Gwinnett County, GA:: A College Recruiter's Paradise

I live in an area about 30 miles Northeast of Atlanta, GA called Gwinnett County. It's a sprawling county of 750,000 people between Atlanta and Athens, home of the University of Georgia.

Twenty years ago, this area was pretty much rural, wooded and "country." My, my have things changed. With the astonishing growth of the county came the construction of more schools, and the enlargement of the talent pool of potential college athletes. Back in the 80s, very few high school athletes went on to play sports at major colleges. Among those few were Mark Thomas, who was a Defensive Tackle at Parkview High School, played college ball at NC. St., and played in the NFL with the 49ers, the Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts.

Greater Atlanta Christian had a great Girls Basketball player named Cindy Brogdon, who became an All-American at Tennessee and was a member of the US Olympic Team in Los Angeles in 1984. Running Back George Rogers from Duluth High School in Gwinnett County, went on to win the 1980 Heisman Trophy while at the University of South Carolina. There me be other examples from that era, but not too many.

However, the last 10 years or so have seen an explosion of Gwinnett area high school athletes who have not only been stars at major colleges, but have gone on to the pros: Josh Wolfe was an outstanding Soccer player for Parkview High School. He led the Panthers to a State Title, then went on to become an all-American at South Carolina before being picked by the Chicago fire in the MLS. Wolfe also was selected to the 2000 US Olympic Team which competed in the Sydney Olympics, and was chosen to be on the 2002 USA World Cup Squad which reached the quarter finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan.

Another Gwinnett great was Louis Williams, who was the National High School Player of the Year his Senior year. He decided to forgo college and was taken by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2003 NBA Draft. After a couple of seasons in the NBA's Developmental League, Williams is now a strong contributor for the 76ers.

Darius Walker was a runningback from Buford High School who led his team to a State Title, went on to be a star runningback at Notre Dame, and is now with the NFL's Houston Texans. Other notables are QB David Greene from S. Gwinnett High School, led Georgia to it's first SEC Title since 1980 and was the winningest QB in Div. 1A history. David Pollock came from Shiloh High School and was a teammate of Green's at UGA where he enjoyed a stellar career at Linebacker for the Dawgs and played for the Cincinnati Bengals before his career was cut short due to a serious neck injury.

Probably the most famous for Atlanta baseball fans is Jeff Francoeur. Francoeur was a standout football and baseball player at Parkview High School and was headed to Clemson to play football but chose Major League Baseball. After a couple of years in the Braves' minor League system, Francoeur was called up by the big club and burst on to the Major League scene, having one of the best seasons for a rookie.
Other Gwinnett High School athletes who have gone on to stardom are as follows:

Maya Moore Womens' Basketball--Collins Hill HS UCONN
Tim Wansley Football--Buford HS UGA/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Brett Conway Football--Parkview HS Penn St./Green Bay Packers
Jason Moore Soccer--Parkview HS Univ. of Virginia/DC United
Cameron Heyward Football--Peachtree Ridge HS, Ohio St.
Amanda Weir Swimming--Brookwood HS 2 Silver Medals in 2004 Athens Olympics
Brian McCann Baseball--Duluth HS All-Star Catcher for Atlanta Braves
Omar Hunter football--Buford HS Univ. of Florida--National Champion
Jodie Meeks Basketball--Norcross HS Univ. of Kentucky
Chris Allen Basketball--Meadowcreek HS Michigan St.
Brian Bender Basketball--Cent. Gwinnett HS Gardner-Webb Univ.

Wesley Witherspoon Basketball--Berkmar HS Univ. of Memphis
There are others who are playing major college sports who will certainly go on to the pros, others who are playing D-1 who will not go on to pro ball, and countless others playing small-college sports.
I often wonder how this explosion of talent has taken place. Of course one reason is population growth. Also, better coaching at the youth levels. Gwinnett County has a well-structured feeder system in Football, Baseball and Basketball from ages 5 up to 14.

Gwinnett County also has the largest school system in the nation. With Atlanta being a hot bed for jobs, more and more people from the northern states as well as California and other parts of the country will come here for the job market and the nice weather, which has all 4 seasons. Another factor is the many retired processional athletes have made the Atlanta Metro Area home. Some live in Gwinnett County, and they passed on their athletic genes to their sons and daughters who are some of today's great athletes in Gwinnett. Both Georgia and GA. Tech have tried to quarantine the county to recruit these athletes, but several have been snapped up by out-of-state schools. This will not change, but will increase. College coaches would do well to make Gwinnett County an essential recruiting destination.