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ALBANY, GA -- The deadline for the college basketball signing period has passed, but the Albany State Golden Rams are still very much alive.

ASU Head Coach Chris Cameron gave this 2012 signing class the label of historic. Cameron is certainly confident in their talent (and his recruiting abilities), but the high praise stems from their South Georgia roots.

Local talent has been missing from the Albany State roster in the past, but not anymore- three of the four players in the 2012 class hail from Southwest Georgia.

The Golden Rams inked Thomasville point guard Trey Gosier, Worth County-native Jerome Hamilton and Americus-Sumter’s Shaquille Harris to round out their southern sweep.

Cameron believes bringing the “229” area code back to the Golden Rams should bring the team closer together.

“One of the things it does for us is it provides a team full of chemistry...guys that like each other. I think that's one of the biggest things that we're going to have on the upcoming team that we haven't had in the past- (these) guys have played against each other in high school and know each other,” Cameron said.

Something that won't be missing from next year's team is a post game. At 6’7, the Worth County and Wichita State transfer Jerome Hamilton is expected to fill a big void in the low block.

Coach Cameron may not be done recruiting in the local area. The coach is still optimistic about picking up one or two more players next week.