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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Wilder and LeMay

I don’t usually delve into recruiting, but it’s been a pretty busy 24-48 hours on that front for Georgia.

James Wilder Jr., one of the nation’s top prospects, is set to make his announcement on Wednesday afternoon. One report out of Florida said the Tampa native is headed to Georgia. But that’s been unconfirmed, so it could be Georgia, it could be Florida State, it could even still be Florida.

Rivals.com national analyst Mike Farrell told me at noon that he doesn’t know what Wilder is going to do, nobody except Wilder knows, and agreed it might not even be final today, whoever Wilder picks.

Wilder, a running back and linebacker, is close with Orson Charles, a Georgia tight end, and also knows Aaron Murray, both products of the same Tampa high school. But Farrell said Wilder is also tight with his Florida State recruiter, and that Wilder has not visited Georgia with his family.

“Logically when you look at it, both are good fits,” Farrell said of Georgia and FSU. “You talk about a big running back going into an offense that is suited to that kind of guy, that has produced pros over the past few years, then Georgia is a better fit.”

The other factor is Isaiah Crowell, the tailback out of Columbus. Rivals has Wilder as the nation’s third-ranked overall prospect, and Crowell is No. 21.

If Wilder Jr. does commit to Georgia, does Crowell get pushed to Alabama?

“If Wilder doesn’t go to Georgia, it’s OK, because they still lead for Crowell,” Farrell said. “If they strike out on Wilder and Crowell, then they have a problem.”

One recruit definitely in the fold – as definite as it can be without a signed letter-of-intent – is quarterback Christian LeMay. The news on the North Carolina product is that LeMay – suspended from school until mid-October – will not play his senior year, and concentrate on getting ready for college.

Of course, playing your senior year is probably the best way to get ready for college. LeMay decided not to join his team late, or transfer to a private school and face weaker competition.

“I don’t think it’s going to hurt him in the long run,” Farrell said. “I think it’ll slow down his development a little bit.”

It does eliminate any opportunity for LeMay, who plans to enroll at Georgia in January, to try to play immediately. Even though he’s enrolling early, he’ll be coming in with more than a year of a layoff from live action.

LeMay figures to still try to compete with Murray once he arrives in Athens. But in Georgia’s mind it would probably allow them to bring him along slower.

Note: I originally wrote that Wilder was announcing on ESPN. Took it out, heard bad info. Sorry.

12 comments:

Andy said...

I always guessed we would lose out on Wilder but probably get Crowell. Now it looks like the opposite. No telling who will be better, but I will take either one!

Unknown said...

Seth,
Great job so far, you've done a pretty good job catching up in a short period of time.

Has anyone been able to ascertain the cause of LeMay's suspension? It doesn't seem like it, but there has been a lot of mystery, including possible consequences for the head of the school (although I realize that's only part of the controversy about her).

Either way, with Hutson Mason and Aaron Murray already at UGA, I think it'll be better to bring LeMay along slowly and allow him a redshirt.

Anonymous said...

However, with Wilder, you would get James Sr showing up at games, perhaps breaking Anthony Munoz's SEC record for most times a former NFL player, now the father of an SEC player, is shown on CBS.

Cojones said...

Kudos on the confirmation before we all get cruelly disappointed. Seth, I like your straight to the point reporting and keeping the analysis small. Suddenly I realize that I'm looking for your articles because the fans get good info in a short space.

A grain of salt goes with Wilder as well. We don't need another Da'Rick. Hope he sincerely commits, but that doesn't mean that Fu and FSU will stop recruiting him. We still have to keep him happy until Feb. Not sure that's a blessing if he has a flighty rep.

Seth Emerson said...

Eh, let's be careful out there about repeating rumors. Even on a blog.

dawg521 said...

I for one enjoy the analysis, as I'm sure many of David Hale's fans did...it's what drew them to the blog. Anybody can go to the AJC or other cookie-cutter reporting centers (cough ESPN cough) for the straight-to-the-point news stories and poor analysis.

Seth, like Brad said, great job on catching up in such a short amount of time. The reporting is getting better and better every day. Looking forward to more and more great insight!

One question that's been lingering since David covered the Butts-Mehre expansion: how's the construction on the Stegeman renovations coming along? Any way you could post some pictures or video? I'm stuck in Iraq and would like to see some of the progress!

GO DAWGS!

greight said...

Dawg521,

You can watch a video on the Stegeman construction at georgiadogs.com.

Anonymous said...

corretion seth, Orson Charles and Aaron Murray are not former teamates of Wilder Jr. He transfered to Plant after they left. I know you don't delve into recruiting, just trying to clean up the story.

Anonymous said...

speaking of "corretions"
sorry, just had to

Andy said...

Wilder is going to FSU. Oh well. Truth be told, I'd rather have Crowell at rb.

Anonymous said...

Honestly I'm a little upset we didn't get wilder, but crowell will be a better running back. Wilder would have been a sick linebacker, but was too stubborn to play it because he wanted to follow in daddy's footsteps. Oh well, come on Isaiah. a 6'3" running back is going to be easier to tackle than a 6' running back usually. Wilder may prove this theory wrong. I'm very glad he didn't choose Fu

BZ said...

wilder may be a beast now,but he and crowell still have to play their senior seasons.. whose to say crowell doesn't have a major year and become better than wilder. its way to early to judge... but if we don't get either one then we should worry. why do we lose so many recruiting battles with FSU???? do you think they talk bad about Richt since he left??