Video: Coach Fox's Speech to the Business School

The Terry College of Business hosts a Terry Third Thursday session in Atlanta*. Back on April 15th, Coach Fox spoke to the group. The video shows dramatically more than Mark Fox's speech. His speech starts at the 6:10 point.

PWD

*I think it's in Atlanta anyway.

Dawgs Try Again at the DMTC

The men's tennis team faces the Gators today at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.  The match is one of the round of 16 in the NCAAs.  The team hasn't beaten the Gators this season (a recurring theme this athletic year), but the last match was closer that the final score would indicate.  I think we have a shot here, but the team has to be playing as well as it can.  Somebody has to step up a slot for Bo Seal's after he was suspended/kicked off the team for academic issues.

A big, frothing Bulldog crowd would help the guys, so get out there and enjoy some tennis today.  The match is scheduled for 6PM, but it looks like weather is going to alter that time.  Check georgiadogs.com for updated information.

For those of you not in the Athens area, you can watch the match here.

UPDATE: DAWGS WIN IT, 4-2!  Next match is Sunday at 5PM against rival Texas or former net dawg John Roddick and the Sooners. (That match is tied as I write this.)

Quinton

Fox gets his man

Marcus Thornton will play for the University of Georgia. This is an enormous signing because it proves that Fox can sign a Mr. Basketball caliber player.

Great day for the UGA Basketball and Thornton families. Scout, Rivals and the AJC all have the stories. In a car so I can't post links.

PWD

Advice Needed: Georgia vs. Florida Game Water Taxi?

Dawgnoxious and I are thinking of ditching our long standing Adams Street tailgate spot in favor of pre-gaming at a local bar and then going to the game via Water Taxi. We'd rather not drive to or from the stadium.

So my question is...how do we do that? Who do I talk to? What websites can you guys hook me up with?

We're staying in Deerwood Park this year which is east of the River. For those not familiar with the city, we're South of the stadium on I-95 between the interstate and the beach.

We're game for partying anywhere east/south of the stadium near a water taxi location. Ideally, there would be a lot of other Dawg fans tailgating with us. And we don't want to fight traffic to get to the bar...ideally.

Please post your suggestions in the comments.

Thanks!

Paul Westerdawg and Dawgnoxious

Profiles in Hope: Freshmen QBs at UGA

If I were ranking the freshman years of Georgia QBs over the past 20 years, I'd put them in this order.

1. Quincy Carter (9-3) - stunning FR year. The next two...not so much. Highlighted by the legendary performance at LSU.

2. David Greene (8-4) - The Boston College and South Carolina games were brutal. Otherwise, a tremendous year highlighted by the Hobnail Boot win.

3. Eric Zeier (9-3) - Transitioned to full-time starter after the big win at home vs. Top 10 Clemson. Dark spot on the record was the loss at Vanderbilt.

4. Matt Stafford (9-4) - Tremendous hope inspiring performances vs. Auburn, Georgia Tech and Va Tech. As well as rag tag outings against Colorado, UAB and Kentucky.

What I found interesting when looking back at those seasons was the biggest determining factor in that Year 1 performance wasn't the natural ability or intelligence of the player. That was certainly a factor, but the quality of the supporting cast around had a tremendous impact on their overall success.

Let's look at their supporting cast:

1. Quincy Carter in 1998
OT - Matt Stinchcomb - 1st Round Draft Pick
OT - Chris Terry - 2nd Round
OG - Jonas Jennings - 2nd Round (Soph on this team)
WR - Champ Bailey - 1st Round
RB - Olandis Gary - 4th round
RB - Patrick Pass - 7th round (Jr on this team)


2. David Greene in 2001
OT - George Foster - 1st Round
OT - Jon Stinchcomb - 2nd Round
WR - Reggie Brown - 2nd Round (FR on this team)
WR - Fred Gibson - 4th Round (FR on this team)
TE - Randy McMichael - 4th Round
RB - Verron Haynes - 5th round
RB - Musa Smith - 3rd round (Soph on this team)
FB - JT Wall - 7th round (Jr on this team)


3. Eric Zeier in 1991
OT - Bernard Williams - 1st round (FR on this team)
OT - Alec Millen - 7th round (JR on this team)
RB - Garrison Hearst - 1st Round (Soph on this team)
WR - Andre Hastings - 3rd round (Soph on this team)


4. 2006 Matt Stafford
OT - Ken Shackleford - 6th round
OG - Chester Adams - 7th round (JR on this team)
TE - Martez Milner - 4th Round
WR - Mohamed Massaquoi - 2nd Round (Soph on this team)
RB - Thomas Brown - 6th Round (INJURED in '06)

Now...check this out:

2010 Aaron Murray

OT - Clint Boling (30+ starts. All-Star)
OG - Cordy Glenn (20+ starts. All-Star Candidate)
OG - Chris Davis (30+ starts. Role Player)
C - Ben Jones (20+ starts. All-Star Candidate)
TE - Orson Charles - will play on Sundays
WR - AJ Green - will play on Sundays
RB - Two above average or better backs with experience
OT - Trinton Sturdivant (if healthy potential all-star)

The point -- As Mark Richt said last week, Aaron Murray doesn't have to be a hero. He simply has to play solid football and let the offensive pieces around him do the heavy lifting. When you have solid tools to work with you can make magic happen.

It's also worth nothing that 3 of the last 4 freshmen QBs won 9 games. So the predictions from the peanut gallery of a 7 or 8 win season because UGA has a freshmen QB seem more than a bit pessimistic.

See Also:
-- Georgia's strongest and weakest units - Chris Low ESPN

PWD

Update on Marcus Thornton's recruitment

Chip Towers goes deep in debunking rumors about the potential eligibility of Marcus Thornton at Georgia Tech. Per the AJC:

Marcus Thornton told the AJC he was extremely impressed with Georgia Tech after his visit this past week. But the Westlake basketball star might have to be willing to sit out a year if he wants to go there. Shane Lyons, associate commissioner for compliance for the Atlantic Coast Conference, confirmed to the AJC Monday afternoon that the league’s stringent intraconference transfer policy would apply in a case such as Thornton’s. That is, he would have to sit out his first season and have only three years of eligibility remaining if he opted to sign with Tech or another ACC school.

“There are waiver opportunities,” said Lyons, who would speak only in generalities. But, he said there is “no precedent” where the league ruled in favor of the transferring player. In fact, he said, a player that was released from Virginia Tech after the 2007 on-campus shootings was denied his first year of eligibility at Maryland even after two appeals. “It’s written pretty tightly,” Lyons said of the rule.

Predictably, Hewitt and Company have told the Thornton's that there's nothing to be worried about.

[Thornton] has been assured by coaches recruiting him he “has a chance of winning” a hardship appeal.

A separate article that I saw referenced the other day said that 16 kids have appealed this rule, and the ACC has denied all 16 requests. But of course, GT tells him don't worry. You'll be fine. Typical.

By the way, the brutality of the rule according to Towers' article is that he would only have three years to complete his eligibility. It's not like a typical transfer situation where you sit for a year as a redshirt, but you still get 4 to play 4. This is a 3 to play 3 after sitting out. (ht - ball-u-dawg)

Update: Thornton could become the first Mr. Basketball in Georgia (as awarded by the Atlanta Tip Off Club) to sign and enroll in Athens since Wayne Arnold in 2002. Arnold's tenure was cut short by academics, injury and arrest. The only other Mr. Basketball to sign with UGA since 1982 was Louis Williams who elected to go pro instead of enrolling. (Source: Wikipedia) ht - ShinerBockDrinkingDawg

PWD
Georgia Sports Blog

Did Coach Fox catch a break?

Coach Fox may have caught a break in the pursuit of Marcus Thornton the 2010 Mr. Basketball in the State of Georgia.

According to a report in a North Carolina paper, no ACC school can sign Thornton without him sitting out a year due to tranfer rules within the conference that apply to kids that sign a Letter of Intent and then change their minds...as Thornton did with Clemson following the departure of their coach.

As GT is one the final four teams vying for Thornton's signature and as distance is reported to be a big part of the decision making process for him, this could be a big break for Coach Fox.

The only caveat here....a conflicting version of this rule is floating around that says the paper misreported the situation. Dan McDonald of UGASports and I are both hearing that today.

I'm going to defer to the publish report for now and keep my fingers crossed.

The article in question

We should know in about a week.