Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Wednesday Around the Hive

FOOTBALL
Well, it's official, Travis Parker is ineligible for the 2005 season, and his college football career is over. The would-be redshirt senior has let down his teammates and himself. Listen, I graduated from Tech, so I know how tough it is. Heck if he was a freshman or sophomore I would certainly have more sympathy. But a 5th year senior? Chan Gailey obviously feels that he had the support he needed available to him:

I hate that we lost Travis Parker," Tech coach Chan Gailey said in a statement released by the school. "He was given every opportunity to be successful in the classroom. I hate it for him as a person and for us as a football team."


As if our D-Line needed any more bad news with the loss of D.Richard. The word on Joe Anoai is that he has a choice between season ending surgury or playing at 75-90% during the season. Obviously there will be questions now as to whether Mansfield Wrotto will in fact move to the O-Line. Who needs him most? Hard to tell...........In lighter news, the ACC is trying to figure out how to market this new divisional structure, since the easy-to-understand geographic concept was bypassed to maintain rivalries...... The coaches like it, including our own Coach Gailey......... Dez White's high school - Bolles - has been recognized as the 9th best high school athletic program in the country. It is also where Chipper Jones and Dee Brown went......... On the recruiting front, TE Cory Powers has GT in his top 5, as does DB Jamar Hornsby, who is considered the best player in the state of Florida and plays at the same high school as Maurice Wells. Of course this is also where Buddy Geis Jr runs the football program, the son of the Jacket assistant coach................ Here's more on instant replay in the ACC and how it will work. Here's even more............... Will the ACC ever have championship games in the state of South Carolina? Not until that confederate flag issue goes away.....


Well, CFN had Reggie Ball as the #63 candidate for the Hiesman Trophy, while Calvin Johnson clocks in at #49. Here's what they said:

49. WR Calvin Johnson, Georgia Tech - Johnson's already NFL-ready, and he's just a true sophomore. Paired with an NFL-ready quarterback, there's not an amateur DB that would stop him.


PJ Daniels comes in at #57, to put 3 Jackets in the top 100:

57. RB P.J. Daniels, Georgia Tech - Nagging injuries plagued Daniels in 2004, preventing him from eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive year. He's healthy, but the new concern is a young offensive line that must replace three starters.


Note that DJ Shockley comes in at #41. Then they proceed to talk about getting ready for the running game. Not a ringing endorsement..................... Why did Ole Miss want to schedule Georgia Tech? Well, to steal all our recruits - that's why!!!


HOOPS
Frank Burlison takes a look at the impact of all the college point guards going pro, and has this to say about Jack:

The rugged 6-foot-3 Jack is easily the most well thought of among that group by NBA talent evaluators and (if he doesn’t withdraw his name from the draft before the June 21 deadline to do so) seems a likely first-round – albeit well after Paul, Deron Williams and Felton – choice.


The Jackets will officially play Kansas in hoops on December 17 in the ATL - we can only assume it will be played in AMC. Better not end up at Philips. The game will be broadcast by ESPN............. Jeremiah Rivers, Doc Rivers' son, has become the 2nd son-of-a-famous-former-NBA-star to commit to Georgetown, joining transfer Patrick Ewing Jr.......... Join Jacket head coach MaChelle Joseph and the team in June for a summer camp........... Here's more on Randolph Morris entering his name into the draft - story 1.... story 2..... story 3..... story 4...... story 5..... Make sure to read that 5th story. Also, note that Tubby Smith has not even had a conversation with Morris about this. If you ask me, that's not exactly a ringing banner for the player-coach relationship at Kentucky............


Coach Hewitt clearly believes in the age-limit concept, with a a key difference. He is adamant against the age-limit being 19, and thinks it should be 20.....

"If they put the 20 age limit in, it will certainly lift the talent level in the ACC," said Hewitt, who spoke to about 100 people at the Savannah Area Georgia Tech Club's meeting at Carey Hilliard's Restaurant on Abercorn Street. "If they do agree on one, it will help our league. I'm not sure what they're going to decide on, but 19 would be a disaster for the NBA, college basketball and a whole lot of young men.


"If they make it 19, a lot of guys will either sit out a year after high school and then try to go to the NBA, or they will attend prep school for a year and then try to get into the NBA. It would be a disaster."


What else did Coach say at the Savannah alumni club? Well, he said this on Jarrett Jack:

"A lot of it depends on the feedback he's going to get," Hewitt said. "What he's trying to figure out is which company he's going to start his career with. I don't think he'll slip into the second round, but if he were to slip into the second round I think he would decide to come back."


Also note that Coach Hewitt and wife Dawnette celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary, although Coach had to be back in ATL Wednesday because a recruit was visiting campus (not sure who). Also note that he thinks he'll be replacing Cliff Warren sometime in mid-to-late June.......


Here's Rob Harrington (of Prepstars.com) and his top 50 hoopsters in the class of 2006, from the USAToday.....


BEESBALL
The Jackets have their last home ACC series coming up against VaTech, and every game is important from here on out.......... Meanwhile, Matt Wieters has done some absolutely stunning things as a college freshman, and people are taking notice........... It seems that a World Cup announcement will be coming soon for Global Baseball....... Nice story from the AJC on Jessica Sallinger as she approaches the all-time ACC win record........ Here's the latest SEBaseball.com "bracketology". They still have the Jackets hosting, with Sienna, St.Johns and Vandy in that bracket....