Last week was a big one on the Georgia recruiting front, as four big-name recruits from the Peach State made their college destinations known, all deciding in the end to take their games elsewhere, and three to the State of North Carolina.
On Tuesday, Cartersville running back Morgan Alexander gave his pledge to North Carolina State, choosing the Wolfpack over offers from Arkansas, Indiana and Louisville. According to his interview with Rivals.com’s Mike Farrell, a certain feeling of familiarity made the difference to Alexander in the end.
“I just felt like I was at home, like it was Cartersville,” he said. “It was the town, the coaches, the players, everything. NC State felt like home.”
On the field, the 5-foot-10, 180-pound speedster is very shifty and extremely versatile rushing at catching the football out of the backfield and is a three-star recruit, according to Rivals.com.
On Wednesday, Dublin athlete Rashard Smith joined Alexander on the list of those committed and, more specifically, on the Wolfpack’s list of pledges for 2009 as well. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Smith chose NC State despite receiving offers from Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and North Carolina, among others.
Smith is a two-star recruit according to Rivals.com and was named Class 2A’s defensive player of the year in 2007.
HEELS JOIN THE FUN
The Tar Heels joined their in-state rivals in last week’s picking of peaches, earning a verbal from four-star, Cartersville athlete Donavan Tate. Despite his teammate (Alexander) pledging to the Wolfpack only a day prior and receiving offers from USC, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Miami and Michigan, among others, Tate felt UNC was the best fit in the end.
In Tate, the Heels are no doubt getting a good one. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound versatile athlete is physical and instinctive from his safety position on defense and at times dominant, both rushing and receiving the football, on offense. Surprisingly, despite the tremendous excitement that no doubt surrounded his Wednesday announcement, Thursday may have been just as memorable for Tate, as he was officially selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American game.
“It is a great honor for me to play in this game with all the other great athletes and great football players in this class,” Tate said.
Finally, on Sunday, the recruiting avalanche concluded when big-time Carver inside linebacker LeRon Furr announced his intention to play college ball for Oklahoma State. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound athlete is a three-star recruit and the 42nd-ranked inside linebacker, according to Rivals.com, and chose the Mike Gundy-led team over offers from UCF, Arkansas, Louisville, Mississippi and NC State.
“I would have to say [the deciding factor] was how I know Coach [Glenn] Spencer (defensive line) is going to be there and I trust him. I love the facilities and I understand that they’re going to have a lot more stuff built by the time I get down there,” Furr said.
On film, Furr shows good speed and acceleration into tackles as well as a solid ability to read and recognize plays. As a junior, the newest Cowboy logged an impressive 107 tackles, 27 for a loss, and one fumble recovery.
Janovitz can be reached at sjanovitz@scoreatl.com.
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