Buzzing Around

HOOPS
Well, evidently all that time off prior to the VaTech game was spent working on fundamentals.

Sloppy offense has been the Yellow Jackets' biggest problem. Turnovers, poor 3-point shooting and shaky transition decisions have left the high-flying offense sputtering. That's where most of this week's practice time was dedicated.

Hhhmmm. Back to the drawing board....... In the category of dunking I would have to say that Will Bynum has stolen the mantle from Ish lately. They are both athletic freaks based on what they can do, and evidently they both take great pride in dunking. Not sure how "good" this is, but it is what it is.......... In the "fan denial" category it is worth noting that the New York Knicks job is now officially open, as Lenny Wilkens has stepped down. Nobody really believes Coach Hewitt would take that job now, but we all know it is that big pink Elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about..... Here's the full depressing box score of the VaTech game......... Here's the main re-cap.......... Here are the quotes...... Here's the scout.com recap of the game. By the way did you know that 2 of the Hokie players did not make the trip because they had the flu? Just trying to add some insult to injury, so to speak........ Jackets losing their sting........ Toronto Raptors - thinking short-term or building for the future with Chris Bosh........ Well, the rose is starting to fall off the bloom:

-- 6. Don't believe the hype. Wasn't it just last week that all the talking heads were touting Georgia Tech as the best team in the country? Now the Yellow Jackets have lost three straight conference games.


It's almost as if I picked them to win it all.

Did you know that one of VaTech's players actually hails from Atlanta, Coleman Collins:

"I've been coming here for years, man," said Tech's Coleman Collins, an Atlanta native who contributed 13 points. "Since I was about eight years old at (former Georgia Tech coach) Bobby Cremins' basketball camp. It means a lot to me to get this win right here on this court.

"

Well, Coach Hewitt is speaking up again about graduation rates and the new legislation. Good for him:

"I think the intentions are outstanding," Georgia Tech men's basketball coach Paul Hewitt said. That said, he worries that the new rules will one day be considered discriminatory - not by intent, but in practice.


One NCAA staff member, Hewitt said, told coaches in a meeting that they needed to start recruiting kids who looked like graduates. "That's a heck of a statement," said Hewitt, his outrage coming through weeks after the meeting.


Explained Hewitt: "We're talking about recruiting, quote, better prepared student-athletes. We're talking about not recruiting potential early departures for the NBA. When you close your eyes and think about those groups of people, what faces do you see? You see black faces.


"Socio-economically, they may come from a situation that the school isn't as good. If you look at the early departures from college basketball, if you look at the kids who left, 95 percent of them happen to be black. I don't think there's anything wrong with a young man changing the course of his life to better his and his family's point in life. Everybody who works is always looking to advance himself up.


"I worry that we are going to come back in five years and say, 'You know what, the intentions here were great, but these rules proved to be very discriminatory.'"

On the recruiting front, here is a point guard that the Jackets have some interest in - Kalvin Bay. Talk about self-promotion at a new scale. Aside from his own personal website, here's mention of him recently. By the way, he has developed a good relationship with Jarrett Jack..... Around the ACC, this on Julius Hodge sleep-walking through his senior season....


FOOTBALL
Hey if you wanted to download the UGAg or the Champs Sports Bowl games from the web, they have finally been posted - link here............ Wow, new recruit Jonathan Garner is quite the confident young man:

"I got a good feeling there that we're going to win a national championship," said Garner, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound quarterback from Daytona Beach, Fla.

Nothing like the unbridled spirit of a 17 year old. Just ask Reggie "we're not going to lose another game" Ball. But hey, you have to love the confidence. It's certainly better than the alternative. Here's another story with more detail on Garner. I like what I am hearing......Speaking of recruiting, here's an article about Ohio State recruiting, with mention of Maurice Wells, as Buckeye fans have visions of M.Clarett again (on the field only)......

Wells may be the plum of the 2005 Buckeye recruits, being listed by Rivals.com as the fourth-best all-purpose back available in the country. His high school (Sandalwood) coach Adam Gels said with Wells, "I think it comes down to one word - speed. He blows the door open and nobody can touch him. He's so fast (4.4 40), but built like a rock, so has the ability to run between the tackles and around everybody too.''


High praise for what could very well be the Buckeyes' next Maurice Clarett. But who knows, nothing is official yet and sometimes things just don't work out either

In the sad note, we have to relegate James Butler to the "Where are they now" segment, as he prepares for the 2005 Senior Bowl, to be played in a week......However, there is an all-star game today featuring a couple of GT guys - Kyle Wallace and Andy Tidwell-Neal, the All-American Classic, played today at 4:00........ Here are some LSU recruiting notes, but some GT mentions throughout the listing...... More random recruiting notes with a few GT mentions.... In another "Where are they now", a nice story on former GT player Ken Whisenhunt, who is none-other than the Pitt Steeler offensive coordinator...... Back to recruiting - what if I told you there was an Atlanta area QB who led his team to the Class 5A title game, scored 1450 on his SAT, had a 4.0 GPA? His name is Jeff Witt and he's headed to Harvard. What if I told you Harvard had twice as many Atlanta area committments than GT? Story here.


BEESBALL
Did you ever hear the REST OF THE STORY.... regarding Marlon Byrd, the talented player for GT? There's a lot to his story you may not know. This is worth a read.....