Carver's Isaiah Crowell gains yards at Calhoun High School in this file photo.A lousy year for Georgia on the football field may not translate into a lousy month on the recruiting trail.
The Bulldogs are coming off their first losing season since 1996, but they soon could be aided by the deepest Peach State prospect class in recent years. Seven of the state's top 10 recruits according to Rivals.com remain uncommitted, leaving Georgia with the potential of a stout last-minute haul.
"It's interesting, because they didn't have a great season by Georgia standards and yet they've set themselves up to close exceptionally well," said longtime analyst Jamie Newberg, who is now with ESPN. "We anticipate that to be the case on national signing day, and the key will be Isaiah Crowell. He is a must-get for Mark Richt.
"He can be to Georgia what Marcus Lattimore was to South Carolina this past year."
Crowell is rated by Rivals.com as the No. 5 tailback nationally, and he's the top undecided player at his position. The 5-foot-11, 210-pounder rushed for 1,721 yards and 18 touchdowns on 147 carries (11.7 a carry) this past season for Columbus Carver, which reached the Class AA semifinals before losing 27-14 at Calhoun.
Alabama, Auburn and Georgia are the finalists for Crowell, who is expected to choose between the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide on Feb. 2. Carver is coached by former Auburn defensive back Dell McGee.
"He's a very, very good running back," Calhoun coach Hal Lamb said. "We played very well that night and keyed on him all night long and took him out of his game, but I watched enough film on him to know that he's tremendous. If he keeps his head on straight, he'll play right away."
Crowell missed nearly four games for Carver because of injuries but erupted for 305 yards and five touchdowns on 20 carries in a quarterfinal rout of Thomasville. He was held to 94 yards and a score on 20 carries at Calhoun, and Lamb believes how he acted that night will be his biggest obstacle in terms of adjusting to the Southeastern Conference.
"Based on the game we played, obviously his attitude has got to get better," Lamb said. "He really, really got frustrated against us. In talking to Coach McGee, he's a very competitive person and doesn't like to lose at all, and I think we got under his skin. He drew a couple of personal-foul penalties, one for celebration and one for mouthing."
Crowell is scheduled to visit Alabama next weekend and Georgia and Auburn on the ensuing weekends.
The Bulldogs have 16 commitments for the 2011 signing class but haven't received one since August. Many recent Georgia classes had filled up by this point with the exception of one or two prospects who waited until the end, but this year is notably different.
"There are a lot of early commitments, and then all of a sudden it seems like everything dries up for a while for the guys who want to wait until the very end," Richt said. "Sometimes it's because they don't know, and sometimes it's because they are wanting to do it at an all-star game or whatever it is. I think they are getting encouraged to do that a little bit. It is a special time for them and they want it to be a special announcement, and their families do, too.
"I think most of them have a pretty good idea of where they are going to go. It would be nice if they would all decide and we could start working on next year's class, but that's not where it is right now."
The Bulldogs will learn the fate of two in-state targets tonight at the Under Armour All-American Game in St. Petersburg, Fla. LaGrange athlete Quan Bray will choose among Auburn, Georgia and Alabama, while Griffin defensive end Xzavier Dickson will choose between the Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs.
TASTY PEACHES
The top 10 football prospects in Georgia for the 2011 signing class, according to Rivals.com:
1. DE Stephon Tuitt 6-5, 260 Monroe Notre Dame commitment
2. DE Ray Drew 6-5, 243 Thomasville Ga, Aub, Clem, LSU
3. RB Isaiah Crowell 5-11, 210 Columbus Ga, Ala, Aub
4. TE Jay Rome 6-5, 255 Valdosta Ga leads Tenn
5. ATH Damian Swann 6-0, 175 Atlanta Georgia leads
6. DE Sterling Bailey 6-5, 260 Gainesville Georgia commitment
7. DT Gabe Wright 6-3, 273 Columbus Aub, Clem, Tenn
8. ATH Quan Bray 5-11, 178 LaGrange Aub, Ga, Ala
9. LB James Vaughters 6-2, 233 Tucker Stanford commitment
10. DE Xzavier Dickson 6-3, 238 Griffin Ala, Ga, Aub