Daily Swarm

ALL 4 GT HOOPS RECRUITS MAKE GLOBAL GAMES TEAM
Congrats to Zam Fredrick, Jeremis Smith, Ra'Sean Dickey and Anthony Morrow - as they ALL will be on the roster for the 2004 Global Games. Story here......... On a side note, Jeremis was on the 2003 squad as well........... Talk about a fantastic way for this incoming class to bond together - what an opportunity. I wonder how many strings Coach Hewitt had to pull to help make that happen.

BEESBALL TEAM WINS..... AGAIN
Is this getting repetative? NO WAY!!! Jackets beat up on MD again, this time 15-1. Now one win and we win the regular season. Great pitching from A.Kown, great hitting from S.Blackwood. Number 16 in a row. GO JACKETS

....AND THEY ARE WINNING AGAIN
If that weren't enough, the Jackets are currently crushing MD again 15-3 in the 5th, so barring a major collapse, they will in fact win the ACC by finishing the season with a 17 game winning streak. Simply awesome. Now, if we can continue this streak into the post-season, that would be unbelievable. Remember, in years past, we started the season on fire and fizzled near year-end. Could Coach Hall have turned the tables successfully this year??? Let's hope.

SOFTBALL TEAM DROPS TWO
Well, the streak ended as the Jackets dropped 2 in a row, one to Washington 2-0, then we lost to the buttsniffers 9-1. So much for pitching. Jackets end the regional in 3rd place. Unfortunately this means the season is over for the ladyjackets, but a nice all-around season. They hang out in the top 25 most of the year, play for the ACC championship and play well for the 1st half of the regional. They can bee proud.

GOLF TEAM ADVANCES TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
A strong showing and a tie for 3rd place leads to the golf team to the NCAA Championship in 10 days. We actually ended up tied with UGAg. The top 10 teams advance......... UNC and NCST ended up tied for 10th but only the top 10 head to the finals. UNC won the spot in a playoff. WF and Duke finished one stroke behind to miss the playoff. Amazing how one putt, one drive, one errant shot made the difference in them possibly heading to the finals.

HOOPS TEAM TO PLAY IN LAS VEGAS SHOWDOWN
Sing it with me - Viva... Las Vegas.... Viva Las Vegas...... As this article points out "NCAA Tournament Powerhouse" Georgia Tech will be playing in the 8th annual LV Showdown. Ok.St. will play UNLV, while GT could play Gonzaga, although this does not seem finalized.

GT FOOTBALL RECRUIT IS VALEDICTORIAN !!!
Now that is "bringing it". Darryl Richard is #1 in his class - academically!!! We are not talking about a potential bench warmer here. This kid should be a big role on our team in years to come. He was recruitied by LSU, Stanford, Notre Dame, Miami - and a bunch of others - and we landed him. Now that is the type of kid that GT has to continue to recruit and win. No doubt he should represent GT well. Congrats to Darryl on his achievements!!!.............. On another football recruiting note, UVA has more early commits than any other school in the nation - 13. In fact, the rest of the ACC has 9 combined. Of course, just because you get commits early doesn't mean your recruiting class will be dominant, but they seem to be able to pick the players they think will fit AND will commit............ Also, here is a story on the insiders Hot100, a new list just released on top recruits. Here's the actual Hot100 list.

GT LOOKING AT 2-SPORT STAR
Austin Jackson, who MLB scouts say reminds them of a young Ken Griffey Jr (young because he doesn't get injured every other game obviously). Story here. The only question is - does he love hoops more than baseball. He has put up some gaudy high school numbers. On the diamond he batted .440 with 24 rbis, 28 runs, 13 sbs. As a 12-year old he was declared the best in the nation. He has been in the spotlight ever since. But in hoops, the kid is averaging 22.5 points / game. So what to do? Well, a handful of schools including GT are pursuing him as a 2-sport star. If he decides baseball is for him, he is a lock for the draft - he is considered #5 in the 2005 class. Stay tuned............. Here's a kid that is the top prospect in the Mets organization, who would have gone to GT - but the dollars called. More "what could have been...".

RECRUITING NOTES - HOOPS
So, is the 2005 class REALLY weaker than the 2004 class? This guy doesn't think so. How can you say that 13 players in the draft out of high school is a weaker class? Obviously if you are only considering those that step on a college campus.

HEWITT STILL TAKING THE NCAA TO TASK
Another story with quotes from our outspoken coach.

Georgia Tech basketball coach Paul Hewitt, who guided his team to the NCAA men's title game against the University of Connecticut this past season, says the new guidelines will force him to make a choice between taking a player he knows has qualifications to succeed and someone he thinks might have them.

"It is not easy," said Hewitt. "Do I give a kid a chance or do I not recruit him? I'll have a decision to make."

According to Hewitt, if the NCAA were truly serious about its academic commitment, there would be changes in scheduling. For instance, it could curtail basketball games in the first semester — have none during the week — and extend the season well into the second semester in April, when television has cash cows such as the Masters and major league baseball.

"It would be the right thing to do for kids," said Hewitt, knowing full well that the loss of television revenue for the NCAA would prohibit such a dramatic change.

Some coaches are concerned about what they feel is a not-so-subtle message being delivered by the NCAA. Hewitt remembers a meeting in which an NCAA representative told coaches they had to recruit athletes who looked more like college graduates in their academic profile. Hewitt is not sure he likes a system that takes fewer chances.

STORY ON NICKNAMES FOR COLLEGES
The Fighting Okra is still looking for respect. The story says that GT "double dips", with both engineers and YellowJackets. Well, if you want to get technical, we triple dip when you consider "the Ramblin Wreck from Georgia Tech".

CREMINS LOOKS BACK AT DUKE'S CHILDREN'S CLASSIC
Coach Cremins continues to represent GT well, sort of an ambassador of the program........... Here's another story on Cremins and how he loves what Coach Hewitt is doing with the program. Notice his quote:

"My coaching days are probably behind me, but I never want to completely shut the door."