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Parkview 15+ years ago used to be an absolute titan in football. Good to see them competing at a high level again (though I saw they lost last night).
Looks like all the Gwinnett large schools (so not Buford) are out.
Parkview 15+ years ago used to be an absolute titan in football. Good to see them competing at a high level again (though I saw they lost last night).
Looks like all the Gwinnett large schools (so not Buford) are out.
Parkview had a heck of a season.
Looks like North Gwinnett ran into the Lowndes county buzzsaw.
And apparently BT is going after its third state title in a row.
Parkview 15+ years ago used to be an absolute titan in football. Good to see them competing at a high level again (though I saw they lost last night).
Quote:
Originally Posted by arjay57
Parkview had a heck of a season.
Yes... This was the second year in a row that Parkview had won at least 10 games and a region title after not having won 10 games in a season since 2005 and after not having won a region title since 2004.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sedimenjerry
Parkview 15+ years ago used to be an absolute titan in football. Good to see them competing at a high level again (though I saw they lost last night).
Looks like all the Gwinnett large schools (so not Buford) are out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by arjay57
Looks like North Gwinnett ran into the Lowndes county buzzsaw.
Yep... Lowndes is really strong and dominant again this year.
But even with as strong of a program as Lowndes has had over the last roughly 25 years or so during the Milt Miller-Randy McPherson eras, believe it or not, this is the first time that Lowndes has advanced to the state championship game since 2007 when they beat a Bob Sphire-led North Gwinnett team on Lowndes' own home field in the last year before the GHSA moved the state championship games to the Georgia Dome in 2008.
Lowndes (not unlike crosstown arch-rival Valdosta and other South Georgia high school football powers) appears to have struggled somewhat with the continuing accelerating shift of population, resources and football-playing TALENT to North Georgia.
… That continuing accelerating shift of population, resources and talent from South Georgia to North Georgia has been most apparent in the highest classifications of the GHSA where continued explosive population growth in the greater Atlanta metropolitan region and North Georgia mountains and foothills regions means that most of the schools in the five largest classifications (classes 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A and 7A) are located in the northern half of the state above the Gnat Line.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sedimenjerry
Looks like all the Gwinnett large schools (so not Buford) are out.
Yep... Only Buford and Wesleyan advanced to the state championship round from Gwinnett.
This will be the 19th time in the school's history that Buford will play in the state title game.
Buford will be playing for the chance to win its 12th state title... And though it has been 2014 since Buford won the last of its 11 state titles, I will say that Buford seems to have been trying to do its best imitation of a program like Valdosta, with Buford winning 10 of its 11 state titles between 2001 and 2014.
Quote:
Originally Posted by arjay57
And apparently BT is going after its third state title in a row.
Yes... That would be quite an accomplishment if Blessed Trinity was able to win a 3rd-straight state title, especially considering that BT is one of the smallest schools in the 4A classification and also considering the really tough competition that BT has to compete against in that 4A classification.
The greater Atlanta metropolitan area/region is a hotbed for high school/prep sports talent and college athletic recruiting, with the Atlanta region constantly being recognized as being home to one of the absolute best high school/prep sports and college athletic recruiting scenes in the entire nation.
This thread is dedicated to the posting of stories and discussions about what has been, and continues to be, a stellar local and regional high school/prep sports and college athletic recruiting scene in the greater Atlanta metro region in recent years.
Football yes but really what basketball players have generated high level buzz the last ten years, whether boy or girl? I can't think of anyone of note the last ten years. 15 years ago for sure with Dwight Howard and Cam Newton. Same thing for baseball and track? Atlanta's talent base reminds me a lot of Miami's. I think the best metro area for high school athletics in the sunbelt is Dallas/FW. Great football, basketball, baseball, volleyball and even hockey (for a southern area).
Football yes but really what basketball players have generated high level buzz the last ten years, whether boy or girl? I can't think of anyone of note the last ten years. 15 years ago for sure with Dwight Howard and Cam Newton. Same thing for baseball and track? Atlanta's talent base reminds me a lot of Miami's. I think the best metro area for high school athletics in the sunbelt is Dallas/FW. Great football, basketball, baseball, volleyball and even hockey (for a southern area).
Well.. Right now there is a kid (Sharife Cooper at McEachern High School in Powder Springs/Cobb County) who is regarded by many as being the top high school point guard in the entire nation. He helped lead the McEachern boys to a #2 national ranking, an undefeated record (32-0), a state title in 7A in 2019 and the claim of being one of the absolute best boys basketball teams in the history of the state of Georgia.
Cooper was able to gain a lot national buzz because people were putting videos of his team's basketball games up all over YouTube and other social media in earnest starting with his sophomore season (2017-2018). Cooper also had a few teammates that gained a lot of buzz for their above-the-rim and outside play.
Cooper (who scored 52 points in a game the other night) is currently a senior who is ranked by many college recruiting and scouting outlets as being the top high school point guard in the nation and has reportedly committed to Auburn to join a couple of highly-regarded teammates (YouTube dunking sensation Issac Okoro and shot blocker/rebounder Babatunde
Akingbola) that are already there as freshmen under Bruce Pearl. https://247sports.com/Player/Sharife-Cooper-45573352/
There is also Anthony Edwards a.k.a. "Ant Man" who was also one of the top high school players in the country (was regarded by many as the #2 high school player in the country in his senior year) at Holy Spirit Prep in Buckhead/Northwest Atlanta and is currently a freshman at Georgia under Tom Crean. Ant Man is expected by many to declare for the NBA draft after only one season at Georgia.
"BREAKING NEWS: Top-ranked prospect Anthony ‘Ant Man’ Edwards has made his college decision" (DawgNation)
There is also Brandon Boston who was a rising national superstar in his first 3 seasons at Norcross High School, but moved to California to play on a high school basketball 'superteam' with the likes of the sons of LeBron James and Dwayne Wade at Sierra Canyon High School in the Los Angeles area.
Boston (whose teams clashed twice with Cooper's McEachern teams in the GHSA basketball playoffs the last two seasons) appears to currently be the leading scorer on that loaded high school basketball superteam at Sierra Canyon. Boston is also reportedly committed to play college basketball at the University of Kentucky in 2020. https://247sports.com/player/brandon-boston-jr-22628/
There is also Ashton Hagans, who was a highly-recruited point guard who starred at Newton High School in east metro Atlanta and is currently a sophomore at the University of Kentucky. https://247sports.com/Player/Ashton-...school-179465/
And there was Collin Sexton who was one of the top high school basketball players in the nation during his senior year (2016-17) at Pebblebrook High School before graduating and going on to play college basketball at the University of Alabama. https://247sports.com/Player/Collin-...school-170860/
And even though she seemingly flamed out in college, Diamond Deshields (daughter of retired Major League Baseball player Delino Deshields) was a national superstar in high school (and was regarded as the best girls hs player since Maya Moore of Collins Hill HS) when she helped to lead the Norcross High School girls team to 3 state titles in 4 years from 2010-2013. Diamond DeShields 2013 High School Girls' Basketball Profile - ESPN
By the way, all of the basketball players that I mentioned are/were five-star college prospects while playing basketball and attending high school in the Atlanta metro area... And those players are just a small sampling of the basketball talent that is found in the Atlanta metro area/region at the high school/prep level.
I am by no means doubting that the Dallas/Fort Worth area is a great (if not excellent) area for high school athletics in the Sun Belt, along with other major Sun Belt metros like Los Angeles, Houston, South Florida and even Charlotte.
But Atlanta/North Georgia clearly holds it own as a standout high school/prep sports and college athletic recruiting scene, both in the Sun Belt and nationally.
Yes... This was the second year in a row that Parkview had won at least 10 games and a region title after not having won 10 games in a season since 2005 and after not having won a region title since 2004.
Yep... Lowndes is really strong and dominant again this year.
But even with as strong of a program as Lowndes has had over the last roughly 25 years or so during the Milt Miller-Randy McPherson eras, believe it or not, this is the first time that Lowndes has advanced to the state championship game since 2007 when they beat a Bob Sphire-led North Gwinnett team on Lowndes' own home field in the last year before the GHSA moved the state championship games to the Georgia Dome in 2008.
Lowndes (not unlike crosstown arch-rival Valdosta and other South Georgia high school football powers) appears to have struggled somewhat with the continuing accelerating shift of population, resources and football-playing TALENT to North Georgia.
… That continuing accelerating shift of population, resources and talent from South Georgia to North Georgia has been most apparent in the highest classifications of the GHSA where continued explosive population growth in the greater Atlanta metropolitan region and North Georgia mountains and foothills regions means that most of the schools in the five largest classifications (classes 3A, 4A, 5A, 6A and 7A) are located in the northern half of the state above the Gnat Line.
Yep... Only Buford and Wesleyan advanced to the state championship round from Gwinnett.
This will be the 19th time in the school's history that Buford will play in the state title game.
Buford will be playing for the chance to win its 12th state title... And though it has been 2014 since Buford won the last of its 11 state titles, I will say that Buford seems to have been trying to do its best imitation of a program like Valdosta, with Buford winning 10 of its 11 state titles between 2001 and 2014.
Yes... That would be quite an accomplishment if Blessed Trinity was able to win a 3rd-straight state title, especially considering that BT is one of the smallest schools in the 4A classification and also considering the really tough competition that BT has to compete against in that 4A classification.
Kind of makes you wonder where some of these schools get all that talent. I guess they just happened to be built where there were a lot of good athletes.
Kind of makes you wonder where some of these schools get all that talent. I guess they just happened to be built where there were a lot of good athletes.
Yeah... Those schools definitely just happened to be built where there were a lot of good athletes. Totally coincidental. (wink, wink)
But seriously, it is a combination of factors that often leads to schools ending up with a pool of talented athletes.
Many schools, particularly in areas like Gwinnett County, Cobb County, etc. in metro Atlanta/North Georgia, and in some areas in South Georgia (like Colquitt County, Valdosta/Lowndes County), have some really good youth sports leagues where they develop and cultivate local players into high-level players and even into high-level college prospects from 1st grade until the time that they reach the high school varsity level.
Gwinnett County, in particular, has had a reputation for having one of the best youth sports development leagues in the entire nation over the last 25 years or so in the GFL (Gwinnett Football League). GFL Sports
Northwest metro/Cobb County clusters like Harrison (football), McEachern (football, basketball), Hillgrove (football), Allatoona (football) and Wheeler (basketball) also have reputations of having really good/excellent youth sports development leagues.
With Atlanta being one of the more (if not one of the most) transient metro areas on the continent, lots of schools (particularly in very large suburban districts like Cobb and Gwinnett and even Fulton to a slightly lesser extent) are often able to attract a high number of high-profile "move-ins" to their rosters to go with whatever talent that they may have cultivated in their own youth sports development leagues from 1st grade through high school junior varsity.
(… "Move-ins" are students that move into a school cluster from another part of the metro area, another part of the state, and even often another state/another part of the country.)
Not unlike other highly-transient metros in the Sun Belt (in states like California, Texas, Florida), good metro Atlanta high school athletic programs attract a high number of "move-ins" who are very highly motivated to relocate into a school cluster with good/excellent athletic programs so that they can have better opportunities to earn full-ride athletic scholarships to college.
I remember one seemingly extreme instance a couple of years ago where a talented high school basketball player moved from Montana to metro Atlanta before his senior year to live in with his aunt in the Discovery High School cluster in Gwinnett County in hopes of earning a full-ride college basketball scholarship.
That player moved from the state of Montana to Gwinnett County and metro Atlanta because he knew that he most likely would get much more exposure to college basketball scouts in a prep sports scene crawling with scouts in Gwinnett and metro Atlanta than in his relatively extremely geographically isolated hometown (Great Falls, I think it was) in Montana... And I think that he may have ended earning a full-ride college basketball scholarship, though I forgot where.
What are y'all's picks for the championship (football) in each division?
I like Lowndes to take it in the 7A title game, though I think that Marietta has the tremendous talent to keep it close and/or even surprise everyone and pull the upset... In the end, though, I think that Lowndes just might be too physical for Marietta.
The 6A title game seems to be too close for me to call personally in that Harrison beat Allatoona in a very close region game (by a score of 21-17) earlier in the season and went on to have an undefeated regular season... But I think that it potentially might be difficult for Harrison to beat Allatoona a second time in the same season, especially on such a big stage in the state title game.
In the 5A title game, I am leaning towards Warner Robins over Buford because of the fact that Warner Robins dominated a Clarke Central team that Buford lost to in the regular season... Though I think that it could be a competitive game that Buford will have a good chance of winning.
In 4A, I kind of like Blessed Trinity over Oconee County.
In 3A, I like Cedar Grove over Crisp County.
I don't know enough about the two finalists (Brooks County and Dublin) to make a pick in 2A.
I kind of like Eagle's Landing Christian to beat Wesleyan in 1A-Private, particularly because I think that ELCA looks to be a stronger team than Wesleyan (especially given that ELCA beat Wesleyan 54-17 in a region game earlier this season)… Though I do think that this game could be much more competitive than the first matchup between these two teams earlier this year.
I don't know enough about the two finalists in the 1A-Public title game to make a pick there.
Football yes but really what basketball players have generated high level buzz the last ten years, whether boy or girl? I can't think of anyone of note the last ten years. 15 years ago for sure with Dwight Howard and Cam Newton. Same thing for baseball and track? Atlanta's talent base reminds me a lot of Miami's. I think the best metro area for high school athletics in the sunbelt is Dallas/FW. Great football, basketball, baseball, volleyball and even hockey (for a southern area).
Wendell Carter got a lot of buzz --graduated from Pace Academy in 2017--played at Duke for a year and now plays for the Chicago Bulls.
Malik Beasley plays for the Denver Nuggets, attended Saint Francis School in Alpharetta.
In 2014 Pace graduated track athlete Kenny Selmon (ranked #1 in US for 400m hurdles) and baseball player Kam Uter (LA Dodgers system).
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