Friday, April 24, 2009

More on Moore

Reggie Moore has been mentioned as a potential recruit for Georgia. Moore played during this past season at Brewster Academy.

Here's a picture (scroll down to the very bottom) from the Brewster Academy website, along with information about Moore's achievements. The recent results from the season show that Moore is a guy who can put up big numbers on occasion.

Moore has bounced around a bit, but he has had a successful basketball career. He has good hops and nice form on his jumpshot, judging from the following video.

Would he be a fit at Georgia? Could Mark Fox get UGA in the mix for Moore's recruitment? Doubtful, but we'll see.

Coach Mark Fox to Appear in Rome

Both Mark Richt and Mark Fox will be in Rome, Georgia, according to the Rome News Tribune.

The two men will be speaking to the Rome Bulldog Club at the Coosa Country Club this coming Wednesday night.

Should be a great event for Bulldog football and basketball fans to come out and see how our athletic programs are shaping up.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Miller to Tech: That was Quick

One day after being granted his release from UGA, Daniel Miller has signed with Georgia Tech.

So the rumors were true, and it didn't take long for them to be fulfilled.

Now, the jury will be out for some time on whether Coach Mark Fox or Coach Paul Hewitt is the better evaluator of talent.

2010 Forward Looking at UGA

Donte Williams, a 6' 9" forward from Miller Grove High School, is taking a serious look at Georgia, according to the Red and Black.

I am very enthused to see basketball coverage by the school newspaper. Keep it up guys.

Here's what I've been able to find about Williams:

R&B article.

Averages 5 points a game with 7 rebounds. Williams also blocks 3 shots per game. In not so good news, he manages just above 50 percent from the line. ESPN believes he's got a lot of upside.

Williams is a teammate of Tony Parker, a top-flight center for the 2012 class.

We'll see how all of this plays out. As the Red and Black article indicates, Williams will not be making a decision at any point in the near future.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Daniel Miller Gets a Release

Well, UGA has 9 scholarship players on the 2009/2010 roster, now. For those guys who want playing time, there should be more than enough to go around next season.

The official site indicates that Miller's family requested the release. I don't know whether the family's action stems from Miller's desire to play somewhere else, or Fox's desire that he do so.

It looks to me that Fox has made his first major decision as head coach of Georgia's basketball team-- and I don't like it.

I acknowledge that Fox has to be able to shape the team according to his design, and the rules don't prohibit the kind of decision that he has apparently made. I also readily admit that I do not know all the details.

Perhaps the truth is somewhere in the middle. Fox may have been uncertain about Miller, and Miller may have evaluated again whether he really wanted to commit to a program that is going through a coaching transition. There is a rumor that Miller will sign with Georgia Tech, which tried last season to recruit Miller before he committed to UGA.

In any case, I plan on letting the issue go with this post.

I will say this: you can tell a lot about your head coach by his commitment to his own word, and the University's. Good coaches win. Great ones win and build character. I want to believe that we've got a good, and hopefully, great, coach. But right now, I'm not sure.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Speaking of Recruiting (Coach Fox and Daniel Miller)

Georgia's situation on recruiting is rather interesting.

Fox arrives in town and faces a roster in transition. Troy Brewer and Zac Swansey announced that they are transferring, making their decision prior to the school's decision on the new coach.

Where does this all leave Coach Fox? Georgia has a potential 2009/2010 roster of Daniel Miller, Demario Mayfield and Ebuka Anyaorah as freshmen. Dustin Ware, Trey Thompkins, Travis Leslie and Drazen Zlovaric will be sophomores. Chris Barnes and Jeremy Price will make up the junior class, and Albert Jackson and walk-on, Ricky McPhee, will be seniors.

If Fox can hang on to the remaining part of his roster, he can field a serviceable team. However, the quality of Georgia's squad will depend on whether Anyaorah is fully recovered from his surgery, and whether Mayfield and McPhee can advance the ball against full-court pressure.

So, Fox has a team of 10. However, he has only one point guard, and it's late in the recruiting year. What to do?

One option is for Coach Fox to recruit one player, a point guard, and fill out the rest of the team with walk-ons, saving 2 scholarships for next year. Another possibility is for Fox to assess his team and the incoming recruits, and free up as many roster spots as possible.

From what I can gather, Coach Fox is undecided on whether to honor UGA's scholarship offer to Miller.

The situation with Daniel Miller is, in my opinion, untenable. If a player has signed a letter of intent with a school, and has locked himself in under the rules (such that the athlete cannot change his mind and compete for another school unless the first institution gives him a release from the LOI), there is no way that the school's decision to fire their coach should operate to deprive the student athlete of the benefit of the signed scholarship agreement.

I understand that Coach Fox, just like any other new coach, is under pressure to win. Having just 13 scholarships to use, makes it critical that each player having a scholarship be able to contribute to the program. However, to make a decision not to honor a signed letter of intent, doing so in April of the year before the recruit is to report to campus in August, is totally unfair to the recruit. The athlete has almost no chance of getting on with another school, since the vast majority of programs have already filled out their rosters.

A better ethical decision for UGA and other schools is to honor the scholarship for at least one year. Scholarships are granted on a one-year basis anyway. At least the athlete can follow through on his plans for schooling for the year.

The NCAA should promulgate rules to clarify the mutual obligations of recruits and schools, when schools make coaching changes in college basketball. In the meantime, Fox should honor the commitment to Miller.

Recruiting

Definitely not the life for everyone.

Then again, if you love hoops, and don't mind traveling, you can get paid to do it. Better than breaking rocks for a living.

There are some issues that college basketball will have to straighten out. I'm not expecting any definitive changes on rules related to transfers.

Mr. Newman Goes to Washington

As reported earlier, Steve Newman is going to Washington-- Bellingham, Washington, that is.

Steve has joined the International Basketball League. He was activated this week from the Bellingham Slam's reserve roster.

The IBL is a 4 year-old league made up of 16 teams. IBL games provide that each team gets 1 time-out per quarter, and there is no stoppage for in-bounding the ball. The IBL league just began its games. Bellingham is 3 and 1 on the year so far, after winning the league championship last season.