SEC Football; Gwinnett Style

I'm continuing the theme that Gwinnett County, GA is a tremendous hot bed for high school football. One way to prove that is to look at the football rosters of SEC teams.

Every SEC football team, with the exception of Tennessee, has at least one player from Gwinnett County on its roster. Gwinnett has been a prime recruiting ground for SEC coaches as well as ACC coaches and coaches from schools in other conferences.

the University of Georgia, of course, has the most Gwinnett players with 10. Gwinnett County is only 45 minutes from Athens, and with the recent success in this decade under Head Coach Mark Richt, recruits can stay closer to home and play for a championship caliber program. Also, several of the Gwinnett schools like Parkview, Brookwood, Norcross, Peachtree Ridge and others have either won state titles or are in the GA. State Playoffs year-in and year-out. Here is a list of the Gwinnett players who play for the Bulldogs:

Jr. WLB Renne Curran Brookwood HS
R-Fr LB Jason Veal Parkview HS
R-Fr WR Twoey Hosch Buford HS
R-Soph Punter Drew butler Peachtree Ridge HS
R-Soph RB Caleb King Greater Atlanta Christian
Soph WLB Christian Robinson Greater Atlanta Christian
R-Jr. FB Fred Munzenmaier Norcross HS
Fr Center Lee Dallas Buford HS
R-Fr PK Jordan Stowe Parkview HS
R-Sr. PK Andrew Jensen Brookwood HS

Of course, there is so much talent in Gwinnett that UGA isn't able to sign them all. Nick Saban was able to nab Darius Hanks out of Norcross HS. Hanks appeared in the Tide's first game last year against Western Carolina and caught a 6 yard pass. At Norcross High, Hanks became one of the top receivers in the Atlanta area in his career. He was an Atlanta Journal-Constitution First-Team Class 5A All-State selection and a First-Team All-Region 7 pick. He caught 55 passes for 857 yards and eight touchdowns as a senior and ran for 63 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, as well as picking off six passes on defense. Hanks finished second in Class 5A in receptions and receiving yards as a senior. Right now, Darius Hanks is the only Gwinnetian on the Tide roster, but that may change in a couple of years.

In my last blog, I mentioned how Vanderbilt Head Coach Bobby Johnson tapped into Gwinnett and got 6 fine football players:

R-Sr. RB Kennard Reeves Duluth HS
R-Jr. WR Terrance Jeffers Berkmar HS
R-Soph DT T. J. Greenstone Collins Hill HS
Sr. DT Greg Billinger Parkview HS
Fr LB Blake Southerland Greater Atlanta Christian
R-Fr LB Tristan Strong Grayson

Florida has two Gwinnetians on their roster; Defensive Tackle Omar Hunter, who is from Buford, GA and won state titles with Buford HS, is a Red Shirt Freshman at Gainsville and has a chance to get more playing time this year. He spent last year on the Gators Scout Team. His teammate at Buford HS and now in college, Fr. T.J. Pridemore, son of former Atlanta Falcons player Tom Pridemore, is a Wide Receiver for the Gators.

Both Arkansas and Auburn have one Gwinnett player on their rosters. Soph. LB Khiry Battle from Dacula HS comes into his Sophomore year having seen a lot of playing time his Freshman year and has earned a letter. R-Fr. Defensive Back Brandon Evans, from Parkview HS, is an Auburn Tiger. Kentucky Head Coach Rich Brooks loves to recruit Gwinnett County, particularly N. Gwinnett HS. He has two former NG Bulldog players on his roster, Junior CB E.J. Adams and Junior TE Ross Bogue.

LSU Head Coach Les Miles tapped into the Gwinnett pot by getting three top notch players, most notably signing LB Kevin Minter out of Peachtree Ridge HS. I've seen Minter play myself, even filmed some of his games. He will be a terrific player for the LSU Tigers. Also on the Tiger roster are Soph. Center T-Bobb Herbert out of Greater Atlanta Christian and son of former Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints QB Bobby Herbert. The third of the Gwinnett group is Soph. DBL Derrick Bryant, also from Peachtree Ridge. It's no surprise Peachtree ridge is putting out Div. l prospects, they won a state title last year and two years ago.

Ole Miss has the third most Gwinnett players on its roster with 4.
They are as follows:

R-Fr. WR Melvin Harris Buford HS
R-Fr. DB Brandon Sanders Peachtree ridge HS
R-Fr. CB Julian Whitehead Parkview HS
Soph. LB Trey Tripp Peachtree Ridge HS

Mississippi St. has one Gwinnettian on its roster. He's Fr. LB Jasper Williams. He graduated from Air Force Prep but is from Suwanee, GA, where Peachtree Ridge, Collins Hill and North Gwinnett high schools are all located. Last but certainly not least, Steve Spurrier cant do without a couple of Gwinnett athletes too. He signed one of the top Running Backs in the county last year in Brookwood RB Kenny Miles. I've seen him play in person. He has great speed and quickness and will have a fine career for the Gamecocks. South Carolina also has Jr. Offensive guard Stephen Singleton out of Buford HS. So lets count them:

UGA 10
Vandy 6
Ole Miss 4
LSU 3
S. Car 2
UK 2
Arkansas 1
Auburn 1
MSU 1

That's a total of 30 Gwinnett players in the SEC, enough to make a first string squad. I cant see how one can argue that Gwinnett County, GA, on the northeast side of Atlanta, isn't the best county for high school football in the nation.