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Friday, February 13, 2009
Tennessee reports another recruiting violation by Lane Kiffin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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The University of Tennessee is reporting a third secondary recruiting violation involving new football coach Lane Kiffin.
Kiffin, in a radio interview Friday morning, mentioned recruit Bryce Brown by name and called him “a great player.”
According to The Knoxville News Sentinel, NCAA rules prohibit a coach from making such comments before the prospect has signed a letter of intent.
Earlier this week, the school reported violations for a mock news conference held by nine prospects during an official visit to the university, and for using a fog machine as a recruit entered the field at Neyland Stadium.
Additionally, Kiffin was reprimanded last week by Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive for falsely accusing Florida’s Urban Meyer of a recruiting violation.
Earlier this week, the AJC asked UGA coach Mark Richt if he had a “direct” response to Kiffin’s comments involving Georgia.
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Permalink | Comments (89) | Post your comment | Categories: Tennessee
Orson Charles may wait until March for college decision
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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One of the nation’s highest-ranked seniors who has yet to sign is still considering UGA and may wait until early March to make his college decision.
Tight end Orson Charles of Tampa will announce after returning from an official visit to Southern Cal on Feb. 20, and is also considering UGA, Florida and Tennessee. He is ranked as the country’s No. 62 overall prospect by Rivals.
“The plan is, when I get back from Southern Cal, I’m going to narrow down to two schools,” Charles told the AJC.
“Then I’m looking at deciding on Feb. 27 or March 6. That way, I’ll get back from USC, and have some time to talk with my family and my pastor about everything. That’s the plan, right now.”
Charles said he has been “asking a lot of questions” to both college coaches and players from his four finalists. “This decision affects the rest of my life. I’m doing my homework, finding out as much as I can to make the best decision … The [four colleges] have been patient and understanding with me, and say to take as much time as I need to figure things out.”
Earlier in the week, Charles called UGA coach Mark Richt to clear up some concerns. Quarterback Aaron Murray, who was teammates with Charles this past season, has already signed with Georgia and enrolled early. Murray and Charles helped lead Plant High to Florida’s Class AAAA championship.
“He [Richt] said they still wanted me and they were waiting patiently for me to make my decision. He said that he had my jersey [No. 7] waiting on me, stuff like that.” The No. 7 at Georgia was previously worn by NFL-bound quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Kansas tailback Bryce Brown, who is ranked No. 1 by Rivals, is one of several elite senior prospects who have yet to sign.
Got a recruiting item? Please send an email to mcarvell@ajc.com
Do you want to take a look at all recruiting stories around signing day? Click here for the lengthy rundown of all recruiting stories
You just want to read about UGA? Click here to go directly to all the UGA recruiting stories
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Permalink | Comments (23) | Post your comment | Categories: UGA
DT Kwame Geathers deciding between UGA, Tennessee and Central Florida
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Defensive end Kwame Geathers of Carver’s Bay, S.C., who is one of the Southeast’s top unsigned seniors, is mulling over offers from Georgia, Tennessee, and Central Florida, his coach told Palmetto Sports.
The 6-foot-6, 310-pound Geathers is the younger brother of Robert Geathers, who played for UGA.
Dave Hooker of the Knoxville News is predicting that Geathers will sign with Tennessee, where Geathers visited on Wednesday and Thursday. Geather’s father told Scout.com his son has scholarship papers from UGA and could make his college decision as early as next week.
Got a recruiting item? Please send an email to mcarvell@ajc.com
Do you want to take a look at all recruiting stories around signing day? Click here for the lengthy rundown of all recruiting stories
You just want to read about UGA? Click here to go directly to all the UGA recruiting stories
You just want to read about Georgia Tech? Click on this link to go directly to all the Georgia Tech recruiting stories
Permalink | Comments (34) | Post your comment | Categories: Tennessee, UGA
Georgia Tech’s pep talk helped land Collins Hill RB Charles Perkins
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Collins Hill tailback Charles Perkins committed to Tech two months after being offered. He saw no reason to wait, citing proximity to home, academics and winning.
“When I get there, I feel like [Tech] will be competing for the ACC championship every year, along with the national championship,” he said.
A pep talk from Tech assistant Jeff Monken helped push Perkins over the top.
“He said, ‘When you’re searching for a wife and you find the one you want to marry, you don’t need to keep searching around or dating hundreds of others.’ That really stuck with me. In other words, he was saying if you find the right college, there’s no need to keep searching.”
Click here to read the rest of the story on Charles Perkins, Tech’s first 2010 commitment.
Got a recruiting item? Please send an email to mcarvell@ajc.com
Permalink | Comments (73) | Post your comment | Categories: Tech
Central Florida offers Luella’s Bonner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Central Florida offered a scholarship to Luella WR/DB Detrick Bonner, Luella coach Paul Burgdorf said Friday.
Bonner, who caught 24 passes for 500 yards as a junior in 2008, was named first-team All-Region 2-AAAAA as a receiver and a defensive back.
“I’m sure this will be one of many offers he gets,” Burgdorf said.
Got a recruiting item? Please send an email to mcarvell@ajc.com
Do you want to take a look at all recruiting stories around signing day? Click here for the lengthy rundown of all recruiting stories
You just want to read about UGA? Click here to go directly to all the UGA recruiting stories
You just want to read about Georgia Tech? Click on this link to go directly to all the Georgia Tech recruiting stories
Do you want to talk about UGA and Georgia Tech recruiting? Or have questions about the state’s top prospects? Then go to the AJC’s “Inside Georgia Recruiting” forum with Michael Carvell
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Other schools
Georgia responds to recruiting criticism from Tennessee’s Lane Kiffin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Georgia coach Mark Richt and his staff appeared to take the high road on Wednesday to recent criticism from Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin.
Kiffin said the grandmother of wide receiver Marlon Brown of Memphis prevented him from signing with Tennessee over Georgia. Kiffin also “denigrated UGA’s recruiting efforts in its home state” on a radio show, according to Rivals.
When asked by the AJC if he had a “direct” response to Kiffin’s comments on Wednesday, Richt paused for a moment, smiled and said “No thank you.”
However, Richt did, an indirect way, defend his recruiting efforts in the state. “We do our homework. We target the kids we want. We offer them and go after them. That’s all I can tell you.”
UGA recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner was also asked about Kiffin’s comments on Wednesday.
“Everybody has their opinions … I’m not going to change what he [Kiffin] or anybody else thinks,” Garner told the AJC. “I think there are more players in the state of Georgia [than Tennessee], so obviously there are going to be more players leave the state … that’s a given, just by the numbers.”
“The state produced 150-plus Division I kids this year. Georgia can’t sign 150 players per year. Say Georgia signs 25 and Georgia Tech signs 25, that’s 50 … there’s still 150 [total].”
“So I don’t know how accurate [Kiffin’s] statement is. But, of course, he’s entitled to his opinion.”
Kiffin criticisms of Georgia were made last week but overshadowed by his “cheating” accusations toward Florida. However, Kiffin’s comments about UGA are still generating a reaction within the state.
“The statement that I made [when I was hired] was that we were going to put a fence around the state of Tennessee,” said Kiffin, reported the Knoxville News. “Basically every kid that we offered that we continued to recruit in-state through this process we signed, except for Marlon.”
Kiffin was asked why he thought Brown signed with Georgia. “Marlon called [the night before signing day] and said that he loved it here, but his grandmother wouldn’t let him come,” Kiffin said. “I don’t know what you do about that …”
In other UGA recruiting news, tight end Orson Charles of Tampa said he called Richt about some concerns. Charles is ranked as the nation’s No. 62 prospect overall by Rivals.
You just want to read about UGA? Click here to go directly to all the UGA recruiting stories
You just want to read about Georgia Tech? Click on this link to go directly to all the Georgia Tech recruiting stories
Do you want to talk about UGA and Georgia Tech recruiting? Or have questions about the state’s top prospects? Then go to the AJC’s “Inside Georgia Recruiting” forum with Michael Carvell
Permalink | Comments (6) | Post your comment | Categories: UGA
Greg Reid sets the record straight about UGA and Alabama
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Greg Reid, the AJC’s Player of the Year, has finally caught his breath a week after signing with Florida State and ready to set the record straight about how everything went down.
It is true that his grandmother showed up for his announcement wearing Georgia colors. “There were so many people there, that I couldn’t really see her. After I [announced], she stood up and I saw her wearing red and black head-to-toe. I was like ‘Oh Lord.’ I really don’t know why she wore those colors. She surprised me, I guess.”
The defensive back from Lowndes was closer to signing with Alabama than anyone will ever know. “If you watch the video of me picking through the hats, I got rid of Alabama first and you could see the hurt on my face. It was heartbreaking, man. That was the best town for football I ever experienced.”
Reid said Georgia did not wait to late to get serious. “I really like Georgia and the coaches. It’s a fun place. I just felt like it was too far from home and I’d probably have to work a little harder [to compete for a starting position] with the other people in front of me.”
You just want to read about UGA? Click here to go directly to all the UGA recruiting stories
You just want to read about Georgia Tech? Click on this link to go directly to all the Georgia Tech recruiting stories
Permalink | | Categories: Alabama, Other schools, UGA
