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Friday, February 20, 2009
Douglass DL Garrison Smith piles up the SEC offers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Douglass defensive tackle Garrison Smith is quickly covering the South with college football offers.
All but one of his 15 offers - the latest coming from Ole Miss on Wednesday - are from SEC and ACC schools, including Georgia and Georgia Tech. His older brother, Greg Smith, plays for Tech.
“I’ve got offers from every school in the SEC except LSU and Kentucky,” said Smith, a 6-foot-3½, 250-pound lineman.
So, why not the other two schools? “I guess they haven’t heard about me yet.”
Other schools that have made offers are Clemson, North Carolina State, North Carolina and Alabama-Birmingham.
Smith, who has scored a 1,280 on the SAT and is on track to graduate high school early (he wants to enroll in college in January), says there’s interest outside the region, too. “I hear that Oklahoma and USC might be offering me soon,” he said. He recently had a positive conversation with Oklahoma defensive line coach Jackie Shipp.
Smith will attend Alabama’s Junior Day Saturday, then Tennessee’s next weekend. He also attended Georgia’s recent Junior Day and showed off his ability to shed blockers and get to the ball. “They really liked me,” said Smith, who runs a 4.71 40. “I think I’m a great athlete.”
Smith says recruiters tell him they want him at tackle, but “they also know I’m athletic, so there are possibilities [to play elsewhere]. … It doesn’t matter to me where I play. I just want to play.”
Got a recruiting item? Please send an email to mcarvell@ajc.com
Here are briefs on the day’s top recruiting stories. Click on the headline of each story to read more.
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 (37) | Post your comment | Categories: Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Other ACC schools, Other SEC schools, South Carolina, Tech, Tennessee, UGA
S.C. defensive tackle Kwame Geathers provides a little drama before signing with Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Defensive lineman Kwame Geathers of Georgetown, S.C., provided a little drama on Friday afternoon before signing with Georgia.
The 6-foot-6, 310-pound Geathers signed with Georgia over Central Florida and Tennessee, according to Carver’s Bay coach James Thompson.
“He picked Georgia; he signed the papers, and we’re faxing over the papers as we speak,” Thompson told the AJC around 3 p.m. Friday.
At the signing ceremony, Geathers had hats from all three schools in front him. He grabbed the Central Florida cap and put it on his head. “Everybody said, ‘Oh that’s great, Kwame. You’ll have fun playing with your cousin’ [Central Florida’s Jarvis Geathers],” Thompson said.
Then Geathers smiled, and switched hats, putting on Georgia. “Everybody didn’t know what to think at that point. Then they asked ‘OK, Kwame, are you going to Georgia?’ He smiled, and said ‘Yes, Georgia … that’s the one.’”
Geathers, who was the Defensive MVP of the Offense-Defense game near Myrtle Beach, S.C., got high praise from his coach.
“He is one of the best of the Geathers, and that’s saying a lot if you know about the family’s football history,” Thompson said. “Georgia is getting a great young man. He has a chance to be a special player. … He is very good, not only on the field, but also in the classroom and as a person. He is just one of those guys you enjoy coaching and being around.”
Fans of UGA and the Atlanta Falcons are familiar with the “Geathers” name. Kwame’s uncle, Jumpy Geathers, played 13 years in the NFL, including the 1994 and ‘95 seasons with the Falcons.
Kwame’s older brother, Robert Geathers, played at UGA from 2001-2003 and declared for the NFL draft after becoming a full-time starter his junior year. Robert recently completed his fifth year playing for the Cincinnati Bengals, starting 11 games at defensive end before being sidelined with a knee injury.
Another of Kwame’s brothers, Clifton Geathers, committed to Georgia in 2006, but did not meet college entrance requirements and enrolled at Hargrave Military (Va.) prep school. Georgia coaches stopped recruiting Clifton, and he signed with South Carolina.
UGA recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner is a close family friend of the Geathers.
Got a recruiting item? Please send an email to mcarvell@ajc.com
Here are briefs on the day’s top recruiting stories. Click on the headline of each story to read more.
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 (172) | Post your comment | Categories: Tennessee, UGA
Centennial OL David Yankey traveling to South Carolina
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Centennial offensive tackle David Yankey has seven college offers, including from reigning national champion Florida, his high school coach reported Friday afternoon.
Yankey, a 6-foot-5, 250-pound junior, also has offers from Tennessee, South Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest, Stanford and Eastern Carolina.
Yankey will attend a Junior Day Saturday at South Carolina.
“David has earned everything he has been offered so far,” Centennial coach Jeff Measor said in an email. “Rarely misses a workout or a snap at practice. He’s a very special young man.”
Got a recruiting item? Please send an email to mcarvell@ajc.com
Here are briefs on the day’s top recruiting stories. Click on the headline of each story to read more.
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 (0) | Post your comment | Categories: Florida, Other ACC schools, Other schools, South Carolina, Tennessee
Tennessee tapping into the state of Georgia’s class of 2011
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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A.J. Johnson, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound sophomore linebacker for Gainesville, received a scholarship offer from an SEC program early Friday.
“Tennessee has offered A.J.,” Gainesville assistant coach Todd Wofford wrote in a text.
“[Volunteers recruiting coordinator Ed] Orgeron offered him.”
Johnson made 160 tackles last season, including nine for a loss, four sacks and six hurries.
Got a recruiting item? Please send an email to jhood@ajc.com
Here are briefs on the day’s top recruiting stories. Click on the headline of each story to read more.
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 (32) | Post your comment | Categories: Tennessee
Georgia Tech surprises North Gwinnett OL JaWuan James with offer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson made the most out of his first meeting with JaWuan James, one of the state’s top 2010 prospects.
Johnson offered the North Gwinnett offensive lineman on the spot on Thursday. “He said he would love for me to come play for Georgia Tech,” James said. “He talked about academics, how it is one of the best academic programs in the country.
“Coach Johnson said ‘We think academics first, then football … because you can’t play football forever. You have got to have a backup plan in life. That’s why we stress academics and push our players to get their degrees.’ My [family] was impressed.”
The 6-foot-7, 290-pound James has around 20 early offers, including UGA, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama and Vanderbilt.
“Coach Johnson said they looked at my film, and thought that I was probably the best offensive lineman in Georgia … he said my athleticism is what makes me different than everybody else … he likes how I get after the linebackers on the [second level] of blocking,” James said.
James said he was caught off guard by the day’s turn of events. The original plan was to take a campus tour with Tech assistant Jeff Monken.
“I had no idea that Georgia Tech was going to offer me,” James said. “I’ve been talking over the phone with [Monken] and he never mentioned it. And then I didn’t expect to talk with Coach Johnson. I had never met him before. They took me in Coach Johnson’s office and we talked for about 30 minutes … everything really surprised me. It was a great visit.”
What’s next for James? On Friday, he is scheduled to meet with UGA coach Mark Richt and assistant Stacey Searels, who is in charge of the team’s offensive linemen. The Bulldogs offered James on Jan. 31. On Saturday, James said he will make an overnight trip to Alabama.
“This will be my fourth time to Georgia … I’m going back to get a better feel for the place,” James said. “With Georgia and Georgia Tech in my backyard, I want to get to both places as much as I can to talk the coaches and players. That was my second time to Georgia Tech. I went to the Miami game [last season], but it was a Thursday game and I didn’t get there until late and I didn’t really get to talk to the coaches.”
Got a recruiting item? Please send an email to mcarvell@ajc.com
Here are briefs on the day’s top recruiting stories. Click on the headline of each story to read more.
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 (29) | Post your comment | Categories: Tech, UGA
