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DEL.ICIO.USWho will UGA or Georgia Tech offer next?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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If Georgia or Georgia Tech makes an offer to one of the state’s high school seniors this late in the recruiting process, there is a good chance the offer will be accepted. In the span of one week, North Cobb’s Derrick Lott was offered and committed to Georgia, and Fitzgerald’s Jemea Thomas had a similar timeline with his commitment to Tech.
Who will be the next state player offered by Georgia or Georgia Tech? Here are five candidates:
Duran Christophe, Woodstock
The 6-foot-6, 260-pound Christophe is beginning to show up on recruiting boards across the Southeast. The lineman already has 10 offers, and that number could increase.
Woodstock coach Mike O’Brien, who coached at Valdosta for seven years, has scouted or played against many of the state’s top players.
“I never had a player who is this big and this agile,” O’Brien said. “He has got the type of body frame where he could get to 300 pounds very quickly and not lose a step.”
Christophe had a sprained ankle when he participated in Georgia Tech’s prospect camp. Georgia assistant Stacey Searels watched Christophe play against North Cobb’s Lott in a recent game.
Justin Jones, Heritage-Conyers
Jones hasn’t received as much attention as many of the top recruits in the state. But the potential of the 6-foot-7, 230-pound Jones, a basketball-turned-football player, may be unequaled.
Jones could play as many as five positions in college, most notably tight end or defensive end. He backed off an early commitment to Kentucky and has offers from South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Alabama has jumped into the picture. He has had very little contact with Tech or Georgia.
Julian Burnett, Westside-Macon
Westside-Macon coach Robert Davis, who has 350 career victories in Georgia, is old school and does not believe in hyping his players. He would rather the player’s performance speak for itself.
But Davis can’t say enough about Burnett, comparing him with Ron Simmons, who is in Florida State’s football Hall of Fame. Davis coached Simmons at Warner Robins High.
Davis said Burnett, who is averaging 20-25 tackles a game, is a tackling machine at linebacker. Burnett is 5-11, but Davis doesn’t believe another two or three inches would make him any more dominating.
Tech assistant Charles Kelly is scheduled to stop by Westside this week, and Georgia assistant John Lilly visited last month to watch a recent practice.
Burnett has offers from Vanderbilt, South Carolina, North Carolina State and Ole Miss.
Deion Roberson, Tucker
The 6-3, 258-pound Roberson was being scouted by nearly every SEC and ACC school during his senior year. But he dislocated his left ankle on the second play of the season and was out for the year.
It was heartbreaking for Roberson. Many of the bigger schools stopped calling, but he showed enough glimpses of potential at defensive end during his junior year to earn offers from Louisville, West Virginia and N.C. State. He plans to take official visits to all three.
Tucker coach Franklin Stephens said he would not be surprised to see some of the bigger schools get back involved in late January. Georgia had expressed strong interest in Roberson but appears to be waiting to see how his rehabilitation goes.
Jadareius Hamlin, Mary Persons
The 6-3, 252-pound Hamlin reminds his coach, Rodney Walker, of one of his former players. Walker was at Peach County in 1997 when Randy McMichael signed with Georgia, the only SEC school that offered. McMichael later was an all-conference tight end and is playing his seventh year in the NFL.
“He has the same type of explosion as [McMichael],” Walker said. “I also had [Kedric] Golston at Sandy Creek [another former Georgia player now in the NFL], and Jadareius is not as big or as powerful, but he’s got more speed.”
Hamlin has offers from Mississippi State, Auburn and Central Florida. Georgia Tech and Georgia have shown some interest.
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By Al Folwkes
November 8, 2008 5:01 PM | Link to this
Georgia should take a look at number 55 for the Camden Wildcats. This the players first year playing and he is dominating every game. Alot of people are sleeping on Kameron Taylor. Georgia should snag him before the others catch on.
By ed
November 9, 2008 7:27 AM | Link to this
There are some great running backs coming out of cairo ga.