Georgia Bulldogs

With basketball season over, the No. 1 prospect in Florida can finally hit the road to check out some college campuses. The No. 12 overall prospect in the ESPN 150 David Sharpe (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence School) has no shortage of options to choose from.

During spring break, Sharpe visited in-state Florida and Florida State. Over the weekend, he spent time at two out-of-state programs. Sharpe got to Clemson on Friday morning and stayed there until Saturday morning. He then spent the rest of the day in Athens, Ga., before visiting with some family in Georgia.

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ATHENS, Ga. – ESPN 150 defensive tackle Elisha Shaw (Tucker, Ga./Tucker) spent the weekend visiting the University of Georgia and a former teammate. When he left, the nation’s No. 4 defensive tackle said that the Bulldogs no longer trailed the Crimson Tide.

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There was a time when news of a rising junior with an offer was reason to pause and take a second look at why college coaches thought enough of such a young prospect to extend a scholarship. Just a few years ago, summer camps and the fall season were primarily seen as opportunities for seniors to earn offers from BCS programs. Now the recruiting landscape has changed immensely, and 2016 cornerback Chad Clay (Marietta, Ga./Walton) is a prime example.

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ATLANTA -- For the last three years, the Rising Seniors staff has invited the state of Georgia’s most talented juniors to participate in a week-long educational program and camp in late December designed to showcase their talents. Attendees learn academic and social development while preparing for the Georgia Junior Bowl, which is played on the last day of the camp. The roster list for the game reads like a Who’s Who of the top players from the Peach State. Some might be unheralded going in, but emerge after the camp atop many colleges' wish lists.

Knowing that the game has so many of Georgia’s best players in it, we decided to take advantage of having them all in one place and ask them some questions. The answers were anonymous, and represent only one part of the sometimes years-long recruiting experience. We thought it would be interesting to see where Georgia’s juniors stood on a variety of topics. Of course these questions were asked at the conclusion of their junior seasons and the answers will have changed as the spring evaluation period unfolds and more trips are taken, but this shows where they are at the time.

Q. Which, if any, school were you a fan of growing up?

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ATHENS, Ga. -- Viewers who tuned into last year’s SEC championship game were treated to an epic battle between Alabama and Georgia that was not decided until the last play of the game. It was the latest in a series of battles between schools that clash again and again on the recruiting trail, year after year. Both have targeted a sophomore defensive tackle from North Carolina. In fact, both programs offered Shy Tuttle (Lexington, N.C./North Davidson) on the same day.

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JEFFERSON, Ga. -- The Georgia state track meet is almost always populated with top football prospects competing in their second sport of the year. This year did not disappoint, as a number of Peach State recruits descended on the track and field events to try and win a state title.

Bulldogs’ signees compete in last prep events

Tight end Jordan Davis competed in the 110-meter high hurdles and 300-meter intermediate hurdles. He finished second in the 110-meter race, beating out several much smaller and quicker competitors.

“These little guys are faster than me,” Davis said. “I can’t catch them in a sprint. But I gain a foot on them on each hurdle.”

Davis will report in June with the Bulldogs' other signees, including Rico Johnson, who was at the meet trying to defend his 100-meter title.

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JEFFERSON, Ga. -- The Georgia high school track and field championships always draw a good crowd despite the heat and humidity that accompanies the three-day event. Though this year spectators were greeted with cloudy skies and cool temperatures. Several college football prospects competing on Thursday, and thus we learned a few things.

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ATHENS, Ga. -- The youngest student at Stephens County High School in Toccoa, Ga., also happens to be the school's largest student. Freshman offensive tackle Ben Cleveland is only 14 and claims to be the youngest student in the ninth grade. Despite his youth, he already stands 6 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs 315 pounds. Cleveland receives an abundance of slack-jawed stares when he is on the football field, but the real gawping comes when he steps onto the baseball diamond to man first base.

In fact, that was where a college football coach first spotted him.

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After being committed to Clemson since signing day 2012, ESPN 150 quarterback Deshaun Watson (Gainesville, Ga./Gainesville) has made a change in his recruitment.

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BRADENTON, Fla. -- On the fields of the IMG Academy Southeast Regional 7-on-7 Tournament, George Campbell (Tarpon Springs, Fla./East Lake) stood off to the side with a sling hanging off his shoulder and covering his broken wrist.

That injury, suffered a few weeks back, will keep him out of East Lake's spring practices starting at the beginning of May. But fortunately for him, he's already got a ton of offers to begin with and won't be reliant on coaches coming by for the evaluation period.

That doesn't mean he isn't frustrated, though.

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After narrowing down his double-digit offer list to a top six of Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Ole Miss, ESPN 150 tight end Jeb Blazevich (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian) decided he was ready to make his decision.

On ESPNU on Tuesday afternoon, Blazevich, the No. 3 tight end-H, committed to Georgia.

“God was calling me to go to Georgia,” Blazevich said. “I love my position coach, John Lilly, and head coach Mark Richt. I love the town and just everything about Georgia. I am 100-percent committed to Georgia.”

The No. 90 overall prospect in the ESPN 150 is UGA’s fourth 2014 commitment, and he said Bulldogs fans can count on him to stay put: “When I say that I commit, I mean it with all of my heart. The only thing that would change that would be if the men that I commit to leave.”

The 6-foot-5, 228-pound Blazevich took visits to each of his top six schools over the past two months and admitted the trips helped him eliminate a few programs.

“I feel like I visited a couple of schools to give them a shot by looking at everything they had to offer,” Blazevich said. “I tried to picture myself there and I just could not see myself going there.

“It came down to Ole Miss, Clemson and Georgia. They are all so similar and Southern schools with strong academics, great football programs and very spiritual leaders in the locker room and on the staff.”

Blazevich felt he could have been happy at any of the schools under consideration but knew at the end of the day, he could only pick one.

The hardest part of the process, he said, was figuring out what he wanted. It all boiled down to his life away from the field.

“If I was not playing football, Georgia is still where I would want to go,” Blazevich said. “That was the big thing. If I got hurt and was not playing football, where do I want to go? I just could not say no to that town and that school.”

What Blazevich’s decision means for Georgia

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The IMG 7v7 Southeast Regional Championship in Bradenton, Fla., on Saturday and Sunday will feature several ESPN 150 players. This star-studded event will feature the South Florida Express, one of the top 7-on-7 teams in the country, and Team Tampa, which won the IMG 7v7 National Championships last year. Here's a look at five things to watch at this weekends events.

1. Wide receiver position is loaded
There will be a plethora of top wide receivers in Bradenton this weekend. Ermon Lane (Homestead, Fla./Homestead), the No. 1-ranked wide receiver in the country, will have a chance to showcase his abilities against some elite talent. Additionally, Travis Rudolph (West Palm Beach, Fla./Cardinal Newman), Artavis Scott (Tarpon Springs, Fla./East Lake), Moral Stephens (Perry, Fla./Taylor County), Kenric Young (Gainesville, Fla./Gainesville), Isaiah Ford (Jacksonville, Fla./Trinity Christian), Garrett Johnson (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange) and 2015 wideout Da'Vante Phillips (Miami/Central) are scheduled to participate.

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BUFORD, Ga. -- The Atlanta Nike Football Training Camp is always loaded with the region’s top juniors looking to earn an invitation to The Opening and learn from the professional instructors there. This year the Atlanta NFTC had over 300 prospects from 20 different states in attendance. A number of sophomores also attended, wanting not only the instruction, but to try their hand against the older players.

This year five freshmen were also invited to attend. Two of them, cornerback Khalil Ladler (Stone Mountain, Ga./Stephenson) and defensive tackle Antwuan Jackson Jr. (Ellenwood, Ga./Cedar Grove), made strong impressions on the instructors there.

Ladler stunned former NFL Pro Bowl cornerback Ray Buchanan, who was there coaching the defensive backs.

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