Murray to announce college choice Thursday

[I_Bleed_Green&Gold]

Found this on Rivals.com. I hadn't seen it posted here yet.

Murray to announce college choice Thursday

April 19, 2008

Brian Stumpf

Rivals.com Football Recruiting

One of the nation's top QB recruits in the Class of 2009 and the first invitee to the 2008 Elite 11, Aaron Murray out of Tampa (Fla.) Plant, will announce his college choice next Thursday at a press conference at Plant High.

[lerbut23]

I assume we offered him but we didn't make the short list.

Looks like UCLA, Georgia or Florida.

I have a feeling UCLA is going to be awfully attractive for passing quarterbacks and receivers now that Chow is back in town.

[tilden61]

Murray, if you were my son i would go to Harvard, you may not know better but your parents should step in here.

[SouthFLBully]

I would be very surprised if he does not pick UF...... He was raised a gator, and consequently has a hard on for them.

[JoeB]

I would be very surprised if he does not pick UF...... He was raised a gator, and consequently has a hard on for them.

He'd be sitting behind another Gator for life backup QB, John Brantley.  I don't think it would be beneficial to sit in this case for Murray.  Might as well be the backup somewhere else.........not the 3rd stringer.

[Papaljuice]

Florida prep standout Murray heading to Athens

By ESPN.com staff

(Archive)

Updated: April 24, 2008

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Aaron Murray, one of the top quarterback prospects in the Class of 2009, announced Thursday he would attend the University of Georgia. The Plant High School (Tampa, Fla.) signal-caller chose the Bulldogs over their SEC rival, the Florida Gators.

Upon the release of the ESPN 150 later this summer, Murray is assuredly going to be one of the top five quarterback prospects -- and possibly one of the top 10 players overall. A recent selection for the 2008 Nike Elite 11 quarterback camp, Murray threw for 4,012 yards, 51 touchdowns and seven interceptions last year, his first season as a starter for Plant.

ESPN recruiting analyst Tom Luginbill says Murray is a special talent.

"Without a doubt, he has the quickest release and most velocity of any quarterback who I've seen in the 2009 class," Luginbill said. "The negative on him is that he lacks height, but there are ways to compensate for that within the scheme. You can't coach a guy to get rid of the football the way he does, a player can either do it or he can't. And Murray has an exceptionally quick release."

At UGA, Murray could be part of a youth movement at the quarterback position.

Current Bulldogs quarterback Matt Stafford would be a senior during Murray's first season in Athens. Stafford, however, has been productive enough to leave college early for the NFL draft. If that were to occur, Murray could compete with Logan Gray, who was ranked on the 2007 ESPN 150, and Joe Cox for the starting job.

"You're looking at a guy who is every bit the passer that Matt Stafford is with more athleticism," Luginbill said. "He may give Mark Richt and that offensive coaching staff more athleticism from the quarterback position.

"He's a blend between a pocket-passer and a dual-threat guy. I wouldn't call him D.J. Shockley, but he's much more athletic than David Greene and Matt Stafford. So, you're looking at a guy who is somewhere between a Shockley and a Stafford [in terms of athletic ability]."

Murray, who had more than 50 scholarship offers, announced in recent weeks that he had begun narrowing down the list of teams he was considering. In addition to UGA and Florida, his list of finalist also included UCLA, which he visited earlier this month.

Murray is the second highly-regarded 2009 quarterback prospect to commit in the past week. ESPN 150 Watch List signal-caller Tom Savage (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O"Hara) announced Friday he plans to attend Rutgers University.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/football/news/story?id=3364886

[JoeB]

Hard to imagine a kid that has loved the Gators since berth, would go to arguablly their biggest football rival.  I'm surprised South Carolina didn't come into play more.

[Bull^Shark]

He definitely made the right choice for his benefit. He will do great up there. Good luck to Aaron!

[Bull Martin]

Forget him. 

USF should be able to get more sway on Tampa recruits.

[Superfan]

I agree with you Bull. The day we start keeping the home grown talent on our back yard to come and play at USF, is the day we will be a contender year in and year out. Maybe in a couple more years it will happen.