Archive for March, 2012

Karl Benson said he has had several informal conversations with Georgia State athletic director Cheryl Levick about the Panthers possibly joining the Sun Belt Conference.

Benson, commissioner of the conference, said no invitation has been issued, and he will likely visit Georgia State on a fact-finding mission. Levick confirmed that they have talked informally and said she told Colonial Athletic Association commissioner Tom Yeager about the discussions. She declined to comment any further. CBSSports.com reported on Wednesday that Georgia State is one of the leading candidates to join the conference, citing “college football industry source.”

“It’s exploratory on both sides,” Benson said. “We are in the process of exploring institutions that are in the Sun Belt footprint that can improve the overall strength and quality of the conference.”

Benson said he isn’t in a hurry to add new members, though he does recognize that the NCAA has placed a June 1 deadline on applications for …

Continue reading Benson and Levick have talked about GSU to Sun Belt »

Georgia State will be without 14 players on defense for Saturday’s spring game.

Ten of those missing will be because of injury, while four are out because of team-rules related suspensions.

Of the 14, six were listed as first-string on the pre-spring depth chart. Those who won’t play because of injuries include defensive linemen Allen McKay and C.J. Stephens, and linebackers Robert Ferguson and Mark Hogan. Coach Bill Curry said all of the players should return by May. Those who will miss because of suspension include defensive lineman Terrance Woodard and linebacker Dexter Moody. Also suspended are linebacker Jarrell Robinson and defensive lineman Roderick Thompson. Curry said, with the exception of Moody’s, the three suspensions should be lifted by next week. The suspensions weren’t related.

The spring game will be held at noon Saturday at the team’s practice facility.

Curry said the team’s injury situation is so thin, if any more are suffered in Saturday’s scrimmage they may …

Continue reading On injuries, Da’Rick Rogers, the QB battle and a walk-on »

Dexter Moody has been indefinitely suspended from Georgia State’s football team for violating team rules.
Moody, a 6-foot, 2-inch, 210-pound linebacker, had 65 tackles last year.
Moody played inside linebacker last year but was being moved to the “wolf” position in the 4-2-5 scheme the defense is switching to this year.
Moody played at Emanuel County Institute, where he committed to Georgia. However, he never got to play in Athens because his scholarship was revoked by coach Mark Richt.
Moody eventually enrolled at a community college in Kansas, before he enrolled at Georgia State.
He was withheld from a start last season for a violation of team rules.
He will be a redshirt junior in the fall.
– Doug Roberson, ajc. Please follow me on twitter @ajcgsu

Continue reading Dexter Moody suspended indefinitely »

Here’s a recap of today’s scrimmage, provided by Georgia State’s sports information department.

Georgia State coach Bill Curry said Friday’s first scrimmage of the spring was expectedly ragged, but there were bright spots.

Notably, Curry said he liked how the running backs performed, how the defense, which is learning a new system, played against the run, and he especially was impressed by walk-on outside linebacker Mitchell Vinson.

“He has absolutely been the surprise of the spring,” defensive coordinator Anthony Midget said. “He’s making plays every day, and he’s a high-energy guy.”

There have been some more changes on defense. End John Kelly is working with the first-team unit, and Allen McKay is at inside linebacker. Freshman Kyle Vorster has moved from safety to linebacker.

Georgia State will hold its Spring Scrimmage on March 31 at noon at the practice complex. Admission is free and parking is available at the G-Deck.

– Doug Roberson, …

Continue reading Some bright spots in GSU’s first scrimmage »

Georgia State coach Bill Curry was not pleased with his team’s first full-pads practice of the spring on Monday.

“I thought we were picking up things well the first few days, but we put the pads on today and we regressed a little bit,” Curry said. “I guess that’s to be expected to some extent, once the bullets start flying, and I expect us to be much sharper tomorrow.”

Curry said the team dropped too many passes, had too many instances where players weren’t paying attention, and missed too many tackles, to highlight the list of issues.

The Panthers are installing a new 4-2-5 defense with a new coordinator and working to improve the pace of the offense this spring as they prepare to play their first season in the Colonial Athletic Association.

“We have to push every period, every day to get consistent,” he said. “Spring practice is all about fundamentals.”

Curry said there will likely be some position changes after he watches film of Monday’s practice. He declined to say …

Continue reading GSU doesn’t perform well in first full-pads practice »

Here’s a look at the attendance total for the games played so far in the NIT, CBI and CIT tournaments.

You’ll notice that the Panthers had 1,509 fans at its game against Tennessee Tech on Tuesday. That’s more than six schools in the CIT, four schools in the CBI and two schools in the NIT.

Georgia State wasn’t given a chance to host Saturday’s second-round game against Mercer. However, with a fee of $31,500 per game, that may not be a bad thing. Note: This was compiled by GSU sport’s information office. I forgot to add the credit before and I apologize.

Postseason Attendance Figures

NIT

Home
Away
Attendance

Mississippi State
Umass
2507

Seton Hall
Stony Brook
1674

Iowa
Dayton
13,190

Tennessee
Savannah State
6,289

Northwestern
Akron
2,319

Middle Tenn.
Marshall
4556

Oregon
LSU
5,158

Washington
UT-Arlington
2,801

Stanford
Cleveland State
1339

LaSalle
Minnesota
3,023

Drexel
UCF
1,821

St. Joseph’s
Northern Iowa
2,851

Miami …

Continue reading How does CIT attendance compare to NIT and CBI? »

Former Georgia State football player Evan Bostic has been invited to the NFL Super Regional combine in Detroit.

Bostic was one of 500 hopefuls who participated at an NFL regional combine in the Falcons’ indoor facility in Flowery Branch last weekend. He impressed enough in the drills to be one of 14 players to receive an invitation to the event in Michigan, which will be held March 29-31.

If he performs well, Bostic could either get drafted or sign as an undrafted free agent with a team.

According to Darryl Ledbetter, who wrote the excellent story linked to above, more than 2,000 players have graduated from these regional combines to earn deals in the NFL (475), Canadian Football League (365) and indoor football leagues (1,505).

Bostic feared he almost missed the chance.

He kept his phone by his side all day Tuesday, only putting it down while he listened to some music between classes.

Sure enough, the phone was on vibrate so he didn’t notice when the call came through.

The …

Continue reading GSU’s Evan Bostic: “I’ve worked so hard to get to this point” »

Because of lightning, Georgia State’s first spring football practice was cancelled.

So now the Panthers will open spring football on Thursday. Today’s practice has been rescheduled for Friday.

Here’s a look at 5 areas of concern for the team as they begin preparations for their first season in the CAA.

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In basketball news, Georgia State hammered Tennessee Tech last night. The Panthers will play Mercer at 4 p.m. Saturday  in the second round of the CIT. The Bears beat Tennessee State last night.

I’ve seen Mercer play twice: their loss at Georgia and their victory over Georgia Tech. They probably could have beaten the Bulldogs, but both of their big men got into foul trouble quickly in the second half and they weren’t able to recover. Those big men played well against the Yellow Jackets. They are a quality team. I’ll have more about this matchup later this week.

– Doug Roberson, AJC. Please follow me on twitter @ajcgsu

Continue reading GSU’s 1st practice postponed »

Greetings.

I know that we are in the middle of hoops hysteria, including Georgia State defeating Tennessee Tech in its CollegeInsider.com tournament game last night,  but Georgia State will begin spring football practice later today.

To that, I’ll post five spring questions about the team that will bear looking at until practice ends April 6.

I encourage you to post your thoughts about each area because I enjoy what you have to say and I appreciate the feedback.

5. How much improvement needs to be seen in Kelton Hill’s passing game?

The Panthers used three quarterbacks last season because of suspensions, ineffectiveness or injuries. By the end of the season, Kelton Hill took over and started the last five games. He finished with 1,021 passing yards and 609 rushing in that short time, showing a play-making ability that the offense needed. However, he completed just 54 percent of his passes.

Coach Bill Curry wants to see not only Hill’s accuracy improve, but also …

Continue reading 5 questions about Georgia State football, part 5 »

Georgia State defeated Tennessee Tech 74-43 on Tuesday in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament at the Sports Arena. The Panthers will play at Mercer at 4 p.m. Saturday in the second round.

The victory pushed the Panthers to 22 wins this season, something that impressed the hard-to-impress Ron Hunter.

“Focus on this, this team is 22-11,”  Hunter said. “This time last year, they didn’t even have a coach (after winning 12 games). That’s one of the remarkable turnarounds in college basketball. I’m so proud of these kids. They are 22-11 in less than 12 months.”

Here’s the good and bad of the victory.

GOOD

Devonta White. He scored 24 points with four assists and hit 9 of his 13 shots.

James Fields. He scored 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting.

The defense. Golden Eagles coach Steve Payne said it’s usually hard to play zone defense against his team, presumably because they hit better than 35 percent of their 3-pointers this season. They missed 20 3-pointers against the …

Continue reading The good and bad of GSU’s win over Tennessee Tech »