Recruiting Notes

1. Frost and Auburn - Kris Frost committed to Auburn at the UA All-American Game. Auburn then came out and said that they didn't want his stinking commitment, and apparently pulled his scholly offer. Our local Auburn enthusiast, HGreen, took this to mean Auburn could be pulling that offer to Frost in order to reserve it for one of its big three recruits (which also happen to be recruited by Georgia): Isaiah Crowell, Ray Drew or John Jenkins. Now, it appears, Auburn has recanted, and will honor Kris Frost's commitment.



So, based on HGreen's logic, I assume this means Auburn won't be getting Isaiah Crowell, Ray Drew or John Jenkins?

2. Rome and Alabama - Chad Simmons at Scout.com has confirmed that Jay Rome is down to Alabama and Georgia. Rome, like nearly every other recruit Georgia is looking at not named Jenkins or Drew, is down to Alabama and Georgia. The fact that Alabama has made a late resurgence actually causes me to hesitate and, for the first time, consider a friend's prophecy of an Alabama Dream Team of Georgia prospects. Mitchell, Rome, and Crowell are all down to Alabama and Georgia (plus Auburn for Crowell). Dickson and Shannon Brown have already committed to Alabama. The good news is that Georgia did manage to safely secure Damian Swann, who was recruited hard by Alabama. But it doesn't change the fact that, in the back of my mind, this whole Alabama thing is starting to make me nervous. Here's to hoping that Rome chooses the Dawgs this week and starts a domino affect.



3. Jenkins/Drew - Chip Towers at AJC.com, did a story yesterday regarding Ray Drew and John Jenkins' recruiting trip to Miami this past weekend. It was a last minute decision for Drew to go ahead and make the trip. Apparently they bonded pretty well during the visit and both left there agreeing they'd like to play together. They both have Auburn, Miami and Georgia on their lists. Interestingly, Georgia is the only one that plays a 3-4 with a true NG position. Some conspiracy theorists think that Drew, who may be a silent commit to the Dawgs, was encouraged by the Dawgs staff to go on the trip with Jenkins and work on bringing him over to Georgia. All this sounds a little too far fetched and conspiracy theory-ish to me, but... it is interesting to think about.

On the flip side, there are also conspiracy theorists in the other direction. I read that Chip Towers' article mentioned that Drew and Jenkins wanted to play NG and END on the same defense. The article was amended later in the day to say that Drew spoke about playing in a 4-down defense along with Jenkins. Obviously, the former sentence would imply a 3-4 scheme, while the later would imply 4-3 (run at AU and MIA). Some suggested that Drew called Towers to have him change the article for purposes of misdirection. Wow. These recruiting conspiracy theorists don't miss ANYTHING. Amazing.

For what it's worth, Jenkins will be in Athens this weekend and, I believe, his whole family will be making the trip as well. I believe that Crowell (after visiting Bama last weekend along with Mitchell and Rome) will be visiting Athens this weekend as well.

4. Rome/Mitchell - Keep in mind that Rome and Mitchell will be announcing Thursday night. Interestingly enough, they will not be announcing at the same place or same time. Rome will be on ESPNU, while Mitchell will be at the local habachi grill (no ESPNZone in Valdosta).

5. Crowell/Harrow - As most of you may have heard, Georgia recently offered Crowell's best friend and teammate at Carver, Quintavious Harrow. He is a 5'11"/190 lb S/LB who is completely unrated and has no other offer from any other school. This offer smacks of an attempt to lure Crowell to UGA. The problem is, it may have backfired on the school, per Crowell's mom. From AJC's Chip Towers:

Isaiah Crowell’s mother said she’s thrilled about their family friend Quintavious Harrow receiving a scholarship offer from Georgia, but not if it comes with any attachments to her son.

“Well, for Quintavious it’s wonderful,” Deborah Crowell told me Monday. “But don’t want them to do it to get Isaiah there. I’m not selling my son’s soul to the devil. This is his decision. If they want to give Quintavious a scholarship, that’s fine. But that can’t have anything to do with Isaiah. He has too much pressure on him as it is and I’m going to lay that on the line with them. We’ll discuss that while we’re up there.”

It is worth noting that Alabama isn't innocent of using the Crowell-Harrow connection. You see, the Harrows were invited up to Alabama to visit along with the Crowells, even though Alabama hasn't offered Harrow yet. Thus, last week's offer by UGA to Harrow may have been a preemptive strike against Alabama, considering that Bama might offer Harrow while he was there. This way, UGA gets their foot in the door first. This stuff is fascinating. More:

Crowell, No. 1 on the AJC Fab 50 list, will be taking his official visit to Georgia this weekend along with his mother and the rest of his family. So will Harrow, better known as “Cootie” to family and friends. The 5-11, 190-pound linebacker/safety from Carver-Columbus — who is Crowell’s best friend — received a scholarship offer from the Bulldogs last week, his first from any school.

The Harrows and the Crowells, who have known each other since their kids were in kindergarten, just got back from a trip to Tuscaloosa and the University of Alabama this past weekend. They left very impressed with coach Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide.

It'll be interesting to see how Richt explains the Harrow offer to the Crowells. I'd like to be a fly on the wall.