Archive for June, 2012

The lone remaining member of former coach Chan Gailey’s staff, Georgia Tech secondary coach Charles Kelly is in his seventh year at Tech. It is a fitting destination, in a way. His grandfather was a big fan of Bobby Dodd. His father, a high school coach, attended coaching clinics at Tech (among other places).

In the second “10 things” installment, read up on Kelly.

1. Kelly knew from a young age he wanted to get into coaching due to his father’s influence. (I know that Al Groh and Brian Bohannon’s fathers, and possibly others on the staff, were also high school coaches.) Kelly said he dreamed more about coaching than he did playing in the NFL.

“I knew in college,” said Kelly, who walked on at Auburn. “I was around guys that I knew were going to play at that level but that wasn’t for me. But I learned as much about the game as I could.”

Kelly graduated in 1990. Among his teammates were wide receiver Lawyer Tillman, defensive tackle Tracy Rocker and linebacker …

Continue reading 10 things you should know about Charles Kelly »

Former Georgia Tech A-back Roddy Jones is in the football camp business.

“I’ve always kind of wanted to do one after being a part of them for so long,” he said. “I always wanted to do one and put my stamp on it.”

The Roddy Jones Football Camp will run Monday through Thursday of next week (June 25-28) at Fitzgerald Field in Tucker. It will have conditioning, skills development and competition, as well as talks from Jones and others. He’s hoping former Tech teammates Jonathan Dwyer and Derrick Morgan will make appearances.

“For me, it’s an opportunity to get out and share and to help guys learn and hopefully to show them that there’s more to football than just football,” he said.

Jones hopes to extend it past this summer if the camp does well and perhaps pass on to a younger Tech teammate.

Jones is still working out and hoping for an opportunity to work out with an NFL team but has also begun looking for work. He’s looking for a job in marketing, finance or …

Continue reading Roddy Jones running football camp »

Twelve of Georgia Tech’s 17 teams improved or maintained their multi-year academic progress report scores. None of the teams fell below the 930 APR score that would put them in jeopardy of a ban from NCAA postseason competition. The football team improved to 974, which is the highest score achieved since the NCAA began tracking the scores.

Multi-year APR scores track eligibility and retention across a four-year period. The scores released Wednesday measured academic performance in the 2007-08 through 2010-11 academic years.

Nine of Tech’s 17 teams recorded perfect 1,000 scores for the 2010-11 year. The golf team recorded its eighth consecutive 1,000, a streak that began when the NCAA began recording APR scores in the 2003-04 year. One of the teams achieving a 1,000 in 2010-11 was the men’s basketball team, its first-ever perfect mark, notably achieved when the team had a coaching change and guard Iman Shumpert left for the NBA, but still finished the spring semester in …

Continue reading Tech’s APR scores widely improve »

Matt Kuchar played his final round at the U.S. Open in 4-over par (74) for a four-round score of 8-over at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. Ranked No. 6 in the world, Kuchar will have to wait at least until the British Open in July at Royal Lytham.

Just after 9:30 p.m. EDT Sunday, with several players still on the course, Kuchar stood alone in 27th. His best Open finish remains a tie for sixth at the 201o event. Once again, the first three holes bedeviled the former Georgia Tech star. Starting the day at 4-over par, Kuchar bogeyed the first two holes to drop to 6-over.

Over his four rounds, Kuchar played the first three holes in 7-over par. He played the other 15 holes in 1-over par.

Nicholas Thompson finished with a 73 on Sunday for a four-round score of 13-over, good for a tie for 51st.

Continue reading Kuchar finishes U.S. Open at 8-over »

Matt Kuchar will go into the final round of the U.S. Open with perhaps an insurmountable climb for his first major championship. The former Georgia Tech star completed Saturday’s third round at the Olympic Club in San Francisco with a 1-over par 71, putting him at 4-over par for the tournament.

Just before 10 p.m. EDT, Kuchar was in a tie for 15th, three strokes behind co-leaders Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell, who were nearing the completion of their rounds. Given that the course to that point had yielded one 66 since Thursday’s opening round – to Michael Thompson – and three 67’s, Kuchar’s hopes likely have faded. He has a lot of ground to make up with plenty of competitors to pass.

Again, the first three holes took a bite out of Kuchar. He bogeyed the par-4 second hole. Through three rounds, Kuchar has played the first three holes 5-over par and the other 15 1-under par. Holes 1-3 rank second, fifth and sixth, respectively, in difficulty this week.

Michael Thompson completed …

Continue reading Kuchar’s chances dim with 71 »

Matt Kuchar went backwards Friday, shooting a 3-over par 73 at the U.S. Open to drop from a tie for seventh to a tie for 9th going into Saturday’s third round at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. At 3-over par, Kuchar is four shots behind co-leaders Jim Furyk, David Toms and Tiger Woods.

Kuchar will tee off Saturday at 5:15 EDT with Jason Dufner.

Friday, starting the day at even par, Kuchar opened with a double-bogey 6 on the first hole and failed to generate momentum to recover. He bogeyed again at No. 3. After three pars and a birdie, he bogeyed No. 8 to fall back to 3-over. The former Georgia Tech star was a pre-tournament favorite to win his first major tournament.

Of the three other former Tech players in the field, two missed the cut, which was 8-over par.

Stewart Cink followed an opening 77 with a 75 to put him in a tie for 136th at 12-over. Roberto Castro completed his two rounds in 9-over par, missing the cut by a stroke. After birdieing at No. 17 to get to the cut …

Continue reading Kuchar enters 3rd round in tie for 9th »

Georgia Tech baseball coach Danny Hall believes there’s a chance that pitcher Buck Farmer and outfielder Brandon Thomas, both taken in last week’s Major League Baseball draft as juniors, could return for their senior seasons.

Hall shared that thought and a few other pieces of information regarding the team in a Thursday interview.

“I think it’s absolutely possible he could come back,” Hall said of Farmer, taken in the 15th round by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Thomas, Hall said is “kind of in the same boat.” Thomas was selected in the fourth round by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was a first-team All-ACC selection, finishing fourth in the ACC in batting average (.360) and second in on-base percentage (.481).

Prior to the draft, Hall figured both had played their last for the Yellow Jackets. Farmer, a two-time All-ACC pick, was pegged to go in the first few rounds of the draft but fell.

What could sway Farmer and possibly Thomas to return to Tech are new rules governing …

Continue reading Draftees Farmer, Thomas could return to Georgia Tech »

Matt Kuchar finished the first round at the opening round with an even-par 70, four shots back of leader Michael Thompson. The former Georgia Tech star is tied for seventh with eight other players going into Friday’s second round at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. Kuchar, a pre-tournament favorite to win his first major, mixed in two bogeys and two birdies in with 14 pars.

Kuchar will tee off Friday at 11:21 a.m. EDT in a group with Steve Stricker and Ian Poulter.

Stewart Cink shot a 7-0ver 77 and is in a tie for 109th. Cink’s round took on water early, as he made four consecutive bogeys on holes 2-5, and then followed his only birdie of the day, at the par-4 7th, with two more birdies on holes 8 and 9. Nicholas Thompson is in a tie for 52nd with a four-over 74. Roberto Castro is in a tie for 74th with a 5-over 75. The top 60 players and ties will survive Friday’s cut for the final two rounds.

Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog

Continue reading Matt Kuchar tied for seventh after first round »

The golf, women’s cross country and men’s tennis teams were recognized by the NCAA for having Academic Progress Rates (APR) in the top 10 percent of their respective sports.

The golf team has been recognized every year that the NCAA has charted APR scores, a seven-year run. Every senior that has played for coach Bruce Heppler has graduated.

It is the third consecutive citation for the women’s cross country, coached by Alan Drosky. The men’s tennis team, coached by Kenny Thorne, received its first honor.

APR measures academic eligibility and retention.

Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog

Continue reading 3 Tech teams commended for APR scores »

Georgia Tech is in the mix for Villanova forward Markus Kennedy, according to cbssports.com’s Jeff Goodman. Kennedy, a 6-foot-9, 250-pound forward, just finished his freshman season at Villanova.

From his Twitter account, Goodman listed Tech among schools under consideration, including Florida, Ohio State and Auburn. There is some uncertainty surrounding Kennedy’s situation. The Philadelphia Daily News reported Wednesday that Kennedy is considering staying at Villanova, though Goodman tweeted that he was told by an unnamed source that “Kennedy’s days at ‘Nova are definitely over.”

Kennedy averaged 3.0 points and 4.4 rebounds this past season for the Wildcats. Tech has one scholarship to give for the 2012-13 academic year and will have two slots open up for 2013-14 with the graduations of Mfon Udofia and Pierre Jordan.

Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech blog

Continue reading Tech reportedly interested in Villanova transfer »