Bevy of top prospects featured in semifinals

The Peach State is full of talent. Look around this weekend and you will see some of the best high school football talent anywhere in the nation. The state of Georgia, by most expert accounts, produces the fourth-most college football players in America, behind only much larger states California (No. 1 in population), Texas (No. 2) and Florida (No. 4). Georgia, despite being only eighth in population, is fourth in producing college and NFL players.

Just look at the rosters of the top college teams in America and you’ll see Peach State products all over the field. Alabama, which has won three of the past four national championships, routinely signs players from Georgia and is very dependent on players from this state to fill its roster. The Georgia Bulldogs and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, both regular bowl participants and conference contenders, each have the vast majority of their rosters filled with players from the home state. Auburn, Clemson, Florida State, South Carolina and Tennessee come here to recruit as if they each owned a piece of the state. In fact, programs as far away as Ohio State and Stanford regularly land planes on our red clay to find talent to supply their programs with great athletes.

This year is no exception. Gainesville’s Deshaun Watson and Norcross’

Photo by Rob Saye

Lorenzo Carter are two of the most highly-regarded seniors in the nation. Next year’s class is led by McEachern’s Chuma Edoga and North Gwinnett’s Mitch Hyatt, who are widely regarded as two of the top linemen in the 2015 class. McEachern’s Taj Griffin, an electric running back, Callaway’s Terry Godwin, an elite defensive back prospect, Griffin’s Christian Owens, one of America’s best wide receiver prospects, and Tucker’s Duke Shelley, a playmaker in all three facets of the game, are some of the top juniors in tonight’s games.

As you can tell from the list below, there are dozens of seniors in the state who will play major college football next year. And that box contains just commitments, not even top recruits. Some guys like Carter are being recruited by literally everyone, but have not committed and, therefore, are not on the list.

Keep an eye out, wherever you may be watching tonight, for college coaches. Big names like Les Miles, Nick Saban and Mark Richt have been known to drop in on Georgia high school games while prestigious academic schools like Vanderbilt, Duke, and dare I say, Harvard have been known to send coaches to scout the Peach State.

*Commits in the semifinals 

Brooks County | Malkom Parrish | Georgia

Buford | Korie Rogers | Clemson

Buford | Thomas Wilson | Missouri

Callaway | KeShun Freeman | Georgia Tech

Calvary Day | Milan Richard | Clemson

Carrollton | Tyler Newsome | Notre Dame

Carrollton | Jake Sanders | Duke

Carrollton | Brandon Walton | Appalachian State

Colquitt County | Gabe Mobley | Georgia State

Colquitt County | Jamiyus Pittman | Ole Miss

Colquitt County | Todd Boyd | Georgia State

Creekside | Elliott Berry | Tennessee

Creekside | Evan Berry | Tennessee

Creekside | Cameron Jackson | Georgia State

ELCA | Dalton Etheridge | Jacksonville State

Gainesville | Devan Stringer | Appalachian State

Gainesville | Deshaun Watson | Clemson

Kell | Taylor Henkle | Kennesaw State

Lamar County | Lance Austin | Georgia Tech

Lamar County | Lawrence Austin | Georgia Tech

Lamar County | Qua Searcy | Georgia Tech

Lovett | Grant Haley | Vanderbilt

Marion County | A.J. Wells | Appalachian State

Marist | Kendall Baker | Georgia

McEachern | Ty Clemons | Georgia Southern

McEachern | Henry Famurewa | Louisville

McEachern | Trey Scott | Tulane

Norcross | Josh Boyd | Appalachian State

Norcross | Maaseiah Francis | Georgia State

Norcross | Christopher Herndon | Miami (Fla.)

Norcross | Clinton Lynch | Georgia State

Norcross | Horatio Walker | Georgia State

Norcross | Kevin Mouhon | Tennessee

Norcross | Jordan Noil | Maryland

North Gwinnett | Nate Brown | Missouri

Ringgold | Zachary Morris | Duke

Tucker | Detric Dukes | Georgia

Tucker | Kirk Tucker | Stanford

Washington Co. | D.J. Sanders | MTSU

Wayne County | Taylor Heflin | Navy

Wayne County | Malique Jackson | Florida State

Wayne County | Jeremy Patterson | Wisconsin

Wayne County | Krenwick Sanders |Wisconsin