Coach Richt is getting closer and closer to filling up the 2008 recruiting class. Marcus Dowtin (6'2" 215 lb linebacker) is a rising senior at Fork Union Military Academy gave his verbal to the Georgia coaching staff today.
Note: He's not involved in Fork Union's post-graduate program. He actually attends high school there. It's a similar recruitment path that Ray Gant took to Georgia.
According to the Athens Banner-Herald, Dowtin also plays running back for Fork Union. Maryland offered him as a running back. Clemson, Michigan and Virginia offered as a linebacker.
See Also:
-- #17 Marcus Dowtin - ABH
-- Dawgs get #17 - UGASports.com
-- Dowtin Commits - Dawgpost.com
PWD
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28 comments:
From watching the highlights on rivals i just can't help but think UGA has this kid pegged as the next b. miller. big kid with a lot of speed. if his body catches up to his talent, he might be a diamond in the rough for us.....unlike b. miller that is.
Choo Choo! Who's that comin down the track...
and the UGA recruiting machine just keeps on rolling.
Military school? Anybody know what his grades & test scores are like.
He looks like a stud - hope there are no issues with qualifying.
we've only got a few spots left, and a bunch of instate prospects still on the board
His grades sound fine. When he transferred from one military school to another some credits didn't transfer so he had to repeat 10th or 11th grade.
I completely agree with anon2.
we're getting too greedy and looking out of state. ever since the 2006 class georgia's recruiting has gotten more and more pecuiliar.
2006 was the class that we signed four or five kids from florida. most of the kids were projects (chapas, perez, wilson). admittedly, jeff owens has grown int a really effective lineman. but who else out of that group is even close to touching the field? you're telling me that there weren't better players right here in georgia.
it'd be different if the kids from florida were consenus top 100 players, but a lot of them were projects. there are plenty of projects right here in georgia if that's what we're trying to go after.
and YES i'm griping despite the fact that we have one of the top recruiting classes in the country.
coach richt and his staff eventually are going to start burning a bunch of bridges in-state. they're gonna start alienating a bunch of coaches. coaches are gonna start saying "I'VE GOT THIS KID WHO'S ACTUALLY PROJECTED AS A BETTER COLLEGE PLAYER THAN A KID THAT GEORGIA SIGNED FROM NORTH CAROLINA/ALABAMA/FLORIDA/VIRGINIA/WHEREVER. BUT FOR SOME REASON, THEY'D RATHER GIVE THE SCHOLARSHIP TO THE OUT-OF-STATE KID. I GUESS WE'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH."
relationship building is everything in georgia (ask mack brown at texas) and the dawgs gradually are gonna start screwing up some relastionships.
Anon @ 3:04 PM:
I have to disagree with you on this one. While there are better in state kids than the ones we have locked down, there is a method to Rodney Garner's madness I'm sure.
Think about it like this; through The Vault on Rivals, I read about this kid out of Texas named Sam McGuffie. People were up in arms that we haven't offered this kid with his blazing speed and large frame. However, others that claimed to know a little more about the kid said he was going to have a hard time fitting into the "team" concept.
Whether or not that is true, is irrelevant. What is true is that our coaches have an attitude of "team first, me second." This is the type of formula that wins championships. Have we always gotten it right? Negative, but I promise you there are multiple kids on our radar that never get visits, messages, etc. because for some reason, our coaches just don't see them fitting in here.
I agree that there are diamonds in the rough that slip through. Dontarrious Thomas is a friend of mine that I grew up with, was once a huge Dawg fan, got snatched up by Auburn, and became a machine for them. There are examples where it didn't go just right...
But there are also examples where it will/already has. Think of names like Stafford and Moreno. Yes, we're building a team, but we're doing it to win championships...and I think they're coming.
It's great that some guys get into a good school like Fork Union Military Academy early in their high school career, so grades and test scores aren't a problem when it comes to qualifying. FUMA runs a top academic program and when guys come out of their high school program (like Brandon Caleb, now at Oklahoma - or Eddie George who won the Heisman at Ohio State) they're usually squared away and ready to compete at the next level, both in the classroom and on the field.
in addition to what ludakit stated, I don't think its like we aren't offering Georgia kids. Its just that its first come, first serve. If schollys are offered, you better jump on it or lose the possibility of playing for Georgia. HS coaches can't expect us to wait around for some divas to make up their minds when the train is filling up & about to leave the station.
I can't believe people are bitching about this class... UGA is offering these kids.. It's not UGA's fault that they choose to wait till forever to commit.. Any coach who says "I don't like UGA because my player didn't go there" needs to find another profession.
Dude - wtf are you talking about?
Tony Wilson was a 4 star WR who dominated UF's camps. He was an extremely highly touted kid. And he's just a redshirt freshman. It ain't like he's a bust.
Perez is a Miami kid that we had to beat out Miami to get.
Both are redshirt freshmen. It's too early to judge them.
Over half of this recruiting class is from Georgia, AND it would be 2 more if Ward and Brand had kept their commitments. Both were in state kids. We also had a scholarship saved for AJ Harmon and he left the state.
If the high school coaches of this state would do a better job of sending blue chippers like Chris Little, Allen Bailey, AJ Harmon and others to Georgia, we wouldn't need to go out of state so much
PWD
To follow up....
If you're complaining about our OL recruiting and going out of state for project OLs....you won't find much disagreement here. Callaway's recruiting was non-sensical particular as it relates to Claytor, McNeil, and Duncan.
But since he left, we've hit in state OL recruiting hard, and when some of our in state targets turned us down (Harmon and Brand) we HAD to look out of state.
Terry Hoage - texas
charlie trippi - ohio
frank sinkwich - penn
Lars tate - indiana
Tim Worley - north carolina
Rodney Hampton - texas
Musa Smith - PA
McClendon, Hearst and Herschel are UGA's only home grown running backs to break 1,000 yards. The rest were out of state.
(i'm anon3)
Andy Bailey – Tennessee
Dale Dixson - Texas
Micheal Moore - Florida
Mario Raley - N. Carolina
Antavious Coates – South Carolina
Paul,
It's not the "job" of high school coaches in Georgia to send prospects to UGA.
It's the "job" of UGA's coaching staff to form and maintain healthy relationships with coaches in Georgia.
THAT was my point and I think people are missing my point.
UGA is on the verge of straining a bunch of important relationships. The state of Georgia has the fourth or fifth most players in the NFL. Why recruit nationally when you don't have to?
If a kid is a consensus top 100 player who shows interest in your school (like Staffford and people like that) that's different.
And Paul: a recruit isn't going to commit to a school just because the school offered. A kid has to feel wanted. Many times a school will offer and then grow progressively more lukewarm and stop whispering as many sweet nothings in the recruits ear. UGA obviously went after all of these two and three star out-of-state kids hard.
Anon 3 - what proof do you have that UGA coaches are "on the verge of straining a bunch of important relationships"?
Anon 3,
I think the main point were missing here is that Texas is bigger than Georgia.
The talent pool is drastically deeper there and recruiting in Texas is like recruiting in Alabama. You're either for Texas or for Texas A&M.
Georgia is a different ballgame. Another one of the anons nailed it when they said that when UGA offers you a scholarship, it's the real deal. If you want it, come get it. We had the same problem last year with that one OL that bolted to FSU on signing day. Remember that? He was the "solid one" to UGA and then started publicly saying how much he liked FSU. Mark Richt admitted that UGA takes a kid on his word, but when he starts to break his, we start to break ours. That's the way the game is played.
But as far as ignoring 4 and 5 star guys in state and choosing them over 2 and 3 star guys out of state, I think you're completely wrong and misguided here.
I'd rather have a 3 star kid that wants to get better and loves UGA than a 4 star kid that wants a school to drool over him only to have him step on the field like he's already earned it.
Heart wins college football championships. Not stars.
Andy Bailey – Tennessee
Dale Dixson - Texas
Micheal Moore - Florida
Mario Raley - N. Carolina
Antavious Coates – South Carolina
Andy Bailey stinks, but he wasn't a project. He had an enormous leg in HS. Still doesn't. He just can't hit the broad side of a barn.
Michael Moore was a top flight recruit. We beat Miami for him too.
Raley was a 4 star kid.
Antavious Coates was a 4 star kid who has had 2 knee injuries.
Georgia recruits out of state at times b/c in state kids turn us down.
anon3, shut your mouth. UGA gets as many Georgia HS players as any other school gets kids from their state.
You can be damn sure that any out of state kid that gets an offer from this coaching staff can play the game and play it well.
I'm glad you're not UGA's recruiting coordinator, then Blake Mitchell would be our QB.
oh, and I still firmly believe that Andy Bailey is a plant from UT sent to UGA to miss kicks on purpose.
j/k, but seriously.
reply to anon3:
I'm not understanding this... UGA is doesn't get some of the instate kids because they CHOOSE not to? I find it hard to believe that with Gardner as our recruiting coordinator , who has a firm and strict belief about raiding UGA for instate recruits, is doing that... If UGA coaches were dumb enough to simply ignore GA kids with all the success they they've had with them, they wouldn't be smart enough to win all the games they have won or even coach at UGA...
(i'm anon 3)
hd,
i always thought that is was sort of pansy and sissy to talk tough while hiding behind a computer. what sort of satisfaction could
never once did i say any combattive or insulting to any of the anons or any of the other posters on here. i don't know any of the posters on the man on the moon but i still try to maintain some sort of healthy respect nonetheless.
you probably were picked on a lot in school. or perhaps you're probably 5-foot-3 with a napoleon complex.
how many starters from the 1980 team were from out of state? how many starters from the 2002 team were from out of state?
remember when tennessee swooped in and snatched up cosey coleman, deon grant and jamal lewis? something like that could happen again in the future if our coaching staff doesn't cater to our in-state coaches. our football program would be vanderbilt if not for the rapport between our coaching staff and the high school coaches and we shouldn't do anything to jeopardize that.
(i'm anon3)
there were a couple of left-out words in that last post; my bad.
atlchris...i respect your opinion. but the coaching staff DID essentially neglect eric berry last year. i saw in a couple of interviews where he said that we never really came after him very hard. eric berry ran the fastest recorded 40 of any high school player in the country last year. it was the same thing with tray blackmon. our recruiters were too busy screwing around in florida and north carolina.
and that brings me to my point: i'm sure that eric berry's coach at creekside is a little miffed about things. if i was him, i'd be asking myself, "WHAT? IS MY PROGRAM NOT GOOD ENOUGH?"
it's the same thing with the baldwin high coaching staff. we didn't go after maurice hurt very hard two years ago and now he's battling for a starting job on florida's starting O line. he played the first few games as a true freshman last year before getting hurt.
the baldwin coaching staff felt a little insulted. their guy was good enough for the national champs but not good enough for the school right up the road.
i'm not completely speaking out of my ***. i've been keeping up with this stuff for more than a few years.
(i'm anon3 and i'm gonna bow out on this note)
i was trying to find some video of our latest committment and i typed "DOWTIN" into a youtube search screen.
apparently, the young man is heartbroken and forelorn.
on behalf of the bulldog nation, i'd like to wish the young man luck in his quest to mend his broken heart. may he find resolution by the time he suits up for the red and black.
go dawgs!!!
The problem with your logic...you're pointing to out of state kids that were highly touted ... yet you're calling them busts with them benefit of hindsight ... when the coaching staff had no such crystal ball.
Where's the kudos for signing guys in state guys that most big time programs ignored. Guys like Scranton, Hickman, Osamo, Nick Jones, Danny Ware, Henderson, Holden, C. Watson, Odell, T. Davis, Lomax, harden, Brock, Ian Smith, etc.
You pointed to busts out of state. We've had more than our fair share of in state busts.
Where's the list of sucky out of state kids that we recruited instead of blue chipper in state guys?
I have 3 on my list, and 1 of them was a 3 year starter.
Georgia has done an excellent job of recruiting in state kids, and for the most part, we've left the state when we couldn't get what we needed in state.
Anon - I'll give you this, and I think most UGA fans will agree.
Our OL recruiting from '01 to '05 was non-sensical.
Richt gave Callaway the authority to recruit who he wanted, and every single time that we left the state to chase a bust when a great in state kid's recruitment was totally bungled or ineffective involved Callaway.
McNeil, Duncan, your guy, Reddick, Claytor, etc. There's a reason why 8 of our 10 guys on the OL two deep have never played a snap for UGA and Callaway has only been gone one year.
I'll give you that. If I were Claytor or Duncan's family or coaching staff, I'd have been furious that we didn't pursue them harder.
As for Eric Berry. You're wrong. On all counts.
Anon 3 - I still think you're missing the biggest point. These kids are offered schollys at UGA - but they CHOOSE to go elsewhere. We cant make kids stay here. If they want to play for Clemson, or UT, etc, then good luck to them.
Saying that UGA is somehow negligent in their recruiting responsibilities because not EVERY SINGLE top Georgia recruit wants to stay in state is insane.
And everyone on the planet knew Eric Berry was following daddy's footsteps to UT. We could've offered him a new Escalade & $100,000 and the kid would still go to UT.
You also never answered my question about your assertion that UGA coaches were "on the verge of straining a bunch of important relationships."
18 of 23 in 2007 were from GA
- nothing to complain about there.
- 3 of the 5 were 4 star or higher
17 of 25 in 2006 were from GA
- 2 five stars from out of state
- 2 more Top 10 players at their position from out of state
Hagans waits for Dogs, Jackets; Powers pursue Bryant
By Michael Carvell, Jeff Hood
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/05/07 10:27 PM
Latest news
More Football recruiting...
Northview defensive lineman Cordian Hagans may be the state’s most heavily recruited player without a scholarship offer from Georgia or Georgia Tech.
The 6-foot-5, 285-pounder has 18 offers and counting, including ones from LSU, Auburn, Alabama, Clemson and Virginia Tech. While Hagans said he is “thrilled” with his recruiting situation, he admits the absence of in-state offers is a constant topic of conversation.
“There are a lot of Georgia and Georgia Tech fans around here [Alpharetta], especially Georgia,” Hagans said. “At least once or twice every day, someone asks me, ‘How can you have offers from all those big-time schools and not have one from Georgia or Georgia Tech?’
“It puts me in kind of an awkward situation because I don’t really know how to answer that question, other than to say, ‘You’ll have to ask them because I don’t know.’ “
Hagans said his only contact with Georgia Tech has been recruiting letters.
Meanwhile, Hagans said he has established a good relationship with Georgia assistant Stacey Searels, and two communicate two to three times a week via text message.
“[Searels] keeps saying they like me a lot, and they will be following me closely,” Hagans said. “I don’t know how to take that. I’m just guessing they probably have some other defensive linemen they like better than me, but I don’t know for sure.”
Hagans admits he grew a fan of the Bulldogs and often dreamed about playing in the red and black. Does it hurt his feelings his childhood favorite has not offered?
“Yes, of course, I would like to be offered by Georgia, it’s a great school,” Hagans said. “But I don’t think I can complain about anything when I have so many great options.
“So I’m not stressing out about Georgia or Georgia Tech. If it happens, it happens. If not, I’m just fine.”
The other offers to Hagans are from Arizona State, North Carolina, N.C. State, Boston College, Louisville, Mississippi State, Maryland, Ole Miss, Rutgers, Central Florida, Michigan State and Indiana. He also has about 15 other schools that have told him he is a scholarship candidate.
Hagans, who claims to have no early leader, has been on an unofficial visit to Auburn, and plans trips to Clemson and LSU within the next three weeks.
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