Archive for March, 2011

Georgia Tech athletic director Dan Radakovich has declined requests to discuss his ongoing search for a men’s basketball coach. However, he did pen this in The Good Word, the weekly letter to Tech supporters that came out today:

Men’s Basketball Coaching Search

March Madness this year has a somewhat different connotation around the Georgia Tech athletic offices this week. I am able to surface briefly from the throes of our ongoing search for the new head basketball coach to share a few thoughts for this edition of The Good Word.

First, I appreciate, as always, all of the input I have received from our fans and supporters. I feel really good about the progress we have made in the search process. As expected, it has been elongated somewhat because some of the coaches we are interested in have teams playing deep into the post season.

While there are no guarantees in this difficult world of coaching searches, I still feel strongly that we might be able to have a new …

Continue reading Radakovich on the basketball search »

Georgia Tech will host a memorial for Drew Hill at 1 p.m. Friday on the east side of Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Hill, a former standout at Georgia Tech and in the NFL, died last Friday after suffering two strokes.

According to Tech: “Attendees are encouraged to park in Peters Deck and should enter Bobby Dodd Stadium through Gate 9, which is located on Techwood Dr. between North Avenue and Bobby Dodd Way. Overflow parking is available on North Avenue next to the Alumni Association.”

Hill’s funeral will be held at Unity Baptist Church in Newnan at 1 p.m. Saturday. The church’s web site: http://unitybaptistchurchnewnan.org/

Hill is in Tech’s record books in several categories: receiving yards per season (t-15th, 708, 1978), receiving yards/career (19th, 1,080, 1975-78), and yards per reception/career (t-4th, 19.3, 1975-78).

Hill caught 634 passes for 9,831 yards and 60 touchdowns in the NFL. He was selected by the Rams in the 12th round of the NFL draft in 1979. He played …

Continue reading Hill memorial service at Tech »

Craig Neal and Mark Price have interviewed for the men’s basketball coaching job at Georgia Tech.

Neal, a guard at Tech in the mid-1980s, has served as an assistant coach for the past seven seasons at Iowa and New Mexico. Neal hasn’t campaigned for the job, but he did express an interest. He told colleague Mark Bradley, “That’s my dream job. That’s my school.” Jeff Goodman at Fox Sports first reported Neal and Price’s interview.

Price, an All-American point guard at Tech in the mid-80s, expressed an interest last weekend, according to former Tech player Dennis Scott. Price, a Yellow Jackets legend, led the team to its first ACC championship and regular-season title as a junior in 1985. His jersey was retired by the school.

According to Goodman, if Neal were hired, he and Price would come as a package deal, with his former teammate as his associate head coach.

Georgia Tech is declining to comment on the search.

Reports yesterday had Tulsa’s Doug Wojcik also …

Continue reading Neal, Price as package deal at Tech? »

Georgia Tech has hired Ryan Bamford as its new associate athletic director for internal operations.

Bamford formerly worked at Yale for the past nine years.

He is taking some of the responsibilities held by Paul Griffin, who is taking on duties related to the construction of the McCamish Pavilion, the proposed tennis facility as well as the pending NCAA tournament. Bamford will oversee football and men’s basketball, which he supervised at Yale.

Bamford is a graduate of Ithaca College, where he left school as the leader in single-season and career 3-pointers.

Montgomery honored

Georgia Tech senior Alex Montgomery was named a finalist for the State Farm Coaches’ All-America Team announced by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association today. The All-America Team will be announced at 9 a.m. on April 2.

Montgomery led the Yellow Jackets to a school record 24 wins and an NCAA tournament berth. She will graduate Georgia Tech as a member of the school’s all-time winningest class …

Continue reading Tech hires Bamford as associate a.d. »

Doug Wojcik told the Associated Press that stories that he is going to interview for Georgia Tech men’s basketball job are “hilarious.”

“It’s nice. It’s flattering,” he said. “I haven’t heard anything.”

A Georgia Tech official, reached earlier in the day, declined to comment.

Wojcik is 87-54 at Tulsa, turning them from a nine-win team into a 19-win team this season. In six seasons, he has yet to lead the Golden Hurricanes to the NCAA tournament. They have twice appeared in the NIT, reaching the second round in 2009. They won the CBI tournament in 2008.

An official in Tulsa’s athletics department said they don’t comment on the job status of their coaches, unless there’s a change.

Wojcik, 46, played point guard at Navy with David Robinson. Before taking the Tulsa job, he was an assistant coach at Notre Dame, North Carolina and Michigan State.

He is 58-39 in Conference USA play at Tulsa. Because it is a private school, Tulsa hasn’t made Wojcik’s salary public.

Athletic director …

Continue reading Wojcik interviewing at GT? Seems not »

This is kind of a crass exercise, but absent news….

How would you rate the safeness vs. riskiness of all of the rumored candidates for the Georgia Tech men’s basketball job?

I’m going to list every single reasonable name I’ve come across that has been mentioned as Paul Hewitt’s replacement:

A safe candidate is one who who will consistently take the team to NCAA tournament, between a 5-10 seed, and finish at least in the middle of pack of the ACC in most years. Some years they may challenge and even a win a conference title, some years they may sink a bit, but the bottom never falls out. Think of a program like Wisconsin’s. Consistent winners.

A risky candidate is one who either takes a team deep into the tournament every so often, wins the conference every so often, but then goes through a dry spell. Honestly, it would be similar to the results Tech has experienced since the 2001.

Undecided candidates are those who simply don’t have the background to enable an analysis, but …

Continue reading Cataloging the Tech hoops candidates »

Georgia Tech will hold its annual Yellow Jacket Caravan at four stops this year.

Football coach Paul Johnson and women’s basketball coach MaChelle Joseph will appear at all stops, which will begin at 6 p.m. Wes Durham and athletic director Dan Radakovich will also be there.

There is no charge, but Georgia Tech asks attendees to register at http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com/ot/caravan.html

Sites are:

April 5: Macon (Idle Hour Country Club)

April 7: Tampa, Fla. (Palma Ceia Country Club)

April 19: Dalton (The Farm Country Club)

May 3: Atlanta (Georgia Tech Hotel & Conference Center)

– Doug Roberson, AJC

Continue reading Yellow Jacket Caravan dates set »

While we wait for the white smoke to appear over the Edge Center, signaling a new basketball coach has been hired, one could almost be forgiven for overlooking the start of spring practice on Monday.

I’m working on my preview now, which will appear in the paper either on Sunday or Monday, and wanted to survey you, the fans.

It strikes me that Tech has three big issues on offense: who will run the ball, throw the ball and catch the ball?

That’s all?

The competition will be interesting because it seems to be between two people at quarterback, four people at B-back, and two, maybe three, at wide receiver. Is that enough competition to provide the killer instinct that the team seemed to be missing last season?

We shall see.

At quarterback, Tevin Washington and Synjyn Days will go head to head. Vad Lee won’t arrive until later in the summer. David Sims will be in the mix, but he will also be working out at other positions. Washington started four games last season after Joshua …

Continue reading Spring practice begins soon »

Georgia Tech is looking for a basketball coach.

Chris Mooney would seem to be a desirable candidate.

He’s done wonders at Richmond, leading them to the NCAA tournament two consecutive times. They just reached the Sweet 16 in this year’s tournament.

Two of his best players are from Atlanta, with another recruit coming in next year from our area, one whom he beat N.C. State for. He knows the city. That’s a plus.

He’s familiar coaching at schools with demanding academic standards. Another plus.

But with every win in the NCAA’s, does Mooney get one step away from Georgia Tech?

There are several schools also looking for coaches right now, schools that would seem to have deeper wallets than Tech: N.C. State, Oklahoma, Arkansas and perhaps Tennessee (if they come to their senses).

Athletic director Dan Radakovich said that the buyout ($7.2 million) owed to Paul Hewitt won’t affect the next coach’s salary. I’m not sure how it wouldn’t, but I’m not privy to the inner workings of Tech’s …

Continue reading With every win, does Mooney get another step away? »

Former Georgia Tech and NFL standout Drew Hill died late Friday night at Piedmont Hospital after suffering two strokes earlier this week. He was admitted to the hospital on Thursday after becoming ill while playing golf. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Hill is in Tech’s record books in several categories: receiving yards per season (t-15th, 708, 1978), receiving yards/career (19th, 1,080, 1975-78), and yards per reception/career (t-4th, 19.3, 1975-78).

Hill, a native of Newnan, caught 634 passes for 9,831 yards and 60 touchdowns in the NFL. He was selected by the Rams in the 12th round of the NFL draft in 1979. He played for the Falcons in 1992-93.

– Doug Roberson, AJC

Continue reading Drew Hill has passed away »