College football teams lining up for Wilcox County QB Nick Marshall

By Michael Carvell

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

In one of the few Signing Day surprises at Georgia earlier this month, the Bulldogs quickly offered a scholarship and signed an under-recruited wide receiver named Lonnie Outlaw, knowing he was shy on credits and would require two years at Georgia Military College before he could be admitted in Athens.

That would not be an unusual tale, if it were not for his bloodline. Outlaw is a relative of Wilcox County's Nick Marshall, the state's top-rated quarterback for next season, who admitted UGA caught his attention when it signed his cousin and best friend in such short order last Wednesday. Marshall, a staple on national 2011 recruiting lists, is drawing comparisons to former Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward, who was coached by then-Florida State assistant Mark Richt.

“It was great to see. Lonnie deserved it,” Marshall said. “It would be great to play with Lonnie in college. We’ve talked about it a little. But we’ll see if it happens. Lonnie made the decision that is best for him and I’m going to make the decision that works for me.”

But was Outlaw's signing so cut-and-dried? Georgia had some scholarships become available after being jilted by Calhoun wide receiver Da’Rick Rogers and seeing a couple other targets sign elsewhere. Rogers, a longtime commitment to Georgia, switched to Tennessee as a part of a package deal with his quarterback, Nash Nance.

Could Georgia, after the harsh lesson with Rogers, be trying to set up a future package deal to land Marshall by signing Outlaw in advance?

“I don’t know Georgia’s intentions, but I’m sure people will think things like that,” Wilcox County football coach Mark Ledford said. “I just know that when Georgia’s coaches switched on the film to watch Nick and they saw the big guy (Outlaw) catching the passes and were impressed.

“When Georgia’s discussions turned to [Outlaw] about a scholarship, they never mentioned Nick’s name. I’d say Lonnie was very deserving on his own of a scholarship offer from Georgia.”

. Georgia had little to lose and lots to gain with Outlaw, a 6-foot-7 speedster who has enormous potential and who may give the Bulldogs inside position with the recruitment of Marshall.

“I’m sure being Nick’s cousin played into it,” said Chad Simmons, recruiting analyst for Scout.com. “Situations like that happen all the time with colleges across the country.

“I can’t say Georgia wouldn’t have signed [Outlaw] if he wasn’t Nick’s cousin. I wouldn’t go that far. But it certainly made it sweeter for Georgia to go ahead and do it. They can tell Nick, ‘Hey, you’ll be able to throw to Lonnie again one day at Georgia and get back that Wilcox connection.’ It had to be in the back of Georgia’s minds and wouldn’t make much sense if it wasn’t.”

Such package deals are not uncommon in the recruiting world. Newnan’s Alec Ogletree, one of the nation’s top-rated safeties who signed with Georgia, was a longtime commitment to the Bulldogs but was reportedly considering visiting other colleges. However, Alec’s commitment was locked up after the Bulldogs extended a scholarship to his twin, linebacker Alexander Ogletree, who had no other major-college offers at the time.

Last year, quarterback Aaron Murray and tight end Orson Charles of Tampa’s Plant High came to Georgia together. Quarterback Will Korn of Duncan, S.C., one of the nation’s top 2007 prospects, took a fleet of Byrnes High teammates with him to Clemson.

Georgia won’t likely to be the last school to offer a package deal involving Marshall in some form. Outlaw’s scholarship papers with Georgia become void after he enrolls at Georgia Military this fall. Other colleges may pursue Outlaw, who says he will remain loyal to Georgia but is technically free to sign anywhere in two years.

There is also Nick’s half-brother, Quez Mahoganey (6-3, 190 pounds), a promising sophomore who contributed on both sides of the ball in Wilcox’s Class A state championship run. The boys’ mother would love to see her sons follow the example of the Ogletree twins and play together in college.

“Since they were little boys, they’ve always been outside playing football or basketball,” Shalena Mahoganey said. “I just feel so blessed that Nick has the opportunity for a free college education. Being a single parent and raising [three] kids on my own, I thank the Lord for it. I say my prayers for them to stay healthy and I know everything will work out for the best for each of them."

Marshall is a local celebrity in the farming community of Rochelle, located 160 miles south of Atlanta. He earned his first notoriety in basketball, leading Wilcox to last year’s state semifinals. Marshall played with an AAU team over the summer and earned early basketball offers from Florida State, Arkansas and Georgia. This season, Wilcox is 21-2 with Marshall averaging 27.3 points, including a school-record 48 points against Fitzgerald.

Marshall began peaking in football last season, his second as the team’s starting quarterback. He passed for 2,956 yards and 32 touchdowns and has one of the strongest arms in the state. He can run too, accumulating nearly 700 rushing yards. Marshall has score of football offers, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Alabama among them. Richt and Alabama coach Nick Saban sat in the stands recently for Wilcox basketball games.

Marshall says he wants to play both sports in college. Said Ledford, “Nick is focused on basketball and hasn’t really put too much thought into recruiting yet. I feel like the schools that are supportive of him playing both sports are going to have a recruiting advantage.”