’t have an offer from Georgia, therefore I couldn’t really answer that question because it would be false hope.”
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How It Went: UGA-bound Murray survives long weekend
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Aaron Murray of Tampa, Fla., who has committed to Georgia and is one of the nation’s top quarterbacks, finally revealed one of his weaknesses.
It’s not hard-charging defensive linemen or throwing against tricky pass coverages.
“No, it’s travel,” Murray said late Sunday night. He made the 14-hour round trip to watch the Bulldogs play Alabama.
“I’m exhausted, I’m dead-tired, I’m going to fall asleep any moment,” Murray said.
Murray and a group from Plant High, which included highly-touted tight end Orson Charles, departed after his game on Friday night and spent the night near the Florida border.
Murray arrived in Athens around noon on Saturday. He had lengthy meetings with Georgia quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo and head coach Mark Richt before all the recruits gathered at the athletic complex around 4 p.m.
During the game, Murray was challenged by Georgia’s coaches to meet and greet many of the other elite prospects in attendance, including Carver-Columbus linebacker Jarvis Jones and Booker T. Washington cornerback Branden Smith. Murray had already been keeping in touch with several of them through text messaging anyways.
Murray started his trip back to Tampa around midnight and stopped near Tifton again to spend the night. He arrived at his Florida home around 3 p.m. Sunday.
“Other than the result of the game and all the traveling, it was a perfect weekend,” Murray said, with his voice fading off.
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How It Went: Lassiter’s Lutzenkirchen visits Auburn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Lassiter tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen was among the recruits in attendance during Auburn’s 14-12 victory over Tennessee at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday.
“The game was great and it was very loud,” said Lutzenkirchen, an AJC’s The Georgia Top 150 pick, who committed to the Tigers in May.
The day’s highlights included witnessing an Auburn pregame ritual and spending a moment chatting with Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville.
“The Tiger Walk was fun,” Lutzenkirchen said. “It was crazy. And talking to coach Tuberville was good.
“I just asked him how the season is going.”
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