A.J. Gray ... '15 Parade All-American

KG01

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Kid is a big-time player. Congrats!

http://sportsnewsnow.blog.ajc.com/2015/01/29/four-georgians-chosen-as-parade-all-americans/

The Parade All-America team for 2015 will be revealed Sunday, and four Georgia high school players are among the group.

The team will appear in Parade magazine, which is an insert into Sunday’s The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Two Georgians are on offense and two on defense. They are offensive lineman Mitch Hyatt of North Gwinnett High (committed to Clemson) and Chuma Edoga of McEachern (USC), defensive tackle Trent Thompson of Westover (Georgia) and defensive back A.J. Gray of Washington County (Georgia Tech).
 

jdubjacket

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Can't understand why this kid isn't more highly rated. But, I don't care so long as he signs his LOI to us next week.

Anyone know where he's projected to play here? ESPN and Rivals have him as an athlete, while Scout has him at safety.
 

gtzulu

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I wish signing day was yesterday. This class is so good
 

GTDGN04

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Let's see...
5 star, 5 star, 5 star,
3 star?
Hmmmm
LOL, I know. What a farce. GT has two of the AJC All-Class PsOY since 2010 and they have like a combined five stars. I'd be interested to know how many stars the others had in 2011, 12, 13 and 14.
 

GruffyMcGuiness

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Can't understand why this kid isn't more highly rated. But, I don't care so long as he signs his LOI to us next week.

Anyone know where he's projected to play here? ESPN and Rivals have him as an athlete, while Scout has him at safety.
The star system is such a joke. He's a 5* at UGAy all day.

He's coming in as a safety.
 

jdubjacket

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The star system is such a joke. He's a 5* at UGAy all day.

He's coming in as a safety.
Thanks.

Yeah, I've pretty much given up on the ranking systems after seeing Jemea Thomas as a 3-star, Attaochu as a low 3-star, and Shaq Mason as a 3-star. I've also seen a number of 4-star kids just not pan out for one reason or another.
 

GoldSox

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Wasn't Marcus Wright our last Parade AA?


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GoldSox

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I seem to recall that Marcus had ridiculous HS stats out of Texas, but wasn't highly "star rated".

I do know he was a great blocker for his small size.


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GTCrew4b

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Marcus Wright recovered one of the most important fumbles in GT history. 5-star player here.
 

Hoffie7

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Thanks.

Yeah, I've pretty much given up on the ranking systems after seeing Jemea Thomas as a 3-star, Attaochu as a low 3-star, and Shaq Mason as a 3-star. I've also seen a number of 4-star kids just not pan out for one reason or another.
They are just playing to the colleges that have the most subscriptions and make them the most money. UGA has plenty more subscriptions than we do. I think Calvin was only a 4 star. If you commit to GT early, you won't be truly re-evaluated.
 

QuadF

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To what degree is star rating an indication of current level compared to where they'll be as a senior? To what degree is the change in performance from hs senior to college senior coaching and not evaluations?
 

gtrower

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They are just playing to the colleges that have the most subscriptions and make them the most money. UGA has plenty more subscriptions than we do. I think Calvin was only a 4 star. If you commit to GT early, you won't be truly re-evaluated.
The bigger issue is when you commit early you usually end up going to fewer camps so scouts don't have as many opportunities to re-evaluate you. There are tens of thousands of players in these databases - difficult to rank them against each other to begin with, but especially if you only have 10min highlight tapes for each one. Camps are where you can get a lot of kids directly competing against each other.
 

mack

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Feb 14, 2007
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Watched this kid since he is only 25 miles away and if he is a three star.....I want more of them.He is the leader of a good basketball team and is no show boat....he directs the floor and can score or assist......he is going to be a good safety since he is smart and can be bigger and will hit you.........glad we got him.
 

Flywheel

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The bigger issue is when you commit early you usually end up going to fewer camps so scouts don't have as many opportunities to re-evaluate you. There are tens of thousands of players in these databases - difficult to rank them against each other to begin with, but especially if you only have 10min highlight tapes for each one. Camps are where you can get a lot of kids directly competing against each other.
The bigger issue is obvious if you follow the money and watch this process enough times. Nothing generates web clicks and advertising money for Scout or Rivals more than an uncommitted 5-star making a last-minute decision between Notre Dame and Texas, because those schools have about 2 million fans between them. Hence, any uncommitted player with an offer from both who waits to decide gets an instant upgrade, no matter if he has flippers instead of hands. It's fan fervor, not recent football success, that slants the star rankings. See: South Carolina, Notre Dame, Penn State or Michigan.

Committing early to a 60k stadium school like Tech just about guarantees you get ignored by the websites, and it gives you a good shot at being on CFN's annual "diamonds in the rough" article.

All that is to say: this is one hell of a good class for CPJ.
 
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