Santa Claus is coming to town very shortly, and I’ve never been patient enough to wait until Christmas to find out what will be under the tree.

            I always have to guess and think about what I want most, so I thought I’d take a moment to think about what Santa might be bringing to our area this year.

            Let’s take a look at Georgia Southern first. The football Eagles have had a bunch of coaching changes over the last five years, and two of those changes resulted in patchwork recruiting classes.

            The Eagles already got an option coach, so I’m hoping the holiday season brings a Grade-A recruiting class to Statesboro – there’s a lot more time this go-around. And not just any recruiting class – I’m hoping this will be one along the lines of the classes at and around the beginning of the decade that brought the likes of Greg Hill, J,R. Revere, Chaz Williams and Jayson Foster to town.

            Santa, I think you already know what those classes had in common – good, old-fashioned option quarterbacks.

            While we’re on quarterbacks, I’d like to thank you for the fact that Armanti Edwards has finally played his last college football game, and if there is a “next” Armanti out there somewhere in the high-school ranks, do us a favor and send him here.

            If not, let’s hope he ends up in the Big Sky Conference so GSU won’t ever have to deal with him (until December).

            We’re not greedy – nobody’s demanding a national title (yet) – folks around here just want to see an option team that they can be excited to watch each and every week of the 2010 season. That’s not too much to ask.

            Is it?

            Then there’s basketball.

            Santa, those Lady Eagles are on a hot streak right now, and we’d love to see them show the SoCon how underrated they were at the beginning of the season. Is a conference title too much to ask?

            And Santa, the GSU men just need a break. If they can heal up, get a full roster together for the first time this season and not have to spend weeks at a time on the road with a seven-man rotation, CY and his boys would have a Merry Christmas.

            In the prep world, Portal and Statesboro already have plenty of guards, they just need some help in the post. The bodies are there and getting better and better in the post, so is it too much to ask for a double-double every night?

            Screven County has a trio of guys who can score on anybody. What they need for Christmas is for the bench to continue improving as we head into January.

            Claxton, Bulloch Academy and the SHS girls have been at the top of the nice list and off the naughty list all season long. Let’s just hope they can avoid coal in their stockings as they continue to put together very special seasons.

            At Southeast Bulloch, there is experience, but none of those guys has ever had to take over a game. Five new starters is always a challenge, but fortunately they’ve been out there before. We just hope they can continue the transition from role players to stars. 

            That’s the Christmas wish list, and as we all know, Santa doesn’t make any promises.

            The only sure bet is that before we spark up the fireplaces, hang the stockings and wrap the presents and light the menorahs, there’s plenty to do..

            Screven County is hosting a tournament before Christmas with pretty much everyone except SEB and Statesboro, who are traveling to other tournaments themselves.

            Afterwards, when we’re all digesting our Christmas goose (gooses? geese?), Statesboro and Jenkins County host big events of their own – all before we ring in the New Year.

            Until next week, happy shopping and merry mallgoing!

            Matt Yogus can be reached at (912) 489-9408.