Archive for March, 2010

Any doubt about Paul Hewitt’s future at Georgia Tech was all but erased last week when his Yellow Jackets won three times in the ACC tournament and advanced to the NCAA tournament. But it became more official Tuesday with the passing of an annual deadline in his contract, which rolled over as usual.

Hewitt’s contract is a six-year deal with an automatic rollover, which is triggered each year 30 days prior to April 15. Tech would have had to notify Hewitt by Tuesday if it planned to terminate his contract, or it would have cost an additional $1.375 million on top of the $7.1 million required to buy him out.

“There was no action taken, as has been the case since the contract was signed,” Tech associate athletic director Wayne Hogan said Tuesday. “Today is business as usual. We’re trying to figure out how we’re going to advance in the tournament. We move forward.”

Hewitt came under fire after a last-place finish in the ACC last year, and took his share of heat through the ups and …

Continue reading Hewitt’s contract rolled over Tuesday »

It was sunny, but windy on Monday at Tech’s pro day, where the NFL scouts were swarming around the Tech players participating on the practice field.

Here are some unofficial numbers from a few events:

40-yard dash

Morgan Burnett–4.42

Jonathan Dwyer–4.52

Martin Frierson–4.57

Sedric Griffin–4.83

Cord Howard–5.12

Long jump

Derrick Morgan–9-9.5

Martin Frierson–10-4

Cord Howard–9-8

Sedric Griffin–9-3

Vertical

Morgan Burnett–39-5

Derrick Morgan–36

I don’t have all the times yet for all the players. Colleague Darryl Ledbetter may post those on the Falcons blog when we get them.

Continue reading Unofficial numbers from a few events at Tech’s pro day »

 GREENSBORO, NC – After four games in four days of a grueling run to the ACC tournament finals, Georgia Tech didn’t have to wait long to see the rewards from it Sunday evening.

   Fifteen minutes into the NCAA selection show, a quiet and tired Tech team, not-so-fresh off an ACC tournament final loss to Duke, let out a collective roar as the Yellow Jackets were named a No. 10 seed in the Midwest bracket.

   To that point the banquet room at their team hotel had been silent, but the Yellow Jackets didn’t have long to stew. They will play seventh-seeded Oklahoma State (22-10) in the first round on Friday in Milwaukee.

   A week ago Tech (22-12) had lost to Clemson and Virginia Tech to fall to 7-9 in the ACC and sat squarely on the NCAA tournament bubble.

   “A prayer has been answered,” said senior Zachery Peacock, who was a freshman the last time Tech made the NCAA tournament. “The loss earlier today erases itself out of the picture with this opportunity we have in …

Continue reading Tech is dancing in Wisconsin as a No. 10 seed »

GREENSBORO, NC – From one row back and about four seats over from the bench, Georgia Tech had a familiar old white shaggy head taking in its ACC championship game.

Former coach Bobby Cremins said he couldn’t help but come to Sunday’s showdown with Duke and support the team he took to three ACC titles in 19 seasons at Tech.

“I felt like I had to come,” said Cremins, whose College of Charleston team was off on Sunday.

He’d been keeping tabs on the Yellow Jackets’ progress from Macon, where he was at the state high school playoffs on a recruiting trip. When he found out they were in Sunday’s final against Duke, he called Tech coach Paul Hewitt and asked if he could get tickets.

Cremins drove to Atlanta, picked up his son Bobby Cremins III, spent the night in Charlotte and drove to Greensboro Sunday morning.

His coaching schedule at College Charleston has kept him from attending many Tech games – including the 25th anniversary celebration of the 1985 ACC title team last month …

Continue reading Bobby Cremins sitting behind Tech bench today – updated »

GREENSBORO, NC – So that’s the question. Does Tech have the legs to beat Duke today, a team that’s played only two games in this tournament to Tech’s three. No team has won this title after playing four games in four days, since the league expanded to 12 teams in 2005.

Coincidentally, that’s the last time Tech was in the final – 2005 – but the Yellow Jackets received a first round bye that year as a No. 5 seed. As the No. 7 seed, playing the No. 1 seed Duke, they’ve got a tough row to hoe.

I asked Paul Hewitt about that last night, how Tech was doing physically and if the Yellow Jackets were capable of winning for the fourth game against a team playing three. Of course he said yes, and that they were fine. They looked tired for stretches in the second half against N.C. State to me, hard to deny that. And it’ll be a challenge today, especially late in the second half.

But Hewitt made an interesting point last night, that he figured Duke’s top three guys might have played as …

Continue reading Do the Yellow Jackets have the legs to win the ACC title? »

GREENSBORO, NC – Greetings from ACC Central and semifinal day here at the Greensboro Coliseum where your Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are playing N.C. State at a 4 p.m. tip.

Hm. Last time we saw N.C. State, there was a four-minute, 16-point near collapse, and much fretting about inbounds plays and Tech’s press offense.

So who has the mental advantage today, then? Tech? Because the Yellow Jackets know how dangerous the Wolfpack can be? Or State because the Wolfpack came oh so close and fell short at Alexander.

Either way, Tech still looked pretty darn vulnerable to the press last night, when Maryland went fullcourt to start the second half. Need I remind you of the three turnovers in the first 52 seconds of the second half, five by the first media timeout, 14 in the second half in all, and a season-high 25 by the end of the game.

Unlike the State game, when D’Andre Bell took basically initiated all the inbounds plays, last night it was either Zachery Peacock or Moe Miller. …

Continue reading Up next: Wolfpack, and demons of presses past »

GREENSBORO, NC – Watching the Duke-Virginia game, thought I’d do some reflecting on Georgia Tech, as you guys who actually have to work today might be thinking about the Jackets and not watching the noon game.

You’ve got a few more hours to bask in last night’s come-from-behind (gulp) win over North Carolina and what would seem at this point a likely berth into the NCAA tournament for the Yellow Jackets.

Much better crowd today at the Coliseum, by the way. Duke in the noon game surely helps. Quite a bit of a blue in the arena. And pretty quiet too. The game is tied at halftime here 27-27. Virginia’s gunning for the fourth upset in five games so far in the ACC tournament. Could it happen?

Meanwhile, some thoughts.

Frigidaire

It’s not just chilly in the media workroom up here in the Greensboro Coliseum. Young Brian Oliver went 0-for-5 last night, all from 3-point range, in his first taste of the ACC tournament. Tech coach Paul Hewitt didn’t fault some of the shots he was …

Continue reading Reflecting on UNC, prepping for tip with Terps »

GREENSBORO, NC – For those who haven’t seen it posted on Tech’s website or received it by e-mail, I thought I’d share these comments from athletic director Dan Radakovich about Tech basketball today. To me, it’s similar to what he said in response to a query from two reporters on Tuesday, including my colleague Mark Bradley, that he wouldn’t evaluate the basketball program while there are still “signifiant games to be played and goals to be met”  and encouraging fans to rally around the Yellow Jackets. Tech needs to beat North Carolina in the first round of the ACC tournament tonight to keep NCAA tourney hopes alive and deflect some of the pressure on Tech coach Paul Hewitt.

My presumption is that if Tech makes the NCAA tournament, Hewitt’s job is safe and there’s a good chance it’s safe anyway, in part because of the $7.1 million required to buy Hewitt out of his contract. Radakovich alluded to the financial side of things, and took his comments a little further than the …

Continue reading Radakovich’s message from Greensboro »

OK folks, y’all asked a lot of great questions. I hope the answers are as satisfying. Either way, it’s something to tide you over until 7 p.m. tonight when the basketball team takes on North Carolina in the first round of the ACC tournament.

These are real questions from (I hope) real people.

Let me preface by saying that some of these answers are my opinions, some is stuff I’ve been told by coach Paul Johnson, and some is just guesswork.

Depth charts haven’t been released yet, so questions about specific positions, specifically on defense, are my guesswork.

Here we go:

Q: Who do you see fulfilling the different LB roles in the new 3-4 defense?

A: Good question. I can see Brad Jefferson and Julian Burnett (not Peterson as he was called by the questioner) in the middle linebacker spots, with the outside linebacker spots featuring a competition between Steven Sylvester, Malcolm Munroe, Brandon Watts and Albert Rocker. Kyle Jackson is a wildcard after missing last season with his …

Continue reading You asked, I answered. Your Georgia Tech mailblog »

GREENSBORO, NC – Ah, the center of the universe…..That’s how I feel sitting here today at the Greensboro Coliseum, watching Georgia Tech practice and knowing that tomorrow begins the greatest conference tourney in all the land…

Yes, I was raised in the great state of North Carolina. Yes, I went to a high school where somehow they found ways to get TVs around school on Friday’s quarterfinal day of the ACC, so we could sneak peeks at the action.

That was back in the old eight-team format, of course. I miss those days, because I’m an old-timer. But if they had to have 12 teams, and an extra day of four games, then hey, I’ll want to be here for that too.

Today is practice day, where teams not named Duke or North Carolina converge on the Greensboro Coliseum to “practice” for an hour on the court (Duke and Carolina practice at home, then drive over for the tournament. Limits the hoopla that way.) Today’s workouts traditionally give teams a chance to shoot a little and players to …

Continue reading Tech’s gearing up for ACC tournament »