SEC schools pick up recruits

Tide, Tigers and Vols add to recruiting hauls

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Alabama, Auburn and Tennessee picked up verbal commitments during Wednesday night's Under Armour All-American Game in St. Petersburg, Fla., while Georgia missed out on two in-state prospects.

The Volunteers collected their 20th commitment of Derek Dooley's second class when Marcus Jackson made his announcement on the ESPN-televised event. A 6-foot-2, 315-pounder from Vero Beach, Fla., Jackson is rated by RIvals.com as the No. 13 guard nationally and had been committed to Miami for nearly a year under former Hurricanes coach Randy Shannon.

"Tennessee is all about family," Jackson said. "Coach Dooley is building something special there, and I want to be a part of it."

Alabama has the highest-rated class of commitments in the Southeastern Conference and added to it by landing Xzavier Dickson of Griffin, Ga. The 6-2, 238-pounder is rated by RIvals.com as the nation's No. 3 weakside defensive end.

Dickson said he picked the Crimson Tide because of their "great coaching staff."

Auburn received commitments from Robenson Therezie (5-10, 180) of Miami and Quan Bray (5-11, 178) of LaGrange, Ga. Therezie is the No. 18 safety nationally, and Bray the No. 16 athlete prospect.

Bray said he chose Auburn because it's close to home and because it's the best fit. Dickson and Bray selected their schools over Georgia, which still has one commitment from the top 10 Peach State recruits.

Bulldogs coach Mark Richt is recruiting for the first time after a losing season and was asked Wednesday about that challenge.

"There are a lot of guys who love Georgia," Richt said. "There are a lot of guys who love opportunity. I think there is a bunch of opportunity here, and I think the kids see that."