VALDOSTA — The way Rance Gillespie sees it, any time a player is selected to participate in a Georgia All-Star game, it’s a big deal.

This year, the Valdosta High coach has four Wildcats getting to partake in those big deals with sophomores Zakoby McClain and Jayce Rogers playing in the Elite Sophomores Classic at 11:30 a.m. today at McEachern High’s Cantrell Stadium in Powder Springs and seniors Todd Bradley and Seth Shuman playing in Wednesday’s GACA North-South All-Star Classic.

“Anytime you’re selected to play in one of these games, that means you’re one of the top players in this state and this state produces some really good football players,” said Gillespie who is serving as the South team’s offensive coordinator in the North-South game. “It’s an honor to represent Valdosta and be apart of these All-Star games. 

“We feel like all of our guys that are playing in All-Star games are worthy of their selection and are good football players.”

Bradley and Shuman were more than just good football players for the Wildcats, who advanced to the second round of the Class 6A playoffs. They were the unquestioned leaders of Valdosta’s defensive and offensive units respectively and provided so much to VHS’ success.

“Both of those guys had outstanding seasons for us and both of them were not only good players but provided a lot of things outside of just what you saw out on the field,” Gillespie said. “Both are great kids and good leaders and we talk all the time about the things they brought outside of their ability to play the game.”

Bradley, who missed the first five games of the season with a shoulder injury, is committed to Georgia Southern and the linebacker’s return coincided with improved play from the Valdosta defense.

Shuman, meanwhile, got off to a stellar start during the Wildcats’ season opener at the Corky Kell Classic and the quarterback never slowed down. Completing 227 of 399 passes, Shuman set a new single-season school record by throwing for 3,194 yards. He also tossed 25 touchdowns to just three interceptions.

Gillespie is looking forward to calling plays for Shuman, who will share time at quarterback with Lee County’s Garet Morrell, one last time.

“We’re going to have a big time,” Gillespie said. “Hopefully this weather will ease up for us and we’ll get a window on Wednesday to be able to go out and play and have some decent weather. We’ve got some really good football players on this team and we’re looking forward to seeing what they can do.

“It’s a big honor. This is still a big game. I know there’s a lot of history involved in this game, a lot of great players to play in this football game and it’s still quite an honor to be selected to play in it.”

The Elite Sophomore Classic will be held for the first time in conjunction with the third-year Elite Junior Classic and Gillespie is hoping that his two young defensive standouts will not only benefit individually but also will spark big things for the Wildcats going forward.

“From an individual standpoint, I think it gives them the opportunity to see the level of talent that they’re going to be competing against in order to get where they want to be,” he said. “In order for Zakoby to be a highly recruited linebacker, he’ll understand what those other guys are bringing to the table, the type of athlete, their size and how well they run. The same thing for Jayce at corner. 

“And hopefully that motivates those guys to go to work and take their game to another level. Typically the guys that are successful and are going to be involved in these kinds of games are the guys that are highly motivated and certainly kids tend to feed off of that.”

Jamie Wachter is the sports editor of the Valdosta Daily Times and can be followed on Twitter @jlwachter.