Quick Poll

Did you agree with President Obama's decision on Thursday to waive the No Child Left Behind requirements in 10 states, including Georgia?

Blogs

Angela McRae

Tea with friends

Deberah Williams

Everyday Finesse

Lorrie Lynch

Who's News

Published Thursday, February 04, 2010 in Sports

Ogletrees lead slew of seniors signing from Coweta high schools

By Chris Goltermann

The Newnan Times-Herald

From the moment that the first letter of interest arrived in the Boone Drive mailbox of Al and Allyson Ogletree a few years ago until exactly 8:18 a.m., on Wednesday morning when their twin sons, Alec and Zander, signed their National Letter's of Intent to play football at Georgia, the family was engulfed by the intense process known as college recruiting.

"I knew when they started playing we could see they were both very good athletes. So I guess a little of that was expected," said Allyson Ogletree. "But I think by the time when Alec received an offer from Notre Dame, the whole thing just blew me away."

But no matter how big or small the school that sent the FedEx envelope was on Wednesday, the reaction of Coweta County senior athletes remained the same as they do every year.

Namely, with a smile attached.

Georgia's inking both Ogletree brothers, Alec, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound safety, and Alex (Zander), a 5-11, 200-pound linebacker, was the highlight of a busy day locally among high school seniors in Coweta County that saw 13 seniors sign on Wednesday, with a few more still expected in future weeks as colleges begin to sort out respective signing classes.

For the Ogletree brothers, each of whom were catalysts for consecutive trips to the state football semifinals for Newnan High, the joys of signing with Georgia were as much a relief.

Offers had poured in for Alec, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound safety, since his junior year, allowing him to play in just about every time zone in the nation.

He finished his senior year with 93 tackles, two interceptions and two blocked kicks on defense, while also leading the Cougars offensively in every receiving category (41 catches, 758 yards, 6 TDs).

Most recently named Parade All-American, Alec chose to make his verbal commitment last summer and stuck with the decision through National Signing Day.

The offer from Georgia to Zander came the morning after Newnan's state semifinal loss to Northside-Warner Robins in early December, and was just as quickly answered with a verbal commitment. He finished his senior season with 98 tackles, six more than his twin, 11 of which were for loss.

Neither brother expressed any wavering in their decisions, despite head coach Mark Richt changing much of his defensive staff. Longtime defensive assistant and recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner, though, attended the semifinal game and kept both seniors close on his radar.

"They're both tremendous young men," he said. "Both going to have a very positive impact on our program and our future."

Georgia State head coach Bill Curry, formerly at Alabama and Georgia Tech, signed Newnan senior cornerback Jamal Ransby as part of the first-year program's second signing class of 29 players, including six who have already enrolled. The Panthers' first game is Sept. 2 against Shorter at the Georgia Dome.

The opportunity to play close to home for what will be a Division I Football Championship Subdivision program was too good to pass up.

"I was one of the first ones that Coach Curry talked to," said Ransby, who fittingly wore a tuxedo with a light blue bow-tie in Georgia State colors to go with his Panthers cap during Wednesday's signing. "He talked about wanting to start something special and I thought I could make a difference there."

As for playing in Atlanta, "It'll be nice, because I had a lot of people who came to my games here," added Ransby, who led Newnan's football team with six interceptions last year, while also playing receiver and returning punts.

A third member of the Cougars secondary, Cantrell Dix, accepted a scholarship offer with Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Dix finished with 31 tackles and two interceptions in 2009.

A pair of Newnan senior linemen also inked letters-of-intent. Defensively, Chris Teagle, an All-Region 4-AAAAA selection in 2009, signed with Division II Valdosta State, while senior offensive lineman Dillon Youngblood signed with LaGrange College.

Newnan's signings also included senior baseball player Taylor Pica with Columbus State.

Northgate had two senior football players also ink National Letters of Intent including senior quarterback Toby Slagle with Division II Carson-Newman.

Slagle had over 1,200 all-purpose yards in his only year as a starting quarterback, also setting a Viking record for most touchdown passes thrown in a game (4).

Slagle, who was an All-County selection and an All-Region 5-AAAA honorable mention, specifically asked his offensive center, Hanson Sachs to join him in his signing photo.

"I've got to have my center with me," joked Slagle. "I've got to show him some respect."

Also committing was Malcolm Poindexter, who had 33 tackles and two interceptions to go with four touchdown catches last year, with Savannah State.

The Ogletrees weren't the only local athlete Wednesday to commit to Georgia. Elsewhere at Northgate, senior All-County soccer player Devon Fry was one of 14 athletes to sign with the Bulldogs' women's program in a big day locally for Coweta girls soccer programs. At least two more Lady Vikings will sign respective letters-of-intent with colleges with Fry on Friday at the school.

At East Coweta, girls soccer seniors Heather Pierce and Amber Wright also signed with Columbus State. Lady Indians teammate Andye Dawson also signed Wednesday with Armstrong Atlantic.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Comment On This Story

Times-Herald.com does not necessarily agree with the comments posted below. Responsibility of comments rests solely with the writer. Comments posted in ALL CAPS will be deleted.

Submission of a comment does not guarantee publication. Comments will be posted by a moderator after being scanned for abusive language, relevance, etc. See our Comments FAQ for more details.