Almost time to decide
By D. ORLANDO LEDBETTER, JEFF D'ALESSIO
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 01/31/06
RECRUITING BLITZ
We already know Florida is in line to land the nation's top class, Ohio State is set to sign the nation's top tailback, and Arkansas is awaiting a signed fax from the nation's top quarterback.
But with less than 24 hours until national signing day, there's still plenty of drama left to unfold.
Among the storylines we'll be following today and Wednesday with up-to-the-minute updates on ajc.com:
• Clifton Geathers, OL, Georgetown (S.C.) Carver's Bay. No word whether the AJC Super Southern 100 lineman will pick an ACC school (Clemson, Florida State, Virginia Tech) or an SEC school (Auburn, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee).
• Gerald McCoy, DT, Oklahoma City Southeast. Oklahoma or Southern Cal will land Rivals.com's top-rated defensive tackle.
• Jonas Mouton, S, Los Angeles Venice. His mom tells Scout.com he has picked between Michigan, Southern Cal and Texas but he'll wait until signing day to reveal his choice.
• Andre Smith, OL, Birmingham Huffman. The nation's consensus top-ranked lineman took a last-minute visit to Gainesville, Fla., over the weekend, but didn't get caught up in the Gator mania sweeping the country. "They are not going to be one of his final options," Huffman football coach Curtis Coleman said Monday. Smith will choose Wednesday between Alabama, LSU and Southern Cal.
• C.J. Spiller, RB, Lake Butler (Fla.) Union County. Rivals.com's top-rated all-purpose back will choose between Clemson, Florida and Florida State.
SIGNED, SEALED ...
These guys are off the market after coming to decisions:
• Lee Coleman, WR, Gainesville East Hall. The converted quarterback will sign Wednesday with Northwestern.
• London Crawford, WR, Mobile (Ala.) Davidson. The Super Southern 100 standout switched to Arkansas on Monday after previously committing to LSU.
• Tim Hawthorne, WR, Homewood (Ala) HS. A top-10 receiver on everyone's board, he picked Auburn on Monday night.
• Damon Williams, WR, Springdale (Ark.) One-time Florida commitment switched to Arkansas.
CHANGE OF HEART?
Don't be surprised if these prospects don't sign with the schools they originally committed to:
• Greg Billinger, OL, Parkview. Committed to Georgia over the summer, then visited Vanderbilt this past weekend. When asked Monday if her son was still headed to Georgia, Lora Billinger said, "Well, I guess, somewhat." RATZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Vidal Hazelton, WR, Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military. Penn State already got a Miami-bound quarterback to change his mind (Pat Devlin). If the Nittany Lions convince Scout.com's top-ranked receiver to back out of his commitment to Southern Cal, it will be the coup of signing day.
• Damon McDaniel, WR, Virginia Beach Landstown. He committed to Florida on national television with star teammate Percy Harvin, then took official visits to Ohio State and Florida State.
• Kelvin Sheppard, LB, Stephenson. Maryland has leaped into the picture for the one-time LSU commitment who said last week he was considering Tennessee. "I think everybody knows, he's been wavering," Stephenson coach Ron Gartrell said. Not so for fellow Stephenson linebacker Perry Riley, who appears set on sticking with his commitment to LSU. "I don't expect any surprises from Riley," Gartrell said.
• Michael J. Gann, OL, Marist. The son of former Atlanta Falcon Mike Gann picked Army over Duke, North Carolina, Connecticut and Navy.
CLOCK'S TICKING
Finally, after months of waiting, we'll find out which programs will sign these standouts:
• Marcus Ball, LB, Stephenson. The brother of Georgia Tech quarterback Reggie Ball said he plans to announce his choice at
5 p.m. today at ESPN Zone in Buckhead. "It's Florida State or Miami," he said Monday.
• Knowshon Moreno, RB, Middletown (N.J.) South. He's Georgia's last hope to add a top-tier tailback to its class after Stafon Johnson chose Southern Cal. Will having New Jersey pal Kade Weston already in Athens help the Bulldogs' chances against Florida? "It's always good to go to school and know somebody that's where you're from," Moreno said, "but that won't be that big of a factor."
• Reshad Jones, S, Atlanta Washington. "Really liking Georgia," he says, but LSU also is in the mix.
FEARLESS FORECAST
We asked two recruiting gurus for three signing-day predictions:
SCOTT KENNEDY — Scout.com
• The South's top three uncommitted prospects will all stay in-state: Andre Smith (Birmingham); C.J. Spiller (Lake Butler, Fla.) and Deantwan Whitehead (Birmingham).
• Florida State will move up with some top players, but will sign a class that most Seminoles fans will deem disappointing.
• Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron might be his own biggest enemy recruiting this well. The first job is getting all of these great players; his next job will be to remind Ole Miss fans that one recruiting class isn't going to turn aroud a 3-8 team right away.
JEREMY CRABTREE — Rivals.com
• Florida will have one de-commitment, making the gap between the Gators and USC even smaller and possibly allowing the Trojans to grab the top spot.\
• Reshad Jones will sign with UGA, which isn't a major surprise. But it's something people were questioning after Les Miles made a great impression early last week.
• Alabama will land Andre Smith, the top uncommitted player left on the board in the nation.
— Staff writer Carroll Rogers contributed to this article.
"My advice to you is to start drinking heavily." - Bluto