Georgia Bulldogs

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Chad Kessler breathed a big sigh of relief this morning. Not because his son Houston Kessler (Fairburn, Ga./Landmark Christian) signed his letter of intent to play for the Bulldogs, thus following in his father’s footsteps and those of his famous uncle, Alec Kessler. No, Chad Kessler is relieved today that he won’t have to wear orange.

“When Houston went up to Clemson right before he decided he wanted to go to Georgia, they grilled him about Georgia,” Kessler said. “They asked him, ‘Are you a Georgia guy? Are you a red and black guy? Are you going to bleed orange when you come here?’ It is so ingrained in him and his family that they know it is hard to get that out of there. And I am thrilled he doesn’t have to get Georgia out of his system.

“I didn’t want to have to buy a new wardrobe. I would have had to clean out my closet -- all my hats and everything would have had to change and I didn’t want to do that. So it worked out for the best.”

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Following the decision of McDonald’s All-American Tony Parker to sign with UCLA over UGA and Ohio State, the University of Georgia men’s basketball team still added a fourth in-state member to the 2012 signing class this week, with a legacy post player signing his letter of intent Wednesday night and submitting it Thursday morning.

According to Landmark Christian boys’ basketball coach Chip McAllister, Houston Kessler has been on the Bulldogs’ radar for over two years now.

“They had been watching him since his sophomore year, and they really liked the way he shot the ball,” McAllister said. “He had a really good season for us this year, and about two weeks ago they said if you can wait it out you have an offer.”

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ATLANTA -- Both Georgia and Georgia Tech try to use the No. 9 batter in the lineup to spark rallies by getting on base with the top of the batting order on deck.

Georgia Tech’s Mott Hyde and Georgia’s Curt Powell fulfilled their end of the bargain in Tuesday’s game at Turner Field, but Hyde’s Yellow Jacket teammates did a better job by driving him in three times in a 4-3 victory.

Hyde provided one of the game's biggest hits himself with a two-run home run in the seventh inning. He also singled with two outs in the top of the ninth, stole second base and scored the game-winning run on Kyle Wren’s RBI single to right field.

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Coming out of California's Simi Valley High School, Beau Sandland (Woodland Hills, Calif./Pierce CC) was a 6-foot-4, 215-pound non-qualifier with no offers, so the tight end enrolled at Pierce Community College. The school has a reputation for getting guys to the next level.

Obviously the hard work has paid off.

After making 20 catches for 265 yards and two touchdowns, Sandland, having grown to almost 6-6 and 250 pounds, received his first offer from Utah on Feb. 22. Two months later, offer No. 10 arrived from Georgia.

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One of the most anticipated arrivals for Sunday's NFTC was that of the nation's top-rated offensive lineman, Laremy Tunsil (Lake City, Fla./Columbia).

Tunsil, the No. 3 overall prospect in the ESPN 150, has kept his recruitment close to the vest but was willing to reveal his top five Sunday.

"My top five as it stands is Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida, LSU and Alabama," Tunsil said. "I like their playbooks, the offense will allow me to pull and have my hand in the ground.

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Last weekend saw defensive lineman Antonio Riles (Lawrenceville, Ga./Archer) make his second visit to Knoxville this spring, taking in the Volunteers’ spring scrimmage. The 6-foot-4, 270-pound prospect has also checked out Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Georgia and Kentucky. Two programs stand out at the top right now for the Bainbridge native.

“Georgia and Florida are at the top, followed by Clemson,” Riles said. “I have been watching Georgia and Clemson since I was a little kid, and I actually hated Florida growing up, but when I went down there I found out the coaches and environment are really cool.”

Riles spoke well of each of his top three.

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The No. 26 player in the nation, Lithonia (Ga.) Miller Grove center Tony Parker, announced Tuesday afternoon in a special ceremony at his high school that he will attend college at UCLA.

Parker, the top center among those as yet unsigned, is the No. 1 player in Georgia and the No. 7 center overall nationally. He chose the Bruins over Georgia, Duke, Kansas and Ohio State.

At UCLA, Parker will be reunited with his former AAU coach, Korey McCray, now a Bruins assistant.

The four-star prospect's decision pushes UCLA ahead of Kentucky to take over the No. 1 ranking among 2012 classes nationally.

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The Georgia Bulldogs, hoping to sign five or more offensive linemen for the 2013 class, only have one committed so far in Aulden Bynum (Valdosta, Ga./Valwood). But could commit No. 2 be coming soon?

Josh Cardiello (Buford, Ga./Buford) has taken his grandfather on visits to Florida and FSU already, and Friday he invited him to share a day in Athens.

“It was very important because he has been able to see everywhere else and he enjoys that stuff, and I really like UGA, so I wanted him to see what they had to offer,” Cardiello said.

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ESPN 150 prospect Derrick Henry (Yulee, Fla./Yulee) made the decision last July to commit to the University of Georgia, surprising many who felt the 6-foot-3, 252-pound Florida fan would end up signing with the Gators. While that outcome still seems unlikely, another Southeastern Conference program is threatening to steal the prized running back commitment from the Bulldogs, and that team just finished hosting Henry for the second time in the last 30 days.

As Henry traveled home Sunday from Knoxville, Tenn., he explained that his decision to check out the University of Tennessee had a lot do to with the persistence of the Vols' new running backs coach.

“Tennessee came by the school once or twice, but I never really paid attention or gave them a chance before I made my commitment to Georgia,” Henry said. “Coach [Jay] Graham stayed on me and convinced me to take a visit up there.”

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