GEORGIA BLEEDING “DREAM TEAM” RECRUITS TO ALABAMA
By Editorial Staff
Georgia’s hope for a “dream team” recruiting class in 2011 got a kick in the gut at the Under Armour All-American High School football game in St. Petersburg, Florida this evening. Two of the main components to this team, 4-star defensive end Xzavier Dickson, of Griffin, Georgia, the No. 12 prospect in the nation at his position, committed to Alabama, and 4-star prospect Quan Bray, of Lagrange, Georgia, who can play at the running back, wide receiver, cornerback or safety position, because of his athleticism, committed to the Auburn Tigers.
5-star TE Jay Rome, who has been thought to be favoring the Dawgs over Tennessee and Clemson, teased that he might commit tonight, but failed to do so. This leaves the Dawg Nation “sweating” out his decision, as he intends to also visit Tennessee and Alabama before signing day. Additionally, the key ingredient to the alleged ”dream team,” 5-star running back, Isaiah Crowell, of Carver High in Columbus, Georgia, stated a few weeks ago that he was going to wait until signing day.
4-star WR Justin Scott-Wesley, who had already committed to UGA months ago, is apparently “keeping his options open,” as he intends on making visits to at least two other schools before signing day. Although this is not disastrous news, as the kid may simply be attempting to bolster his early commitment in his own min)d, and still looks forward to wearing the Red and Black, we cannot ignore the other thought which is, “If he is so committed why is he still checking out other schools?” (source: www.bleacherreport.com)
If the bleeding of recruit talent to Alabama and elsewhere stops here, and we end up with Crowell, Rome, and keep all our current commitments, including Scott-Wesley, we will still be in great shape from a recruiting standpoint. Not anywhere near the stable that Nick Saban has assembled, but still in decent shape. However, if we lose two out of three of the above named, and one of those losses is Crowell, then, in consideration of the two we lost out on this evening, the Dawgs will be sucking wind on the 2011 class.
The question continuously pops up of “why can’t we keep the quality Georgia recruits in our own state?” The answer is relatively simple. These young guys want to play for a winner, not a loser. In Richt’s earlier years of success, we did keep a good many of them, but as that success waned, and the loss column slowly increased, we started seeing these recruits go elsewhere. In the current recruiting war, the coaches of Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Florida, etc. are asking these recruits if they want to go play for a school with a declining program, a losing season, and good possibility that they will have an entirely new coaching staff after one year. It is very hard to fight that, because, unfortunately it is all true.
Let’s pray that the likes of Crowell, Rome, Scott-Wesley, and others can see that the Dawg program can come back, and that they can be an important ingredient in that success recipe. Who knows, maybe we can still work at Bray and Dickson and get one or both to change their minds before February, because as we all know, “IT AIN’T OVER ‘TIL THE FAT LADY SINGS!”
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By: Dawgman1973 (Gary K.) Lead-Blogger “Dawn of the Dawg