Tuesday, January 11, 2011

A word on Jamal Golden

A commenter brought to our attention the fact that recent Tech commit Jamal Golden, who we had dismissed as an inconsequential 2-star recruit, won the following high school football honors in his senior season:

  • Gatorade’s Alabama Football Player of the Year
  • Old Spice Player of the Year
  • Alabama Sportswriters 6A Back of the Year
  • Also remains a candidate for Mr. Football Alabama

Unfortunately for this commenter, his thoughtless regurgitation of meaningless high school accolades only accentuates our point. It's not like Golden is flying under the radar here. You think Alabama, Auburn, and all the other major southeastern schools aren't aware of the Player of the Year in Alabama? His only other BCS conference offer was from powerhouse Illinois!

The funny thing is that self-styled "Tech fans" should be all too familiar with the sometimes dubious nature of post-season high school awards. 2008 recruit Marcus Wright was Texas 5A Offensive Player of the Year, as well as a Parade and Army All-American, yet his destination of choice was Tulsa before Coach Johnson managed to whisk him from under the nose of Conference USA.

Wright has since entirely failed to distinguish himself among a squadron of similar players at the A-back position, accumulating a mere 43 rushing attempts in three seasons. This past year in fact, Wright mysteriously disappeared after the third game, failing to accumulate any stats thereafter. Though some speculate this was because of a "vicious" Moped-related boo-boo incurred before the Virginia game, their excuse fails to account for Wright's failure to grace the stat sheet in any of the three games prior.

As a matter of fact, Wright's most notable moment thus far in his career hasn't even occurred while rushing the football, but while nestled at the bottom of a pileup, where he was the lucky recipient of a Richard Samuel fumble on a kickoff return in the 2008 UGA game. Or was it skill that guided that tumbling ball into his hands? After all, being the Texas Player of the Year and a Parade All-American must count for something on the college field, right Kool-Aid slurpers?

13 comments:

  1. You're such a big man to drag down high school players. You really DO have small dick syndrome don't you?

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  2. To Anonymous at 8:10AM:

    Not dragging down a high school player whatsoever. Just not pumping him up to be something he's not, and he is NOT a highly sought-after prospect.

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  3. Alabama player of the year.

    What else do you need to know?

    Other than the blogger must have the self confidence of a preteen girl to spend his life attacking his betters.

    And by betters, i'm including high school kids.

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  4. To Bigger Jimmie:

    Neither Alabama nor Auburn has offered a scholarship to the "Alabama player of the year."

    For that matter, no one in either the ACC or SEC, besides GT, has offered a scholarship to the "Alabama player of the year."

    What else do you need to know?

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  5. Just b/c a school didn't offer him a scholarship doesn't mean he's not a good player you stupid douche.

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  6. There are a lot of players on a lot of teams that only get offered by one or two schools. The key concept is that it's a team. They don't all have to be 5 star recruits to do well. If that's all it took, hell UGAy would win a national title every year. Instead, they have the exact same record as G Tech with arguably better recruits.

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  7. To Anonymous at 11:37AM:

    It sure as hell isn't an indication that he IS a good player! Time will tell, but most two-stars don't pan out, particularly when they weren't "below the radar" guys. And the Alabama POTY is most certainly not below the radar.

    To Reality:

    Golden was actually offered by several schools, mostly from C-USA and the Sun Belt Conference, which is likely where he belongs.

    I will not argue that UGA underachieves greatly with its talent, but that has nothing to do with what's going on at Tech, other than the fact that they're taking nearly all the talented players that Coach Johnson could allegedly(if you listen to his supporters) be using to their full potential.

    Also, they play in a far more difficult conference, and the records are not directly comparable. All I know is their 4 and 5 star "underachievers" have beaten our "team concept" 9 out of the last 10!

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  8. Sad that this blogger is having such a hard time understanding the concept of PLAYER OF THE YEAR.

    Does he think BAD players are named Alabama PLAYER OF THE YEAR?

    GT should not look forward to a great career from an Alabama high school PLAYER OF THE YEAR?

    Someone's CPJ obsession is blinding them to logic. Sad/weird.

    Keep dreaming about "slurping" off CPJ and high school football players, chief.

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  9. To Bigger Jimmie:

    By all means, the Alabama POTY in high school football is very likely a good HIGH SCHOOL football player. Just as with college as it relates to the NFL however, some players just don't translate well to the next level.

    Considering Golden's unimpressive list of offers and his two-star status, despite his Alabama high school PLAYER OF THE YEAR honors, the rational-minded fan should immediately be tipped-off. Why are no other major southern universities hot to jump on the wagon of the Alabama high school PLAYER OF THE YEAR?

    To explain it another way: If the Heisman Trophy winner is taken in the 8th round of the NFL draft, would you consider that a strong portent that he is going to be a comparably great professional player? Again, some guys just aren't fit for the transition.

    It is frustrating that I should even have to explain such simple concepts. But that is the very nature of these starry-eyed purveyors of the Johnson Problem.

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  10. A Former D I College Football RecruiterJanuary 12, 2011 at 1:35 PM

    Actually if someone verbally commits to a school and hasn't yet made an official visit to another school, the chances of them being offered by another school (yet to visit) are close to 0%. This kid was recruited by Auburn, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Alabama, among others. Not sure why Scout will only list a few schools. By committing to Georgia Tech, he could still visit these other schools, but if he wanted them to offer, he was probably going to have to request the offer.

    The reason for this being is that a school can only offer so many scholarships and so they don't want to waste it on someone who's probably not going to commit. The logic behind that is if he suddenly has a change of heart, and commits to say, Alabama, well that might be enough to push them over the scholarship limit.

    There's actually an NCAA rule about this; FBS schools are allowed 85 players receiving athletic aid, while FCS schools are allowed 63 scholarships. The wording is a very important distinction for another reason. Because each player receiving athletic aid for football counts fully against an FBS team's scholarship limit, this effectively means that all players awarded football scholarships at FBS schools receive full scholarships. On the other hand, FCS schools are allowed to divide their 63 scholarships among no more than 85 individual players.

    That's why a school can't just go out and offer everyone under the sun. They have to be extremely careful about how many offers they give out. That's why if you're going to offer someone who has ALREADY committed to another school, you better make sure he's going to come to your school. Else you go over your scholarship offer limit and face NCAA penalties.

    I've read over this site and your ignorance as a college football fan astounds me.

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  11. A Former D I College Football RecruiterJanuary 12, 2011 at 1:38 PM

    I should add that most recruits are offered a scholarship while on their official visit as a point to drive home after having experienced a weekend on campus.

    Had Auburn or Kentucky been visited prior to the official visit (I haven't followed this recruit so I don't know), he would have been shown to have offers from those schools to. I can't imagine an Alabama POTY not being offered a scholly from at least one of the major schools in the state.

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  12. Not to mention that he's the Alabama Player of the Year as a quarterback, but even GT is ready to put him at cornerback.

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  13. To Mr. College Recruiter,

    I'm well aware of how offers and scholarship limits work. Not really sure what that has to do with major schools passing on a prospect, with only lower-tier BCS schools and mid-majors extending offers. Of course such info is coming from trusted sources(Rivals/Scout), rather than the imagination of a blog commenter, but still.

    Why, for instance, did Alabama and Auburn not "offer" him if they wanted him so badly?. Did they not think they had a chance against GT and Illinois, so they decided not to waste the offer? Yet Sun Belt schools, who would not seem to have a chance against BCS competition, did risk an offer? It would seem to me as if you have this the wrong way around-- the mid-major schools are potentially wasting offers shooting for the sky... not the Alabamas and Auburns of the world slumming for 2-star prospects.

    Is this a new innovative approach from the Kool-Aid Brigade? "Oh well, Alabama and Auburn really wanted our lowly 2-star Alabama kid(I know from inside info), but they didn't offer because they hardly stood a chance when pitted against mighty Georgia Tech and Illinois!(not to mention SUN BELT SCHOOLS! Oh my!)."

    Get real.

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