Notes from Greater Atlanta Bulldog Club meeting

OK, here’s the final word (I think) on whether the Bulldogs will have any two-a-day practices this summer:

They’ll have one session of two-a-days.

Georgia’s original practice schedule called for no days of double drills, but the revised schedule calls for two practices on Aug. 9. Otherwise, the Dogs will have single practices almost every day in August except for Sundays, when they’ll be off.

“My goal with this whole thing was . . . instead of the old ‘let’s break them down and build them back up’ . . . was to just build them up from the get-go,” Mark Richt said Monday night before speaking to the Greater Atlanta Bulldog Club gathering at the Cobb Galleria Centre. “We get two more weeks of really good [weight-]lifting cycle. . . . When we start the season, I’m hoping we’ll be stronger and healthier. Plus, when you go a lot of two-a-days, you tend to fatigue, tend to pull muscles. I’m trying to keep that from happening if possible.”

Richt also noted that under current NCAA rules, which do not permit two-a-days in the first week of practice and thereafter allow no consecutive days of two-a-days, teams can fit in no more than three or four sessions of two-a-days anyway before school starts.

“I think it’s going to be really good for us,” Richt said. “Hopefully it’ll work. Hopefully it’ll make us stronger. Hopefully it’ll make us more fresh. Hopefully we’ll be able to install our systems at a pace that is advantageous for our players.”

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And here’s the latest word (not necessarily the final word) on whether tailback-turned-linebacker Richard Samuel will redshirt this fall:

Probably not.

“We think he can help us on special teams also, but he’s going to play scrimmage downs for us,” Richt said. “We were talking about maybe redshirting him at one time, but I doubt very seriously we’ll be able to redshirt him because we need depth and he’s a guy that we think is going to make plays for us.”

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Trey Thompkins got a great experience last week: playing on a select team of college basketball players that trained against the U.S. national team in Las Vegas.

Thompkins’ UGA coach, Mark Fox, got a chance to watch a bit of the action.

“It was a tremendous experience for Trey,” Fox said. “You look out there on the court, and you had Kevin Durant on one team and Trey on the other. It really makes you feel good that the kid is being able to experience that and have some success. We’re excited about Trey and his development and his return to school. And he’s very hungry to win.”

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If you missed it — I added it to the story on the NCAA investigation last night — here was Richt’s answer when I asked if he is concerned that he might not know the outcome of the probe when practice begins next Monday:

“As usual, I’ll worry about things I can control. I can’t really control it, but I’ve got no indication at all that there’s any reason to believe that all of our guys won’t be practicing Day 1. So that’s my expectation right now. If something changes, then we’ll adjust.”

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A few more things:

• Fox said Georgia’s basketball schedule has been difficult to put together but is nearing completion. One objective, he said, has been to attract non-conference BCS-level opponents to play home-and-home series. He wouldn’t name opponents, but he drew an ovation when he described his scheduling philosophy this way: “We’re trying to schedule to get in the NCAA Tournament, plain and simple.”

• Fox’s next stop after the Cobb Galleria Centre: Phoenix on a recruiting trip.

• WR Tavarres King, suspended indefinitely after an alcohol-related arrest earlier this month, is expected to participate when football practice begins next week. “If things keep going as they are, yes,” Richt said. But King is suspended for the first game.

• Walk-on OL  Josh Parrish, also suspended indefinitely after an alcohol-related arrest, has been reinstated to the team, Richt said.

• Remember those suspiciously fast 40-yard dash times the Bulldogs posted this spring? Richt confessed Monday night that the sprints were run “with the wind in our back.” He added: “I think we’ve got very, very good team speed. And I think part of the reason we ran those 40s on the track with the wind in our back was to help [the players] feel faster, too. … I think it helps.”

• Someone asked Richt if he’s running out of adjectives for A.J. Green. Apparently not. Said Richt: “I think the guy certainly is awesome. For a man that tall to run that fast and be that quick and be that agile and be able to leap and be able to snatch the ball the  way he does, you can’t draw up a much better receiver. And he’s a fantastic kid, too.”

• The night’s parting words from emcee Chuck Dowdle: “At some point this year, we are going to be celebrating 100 career head-coaching victories for this guy right here.” Richt, who was seated to Dowdle’s right, is 90-27 in his first nine seasons at UGA.