Two of the state’s top 10 basketball prospects committed to out-of-state schools over the weekend.
Effingham County High School’s JaKeenan Gant is headed to Missouri, while Morgan County High School’s CJ Turman pledged to Tennessee. Both were teammates on the AAU Southern Stampede.
The 6-foot-8, 210-pound Gant is the state’s No. 1 overall prospect, according to the 247sports composite rankings.
The power forward broke the hearts of Georgia Tech and UGA (which are both in desperate need of bigs) by committing to the SEC’s newest member. Gant, who is an NBA prospect, had a long list of offers, including national champion Louisville and Alabama. Last year as a junior, Gant was named Class AAAAA player of the year afer averaging 17.9 and 9.3 rebounds.
The 6-9, 235-pound Turman isn’t as polished as Gant, but has good potential. Turman is a 3-star who picked Tennessee ove Houston and Mississippi State.
In BYU, Georgia Tech will face a defense that is one of the toughest in the nation to score against and has a playmaking force in outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy.
Tailback J.J. Green said he can’t say for sure how many times he has heard “you’re one play away from playing” from Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo and running backs coach Bryan McClendon.
Here is a clue that your trip to sunny south Florida may not be a carefree vacation: You’re a football team, and you lose one of your starters during warm-ups.
If nothing else, Georgia has ensured at least one thing about its season. Regardless of where the rest of the schedule takes them, whether its to an SEC championship, a BCS bowl bid or a national title, there will be no claims from outsiders that this team received too many breaks and escaped health issues, no suggestions that the road to success was lined with lollipops and unicorns.
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