Georgia will finally learn today if defensive end Ray Drew from Thomasville, Ga., will play for the Bulldogs.

Drew, who’s considering Georgia, Auburn, LSU, Clemson and Miami, will announce his choice at 10 a.m. eastern time at Thomas County Central High School. Drew has made his decision.

“Oh, I know where I’m going,” Drew said. “I made up my mind a while ago. I’m ready to get it out and get it over with. I’ve had fun with it, but it’s taken its toll.”

Defensive tackle Mickey Johnson from Covington, La., will let his decision be known today as well. Johnson is considering Arkansas, LSU and Tennessee.

“At first it was fun going around and everything,” Johnson said. “But lately it’s started getting tough. The pressure’s been building up on me.”

Defensive end Jeoffrey Pagan from Asheville (N.C.) High School has de-committed from Clemson, the second time he has done such a thing during the recruiting process.

Pagan, who originally committed to Florida before re-opening his recruitment in November,

“I’m not committed anymore,” Pagan told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee have all been linked to Pagan in the last month. He admitted that Georgia is leading the way.

“Oh yes, I’m excited about Georgia,” Pagan said.

Pagan shot down rumors that he is committed to Georgia. It could be an interesting final few days for Pagan, who earlier this month showed signs that his commitment to Clemson might not stick.

Auburn’s 2011 class became even stronger on Thursday when tight end Brandon Fulse from Fort Meade (Fla.) High School committed to the Tigers.

Fulse, who announced his decision on ESPNU, chose Auburn over Tennessee, Miami and North Carolina.

Fulse is the 22nd commitment for Auburn and the eighth player to give his pledge to the Tigers this month.

Auburn’s class went into the day ranked No. 6 in the country by Rivals.com. That was before the Tigers landed Fulse, who Rivals considers the nation’s 10th best tight end.

Here are some afternoon recruiting headlines.

1. Here are the top 25 junior college prospects, according to 247sports.com.

2. ESPN has a list of the top uncommitted prospects. Many are considering SEC schools.

3. Could Georgia’s potential “Dream Team” class be one of the top three in the nation?

4. Here’s the latest on defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan, who’s still considering several schools.

5. The recruiting picture for Mississippi State is starting to take shape in the final week.

6. Running back Kenny Hilliard will get a head start on his career at LSU.

7. Arkansas is receiving nice reviews on its class for 2011.

8. Edward Aschoff of the Gainesville Sun answers his latest mailbag of recruiting questions.

9. Kentucky commit Jon Davis remains undecided on which school he will attend.

10. Auburn is experiencing success in recruiting following a a championship year on the field.

Tight end Brandon Fulse from Fort Meade (Fla.) High School will announce his college decision this afternoon on ESPNU.

Fulse’s decision should come down to Auburn or Tennessee.

“They are my top two,” Fulse told Jamie Newberg of ESPN.com. “But I still haven’t ruled out Miami and (North Carolina). I will base my decision on my comfort level with each school and the trust and relationship I have with the coaches. Playing time is important but it’s a real good situation at all four schools.”

Fulse is ranked the No. 5 tight end and No. 94 overall prospect in the nation by ESPN.

Here’s guessing that Stan Drayton won’t win any popularity contests in the state of Florida today.

Word leaked out Tuesday night that Ohio State had hired Drayton — UF’s running backs coach and recruiting coordinator — as the Buckeyes’ new receivers coach.

Florida, however, put out a release yesterday saying that Will Muschamp’s staff was intact “at this time.”  The inclusion of those last three words made it pretty clear to most learned fans that:


1.  Drayton had already accepted the OSU job.

2.  Drayton wouldn’t start in Columbus right away.

3.  Florida didn’t want word to leak out to recruits that the man heading up their recruitment was leaving.


Well today, Ohio State officially announced the hiring of Drayton effective February 1st.

“Stan Drayton first and foremost is a fine person and family man,” Jim Tressel said in a press release.  “He is a Buckeye born and bred, and will add a tremendous dimension to our football family.  We are fortunate to gain one of the finest coaches in America to serve our kids, school and community.” 

Hear that?  It’s the sound of thousands of Gator fans all grabbing for vomit bags at once.  Here’s the link to the story in The Columbus Dispatch (a company I used to work for, by the way).

Drayton has left Gainesville before.  He departed after the 2007 season only to return last year.  The fact that Urban Meyer would welcome him back shows what he thought of Drayton’s recruiting skills — because the two did not always see eye-to-eye in terms of running backs.

The loss of Drayton, therefore, will likely hurt the Gators more on the recruiting front than on the coaching front.  Muschamp has put together a staff of NFL veterans.  Having a proven Deep South recruiter on the staff was a plus.  Expect him to find one when he replaces Drayton.

But if Drayton was going to depart… this season might be the best time for it.  Due to the head coaching change, the Gators were going to take a slight hit on signing day anyway.  So if your recruiting coordinator is going to leave days before signing day — which is never a good thing — better he do it in the midst of a pretty good recruiting year than in the middle of a stellar recruiting year.

That said, Drayton is still Public Enemy #1 on Florida talkshows and messageboards today.  Especially since the Gators and Buckeyes are both currently chasing West Palm Beach linebacker Curt Maggitt.

1.  Arkansas point guard Julysses Nobles is playing with confidence.

2.  A short bench and poor shooting led to LSU’s 75-53 loss at Tennessee last night.

3.  Last night marked the third-straight game in which the Tigers’ opponent hit 10 three-point shots.

4.  Vandy’s Kevin Stallings is leery of Mississippi State heading into tonight’s game.

5.  Rick Stansbury wants more production out of his bench players.

6.  Former Ole Miss receivers coach Ron Dickerson Jr. has officially been hired as the head coach at Gardner-Webb.  He was replaced in Oxford by Gunter Brewer last week.

7.  Brewer — who’ll also be UM’s passing game coordinator — says he likes 18- to 22-yard throws “behind the linebackers and in between the safeties.”

8.  Ready for more bad pub regarding another Houston Nutt recruit?

As soon as news emerged that Florida cornerback Janoris Jenkins had been cited for possession of marijuana, the question rang out from the Atlantic to the Ozarks:

“How will Will Muschamp discipline the first player to get into trouble on his watch?”

ESPN.com’s Chris Low asked that question.  So did Florida fan bloggers.  Heck, just about everyone asked that question.

And the answer?

“We are aware of the incident with Janoris Jenkins and will handle it internally at this time,” said the new coach’s press release.

Oh.

When Muschamp took over in Gainesville, he promised a get-tough approach to Gators making bad headlines.  Discipline would be a pillar of his program.

But faced with a star player dumb to being rolling a joint in a public nightclub… Muschamp blinked.  “We’ll handle it internally.”  So much for “Dirty Harry.”

This should surprise no one, of course.  With increased media coverage, more player arrests are publicized these days.  As a result, coaches are under more scrutiny than ever before when it comes to the behavior of their players.  So they talk about discipline among the ranks.  They claim to target “quality young men” and not just guys with good 40 times.  Many even start special programs and classes designed to foster maturity and leadership skills in their athletes.  Why most even get tough with the occasional walk-on (or the four-star recruit who’s turned out to be more of a one-star type player).

But, boy, do they ever look the other way when a star stumbles.

This isn’t just a Muschamp issue, of course.  The last new coach to enter the conference talking tough was another Nick Saban protege — Derek Dooley at Tennessee.  Like Muschamp, he too has a star defensive back who has gotten himself into trouble with marijuana… on more than one occasion.  But All-SEC safety Janzen Jackson remains on the Volunteer football team. 

Lesson: When you hear tough talk, don’t take it seriously.

Personally, I’m not a “letter of the law” type of guy in the first place.  I’d be more likely to forgive a player and move on (at least to a point).  But it’s for that very reason that I would never introduce myself as some sort of rigid disciplinarian.

Most coaches would be much better off never bringing up discipline at all during an opening press conference.  Better to let fans and media learn about their disciplinary beliefs as off-field issues arise.  To make a big deal out of behavior and discipline and “leadership programs” right out of the gate only invites fans and media to roll their eyes when the first blue-chipper flubs and then gets the usual “internal discipline.”

To talk tough and not deliver just leaves most folks saying, “Oh.” 

As usual.

1.  Credit Florida’s frontcourt for the Gators’ Tuesday night win at Georgia.

2.  Experts don’t believe Will Muschamp will pull a rabbit out of his hat on signing day… this year.

3.  Freshman running back Mike Blakely underwent shoulder surgery yesterday and will miss UF’s spring practice.

4.  Former Georgia AD Damon Evans pleaded guilty last week to his summer DUI charge.  He was given probation, community service and a fine — pretty standard for a first-time offense.  Sad story.

5.  New strength and conditioning coach Joe Tereshenski has identified UGA’s weaknesses — “I do see where we were getting beat.” — and is “attacking” the problem.

6.  6-2 Kentucky freshman Jarrod Polson is becoming more than “a human victory cigar.”

7.  Scotty Hopson scored an SEC career-high 22 points to lead Tennessee past struggling LSU 75-53.

8.  Hopson appeared motivated by Bruce Pearl’s use of the word “inconsistent” to describe him last week.

9.  Tonight Kevin Stallings will try to lead Vanderbilt to a win in Starkville for the first time during his 12-year tenure.

Going into 2010, Mark Ingram and Ryan Mallett were the Heisman favorites in the SEC.  But by December, Cam Newton had gone from nowhere (Blinn Junior College) to the history books.  It’s possible next year’s Heisman winner will come from off the hot lists, too.

But for now, those hot lists are starting to turn up on the big, national sports sites.  Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com posted his pre-2011 favorites list yesterday and the SEC is represented as follows:


* Mike Dyer, RB, Auburn — One of the Dodd’s 10 favorites for the award.  “With all the talk about Newton and Nick Fairley, wasn’t it Dyer who won the national championship game in the fourth quarter?”

* Trent Richardson, RB, Alabama — Another of Dodd’s 10 favorites.  “While playing in the shadow of Ingram the past two years, Richardson has run for 1,451 yards while averaging 5.4 yards per rush.”

* Knile Davis, RB, Arkansas — Labeled as “the next level” down from Dodd’s top 10.  “The Next Big Thing at tailback in the SEC.”

* Marcus Lattimore, RB, South Carolina — Also in “the next level.”  “With three of his starting offensive linemen returning, Lattimore shoudl become a 1,500-yard runner in ’11.”