Where are they now - Chris Bosh

As Kenny pointed out in the tag-board, Chris Bosh represented the Raptors during the NBA Draft Lottery. Those of you who saw noticed that he represented himself well, although not much was required of him but to sit there.

Here is the draft order:

First Round
1. Orlando
2. L.A. Clippers
3. Chicago
4. Charlotte Bobcats (expansion)
5. Washington
6. Atlanta
7. Phoenix
8. Toronto
9. Philadelphia
10. Cleveland
11. Golden State
12. Seattle
13. Portland
14. Utah
15. Boston
16. Utah (from New York through Phoenix)
17. Atlanta (from Milwaukee through Denver and Detroit)
18. New Orleans
19. Miami
20. Denver
21. Utah (from Houston)
22. New Jersey
23. Portland (from Memphis)
24. Boston (from Dallas)
25. Boston (from Detroit)
26. Sacramento
27. L.A. Lakers
28. San Antonio
29. Indiana

Second Round

30. Orlando (pick may be conveyed to Atlanta)
31. Chicago
32. Washington
33. Charlotte
34. Atlanta
35. Seattle (from L.A. Clippers)
36. Phoenix (to Orlando or to Atlanta through Orlando)
37. Atlanta (from Philadelphia)
38. Chicago (from Toronto)
39. Toronto (from Cleveland)
40. Boston
41. Seattle
42. Golden State (to Orlando through Philadelphia or to Atlanta through Orlando and Philadelphia)
43. New York
44. New Orleans
45. Milwaukee
46. Portland
47. Miami
48. Sacramento (from Utah)
49. Memphis (from Denver through Orlando)
50. Dallas (from Houston through Denver)
51. New Jersey
52. San Antonio (from Memphis)
53. Miami (from Dallas)
54. Detroit
55. Houston (from Sacramento through Utah)
56. L.A. Lakers
57. San Antonio
58. Minnesota
59. Indiana

Note: Minnesota's first-round pick has been forfeited

Even Rowing Team Getting Props

No kidding. Thanks to BuzzFlowerz over at the Hive for the tip. But among the Princeton's, Stanfords, Bucknells, etc, is Georgia Tech, coming in at #13 in the Women's Lightweight Eight, and getting votes in the Men's Lightweight Eight - link here.

Where are they now - Agnus Berenato

I'll tell you where they are - the former GT lady hoops coach, who is now coaching the Pitt Panthers, is taking our players. Mallore Winn, a sophomore last season, will transfer to Pitt to play for the coach that recruited her. Story here.

Ok, it's not as bad as it sounds. Mallore announced she was leaving in January and was expected to transfer. Probably won't hurt too much

Where are they now - Rodney Williams

Former GT punter Rodney Williams has signed a deal to play for the KC Chiefs. Story here.

Jackets Beat MD.... AGAIN

The Jackets won today, setting up a match with Clemson Thursday at 5:00 pm. The Tigers squeeked by UNC in the 9th inning. Congrats to the Jackets!!! Click here for the entire schedule.

Here's the AP Story.
From MD press.
A look at conference tourney's from ESPN.
Baseball America looks at conf. tourney's and projects NCAA brackets.

In other tourney news, Duke took down UVA, helping our cause.

By the way, did I mention that UGAg lost to Vandy 6-0 today - life is good.

Daily Swarm

BEESBALL TEAM FACES MD TODAY
Round 1 - ding ding ding. Time to continue the streak - because winning now matters a lot now - only surpassed by the big "dance". Story here. Collegiate Baseball has us now ranked #5 in the nation, while Baseball America has us #10.......... Brandon Boggs has been a big part of the winning streak and has really picked up his game in the 2nd half of the season - good story here......... For GT to win all the way to Sunday they are going to have to rely on someone else in the pitching staff to come through. Owings / Kown / Burks are not going to be starting on Sunday so time for someone to step up - story here......... Here's the full game schedule and gametracker links as well.......... Here's a nice story on Coach Hall and his family background.

ACC HAS NOT WON A CHAMPIONSHIP SINCE 1955 IN BEESBALL
Did you know that? I didn't. This story focuses on how the level of ACC baseball competition is stepped up with powerhouse Miami in the league.

GT AND THE LINEBACKER POSITION
A nice overview of our linebacker situation.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW - KEYARON FOX
Key Fox is learning the pro game just like Tony Hargrove and others. Here is a nice story on K-Fox. My favorite quote from Dick Vermiel -

"I'm impressed,” Vermeil said. “He can close, he has good instincts, he has very good work habits. You can see that he was very well coached in college..."

FOOTBALL RECRUITING
Blurb on an up-and-coming player from Florida who has a 'ship offer form GT - Neefy Moffett. Now tell me that's not a cool name.

Recruit on the rise: Another in the Palm Bay line -- defensive end/linebacker Neefy Moffett, who is listed among the nation's top 100 recruits by both rivals.com and theinsiders.com. He already has received offers from LSU, Georgia Tech, Southern Cal and Notre Dame, among others.

Here is an article talking about the background of Tony Clark, our first verbal commit. Best quote -

"I knew I wanted to play for them, so it was pretty exciting when they made the offer," Clark said. "It's a good school academically and they play defense the way I like to play. I think I can succeed there."

Also note the quote at the bottom of the article where it talks about other recruits interested in GT:

Groves' DeMasi said two more of his players have also drawn interest from Tech. Barrod Heggs, a 6-3, 220-pound defensive end, made 16 sacks as a junior in 2003, while running back Jonathan Armstrong led the Rebels in rushing with more than 1,000 yards.

NCAA rules prevent Georgia Tech's coaches from commenting on recruits until they sign a letter of intent next February.

In other recruiting news, Florida's 2003 leading rusher says he is considering Georgia Tech along with Ohio State and Southern California. Maurice Wells rushed for 3,000 yards and 31 touchdowns last fall for Jacksonville's Sandalwood High School.

Wells, the Florida Times-Union's 2003 Offensive Player of the Year, is coached by Adam Geis, the son of Georgia Tech assistant coach Buddy Geis. Wells' teammate, standout linebacker Marvin Sapp Jr., also lists the Yellow Jackets among his favorites.

BEST BACKCOURTS IN THE NATION
Over at this AZ hoops site, they have made a list of the top 20 backcourts. Why - well, AZ has quite a storied tradition with PG's, much like GT. So it is nice to see GT 3rd on the list, with Jack, Elder, Bynum and even Fredrick getting billing. Thanks to Buzzweiser over at the Hive for the link. Who is #1 - Wake Forest, and that is hard to argue with Paul and Grey. UNC comes in 2nd.

STANFORD MAY BE BETTER WITH TRENT JOHNSON
Based on this article. Trent is a guy who will the offense go a bit more and is probably a stronger recruiter. Time will tell.......... In other coaching news, it looks like nepotism is alive and well, as Eddie Sutton's son will take over the reigns at OSU when he is done, which could be a couple of years out.

STANFORD AND GT - RECRUITING STYLES
No doubt Stanford and GT have something in common - we have to draw from the same limited pool of players that can play sports at the highest levels, but also excel in the classroom. This article about Stanford and Trent Johnson's challenges mentions one of our recruits that Stanford lost - Zam Fredrick -

From the high school class of 2004, Montgomery couldn't get two elite student-athletes past the admissions department. One, shooting guard Zam Frederick, had a GPA better than 4.0 and was taking afternoon classes at a local community college because he wanted the challenge. Frederick ended up at Georgia Tech. Not a bad school.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW - DEAN KEENER
Well now that he is gone, he has been named one of the top 25 recruiters in the nation by Rivals.com. Well ain't that great. Congrats to him, but hopefully Coach Hewitt can replace what he brought to the team, particularly on the recruiting trail.

MAJOR DISRUPTION IN THE POWER ALLEYS AT UGAg
Check out this article. UGAGg just severed ties with its main fund raising foundation. Fascinating and it will be interesting to see if this has some type of ripple effect with other state schools.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW - TARA KNUDSEN
The former Yellow Jacket softball star has signed with the pro softball team the New England Riptide. She still holds the ACC and GT marks for career home runs with 45 - story here.

Daily Swarm

HOOPS - WAS GT TOO PATIENT AGAINST UCONN?
Interesting analysis by the same guy who does the Pomeroy rankings. Click here to read his analysis of the GT/UConn NC game and comparing the style of play to the rest of GT's games during the season. His conclusion - the argument that GT should have slowed down the game was a weak one. Thanks to Yoni over at Collegeball.blogspot.com for the find. If you like college hoops, it's a great blog to check out.

RECRUITING NOTES - FOOTBALL
Looks like we have made the short list for Maurice Wells, one of the nation's top high school RB prospects. Who are we battling with? While he has 'ship offers from just about every major school, over at insiders they are saying that GT, Ohio State and U.Southern Cal are his top 3 (found on the public portion). Now that is impressive company. He did attend GT's spring practice as well as the combine at GT and hopefully he feels good about his visits. Remember that his high school coach happens to be the son of GT assistant Buddy Geis. Time will tell if he thinks GT is right for him, but the program is really headed upwards imo, and adding this young man would only reinforce the foundation Coach Gailey seems to be setting.

RECRUITING NOTES - BASKETBALL
Some notes from around the ACC on hits and misses and a look to next recruiting season........... Here's an interesting look back at the 1986 NBA Draft. That was the year that John Salley was picked #11 and Mark Price #25. It was also the year that Len Bias was chosen #2 by the Celtics.

HOW LONG CAN THE SEC IGNORE THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE
That is the question this article asks. No doubt as the ACC gets stronger in football, the SEC will be looking over its shoulder. SEC fans won't like it, and they certainly won't want to hear that their conference is not longer dominant, but the truth will hard to deny. The ACC will end up being the most powerful overall conference in college sports, because when you look at all the major sports, nobody will hold a candle to the across-the-board strength....... Speaking of the changing landscape, the Peach Bowl wants in on the action. A 9th BCS Bowl will be added soon, and we are going to have to eat a lot more chicken for the Peach Bowl to get the nod. Either that or some major subsidization.

JACKETS TO FACE MD AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY
Well, we just got done sweeping MD- now we get to face them again after they took down WF today. WF tried to make a game of it, scoring 5 runs over the last 3 innings to pull the final score to 15-12, but to no avail........ On another note, this interview over at baseball america talks about the tourney, seeds, etc. Will Kimmey, one of their experts actuallys predicts GT have one of the 8 national seeds, although I think the only way this happens is winning the ACC tourney........... For the big dance, SEBASEBALL.COM has projected GT to host the Atlanta regional, with the Citadel, Vandy and UNC-Wilmington in our bracket.

CHECK YOUR FACTS
Why do people think GT is a private school? Is it the whole "don't use the word university" in the official title thing? Check out this article - . It's an interesting article about the impact of the new NCAA regulations and states that take advantage of programs like the hope 'ship in GA. But quote like this make you disregard most of it -

"Private schools can also sign kids who qualify by making the necessary grade point average that is in the 2.5 range and an average ACT or SAT score, but the scholarship money does not make a dent in the tuition cost at private schools like a Georgia Tech or a Tulane like it does at a LSU or a Georgia."

Daily Swarm

JACKETS GET 1ST FOOTBALL COMMIT
Defensive Back Tony Clark has committed to the Jackets, becoming the 1st football commit for the 2004 season. Tony is 6'2" 185lb and a solid DB. Also a standout in track in the 100 and 200 meters. He chose GT over Clemson, E.Carolina and M.Tenn.St...... On another note, South Carolina hs WR Rendrick Taylor is turning heads and already has offers from GT and other big schools like FSU, UF, Tenn, MD, Mich, UGAg and many others.

ACC BEESBALL TOURNEY STARTS TUESDAY
For the complete schedule, click here. The Jackets will play the winner of the MD / WF play-in game Tuesday night. Gametime will be 1:00 pm Wed.

BEESBALL TEAM BACK IN THE TOP 10 IN THE POLLS
Where we belong. Number 10 in Baseball America (link here). For some really screwy news, by sweeping MD by a combined 34 runs, our RPI actually got worse (link here). I guess playing a crappy team is just hard to overcome........... Also of note is that 6 Jackets were named to the All-ACC team - Boggs / Owings / Patterson / Blackwood / Kown / Remole. Link here.

COACH PATRICK NIX DAZZLES THE CROWD
Story here. Check out this quote on the GT recruiting story -

“Not many schools in the nation can walk into people’s homes and say, ‘We’re a top-five academic school in basically every category, we’ve been to seven straight bowl games — one of only 11 teams in the nation. We’re in the top 20 in all-time victories for football, the top 10 in all-time bowl appearances and we’re in the city of Atlanta. What more do you want?’
“In basketball, we were the No. 2 team in the country this year. In baseball, we’ve got the longest win streak in the country right now. Football, we’re in the top 20 in every category you want to be in. We’re not going to win them all, but we’ve got plenty to be proud of.”
He also noted how expansive the Yellow Jacket empire has become.
“We have alumni in all 50 states, and unless I’m wrong, the lowest is North Dakota with eight,” he said."

. That's right! That's what I'm talking about!!

TECH RESEARCHERS FIND MONKEYS ON PAR WITH AP SPORTWRITERS
Does this really surprise anyone?

CHAUNTE HOWARD BORN TO JUMP
Nice story on this potential Olympian.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW - JOE BURNS
Guess who is taking online classes in order to graduate with a business management degree from GT? None other than our old friend Joe Burns. Story here.

STANFORD HAS A NEW COACH LINED UP
Looks like they will hire Nevada coach Trent Johnson. So remember that "recruiting advantage" we talked about? Well, you can probably forget it. Oh, it's possible that it hurts them with a few recruits this season, but probably not a big deal moving forward.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW - TONY HARGROVE
While Tony is dazzling coaches, he is fighting fatigue. A nice story on Hargrove and other rookies as they learn about NFL speed versus college speed.

The pace didn't abate during minicamp. The Rams are thin at defensive end and seem to be seeing whether Hargrove can contribute immediately. He often ran two out of every three repetitions during drills. After an hour and a half of that Saturday, Hargrove made a rookie mistake in the seven-on-seven drills, prompting Kollar to yell for another end. Hargrove was actually a bit relieved. "I just needed a rest," he said.

Ten minutes later, Kollar yelled for Hargrove to return, again stressing that Hargrove better go full-speed. Hargrove responded by beating his man, then crossing the field to chase the ballcarrier for about 40 yards.

"They said I'd better be around the ball, so that's where I went," he said. "That's what they expect - 100 percent all the time. You've got to do everything just right."

UNC RECRUIT GOING PRO LAYS AN EGG AT WORKOUT
Look 2/3 of the way down the page to read about JR Smith and how the day after he signed with an agent, he layed a major egg in a workout for the Blazers and Jazz. Well, I wish the best for him. He's made his bed - now he's got to.... shoot out of it.

ANYONE CATCH JOE HAMILTON ON THE TUBE SUNDAY?
Wow - another great performance. He ended the game 14-17 for 168 yards, 4 TD's and 1 INT. All I can say is that I sincerely hops someone gives Lil Joe a chance to show his stuff in the NFL. Jon Gruden was at the game, but of course his brother is the HC of the Orlando team where Joe plays.

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."

Daily Swarm

MORE ON HOOPS RECRUITING
On his chosing KU. As usual, there is no gaurantee he ever steps foot on campus, as this article points out........ This is an interesting story on Ramon Sessions, who could end up in prep school instead of joining a college for the 2004 class. But look at this odd quote -

"He said Georgia Tech, which has no more scholarships available, wants him to go to prep school."

. That's odd, because GT DOES have another 'ship available, or else how the heck could R.Morris have made his way on campus. So either this means that quote was from last fall, or it could mean that Coach Hewitt is on the fence about bringing this guy in, whether that means talent or academics.......... Sessions is a 6'1 PG and Rivals has him as the 27th best at his position.

DOES THE NBA SUCK?
Did Paul Hewitt get it right, like the writer of this article says?

"Paul Hewitt got it right. At the Final Four, the Georgia Tech coach, a Knicks fan who grew up in New York, said it wasn't the shot that saved pro basketball, it was the pass. The passes thrown by Magic, by Bird. There was an artistry in the way the greats moved the ball around, the way they found the open man when no one else knew they were open.

That art is dead, and long gone. Now it's all about the shots. Kobe Bryant throwing up 40. Or Allen Iverson firing up 50. (No wonder he has to wear a sleeve.) Most of them bad. Most off-target. Not that they care. To them, shooting means star power and endorsements and getting your "props." It's all about what's in it for me?

Daily Swarm

Well, I'm headed on vacation in Hilton Head SC with the fam for the next week. I will bring the laptop with me for the occasional blog, but it will probably be a light week. Maybe my comrades can fill in the slack. Well, on to GT news:

DAWGS GO DOWN!!!
Anytime the Dawgs are defeated by our beloved Jackets, that is headline news. Today the softball team beat the sniffers 3-2 on an outstanding pitching performance by J.Sallinger.

GOLF TEAM TIED FOR 4TH IN EAST REGIONAL
Clemson and GT are tied for 4th after day 3. One more full day of gold. The key is that the top 10 in each region advance. Penn St. is in the lead in the East. Go Jackets!!

BEESBALL TEAM CONTINUES WIN STREAK
Well, the streak continues. Jackets win 10-2 over MD for #15 in a row. That means we have clinched at least #2 in the ACC. Two more wins means regular season champs. Owings pitches 7 strong, Patterson steals his ACC leading 41st base and 26th in a row without getting caught. Story here........... In related news, FSU beat WF 27-3. No not football - we are talking baseball. Wow!!

BILL HODGES RANKS GT'S HOOPS CLASS #18
While Rivals had us #21, Bill Hodge, another guru, has our class at #18. Other notables - FSU #15, NCST #19, Clemson #22, VaTech #25

Hoops Recruiting

Rashad Chase - Profile here. A 6'7" forward the Jackets are interested for 2005/2006. He is from the ATL area and has been offered 'ships from at least 3 SEC schools and now UK, UGAg and GT are showing more interest. Looks like he has offers from Alabama, FSU, Ole Miss and Tenn. He is currently not ranked by insiders in their top 100 and Rivals has him 136. Looks like he leans to UK. Why. Rashad's dad played for Tubby Smith in high school in Maryland. Rashad went to Tubby's hoops camp when he was in 8th grade. So, we could lose another ATL area big man to UK - we will see.

Bobby Frasor has GT in his topo 8 and is considered one of the top guard prospects in the nation and top 10 overall. Here is a story on him yesterday. Looks like his official visits will be Marquette, Stanford, UNC, but is indicating a decision could come soon after his official Stanford and "unofficial" UNC visit..... So while we are in his top 8, it seems to me we are a long-shot. Certainly if we cannot get him to campus we can probably forget it. My guess is that UNC probably leads, particulary with the Stanford coaching situation - but time will tell.

And the rich get richer. In what is arguably the best week of recruiting by any school this year, Kansas lands their 4th top commit of the week - two juniors and two seniors. Today Mario Chalmers committed to Kansas over Arizona - while GT was in the mix.

The Truth about the 5/8 rule ??

Great editorial on the 5/8 rule from CollegeHoopsNet.com

Golden State to Hire Stanford Coach

Well, it is common knowledge now, but Golden State fired HC Eric Musselman and are hiring Mike Montgomery from Stanford. How is this GT relavent? Well, GT competes with Stanford for a lot of the same recruits - the academically capable / skilled hoops set. This story from ESPN says it best at the bottom -

"The Stanford job likely would attract some of the top names in the business who have a history of working with academically rich, highly skilled basketball players. The Cardinal's recruiting pool is consistently considered one of the smallest in the country for a high-major program."

That's Stanford and that's GT also. So will Montgomery leaving help our recruiting efforts? My guess is that it will cause a blip in the radar in our favor. Bobby Frasor, one our top targets, decided to still take an official visit to Stanford even with this news, but my guess is that it hurts their efforts to land him. For now he has no idea who the coach is going to be and what will happen to any of the assistants he has been in contact with. Whether or not it helps for the next 3-5 years all depends on the quality of the HC they bring in. But my guess is that any advantage we might have will be short-lived after this recruiting season.

In other recruiting news, former UNC recruit JR Smith has not only entered the draft, but has now signed with an agent - meaning he will officially never be a Tarheel. I guess there IS something "fina' than to be in Carolina".

Kansas is expected today at 4:00 to hear that they have landed the services of one of the bewt PG's in the 2005 - Mario Chalmers. GT was also after him. Story from KU.......... Here's more on the top recruiting class at Kansas, inlcuding a lot of guys we were interested in like Galindo / Giles, etc........... Here's more on Chalmers and his ability.

2005 Recruiting - Hoops top 100

Rivals has updated their top 100 recruits for next season. Link here. If you look at their "lists" of schools, you will see that GT is involved with at least 16 of these kids, and RamblinRed over at the Hive says we have made contact with at least 24 of them, even if GT is not listed.

In some ways, it will be interesting to see how Coach Hewitt handles the 'ship situation. We will lose 5 players minimum, and possibly a 6th if Jack leaves. Who knows what else could happen. Unfortunately, some experts like Dave Telep (see interview here), see the 2005 class as very weak once you get past the top 50. It is a class that will not see anywhere near the number of highschool-to-NBA defections as this year's class. The 2004 class could go down as one of the most talented HS classes in the last 15 years. Time will tell.

Anyhow, with 5-6 'ships to give out and the talent base smaller, what strategy will Coach Hewitt use? People close to the program have said he will sign 5 for sure. After this season we are back in rebuilding mode, so it will be interesting. Stay tuned.

Interesting stat on Championships

BonafideJacket over at the Hive found an interesting stat. Name the only college within the past 15 years to have played in the National Championship game in football, hoops AND baseball? None-other than our own GT. Oklahoma came close, playing for the hoops championship 16 years ago. Of course our 1990 NC in football was not technically a "NC" game. But you get the point.

Now that's impressive from a little engineering school in the south. Not bad at'all.

Daily Swarm

FINAL FOUR A FINANCIAL SUCCESS FOR SA
Evidently out-of-town fans spent an average of $229 / day in San Antonio. Story here.

HARGROVE CONTINUES TO DAZZLE
With the Rams -

Overwhelming might be the proper term to describe defensive end Anthony Hargrove's showing at rookie camp. Hargrove, a speedy 6-foot-3, 289-pound third-round selection from Georgia Tech, dominated in pass-rush drills. It's a safe bet that defensive line coach Bill Kollar will be keenly interested in how Hargrove fares against the likes of Adam Timmerman, Andy McCollum and other old hands.

WEST VIRGINIA SOFTBALL POY TO PLAY FOR GT
Short blurb here. 17-4 record with a 0.10 ERA and 241 strikeouts in 133 innings - not to mention batting .430.

NCST BOARD DEBATES THE #1 ACC QB NEXT SEASON
Interesting thread here.

ACC NOTES FROM THE ROBESONIAN
link here.

"Ramblin Wreck" Song Contributes to World Peace

Thanks to daBuzz and Buzzfan over at the Hive for this story. In the ACC Football magazine there is a story about ACC school traditions.

The phrase Rambling Wreck is an important part of Georgia Tech's tradition, as well as the title of the school's fight song, which begins "I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an engineer". The song became so famous that Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev sang it at their historic 1959 meeting in Moscow........... the story goes that during the infamous "kitchen debate" (Nixon & Kryzewsksischev ;-) arguing about the respective abilities of Americans and Russians to own and furnish homes during a tour of an appliance display at a US Trade & Cultural Fair in Moscow), it was decided that the mood needed to be lightened. Singing a song was suggested, but Nixon knew no Russiian songs. Khruschev, however, knew "RWFGT". So....they sang it together.

Follow the NCAA Golf Tourney

Link here. GT is currently in 6th place in the east regional at +11. Florida leads at +6 with UGAg and Clemson close behind.

Softball Team beats UMass

At the Athens regional today the LadyJackets softball team defeated UMass 1-0 on a Jessica Sallinger 2-hitter. The two hits - bunt singles. Outstanding.

The LadyJackets will need to find their bats. This is the 2nd game in a row where they have only scored 1 run.

Now they will play the winner of the UGAg / E.KY match-up Friday at 12:30. GO JACKETS!!

Sports Note

Notes on baseball, softball and golf - link here.

More on the JP/RC TV Deal

Link here. The best thing about last year's TV deal was that the Clemson / GT game was not televised. When we exact revenge this season there is a good chance it will be on the tube.

Who's Busted ?

usnews.com: Education: College Sports: Sanctions and Probation (3/18/02)

Want to know who is on probation - check it out.

Do You Remember ??

Do you remember ????? 

Raycom / Jefferson Pilot Finalize Deal with ACC

The syndication deal is done with Raycom / Jefferson Pilot to give them syndication rights to ACC football through 2010. They also increased to financial hoops package as well, although details were not divulged.

Daily Swarm

BEESBALL TEAM ROLLS OVER GASTATE
Well, they scored early and scored often, winning by a final of 13-3, for their 14th straight win. Ok, are we peaking at the wrong time? On the surface you say NO WAY. Winning 14 down the final season stretch. This is currenlty the longest winning streak in the nation (link here). Can they keep up this pace heading into the post-season and continue to Omaha? Time will tell.

SOFTBALL TEAM TO PLAY AT ATHENS REGIONAL
Well, we can beat the buttsniffers and win a softball regional. What could be finer?? Link here, with schedule and gametimes.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW - STEWART CINK
Short inteview with Cink as he heads into the Bank of America Colonial Tourney. Quote of playing at GT -

"You were a golfer, husband and father at Georgia Tech. How hard was that? ANSWER - I did things on a different schedule than most people. But it's been great for us. We had some tough times early and with having an early family and still trying to finish school, both of us [wife Lisa]. Financially, our families were strapped, but it taught us a good lesson. We'll never forget about those days."

HIGH SCHOOL PITCHER HOPES TO WALK-ON AT GT
... or UGAg - whoever seems interested. From this article -

"Dublin turned to senior Taylor Cox, who was the No. 2 pitcher behind Thomas, to take over as ace. It was a challenge Cox gladly accepted.

"I expected to be the No. 1 pitcher, and I expected a lot put on me," said Cox, who hopes to be a walk-on at either the University of Georgia or Georgia Tech. "Last year, I had problems when the game got down. I would give up, and this year I have improved a lot since then. I am mentally stronger."

Cox heads the list of 12 pitchers, 11 of whom saw time on the mound this season. Cox pitched 12 of the 26 games for a record of 10-2. In 65 innings, Cox - who is fifth in his senior class - has a 1.39 ERA with three shutouts and 117 strikeouts.

CJ GILES GOING TO KANSAS
Well, Kansas got their 3rd committment of the week, landing Miami transfer CJ Giles. They are not done, as they could land highly touted junior hs Mario Chalmers, who GT is after as well. Chalmer visited last weekend (with Giles I think), and might even commit this week.

Here are some players the NBA will have to wait on - from Andy Katz.

Here is a complete list of all 94 early entrants into the NBA draft.

Here is an interesting editorial from Michael Wilbon about black players skipping college altogether.

RIVALS RANKS GT HOOPS RECRUITS #21 IN THE NATION
Link here. They have our class #21. Guess who's #1 - UK. Of note is that there is not one ACC team in the top 15, even though the ACC landed more top 100 players than any other conference. FSU comes in at #16, NC ST #19, Clemson #22, VaTech #23. Notice NO Duke and NO UNC. Boo hoo.

Outstanding article on NBA / College Hoops Delimma

I thought this was a very interesting piece on players leaving early, from the Orlando Sentinel. Some interesting points:

- 59 players will be selected in the draft
- 94 underclassmen and foreign players have declared for the draft
- Of these, 13 are high school players, 7 college frosh, 8 sophomores
- Not likely to be more than 6 college seniors drafted.
- There were 27 high school seniors drafted between 1996-2003 TOTAL!!!

Quote from the article -

"The flood of high schoolers and college underclassmen to the NBA in the past five years has left college basketball almost devoid of elite players. The game has become one of solid team play rather than exceptional individual talent."

. I'm sorry, they make this sound like a BAD thing! What the heck - give me a break. That is what made GT's season so great - at least for GT fans. The lack of a "superstar" on the GT team probably hurt our ability to win fans from other parts of the country. But for current GT fans, it made for an absolutely magical and memorable season.

Notice that Coach Cremins is quoted in the article, and completely takes the blame for Stephon Marbury:

"Eight years ago, the phenom Cremins had spent so much time chasing -- the guy his whole Georgia Tech team was built around -- headed for the NBA door after only one year with the Yellow Jackets. Not long after, people whispered that not only had Stephon Marbury destroyed Georgia Tech, he had destroyed Cremins' job, too.

"That's not true," Cremins insists. "What killed me was I didn't have foresight. Stephon had every right to turn pro, and he should have. I just fell asleep at the wheel."

It's a unique perspective from a coach who had his share of early exits, including Kenny Anderson, who declared for the NBA after his sophomore season. Cremins says it's not the high schoolers who are lottery picks who are hurting college basketball and the NBA; instead, it's the second-tier guys, the ones lured by visions of big-money shoe contracts and supposed first-round selections that simply don't exist.

"We all have problems with the kids who are not going to get drafted high, who are not going to be getting guaranteed money and guaranteed shoe contracts," Cremins says. "We don't what some of those idiots are thinking."

You know he is right. It's not the Stephon Marbury's that are going to hurt the college game - it's the Josh Powells and the soon to be written story of Donta Smith. Guys who are listening to the rhetoric of sleazy agents standing on every street corner, willing to tell them what they want to hear.

In my opinion, the rush of players to the NBA is actually only going to level the playing field. After all, what is Duke going to be without Livingston, UNC without JR Smith, Louisville with Telfair / D.Smith, etc. The elite programs get the elite players. Now it's a roulette game for them. Rick Pittino played and lost. Tubby Smith played and won. But the Dukes / AZ's / UConn's will find it harder and harder to reach the top year-in and year-out like they used to. Competition will no longer be the top 5 spots clearly separated from 10-20. Now anyone in the top 25 can win it all. All bets are off.

While we are at it, let's not write off college hoops. It is still much more exciting than the NBA, still getting good ratings, still nothing compares to March madness. College hoops will be fine. It is just a new wrinkle in the recruitment and talent building process. Coaches have to develop strategies to take this wrinkle into consideration. The ones who do it well will win more often.

How much did GT spend on football ???

Interesting article centered on West Virginia and their football program. However notice this comment -

"WVU generated $13,848,140 from football that year and spent $6,155,525. That resulted in a net profit of $7,692,615 toward support of the school's other sports teams.

The only BCS schools that spent less that year were Georgia Tech ($5,829,521 expenses; $12,218,121 revenues), Missouri ($4,472,374 and $10,357,568) and Mississippi State ($5,766,859 and $11,461,784).

Where are they now - Dez White

Nice re-cap of the Falcons WR situation -

"A former local star at Georgia Tech, Dez White was acquired in the off-season from Chicago. In his first three seasons in the league, White’s receiving numbers improved. He started with 87 yards in 2000, and then had 428 in 2001, and 656 in 2002. In 2003 his numbers dropped a little across the board. But his play later in games picked up.

White scored all of his touchdowns in the fourth quarter of games in 2003 and he caught more balls in the 4th and had more yards in the final quarter than during any other period of the game. White seems to get better as the game goes on."

Hoops Recruiting Notes

Well Kansas is starting to rake in more talent.

- Alex Galindo committed to KU today. story here.

- CJ Giles will announce Wednesday and it looks like he will probably head to KU

- Junior Micah Downs looks like he committed to KU also today - about a 6'8" wing player.

The rich get richer.

Recruiting - Football

Here is an article on some South Carolina hs talent, some of which GT is looking to grab. Soem of the names on GT's list include:

CJ Byrd - incredibly talented WR
Keiron Williams - WR
Marcus Kennedy - DL, 6'2" 280 lb
Trey Bailey - OL, 6'3" 270 lb
Reynaldo Hunter - WR, 6'0" 170 lb

Where are they now - Joe Hamilton

Joe had another solid outing in leading his team to victory - story here. He went 15-20 for 220 yards, ran for 35, threw 2 TD's and ran for 2 more.

DeCoursey Talks Luke and Morris

Link here. DeCoursey's right, even if Randolph Morris wouldn't admit it. Let's face it - if you are considered the number 1 center actually going to college and won't even start on the college team you might chose, that changes your opinion quickly. From DeCoursey -

"The development of 7-1 C Luke Schenscher was a big reason Georgia Tech reached the NCAA championship game, but it hurt the Yellow Jackets in recruiting 6-11 C Randolph Morris, who instead committed to Kentucky. Morris considered declaring for the NBA draft and following PF Dwight Howard and SF Josh Smith, who were Morris' teammates on the Atlanta Celtics, a summer-league club. But Morris realized he needs more development. The Wildcats, who often had to use 6-6 junior Chuck Hayes in the post last season, offered an immediate vacancy at center, and Tech did not. . . ."

. In other recruiting news, Kansas fans believe they are about to hit the jackpot. Today they will learn if they land senior Alex Galindo and junior Micah Downs. Later in the week they will learn if they land transfer CJ Giles. "Sources" have them all leaning to Kansas. Story here.

Get out the brooms folks

We are talking a sweep of the Tiggers. With a sweep of the MD Twerps next weekend we can clinch the ACC regular season title. GO JACKETS!!!

More on the Morris Brothers

Sorry - just keeping you posted - story here.

Band of brothers

Whether former Georgia Tech manager Jonathan Morris should be considered a future Kentucky manager remains unclear. But it's now official that he will join his younger brother, big man Randolph Morris, at UK next season.

"They both want to go to school together," the brothers' father, Ralph Morris, said. "I guess it's a comfort thing for both of them. They've been close. They've always gone to the same school."

In the recruitment of Randolph Morris, UK Coach Tubby Smith mentioned the possibility of Jonathan joining the UK program as a manager. UK typically compensates managers with a scholarship or a salary comparable to a scholarship.

The elder Morris downplayed the significance of Jonathan becoming a manager to Randolph's decision to choose UK over Georgia Tech. While no doubt helpful, "I don't really think it was that big a bearing on it," Ralph Morris said.

"15 will get you 30..... days"

This is the story of how Virginia Tech started started their downfall from the heights of the Big East to the lows of the ACC. Honestly, I see VaTech getting into a downward spiral and not being that successfull in the ACC - at least the first few years. Take some scandals like this - throw in a bunch on NFL draftees, and you are left with a bit of a rebuilding project. Oh, they'll be good, but they won't be in the top class of the ACC like Miami in football. Just don't see it.

Oh yeah - "15 will get you 30.....days" - story on Marcus Vick getting 30 days in the pokey for doing the hokey pokey - ok, actually he was acquitted of that charge.

Hoops Notes

Nice review from nbadraft.net of their pick for the pre-season top 10. Here is the write-up on GT:

5. Georgia Tech—Yep, a third team out of the ACC to make the top 5, and none of them are named Duke (thanks to Luol Deng and Shaun Livingston playing in the NBA next year, not Durham). The Yellow Jackets return most of what made a run to the national championship game, but here they sit at #4, why? Were seniors Marvin Lewis and Clarence Moore that important? Yes, and no. This team has more than enough to do it without them, but Lewis was a key part of the backcourt that carried them into San Antonio, and Moore a big part of the energy off the bench. Jarrett Jack and BJ Elder return to lead the team, and the two backcourts stars will be among the marquee names in college hoops this year. Elder is among the best wing scorers in the country, and Jack proved this past March that he deserves to be among the elite ACC PGs Chris Paul, John Gilchrist, and Ray Felton. Will Bynum replaces Lewis in the starting lineup, and while he may well produce more than Lewis did, he also means this team loses one more of the energizers off their bench. But Bynum, Jack, and Elder do make up probably the best backcourt trio in the nation this coming season. Behind them will be a trio of freshman, and in Paul Hewitt’s aggressive style, Zam Frederick, Anthony Morrow, and Jeremis Smith will be needed to come in ready to play. Up front, both Anthony McHenry and Luke Schenscher return. McHenry doesn’t provide much, but he isn’t asked to either. How Schenscher develops will be crucial for this team. He had several big games last year, but also disappeared from time to time. He will need to quit disappearing for this team to do more than just make the Final Four this year, but even without long coveted recruit Randolph Morris, Hewitt will have more to turn to down low than he did last year. Isma’il Muhammed returns for his senior season, and hopefully can show more than just great strength and leaping ability. He was a big part of the bench last year, and will likely be asked to lead the reserves again this year. Theodis Tarver struggled injuries and inconsistent play as a SO, but will be looked upon to improve as he becomes an upperclassman. Not a great talent, but he does have the size and agility to be a solid defensive presence in the paint. Ra’Sean Dickey was signed to help give one more wide body to bang on the blocks. A team on the rise that returned a lot of what made their surprise run, can they take it a step farther?

Their total top 10:

1. Wake Forest
2. Kentucky
3. UConn
4. North Carolina
5. Georgia Tech
6. Texas
7. Michigan State
8. Kansas
9. Pitt
10. Illinois

How about that. Three ACC teams in the top 5 and NO Duke. What is the world coming to?

Lady Jackets win three today

Well, the men's beesball team is not the only one winning. The lady softballers won three today, facing elimination. First they knocked off #3 UVA, then Maryland 6-4, then they finished off the #2 seed UNC tonight 4-0. Congrats !!!!!! Talk about the tri-fecta. Now they will face FSU for the championship game on Sunday.

Jackets extend beesball winning streak to 12

Another day, another win. Isn't it funny - when a team is winning like this, in your mind you cannot imagine them losing their next 5 games. However, when a team is in a slump, it is hard to imagine them winning even one upcoming game. I think this phenomenon plays itself out in football the worst, as there are so few games, there is at least a week and sometimes two between them and each one is so important. Basketball is the next severe. I mean, when the Jackets were 12-0, I honestly pictured them winning 9 of the next 10. But when they went through that tough ACC stretch, it was tough picturing them winning any of the next three. Then they go to Duke and end a 41-game home winning streak. Baseball probably sees this phenomenon the least, because in baseball, it is just easy to lose a game if your team is not hitting well, or you have a couple of errors.

Funny how human nature works.

On a side note, don't know if you caught the comment during the Friday night broadcast - Coach Hewitt brought his daughters to the ball game!! Great support from our hoops coach.

In other ACC beesball news, conference leader UVA just swept Wake Forest. What does this mean? Well, we are one ahead in the loss column, but we will now have to win out our remaining 4 conference games to actually win the ACC regular season title. Come on Wake, we just wanted one win from you for a little breathing room. Do we have to do everything ourselves? Guess so.

Jackets beat Tigers in game 1

Nice win for the Jackets. The Jackets can win the ACC by winning the rest of their games - they control their own destiny.

Lady softball team wins one, loses one

They beat NCST today 2-1, then lost to FSU 3-2 tonight.

The men's team is up 3-2 over Clemson right now in the bottom of the 4th. Wes Hodges was in the dugout, and it was obvious he got hit in the face. The side of his face was swollen, he had a shiner under his eye, and his eye socket looked puffy. Hopefully he will be able to recover well and have 100% vision.

Here's some beesball news from around the nation.

ESPN on UK / Morris

Had to print this quote from ESPN, on Tubby's ability to grab Morris out of our backyard even though his brother is a manager on the GT team:

Morris is from Atlanta, where he watched hometown team Georgia Tech make a run to the national title game. Not only that, his older brother was a manager for the Yellow Jackets. For months, the assumption was that the only decision Morris had was between Tech and the NBA

He could offer Morris the one thing Tech could not: An immediate chance for maximum minutes. Hewitt welcomes back center Luke Schenscher, who blossomed in the NCAA Tournament, while Kentucky was scrambling for an alternative to unpolished sophomores Sheray Thomas or Lukasz Obrzut in the middle. If Morris doesn't start for the Cats next year, it will be a surprise.

(As an apparent signing bonus, Smith also offered Morris' brother a chance to transfer and become a manager at Kentucky. Thus making Jonathan Morris the most sought-after towel folder in college ball.)

I just had to put that on the 'blog - "the most sought-after towel folder in college ball. Nuff said.

Recruiting Update - Hoops - Brandon Costner

Short article on this 6'8" forward from Seton Hall Prep School. GT has offered him a 'ship and we are in his top 10 - no favorites developing.

The other side of the ACC TV deal

Well, evidently TV money is a zero-sum game. They giveth and they taketh away. And guess who they taketh away from? The Big East - story here. Well, what do you think - you lose Miami, VaTech and BC and expect to keep the same TV deal? Don't think so. And while hoops will improve their situation, it won't make up for the loss, even bringing in 50 new teams.

Well, if you were an ACC hater before, you will REALLY be an ACC hater now. People already don't like how much TV coverage we get. Now, more and more when you turn on the dial, it will be even more ACC. The article cites that TWICE as many ACC games will be televised by ESPN.

The "Arms Race" in the ACC

It's all about the facilities. How much can you impress recruits when they come to visit? Interesting story with a lot of quotes from Tommy Bowden on the recruiting challenges.

Tiger pitcher May get first time start

Clemson pitcher Josh Cribb might get his first start of the year tonight. These things have a way of either being very good or very bad........ after thinking about that last statement I realized what brilliant insight it is - "either good or bad"..... hhhmmm. Anyhow, here's hoping he gets a big case of nerves. Story here.

Here's a nice story on Eric Patterson and his spark. Eric is only 15 stolen bases behind the all-time career GT mark of 115 set by Ty Griffin.

Where are they now - Marylon Byrd

Ok, former GT player Marlon Byrd has gone over the edge. He is now wearing a Duke Bluedevil cap I guess under his regular hat and it has helped him break his slump. Personally, I'd just assume go 0-150. But oh well. -

"Duke and Byrd: Look no further than the top of Marlon Byrd's dome for the source of his recent success.

Adorning his shaved melon is a blue cap for the Duke Blue Devils, worn at the request of closer Billy Wagner, who thought it would change the slugging outfielder's luck.

The act alone is a punishable offense, considering that Byrd grew up in Atlanta and attended Georgia Tech. But Byrd hit a leadoff homer on his first day after wearing it -- the May 5 game against the Cardinals -- and has worn it every day since.

He's batting .333 (8-for-24) in the six games he's been wearing it, with five RBIs and five runs scored.

"Speaks for itself," said Wagner. "He's a changed man."

Byrd said it's all about the wins right now and doesn't mind the ribbing he will likely take once the word gets out. He scoffs at Kevin Millwood's notion that Byrd will hate Georgia Tech by the end of the season.

"No way, but it's working right now, so I'm going with it," said Byrd. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Where are they now - Donnie Davis

Well COACH Davis is jumping right in with the Georgia Force as their new offensive coordinator, but he is staying mostly back a bit, as he gains respect as a coach. He is actually younger that some of the players (he's 31). Story here.

GT Athletics Keeps Rollin...Rollin...Rollin

Techfoul over at Stingtalk gave me the idea of looking at the overall success of the tech programs. link here. Well, while we have our frustrations at time to time over GT sports, let's review the state of our athletic programs:

Football
Just played in our 7th straight bowl game, still have the highest or 2nd highest bowl winning % of all-time, had virtually every graduating starter either get drafted by the NFL or sign with NFL teams as free agents, had our best recruiting class in years, won recruiting battles with Notre Dame, FSU, Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Nebraska, Miami and more, return a talented sophomore QB, the ACC's leading rusher, have a coach that understands what GT is about and how to sell that to smart athletic kids, we are building depth at key positions, we just added Miami / VaTech / BC to make this truly a premiere conference...

Baseball
Ranked in the top 25 by all polls, and as high as 15, a 10 game winning streak, a chance to win the ACC and host a regional, are among 4 teams that have made to an NCAA regional 18 of the last 19 years, beat UGAg 2/3 including at the Ted, bringing in top 5 recruiting classes every year, a perennial contender every season, send players to the bigs, have a talented coach who really can take us to the next level.

Basketball
Just made the Final Four for the 2nd time in history and played in the NC game for the first time ever, finished the season ranked #3, have a stud of a coach that brings in talent and can flat out coach and motivate, are returning the majority of our team and bringing in a top 15 recruiting class, have a junior PG leading the way, are projected in the top 5 for next season, have 8 current players in the NBA, along with countless others playing around the world,

Women's Softball
Ranked in the top 25 most of the season, recruiting well.

Golf
Annually ranked in the top 25, currently #6 in the nation, seeded #4 in the upcoming regional NCAA tourney, 3 players made the All-ACC Squad, have a nice group of pro's to follow,

Volleyball
Finish the season ranked #8, won the ACC regular season, bringing in talented young players, have a great young coach, might have a member on the Olympic team,

Lacrosse
Heck, these guys just won the SELC Championship beating a bunch of higher ranked teams.

Track and Field
We have a potential Olympian high jumper on our squad - the national champion Chaunte Howard. We have the indoor / outdoor ACC Performer of the Year Brendon Mahoney.

Swimming / Diving
Our teams finished in the top 35 in both men's and women's nationals, something no other combined men's / women's GT teams have ever done in their 3 year existence. We had an All-American in the 1500 freestyle, Sam Morgan. On the women's side, Vesna Stojanovska became the 1st GT women's swimmer to earn All-American honors.

CONCLUSION
We are in the strongest hoops conference year-in and year-out, our football conference can truly be considered premiere - winning the bowl championship even without Miami / VT / BC, going 5-1. With them we raise up another notch. We have coaches in place in each of the major sports that seem to combine an eye for talent, skills in player development, an understanding of what GT stands for, and MORALS. We attract the brightest, hardest-working athletes in the country. We are one of the top 5 public universities in the nation, one of the best engineering schools in the country, we are in the a great city.

So is this advertisement for Dave Braine? No, but I think it is fair to say he has picked up on Homer Rice's legacy very well. Yes, we have our frustrations with this game or that game, but when you look at the big picture, we are usually in the hunt. We have balance in our winning across programs. We are not Duke with its hoops / football lopsided focus. We are not the Miami football / hoops lopsided focus. We are Georgia Tech, and we're in the running in all of 'em.

No doubt, you have to bee proud to be a Tech grad.

Swarm of the Day

BEESBALL RECRUITING
John Michael Vidic is a GT signee and recovering from elbow ligament replacement surgury. Talk about rough, having to go through that in high school. Here is a comment on him from AJC -

"Ranked No. 2 in one preseason poll, Lassiter has found the going tough from the time Georgia Tech signee John Michael Vidic found he wasn't ready to pitch 14 months after elbow ligament replacement surgery. Vidic is hitting .318 with 18 RBIs as a first baseman, but he was the only returning Lassiter pitcher who had ever thrown in a varsity game.......Don't be shocked if Vidic makes his first appearance since the opener, when he lasted only two-thirds of an inning. He pitched in scrimmages this week to see if he was ready."

WES HODGES UPDATE
Hivers are reporting that he had 3 broken bones in his cheek but no vision problems. He will be "out indefinitely". Hodges was hit in the face during the GT/UGAg game at the Ted the other night.

SOFTBALL TALENT STRONG IN STATE OF GEORGIA
AJC story.

MORE ON ACC TV DEAL
Story here.

ACC WILL CONTINUE 16-GAME CONFERENCE HOOPS SCHEDULE
Well the TV folks wanted 18 games, but check out this quote -

"The ACC announced that it will continue to play a 16-game men's basketball conference schedule even after it becomes a 12-team league in 2005. The ACC's television partners wanted an 18-game conference schedule, but the coaches were strongly opposed, citing the need for strong non-conference games."

. Ok, let's be real here. Yes, they want to play stronger non-conference opponents, but this gives schools more flexibility to schedule the cream-puffs as well. And whether anyone wants to admit it, you have to rack up W's no matter what. RPI matters, but if you had an incredible RPI but end up with 16 wins, you are still likely NIT bound. Story here.

ACC HOOPS TOURNEY FORMAT FINALIZED ALSO
The format for the 11-team men's basketball tournament was finalized. Seeds six though 11 will play on Thursday, and the three winners will advance to Friday, when four quarterfinal games will be played.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW - KIM KING
Very nice story on former GT QB Kim King (thanks to BuddyLeeJr at the Hive). He has beaten opponents and beaten cancer. Read this article if you want to see the true definition of a "Tech man".

FOOTBALL RECRUITING - CJ Byrd
One kid who already has 31 'ship offers and counting, is CJ Byrd. GT is one of the schools that have offered, but let's not hold out breath until we hear more from him. Here are two article about him - schools offered - story about him.

RANKING THE POTENTIAL ACC FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SITES
One guy provides his pros/cons on each site.

Where are they now - Tom Hammonds Jr.

That's right - Tommy Hammonds' son will be visiting East Carolina for a visit for a hoops 'ship. He is a 6'4" 185lb wing player. He was not recruited by GT. Other schools of interest include Colorado St, Fordham, Stoney Brook and Wichita State.

In other GT recruiting news, it looks more and more like we will not use our last available 'ship this season. Names on the list included Alex Galindo (6'8") and CJ Giles (6'10"). Galindo just got done with his visit to Georgetown and will soon chose between KU, Georgetown, Rutgers or Pitt. It will probably come down to Kansas or Pitt. Giles will be visiting the KU campus this weekend along with Micah Downs (6'8" hs junior) and Mario Chalmers (6'1" junior). Giles is likely going to pick Washington or KU. Chalmers has one more season of hs hoops to go, but is down to Kansas, Arizona, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech. Chalmers is probably target #1 for Coach Hewitt in next year's class.

What do you think of my Photoshop Skills?

I have recently purchased a digital camera and have gotten into photo-editing a bit. Here's an artistic view on a photo from this past season. What do you think?



Speaking of Luke, here is a nice article about him and the Aussie Olympics.

More specifics on the ACC Football TV deal

More details here. Did you know that after last year's 5-1 bowl performance, the ACC is the all-time winningest conference in bowl play? Take that you ACC haters!!

Sports Illustrated Looks at Winners / Losers in hoops

... after all the defections to the NBA. The #1 loser - Duke. Well, this story will not be complete until June 17, which is the last day that players can take their name back OUT of the NBA draft and go to college. Story here.

Great Report on Chan Gailey Speech

Coach Gailey spoke at the Savannah Area GT Club. The details are here at StingTalk. Great report from BarrelORum.

Key points:

- Coach said selling recruits the focus is that GT is THE premiere academic AND athletic school combo in the nation. No school can match the across-the-board success in all programs with the academic national rankings. A degree from GT really means something and people take notice.
- Looks like a long-shot for Leon Robinson to return from hand surgury.
- Concern about depth on the offensive line.
- D.Bilbo stills needs more work to understand the game as a receiver.
- Loves the shotgun and will use it this year in certain situations. However PJ likes getting the ball 7 yards deep, which limits how often you can use it.

Great report.

Where are they now - Rhett Parrott

The 24 year right-handed pitcher is working his way up the Cardinal organization. Here is one review of his stuff:

9. Rhett Parrott, RHP, Age: 24
The Cardinals drafted Parrott out of Georgia Tech with a ninth-round pick in 2001. To date, the performance hasn't really been there, but the organization loves his attitude and poise on the mound. He has a decent fastball and a solid change, but his lack of a breaking pitch may eventually force him to the bullpen. Right now, the Cards still think of him as a back-of-the-rotation type, but, given the praise they lavish upon him in terms of his makeup and his limited repertoire, it wouldn't be a shock to see him eventually get a look as closer. ETA: Late 2004.

Lunch Bunch Report - Wes Durham

Nice report over at the Hive (link here).

Some notes from Wes:

- called Jeremis Smith the "Mike Tyson" of basketball. Hopefully he means tough, not a wife-beater
- Charlotte / Jax seem to have the upper hand for football championship game
- Clemson / Wake Forest are our permanent home-and-away opponents in hoops
- A new FM radio feed is finalized.

Read the whole thing for more.

Walk-on Kicker a Breakout Player???

CollegeFootballNews.com thinks so - link here.

PK Travis Bell, Georgia Tech – Tech’s young kicker nailed nearly every opportunity that came his way and eased some of the concerns the staff had about replacing Dan Burnett. Bell rests comfortably atop the depth chart as the Jackets head into summer.

More on the Beesball trouncing of Mutts

From Savannah Now site.

Hilarious Post Comparing ACC teams to Countries

You thought I had time on MY hands? Check this out (thread here). Someone put a ton of thought into that post - deserves to go into a hall-of-fame.

Ok, I shouldn't, but I have to post it, for those who don't have access:

From Maryland board:

Duke = Germany: This is pretty obvious right? The evil power who everyone hates. Coach K easily parallels as Hitler. Dukies instead of Nazis. Raised arm salute and Fist. The brainwashing of Germans is very similar to “You’ve got angelic eyes”. Duke fans, especially the bandwagon whores, view themselves as superior just because they align themselves with the Duke basketball team just like the Germans viewed themselves as superior because they were Aryan. They’ve even got the propaganda thing down with Dick Vitale and ESPN. Quinn Snyder and Tommy Amaker fill the rolls of Himler and Rommel. The generals responsible for the expansion of their fascist ideals. Wojo is the perfect Eva Braun.

UNC = Japan: The other World Power. I know UNC has been down for 3 years, but historically they fill this roll better than any of the other ACC teams. Japan took over an enormously large part of the world and did it in dominating fashion, just like UNC had done for years. Many different places were taken over and became part of the empire, just like Dean Smith’s protégé’s have spread around the country. Dean Smith himself is kind of like the Emperor reigning over his kingdom, or family as UNC calls it. They pummeled Maryland just like Japan pummeled the US only to get bombs dropped on them in the form of 40 point blowouts.

Which brings us to……

Maryland = USA: The recently emerging program just like the recently emerging world power. Maryland stood up to the 2 super powers and knocked them down. Although Duke was not knocked down like Germany was, Maryland still surpassed them in winning the national title. UNC and Japan….well we know what happened to them. Perhaps VE day will come after VJ day in the ACC….. Roosevelt and Gary? One man in a wheelchair, the other flawed with some personality traits. Each stood up to monumental tasks and overcame them. Pearl Harbor for Roosevelt and the Death Penalty for Maryland. Americans are viewed by Europeans to be crude, uneducated and simple. We know how the ACC views the Terps, pretty much the same.

NC State = Italy: Italy at one time had been the World Power. One of the greatest empires in the world came from there. After the fall of the Roman Empire the Italians were relegated to second tier status. (Sound familiar?) However, they had that history and were making an attempt to climb back on top of the totem poll. (Again….pretty similar.) I’m not sure if the Italians still viewed themselves as a World Power at the time, even when they clearly were not, but for this analogy it would make a lot of sense if they did. Mussolini was a decent leader but was heavily outperformed by the other leaders at the time. Sendek anyone? Heck, the Italians even waffled during World War II just like NC State waffled on ACC expansion. Siding with Duke and UNC one time, and with the others later.

Virginia = France: It doesn’t get any easier than this one. Self proclaimed greatness with nothing to actually back it up. An air of superiority when in reality they were inferior. Great clothes, great food, great location…..horrible people. The Napoleonic complex sums it up almost perfectly. You have a short person who is so insecure that they need to overcompensate in other areas. Pete Gillen comes to mind. Didn’t he once say after a loss that UVA does things a little differently? You can’t have a more perfect example of someone trying to deflect a failure. Its just like an empty trophy case with a fake Super Bowl trophy sitting next to it (I know that’s football but the analogy is just too good). I used to like Virginia until I moved amongst them and had some bad experiences. I think the can be said of Americans and the French as well.

Wake Forest = Russia: The other emerging World Power. Russia had a history of decent success just like Wake. Never quite the World Power but never the doormat either. Perhaps Wake is on the verge of being an elite program like Russia was on the verge of being a Super Power. Some would argue that they are almost there. Wake and Maryland don’t love each other but we have an amicable relationship because we have common enemies, just like the US and Russia did. Of course Russia was much closer to the enemy and had to deal with it on a more regular basis. They battle head to head over territory and culture, like Wake and Duke battle over the state of Carolina for fans, recruits and exposure. Russia was also very close to Japan geographically and had to deal with them as well, just as Wake has to deal with UNC.

Georgia Tech = England: England was part of Europe but was not part of the mainland. Its very similar to how Georgia Tech has been in the ACC both geographically and figuratively. There was a period of time when Maryland, Wake and Virginia were not so good and Tech was the only school able to stand up with Duke and Carolina, just as England stood alone before the US and Russia turned the tide. Churchill was probably the most respected of all the leaders during that era and I think Paul Hewitt is the same in the ACC. Hewitt is almost regal in his demeanor much like the British. He always seems a step above the fray as opposed to the other coaches.

Clemson = Switzerland: The neutral country. No one hates Clemson, no one loves Clemson…..they’re just kind of there amongst us. I’m not even sure the Swiss have ever in their history tried to become a World Power. I think its pretty similar to Clemson’s ambivalence towards basketball. They’re a football school. Clemson also plays defense like Swiss Cheese.

Florida State = Australia: This was the toughest one for me. I picked Australia because they were sided with the US, Russia, England and France yet they were on the periphery. This is similar to how FSU would be more aligned with Maryland, Tech, Wake and UVA over Duke, UNC and NC State. They were also a very new country in terms of the world community as is FSU to the ACC. They didn’t contribute too much but perhaps it was because they hadn’t had the time to do so yet. FSU did have 2 really good years when they first joined and one other tournament bid so it hasn’t been completely unimportant. Australia had similar success in the Pacific against Japan.

ACC To Get Even Richer

Well, everyone knew that expansion was aimed at football and the money it would bring in. But it looks like the new basketball TV deal will also increase school revenue significantly - which was not so expected by many. Story here.

Final 2004 Class Insiders Rankings

Insiders has posted their final top 100 rankings from the hoops high school class of 2004 (thanks RamblinRed for the tip). This is done by recruiting analyst Dave Telep. All four GT recruits make the list:

49..... Ra'Sean Dickey
89..... Anthony Morrow
90..... Buck Fredrick
93..... Jeremis Smith

Other ACC teams stack up like this:

UNC...........Williams #7, Smith #11(NBA), Thomas #40
Duke...........Livingston #2(NBA), Nelson #30, McClure #57
FSU............Swann #36, Rich #39
NCST.........Simmons #24, Brackman #42, Grant #70
UVA..........Singletary #35
MD............Gist #60
VT...........Cooke #74
Clemson.......Sam Perry #85

Overall 19 players from the top 100, far distancing itself from other conferences in getting top talent. Of course the group could be stronger without the NBA defections or the nightime job at least one recruit had (Jameson Curry wasn't burning the candle at both ends, but he was burning something). If you want to read a good article on Curry from the Washington Post - click here.

Not only this, but the ACC generally returns the bulk of the talent from last year. There were some important vacancies, but if you thought the ACC was tough last season, just wait.

By the way, Randolph Morris moved up to #8 in the rankings. Ok, Ok, I'll let it go soon. By the way, just heard that one of UK's project 7-footers (with Morris they will have 3 7-footers) will be redshirting for his sophomore season. Tubby's comment - "In hindsight we should have redshirted him last year". Tubby, come on..... in hindsight you didn't have Morris starting at center. So guess what - you don't need this kid anymore. You thought you needed him last year, so you kept his eligibility open. Now you don't need him, so you want to put him on the shelf for another year. As the song goes - "Tubby luv da kids"...... Really, I will let it go. I promise.

On a sad note, one of Maryland's recruits was involved in a car accident (story here). The good news is that it looks like he should make a full recovery.

Here is Dickey V's take on the top recruiting classes. You knew he could not get through one article without mention of UNC and Duke. Couldn't do it!!! (By the way, is it me, or does it look like Tubby Smith needs some Exlax in that picture?)

Taking Coach Hewitt out of Context

Wow, talk about taking someone out of context. Check out this article

"Naturally, the people who make their living off "student-athletes" - athletic directors, coaches, sports reporters, sports-yak radio jocks - are opposed to the new rules. "Instead of improving the opportunity for a kid to get an education, we are going to absolutely dumb down college athletics," said Georgia Tech basketball coach Paul Hewitt.

With all due respect to Coach Hewitt and his concern for the educational opportunities open to his athletes, I suspect he and his colleagues are more worried about having their cash cow moved to a less lucrative venue.

.... Look bonehead, Coach Hewitt generally liked the changes, but is mainly worried about kids being forced to take easy majors. You see at GT, most athletes do want to learn something. But if a kid starts out taking engineering classes and decides it is not for him as a junior - guess what? The new rules might not allow him to change majors, because a bunch of his classes will no longer count towards graduation. You see, Mr.Donald Kaul, you are what I call - an idiot. Why don't you actually read and listen to EVERYTHING Coach Hewitt had to say. He has shown more concern for for the "student" than the "athlete" in the phrase "student-athlete".

James Butler honored in hometown

What a nice thing to do (story here). Sounds like James has his head screwed on straight.

Jackets Kill the Buttsniffers

Jackets take down UGAg in front of the 2nd largest college baseball crowd IN HISTORY!!! Final score was 12-5, the attendence was 28,836 (the largest by the way was a San Diego / Houston game that drew 40,000+). Lots of people at the Ted saw us crush them, lots of people on Fox Sports saw us crush them, and lots of people listened on the radio or the internet. Congrats to the Jackets!!!

Story on the game (yes it was the 2nd largest crowd ever)............. AJC story........... Here's a good version from Brian Murphy.

The only downer of the game was that talented frosh Wes Hodges got beaned in the face by a 90 mph fastball. It seemed to hit him squarely in the jaw and immediately started swelling. To his credit he got up after a few minutes under his own power and headed to the lockerroom. X-rays were taken, but no official word yet.

Where are they now - Jonathan Cox

Guess what - our man Jonathan Cox signed a free agent deal with the Chargers. Congrats!!!

Coach Hewitt honored by Black Coaches Association

Coach Hewitt honored by Black Coaches Assoc.

The story is about the female honor but look at the end. Coach Paul Hewitt was named the Male Coach of the Year by the Black Coaches Associationg for 2003/2004 season. Congrats !!! He will be honored at the annual awards banquest June 5th in Indianapolis.

GT Sports Notes

GOLF
The links team gets a #4 seed in the NCAA regional. They are currently ranked #6 in the nation by Golfweek / Sagarin rankings.

PATTERSON NAMED ACC POW !!!
Congrats for the mammoth performance this past weekend. 2-3run jacks, 1.000 slugging, 7 rbi's, 7 runs, 6 walks, 6 stolen bases, .625ob%. Ballin!!!!

GREAT BEESBALL DATABASE
Want to know how any former Jacket is doing in his quest to get to the bigs? Just type his name in this database and voila - get up-to-date stats. Cool stuff.

MORE ON BEESBALL GAME TONIGHT
So what's at stake tonight? A possible NCAA regional hosting, national rankings, and most importantly bragging rights. This is the rubber match with the pups. This article talks about how this is actually a sibling rivaly for two players on these teams.

GT HOSTS A NIKE FOOTBALL CAMP
The YellowJackets were hosts to one of the Nike football camps this past weekend. Over 500 of the top rising high school athletes participated and evidently it was a great show. The MVP of the camp was awarded to Maurice Wells, mentioned in a previous post, at running back. Recruits were able to see the GT campus, as well as use the strength / training facilities, so no doubt it should have some real recruiting cachet.

NCAA FINAL FOUR PROGRAMS
I happened to be in ATL last week for one day and stopped by the GT Bookstore (Barnes and Noble). They had stacks of Final Four programs with J.Jack on the cover - I picked one up - just thought I would let you know.

Recruiting - Hoops 2005 - Calvin Miles / Kevin Rogers

Well, can Coach Hewitt pull of the "package deal" two years in a row? If you remember, both Ra'Sean Dickey and Buck Fredrick were AAU summer teammates and wanted to play together at the college level. Coach Hewitt managed to attract both of these talented guys to GT.

Now he has the chance to do it again. This time we are talking about Calvin Miles and Kevin Rogers, who are also AAU teammates and are specifically looking for an opportunity to play together. Miles is a 6'6" 210lb small forward who is ranked #30 in the 2005 class by Rivals. Rogers is 6'8" 220lb power forward ranked #36 on that same Rivals list.

Here's a story from Rivals about these guys and their recruitment. Suffice it to say all the "bigs" are interested - UNC, Texas, AZ, Kansas, UConn, Louisville, Illinois, Duke, etc. Once again - to be the best you have to beat the best.

Recruiting - Football - Maurice Wells

This stud running back continues to pile up the offers. He is up to 13 - and check out the competition:

USC, Ohio State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Duke, Florida State, Purdue, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Maryland, to name a few.

If you don't think TV matters, check out this quote when asked if he was interested in Notre Dame -

"Yeah, I like Notre Dame a lot," Wells said. "My coach thinks it would be a good school for me. They are on national television every week. I like their tradition. I like Notre Dame a lot."

Keep in mind that the article is from a Notre Dame site. As you can read, Wells plans to wait until the last day to actually announce his decision. Georgia Tech does have some connections, as his high school coach happens to be the son of GT assistant coach Buddy Geis. To land this young man would be a major coup for GT, although we will have to beat the best to do it.

More on the ACC Championship Football game

Link here.

More on Beesball Match-up Tonight

Story here on GT / UGAg battle tonight in Turner Field.......... They might actually outdraw some of last year's Braves games.

Hoops Coaches to Offer Recruiting Ideas

Twenty coaches will meet in Chicago next week to discuss with Myles Brand - the NCAA Prez - new ideas to make the recruiting process better. Story here. One thing Paul Hewitt would like - to be able to contact juniors once in month to enhance the relationship building process. No word if Coach Hewitt will be among the 20.

An athlete's advisory council has recommended allowing players to transfer without penalty, like sitting out a year. What was Herb Sendek's response -

"If we ever went down that direction, we might as well start making trades in the offseason as well,"

. Here is mention of a possible GT hoops recruit - Wesley Matthews - this story says he has now been offered by GT, Wisc, and Marquette.

Madison Memorial boys basketball standout Wesley Matthews, watching the Spartans' girls soccer team play Janesville Craig last week, said the broken left thumb he suffered during Memorial's run to the WIAA Division 1 state title game has healed and he is ready to begin the Amateur Athletic Union circuit later this month with the Friends of Hoop team out of Milwaukee. He confirmed that Georgia Tech has joined the University of Wisconsin and Marquette as the schools to have made him scholarship offers.

. Is it just me, or does Kansas get ALL the recruits to visit? Man they are high profile - story here. Hairston, Giles, Galindo, Chalmers - all guys we have expressed some level of interest in - all visiting Kansas.

Here are recruiting notes from around the ACC........... From the same paper, mention of the Morris loss.