AJC Varsity

This football hotbed leads Georgia’s 159 counties in prospects per capita

Gwinnett County ranks ninth overall in prospects per capita this century.
Linebacker Trezmen Marshall, the most highly rated of 10 three-star or higher prospects from Clinch County since 2021, celebrates after his Panthers defeated Irwin County, 27-20, in the Class A public championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018, in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)
Linebacker Trezmen Marshall, the most highly rated of 10 three-star or higher prospects from Clinch County since 2021, celebrates after his Panthers defeated Irwin County, 27-20, in the Class A public championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018, in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)
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Clinch County has won six football state championships this century, all in Class A, the Georgia High School Association’s classification for the smallest schools.

Now, this little South Georgia county is No. 1 in an all-classification category — the most major college prospects this century per capita.

Clinch County has produced 10 3-star prospects or higher since 2001, one for every 681 residents, according to Atlanta Journal-Constitution research. Second-place Oconee County, with four winning GHSA schools, has one in 731.

Jim Dickerson, the retired coach who won five of those Clinch County titles, paused a phone call last week to relay the news to nearby players and coaches at the school. The message drew loud cheers.

“In Homerville especially, and in many small schools throughout South Georgia, football is so important,” Dickerson said. “We don’t have a movie theater or a bowling alley or a skating rink or a Walmart. The kids grow up from a young age wanting to be Clinch County Panthers.”

Other counties that show up highly in per-capita prospects are Lee (one in 737); Colquitt (855); Schley (888); Troup (917); Peach (980); and Wilcox (1,108).

The first county with more than 100,000 residents is Gwinnett (one in 1,137), which ranks ninth overall. Tenth is Heard County (1,142).

To compile the rankings, the AJC researched 247Sports’ annual lists of consensus 3-, 4- and 5-star recruits dating to 2001. There are 8,365 of those from Georgia, or about 300 per year.

For population, the AJC used each county’s average from 2000, 2010 and 2020 census data.

The AJC included only players who have competed in Georgia associations, including the Georgia Independent Athletic Association. Rabun Gap, a boarding school with 31 recent major Division I prospects competing in a North Carolina association, is excluded in Rabun County’s totals.

The prospects include current seniors and juniors. From that list, Clinch County gets credit for senior wide receiver Kamarion Johnson, the consensus No. 302 player nationally who is committed to Florida. Without Johnson, Clinch would fall to third.

Johnson is a brother of current Georgia wide receiver Jeremy Bell Jr., who was a 3-star Clinch County prospect and preferred walk-on in 2024 and now on scholarship.

Clinch County’s best known player recently is Trezmen Marshall, a 4-star linebacker who played four seasons at Georgia and finished as a starter on Alabama’s 2023 SEC championship team.

The others are Chauncey Manac (signed with Georgia); Octavis Johnson (South Carolina); Tyler Morehead (Georgia Tech); John Mincey (Tennessee); Jeremiah Johnson (Missouri Southern); Fred Tiller (Kentucky); and Charles McClelland (Cincinnati).

Clinch County’s 10 does not include the school’s lone former NFL player, former Georgia Tech wide receiver Jonathan Smith. He was in the recruiting class of 2000, predating full 247Sports Composite rankings.

Clinch County’s list could grow soon, as the team expects three Division I signees this academy year. That would be the most ever.

After Johnson, they are Travis Miller, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior wide receiver and multiposition defensive player who is committed to Cincinnati; and junior free safety/wide receiver Jakyri Posley, who is committed to Georgia Southern.

Miller and Posley are not currently rated as 3-star prospects, but they have time to earn their stars because 247’s composite is not final until the end of an academic year.

Second place was no surprise. All four of Oconee County’s GHSA programs — public schools North Oconee and Oconee County, and private schools Athens Academy and Prince Avenue Christian — are consistently good, each winning playoff games last season.

Colquitt and Lee are large, one-school South Georgia counties with dozens of major college prospects and two state titles apiece this century.

Schley County, with a population of only 4,441, has produced five top prospects. They include current Georgia linebacker Zayden Walker.

Gwinnett, home to more than 20 football-playing schools and the most state champions of any county, has the most prospects overall, at 689. Gwinnett’s census population average was 783,610.

Twenty-six of Georgia’s 159 have produced no 3-star prospects in the 247Spors Composite. The largest is Gilmer, with 27,700 residents.

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