Milton basketball recruit meets with Georgia coach, set for Georgia Tech visit

By Michael Carvell

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Milton High's Julian Royal, who is ranked as one of the nation's top 100 basketball players, took his recruiting trip to Georgia this past weekend and has an in-home visit with Bulldogs coach Mark Fox on Friday.

The 6-foot-9 power forward will welcome Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt into his home on Thursday and travel to the Yellow Jackets' campus on Oct. 1.

"It was a great visit to Georgia, as Coach Fox and his staff were very cordial," said his father, Charles Royal. "We went to the football game, and anytime the Bulldogs kill somebody like that, it's a great day in the Bulldog Country."

Royal is determined to make all three of his official visits, which will end with Wake Forest on Oct. 8. The family looks forward to face-to-face meetings with Hewitt and Fox later this week.

"We all know that when you go on these visits, everybody puts their best foot forward, and you don't want it to be an emotional decision," the elder Royal said.

"You have to sit down and compare apples to apples and see who has the best program. We're going to grade everybody on what they do well and don't do well. No program is perfect. We're going to weigh out everything, and Julian will make the best decision for him."

• McEachern's football team is still on an emotional high after upsetting then-No. 2 Lowndes 23-22 after scoring with three seconds left on Friday.

"When you look at it from the big picture, you always try to figure out where you stand ... how far are you away from a championship?" McEachern coach Kyle Hockman said. "What [that win] tells us is that we're closer than we may have thought. It helps our young kids and our community believe that we can do it."

"It will hopefully give us a boost in all directions. We've got to build on this. If we lose next week or whatever, then it kind of spoils it."

• Blessed Trinity's Riley Lyons kicked a 52-yard field goal to set the school record in a 17-14 win over Grady on Friday. Lyons attempted a record-tying 51-yarder against Benedictine last week -- it had the distance but sailed wide right. Lyons, who has seven touchbacks on kickoffs this season, has been offered by Dartmouth and Brown.