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12:18 pm July 11, 2009, by Darryl Maxie By DARRYL MAXIE / dmaxie@ajc.com The word Georgia fans have been waiting to hear came in a noontime announcement Saturday at an Augusta restaurant: Junior college All-America safety Jakar Hamilton is committing to the Bulldogs, becoming the team’s 14th commitment from the recruiting class of 2010. Hamilton, 6 feet 1 1/2 and 205 pounds, earned first-team National Junior College Athletic Association All-America honors after recording 50 tackles, four interceptions and eight pass breakups as a freshman last season for Georgia Military College. A graduate of Strom Thurmond High in Johnston, S.C., Hamilton originally had designs on attending South Carolina. But he failed to qualify academically and was advised to go to the Milledgeville school instead. Auburn, Illinois, N.C. State and Tulsa also offered Hamilton, but he narrowed his choices to Georgia and Alabama as the recruiting process reached its conclusion. Hamilton gives the Dogs their third defensive back from the Class of 2010, along with Newnan’s Alec Ogletree and Derek Owens of Jacksonville, Fla. “I think they’re going to get not just a total player but a total person, the kind of guy who you want to be in your program,” GMC coach Bert Williams said. “He clearly gets it done on the field. He’s got the tools to be an outstanding player, whether it’s the SEC, ACC, Big 12 or whatever. He’s got a good work ethic, he’s mentally tough and he’s a competitor. He does everything you want him to do — he’s worked hard in the classroom, not just to get by but to excel.”
Brent Benedict is a huge OT that is extremely terrifying to line up against. He has not only the size to wipe DTs off their feet, but great speed to push them off the ball 5+ yards. He is great at pulling and will surely help Richard Samuel find holes in defenses. Brent is incredible in all aspects of OLine and he will be a great contribution. He runs a 5.07 40 yard, a 4.77 Shuttle, and has a 30 inch vertical. He is a monster and is always quick to the huddle. He plays all 4 quarters, nonstop. Great pickup for the Bulldogs and I can't wait to see how he progresses through the years at Georgia.
Florida defensive back Marc Deas committed to Georgia on Saturday, according to UGA Sports.
The 6-foot, 185-pound Deas picked the Bulldogs over Rutgers, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Kentucky, among others. Deas told the website he made the seven-hour drive from Osceola, Fla. “[Georgia] is far, but not too far.”
Also, Buford offensive lineman Kolton Houston committed to UGA on Saturday.
Buford offensive lineman Kolton Houston commits to UGA
Like father, like son.
Buford offensive lineman Kolton Houston committed to Georgia before Saturday’s G-Day, following in the footsteps of his father, former UGA football player Shane Houston. “Yes, I did,” Houston told the AJC. “Georgia is the right fit for me and I can’t wait to get here.”
“It’s a great honor to be a Bulldog and I can’t wait to play in front of 92,000 people ‘Between the Hedges.’”
The 6-foot-5, 270-pound Houston selected Georgia over around 15 offers, including Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Auburn, Florida State, and Michigan State.
Houston has a lot of red and black in his blood. His father was a backup linebacker at Georgia in the late 1980s. Both of Kolton’s parents attended UGA.
Despite the family connections, Houston was a good catch for the Bulldogs. Kolton had started looking seriously at other schools because Georgia was taking longer than competing colleges with his evaluation. However, everything changed when Georgia’s Mark Richt finally offered Houston two weeks ago at spring practice.
Georgia jumped to the top of Houston’s wishlist, and after thinking about it over the last two weeks, Houston gave Richt the news on Saturday.
Gainesville wide receiver set to decide between Georgia and six other schools
NICK PARKER
Today at 2:30 p.m. at nearby Gainesville High School, Tai-ler Jones, a dynamic top 15 wide receiver prospect, will announce his commitment of where he will play college football.
He will grab the hat of one of his seven finalists -- Georgia, Stanford, North Carolina, California, UCLA, Notre Dame and Ohio State.
Jones narrowed it down to those seven schools after a host of visits, believing those schools offer the best combination of coaching staffs, academics and athletics.
"It's just the rapport I built with the coaching staffs at all those schools, and I feel those schools can help me the best academically and athletically to better myself," Jones said.
To ultimately decide which school best suits him out of that group, Jones will be taking football out of the equation, realizing the fragility of his playing career.
"I'm going to pick the school that I feel that does both those things [academics and athletics] the
strongest -- and the school, [so] that if I couldn't play football anymore, I'd definitely want to go there as a student," Jones said.
There has been recent speculation that Stanford may not be as strong of a contender as previously thought for Jones, since he is graduating a semester early and Stanford doesn't accept early enrollees, which would delay his enrollment to June.
However, Jones says that it isn't the case, and the six months between his December graduation and June enrollment would allow him to better prepare his body for the rigors of college football.
"It doesn't affect my decision at all because I can spend that six months working out with a personal trainer, getting myself ready to come in when I enroll in June. Then I'm that much further ahead than everyone else because I had six months to really work on my body," Jones said.
Just last Thursday, Jones made the trek to Athens to get a feel for life off the field at Georgia.
"I got to learn about all the academics, and all the academic accolades of that school. It was really impressive and very informative," he said.
With Jones living 30 minutes away in a community of Georgia supporters, a betting man would have to think he wouldn't possibly be holding a press conference to announce for an out-of-state school.
But Jones wouldn't tip his hat just yet.
"That's a typical thought because it's 30 minutes down the road and everyone here supports Georgia and wears Georgia stuff everyday," Jones said.
If Jones doesn't decide on Georgia, one school to watch is North Carolina, where he unofficially visited for the Tar Heels' spring game two weeks ago, and came back with strong praise.
"It was very nice. I liked it a lot," he said. "I learned a lot about that school that I didn't know, and I definitely have made a bond with those coaches that is among the strongest that I have built."
With his visits behind him, Jones appears ready to announce his decision, and wherever he goes, he said that team will receive a versatile football player.
"They'll be getting a player they can use in many different ways, who is explosive with the ball and can score from anywhere on the field and can play both sides of the ball and be a return man and also be a great leader," he said.
Gainesville wide receiver set to decide between Georgia and six other schools
NICK PARKER
Today at 2:30 p.m. at nearby Gainesville High School, Tai-ler Jones, a dynamic top 15 wide receiver prospect, will announce his commitment of where he will play college football.
He will grab the hat of one of his seven finalists -- Georgia, Stanford, North Carolina, California, UCLA, Notre Dame and Ohio State.
Jones narrowed it down to those seven schools after a host of visits, believing those schools offer the best combination of coaching staffs, academics and athletics.
"It's just the rapport I built with the coaching staffs at all those schools, and I feel those schools can help me the best academically and athletically to better myself," Jones said.
To ultimately decide which school best suits him out of that group, Jones will be taking football out of the equation, realizing the fragility of his playing career.
"I'm going to pick the school that I feel that does both those things [academics and athletics] the
strongest -- and the school, [so] that if I couldn't play football anymore, I'd definitely want to go there as a student," Jones said.
There has been recent speculation that Stanford may not be as strong of a contender as previously thought for Jones, since he is graduating a semester early and Stanford doesn't accept early enrollees, which would delay his enrollment to June.
However, Jones says that it isn't the case, and the six months between his December graduation and June enrollment would allow him to better prepare his body for the rigors of college football.
"It doesn't affect my decision at all because I can spend that six months working out with a personal trainer, getting myself ready to come in when I enroll in June. Then I'm that much further ahead than everyone else because I had six months to really work on my body," Jones said.
Just last Thursday, Jones made the trek to Athens to get a feel for life off the field at Georgia.
"I got to learn about all the academics, and all the academic accolades of that school. It was really impressive and very informative," he said.
With Jones living 30 minutes away in a community of Georgia supporters, a betting man would have to think he wouldn't possibly be holding a press conference to announce for an out-of-state school.
But Jones wouldn't tip his hat just yet.
"That's a typical thought because it's 30 minutes down the road and everyone here supports Georgia and wears Georgia stuff everyday," Jones said.
If Jones doesn't decide on Georgia, one school to watch is North Carolina, where he unofficially visited for the Tar Heels' spring game two weeks ago, and came back with strong praise.
"It was very nice. I liked it a lot," he said. "I learned a lot about that school that I didn't know, and I definitely have made a bond with those coaches that is among the strongest that I have built."
With his visits behind him, Jones appears ready to announce his decision, and wherever he goes, he said that team will receive a versatile football player.
"They'll be getting a player they can use in many different ways, who is explosive with the ball and can score from anywhere on the field and can play both sides of the ball and be a return man and also be a great leader," he said.
I have committed to Georgia," B.J. Butler told Scout.com Saturday evening.
"I visited Georgia last weekend and I knew then that I wanted to go to Georgia. I came back from the visit, talked to my family, and they were behind me, so I have committed to Georgia."
Fully committed the 6-foot-3, 240 pound athlete out of Oscaole is.
"I was supposed to visit Florida today for their spring game, but there was no need in me going to that because I know I am going to Georgia."
"I am not going to visit any other schools, I am not going to look at anyone, and I am 100 percent sure that I am going to be a Georgia Bulldog."
When he gave Mark Richt the news, he gave him a warm welcome.
"I kind of told him during the visit last weekend that I wanted to be a Bulldog, but I wanted to talk it over, think about it, and all of that first before officially committing."
"When I called him back and told him that I have committed, he was very excited about it. He is glad to have me and he said he and the staff will make me a better football player and better person while I am at Georgia."
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This is one of those DE's we needed badly in this class.
Marcus Lattimore, the #1 RB and player in the country (his high school is a few minutes from my house), says he did not feel like he would fit in at UGA and has eliminated the Dawgs from his list. It looks like we will now be pushing hard for Mack Brown. I never thought we had much of a chance at Lattimore, but I kept my hopes up...the kid looks good and I wish him well wherever he goes (hopefully OOC!)
"I'd rather lose as a Dawg than win as any other team....once a Dawg, always a Dawg---how sweet it is!"
Hybrid Mode
