Saturday, June 19, 2010

Leonard Pope Gives Back

Sounds like a great occasion.

I know it's hard to get excited about getting moving just as summer officially starts-- especially when the thermostat has already been registering in the 90 degree range this June. But if Pope can get the kids interested in being fit, whether that's through walking, working out at a fitness center, riding a bike, or other activity, he will have helped out a great deal.

Good to see the Dawgs go back home when they can to lend a helping hand.

Three SEC East Teams in Top 13

No surprise that Dick Vitale has Duke as his #1 team in his Top 40 preseason rankings.

What did catch my attention was the fact that there are three SEC East teams in his top 13-- Kentucky at #6, Florida at #8 and Tennessee at #13. Vanderbilt didn't make it into the rankings, but they will be very tough again.

Georgia is ranked fairly high, in my opinion, at #28.

I think we can earn the fairly lofty expectations, but the challenge will be playing well in our own division. There are no gimme's.

Should be a fun year.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Nick Marshall commitment

According to Marshall's coach, it came down to really wanting to play for UGA. Nick Marshall would have accepted a 'ship to Tech if the opportunity with Georgia was no longer available, but that's not where his heart was. He wanted to play in Athens, and whether quarterback or defensive back, if there was an offer from Georgia, Marshall was going to take it.

Couldn't have worked out better for Coach Fox. As I have previously written, Marshall's commitment does not cost the basketball program a scholarship. That's critical, since the whole program has just 13 scholarships available. But perhaps of even greater weight, Nick Marshall's decision gives Coach Fox an early commitment for 2011. Since Marshall is such an outstanding two-sport athlete, and because of the controversy over whether he was going to Tech, all the basketball players and coaches around the state know about his decision.

Marshall framed his rationale for pledging to Georgia in terms of momentum. He sees potential for basketball success at UGA. I do, too.

Of course, we need to make sure that Marshall in fact signs with UGA, but in the meantime, with Marcus Thornton coming to Athens and the prospects for Marshall, we have some good news around the basketball program that should catch and hold the attention of the elite basketball recruits. Hopefully the positive buzz will produce dividends with the likes of Julian Royal, Dai-Jon Parker and others.

AJC's Blog

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Recruiting: Julian Royal and Evan Nolte

Looks like Mark Fox will have to go head-to-head with Anthony Grant in the recruiting battle for the talented 2011 and 2012 hoops players from Milton High School. TideSports.com interviewed David Boyd, head coach of Milton, and he talked about how the recruiting process is going for Royal and Nolte.