NCAA Passes on Adams

Next time you are in Boston, be sure to give Bob Ryan a kick in the balls. Don't get us wrong. It's been slow in the schadenfreude department, so Ryan's and the Boston Globe's withering takedowns of Adams were each a pleasure. But is the enemy of my enemy my friend? Not when it means Adams is staying in Athens.

The NCAA skipped over Mike Adams and named University of Washington president Mark Emmert as its next president. Who knows what the carried the day with the search committee, but I'm sure the bad publicity from the Boston Globe didn't help, particularly taking Adams to task over graduation rates. Or maybe the search committee met him personally.

[Photo: AP/John Amis] Not so fast, my friend. Il Duce needs a new exit strategy.

Non-Revenue Roundup

Georgia is used to a solid spring of athletic victory, but this year has seen mixed to no success.  Spring hasn't been all bad so far, but it hasn't been particularly enjoyable either.  Here's an update:

Baseball:  Ugh.  Where to begin?  The most obvious problem with the baseball team is that the pitchers can't get hitters out.  The team ERA is a titanic 8.52, three runs ahead of the the closest competitor.  When the opposition isn't hitting at the plate, they are walking.  We've issued 207 free passes this year, besting our closest competition in that stat by 40(!) walks.  You can't win with those stats even if you are hitting the ball well, which we aren't.  We're also last in the league in average and runs.  Our pitching coach, Brady Wiederhold, should take a long look at his work this year (and last).  Perno, in turn, should take a long look at Wiederhold. The numbers don't lie. 

Gymnastics:  After five straight national championships, losing one of the greatest college gymnasts ever, and the resignation of one of the greatest coaches in UGA history, a letdown was inevitable.  But this big of a letdown? The GymDogs didn't get out of their first round meet this year, much less to the Super Six.  

Men's Tennis:  The NCAAs are still upcoming, but the season ended with a wobble and thud.  The Dawgs were undefeated in conference before their final two matches against UF and UT, the best two teams in the conference.  Those matches resulted in two Ls.  It didn't help that freshman Bo Seal was suspended for the final leg of the season.  He stayed suspended for the SEC Tournament last weekend and the team fell 4-3 to Auburn in their first match.  It appears Seal won't be playing in the NCAAs either, which greatly limits the team's prospects.  Manny Diaz has signed two really good American prospects for next year, but we continue to get burned overseas by players who either go pro early or can't pass the TOEFL exam.

Women's Tennis: The girls fared only a little worse than the guys.  They lost in their first round match up in Athens at the SEC Tournament.  This isn't a championship squad, but the pieces are in place for an excellent team next year.  Gullickson and Gilchrist will be at the top of the line up, but Coach Wallace will welcome what should be the top recruiting class in the country.  He signed four bluechippers and the top prep player in Japan.  

Soccer:  Their season isn't until the fall, but the soccer program had some big news recently with the resignation of Coach Patrick Baker resigned abruptly to spend more time with his family.  It's a sad commentary when that stated reason leads you to suspect seriously malfeasance or perversion, but I haven't heard anything that would contradict Baker's stated reasons for quitting.  But, I wouldn't know anything about the soccer program other than scores.  Steve Holeman, formerly the HC at Ole Miss, will take over for Baker.  

It hasn't been a total loss, though.  We can all celebrate the equestrian team's national title in a sport that doesn't count in the Sears Cup and isn't recognized by the SEC. Hooray.  Maybe softball can brighten our prospects, but by all accounts, 2009-2010 has been a long year for athletics.

Quinton

Mettenberger dismissed

Per Richt... Mett is gone. Update...Radi at UGASports.com says it was related to the Valdosta / Remerton issue.

Given how good Mettenberger looked throughout Spring, he had to have dropped a real turd in Coach Richt's punch bowl to get the boot. I would imagine the full details will come out in a day or two.

PWD

Yes

I read the complaints about not posting more often. Just because I don't publish the profanity laced tirades doesn't mean I don't read them.

YMCA Mentality out the door?

Jon Fabris' disdain for a meritocracy, his passion for slow walk-ons, and his ignorance of geometry and rudimentary physical science were things that I (and many of you) found truly maddening about our kickoff strategy over the past few seasons.

As I said last year:

It doesn't take a physics major to know that back-up fullbacks, long snappers, and walk-on safeties aren't as fast as Brandon James or Trindon Holliday. And third team QBs, while fast, aren't ideally suited for violent collisions, either.

David Hale pointed out this morning that all of that finally may be coming to an end. (Ht - Blutarsky)

Like I mentioned the other day in the comments section, I haven't been writing about spring this year because I've found it to be staggeringly boring, and mostly a rehash of prior year soundbytes. However, this actually sounds like something more than just lip service. It's very encouraging to me.

PWD

All UGA players cleared

As you know by now...everyone on the football team was cleared of wrong doing in the Taxi Cab Confessions incident last weekend. I only posted this because I wanted to acknowledge that our guys were in the clear.

PWD

Montez Robinson dismissed from football team

Montez Robinson, defensive end, was arrested again last night for simple battery. It's his third arrest, and he's now longer with the team. I'm all for second chances, but not third chances.

What a waste of an expansive God given gift.

PWD

Thrown to the Tigers

The baseball team lost another series last weekend in Starkville, but they at least pulled out their first SEC win of the season last Saturday. Justin Grimm turned in a good performance on the hill and got the win.  Kyle Farmer returned to starting lineup giving us the middle infield we expected coming into the year.  The Dawgs had a 10-2 lead in the 8th Sunday, but the bullpen gave up nine in the final six MSU outs.  That 10-2 lead turned into a 11-10 loss.  The Sunday game reminded me of some games last year where our talent in the pen couldn't translate into outs.  It resulted in some nightmare innings that cost us some easy wins.  State is likely the worst team in the SEC West, but at least we got a win on the road.

No one will be mistaking State for this weekend's opponent, defending national champion LSU.  The Tigers have returned to the nation's baseball elite and are currently ranked in the top 5 of every poll.  Perno has moved Grimm to Friday night, which I think is a good move.  Tonight, he'll face tall, lanky strikeout machine, Anthony Ranaudo, a sure first round pick in the upcoming MLB draft with a 90+ MPH fastball and a nasty curve.  Ranaudo was injured early in the year with a shoulder ailment.  He returned last weekend in Knoxville and pitched two perfect innings.  I'd expect him to pitch more innings in tonight's start.  LSU also has one of the best hitting lineups in college baseball.  Grimm has to pitch well tonight for us to have a chance at a single win in Baton Rouge. One win this weekend would be a big step forward for this team.

Tonight's game will be televised on ESPNU at 8:30 EST.

Quinton

Fox gets his man. Recruit #3 commits

Sherrard Brantley committed to play basketball for the University of Georgia last night. The 6'2" sophomore shooting guard from Northwest Florida C.C. announced the commitment on his Facebook page. Brantley picked UGA over LSU and Creighton. Spring signing period begins April 14th.

The remaining big fish for Coach Fox is Dwayne Polee of LA.

Additionally, the AJC had a pretty strong profile of Fox yesterday on the one year anniversary of his hiring. Here are some excerpt quotes:

"When I interviewed, I believed Georgia could be a place you could win. Now, after being here, I know you can win here."

The past year has affirmed, he said, what he perceived to be the advantages of the job: high quality of life, rich recruiting region, a strong and respected league, a supportive administration. And he believes the year brought enough success, including signature wins over Tennessee and Georgia Tech, to build upon, particularly in recruiting.

"We needed to create some momentum for our program and we needed to win a few games and we needed to establish credibility," Fox said. "I think people can see a future for our program. I think we have momentum. I think people see how our players have developed. I think there are a lot of positives we can use in recruiting."

I had a great conversation yesterday with someone that follows the program very closely. We were discussing whether or not Hewitt sticking around helps or hurts UGA given that he's such a dynamic recruiter.

During the conversation, I asked aloud..."I wonder if Hewitt will recruit so well now that there's finally a viable alternative in state? It's not like Felton was a viable option." There's so much upside to this program. It really excites me.

See Also:
-- Georgia gets hoops commitment -- AJC
-- Fox's first year on the job: Fast and Promising - AJC

PWD

Fox Still Targeting UNC series

Coach Fox last year was notoriously tight lipped about things in and around the program. Particularly when it came to scheduling. That's why it's so curious to me that he's openly discussing the possibility of playing UNC in some sort of home and home series starting next year. Maybe it's because it's recruiting season.

I know Roy Williams was going to throw former UNC alum Jeff Lebo a bone and come to Auburn to open the 2010-2011 season and the Tigers' new arena. I would assume that series is off with Lebo's termination. Maybe that's why the interest from the Tarheels? That and everyone wants more exposure in front of Georgia high school basketball players.

Getting the Heels in Athens next year with a newly renovated arena and *on paper* our best team in 6-7 years would be pretty exciting.

Marc Weiszer's article also indirectly confirms that there won't be a game at Gwinnett this year. That's not a shocker given the attendance in last year's game against Illinois.

Basketball Schedule 2010-2011:

Home:
UAB
Hawaii (rumored)

Neutral:
3 big games at the Old Spice Classic

Away:
Georgia Tech
Saint Louis

As we reported a few weeks ago, Georgia is looking for as many as 2 more home and 2 more away BCS caliber opponents for next season.

PWD

Hoops Recruiting: Another Brantley Update

UGASports.com has an update on Sherrard Brantley's (JUCO shooting guard) official visit to Athens.

Per the article, it doesn't sound like his April 8th visit to Creighton is a done deal. If I'm a kid from Dublin, Ga., and I can get boat loads of playing time at LSU or UGA, then why would I consider going to Creighton to play in Omaha?

As for the scuttlebutt around this kid's recruitment...We heard a solid rumbling a few weeks ago that the coaching staff felt they had a JUCO shooting guard in their sights who could start for us next year. Thus, giving us the flexibility to play Robinson at PG. We've now heard that Brantley is that kid.

For all the crap that Dustin Ware gets on the message boards, he's a stable point guard for the type of system Fox runs. If we've got a personnel grouping that is strong enough to send Ware to back-up status, color me impressed.

As I stated last week, Brantley made 105 three point field goals in 31 regular season games for his JUCO team while shooting 43% from beyond the arc. As a point of comparison, Ricky McPhee and Dustin Ware (our two most frequent makers from beyond the arc) combined to make only 108 shots from downtown in 31 games. Ricky shot at a clip of 38.4% which was best on the team among those with more than 15 attempts.

In basketball, every recruit doesn't have to be a McDonald's All-American to win. But they all have to be very good at at least one thing. This kid is a shooter. He may be a lot more, but we at least know he can shoot from outside. And, that's a massive gap in the current line-up.

See Also:
-- Fox waiting on Thompkins - ABH
-- Fox discusses Thompkins' process - AJC

PWD