Branden Smith cleared to rejoin team; Quintin Banks ‘retires’ from football
ATHENS — Cornerback Branden Smith has been cleared academically and will rejoin Georgia’s football team Friday, coach Mark Richt said.
“He is academically in good standing for the 2010 season,” Richt said Thursday night. “So we are fired up.”
Richt declined to go into detail about Smith’s academic situation.
Smith, a sophomore from Atlanta, left the team last week and stayed away while awaiting word on whether he would be cleared to enroll in fall-semester classes. The issue was related not to Smith’s grade-point average but to a placement-test score.
Smith is expected to contribute to Georgia’s team in all facets of the game: defense (as a possible starter at cornerback), offense (as an occasional threat at tailback or wide receiver) and special teams (as a kick returner).
Despite missing eight practices, “I don’t think he’ll be too far behind,” Richt said.
Smith seems pleased with how the situation worked out.
“Will be back in Athens tomorrow,” he posted on Twitter late Thursday afternoon.
“Georgia is on my mind,” he tweeted an hour later.
Banks ‘retires’ as player
Backup safety Quintin Banks, whose career has been frequently derailed by knee injuries, will forgo his senior season.
Banks “has basically decided to retire from football,” Richt said Thursday. “His knees have just not allowed him to move the way he’s accustomed to moving and move well enough to compete at this level.”
Richt said Banks will have surgery “and try to get it all cleaned up” before he graduates. In the meantime, he will stay involved with the team and “help us coach,” Richt said.
“He has tremendous knowledge, tremendous love for this team and his teammates. He’s got a wonderful spirit,” Richt said. “Quintin is exactly what we’re looking for when it comes to a good Bulldog.
“As a head coach, you hope that when a young man walks out the door he’s ready for life. And Quintin is absolutely ready. He’s turned into a really fine man, and anybody looking for a tremendous employee and future leader, Quintin is that.”
Between injuries, Banks has played in only five games in the past two seasons.
And a few other things . . .
- Richt said that, “as of right now,” Georgia has no reason to believe that any of its players will miss any games as a result of the NCAA investigation into possible improper contact between players and agents at multiple schools, including UGA.
- A.J. Green, Carlton Thomas, Bacarri Rambo and freshman Derek Owens are getting work at punt returner, Richt said.
- Richt: “If I had to say who was the leader of the football team, it’d probably be [fullback Shaun] Chapas. Not just the offensive team.”
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223 comments Add your comment
col fot
August 13th, 2010
12:06 am
we know the techies are scum and now the gators..wow!
Tide Roll
August 13th, 2010
12:21 am
UGA FANS: I don’t understand why ya’ll didnt go after CAMERON NEWTON the second time around. He’s from right down the street and is a physical freak.6′6″, 250lbs,with a rocket for an arm. Led his JUCO team to national title. Best Juco QB in America,and went to Atlanta Westlake!! I just don’t understand Richt and Bobo. This kid’s a physical freak and you stand by and let him go to Auburn. It’s like Richt and Bobo think they’re too good for him. Seems like a great kid that’s learned from his mistake. His older brother is in the NFL and apparently served as a positive role model for him. I just don’t get it. Could it be something else UGA fans. It’s decisions like these that get you beat. Ya’ll are going to have hell to pay down there in November. What a wierd coaching staff you have. What in the world! Roll Tide,Tide Roll.
Tide Roll
August 13th, 2010
12:31 am
Also, we’re going to land Arie Kouandjio, a big time OL out of Md. Ya’ll were on his list but forget it, his older brother is already kicking butt at Bama. They’ll be as good or better than the Pounceys. Not to worry though, Searles slipped into Memphis and stole the Long boys. What a wierd coaching staff. Thanks again for James Carpenter and Chance Warmack. Those two along with Richt’s decision to move Bean Anderson really help out. How do ya’ll put up with it? you shouldn’t have to. You deserve better.Roll Tide.
Tide Roll
August 13th, 2010
12:39 am
This new AD knows better than to ride around drunk with red panties between his legs doesn’t he?
12-2
August 13th, 2010
1:03 am
Make our best recruit in a limited signing class for us as it was miss 8 critical Fall Practices focusing on how we are going to defend the pass this year, when he only got to play for 14 tackles and only 2 pass break-ups last year with 4.28 speed, 35 inch vertical leap standing nearly 6 feet tall, Consensus All-America 5-Star player who has made Two (2) Athletic Director Academic Honor Rolls in 2 previous Semesters out of 3 requiring at least a 3.0 both Semesters, and then we started focusing on Special Teams of which he is such a huge producer not only in the classroom but on the field ?
I just don’t understand how a year later, he had to what ? Re-pass an entrance exam ? Classes start Monday. Registration is tomorrow. And, the LAME PRESS cannot explain what the hell is going on that this # 1 Jersey, whose older brother, Darrell Hackney, is the Denver Broncos NFL back-up Quarterback has to pass an entrance exam a year later.
LAME Tim Tucker Bloody Lame on the issue.
Branden Smith is an EDUCATION MAJOR.
He had a 61-yard run for a Touchdown and a 48-yard Kick-Off Return in the Win over South Carolina last year.
Now he has to pass an entrance exam Tim Tucker ?
What kind of reporting is that ?
Shotty
12-2
August 13th, 2010
1:18 am
Darrell Hackney, Branden Smith’s older brother, you might remember ?
2003 he came into Sanford Stadium and lost 13-16 to Georgia as the Starting Quarterback for UAB. He has all the UAB Quarterback records.
David Greene our Quarterback that day.
16-13 over him. At the end of the game, it was STILL IN DOUBT.
I can’t find where Darrell is now out of Douglass in Atlanta. He lost his spot with the NFL Denver Broncos to Kyle Orton and hasn’t returned. He redshirted 2001 at UAB, and graduated the same year DJ Shockley did.
RED DOG 77
August 13th, 2010
2:12 am
Hate to say “I told you so “, but “I told you so “………..Come on BULLDOG NATION !!!….Yup, we’ve been down the last couple years, but do you really expect coach Mark Richt to just sit back and take an ass whoopin without a fight ?……..Branden Smith is back, coach Grantham has the D so fired-up they could spit nails, and our offense, especially our Oline may well be the best in the land !………..Hell folks, lots of red shirt FR. QBs have lit-up the score board right out of the gate. And I will assure you that is exactly what Aaron Murray is going to do !!!!………..Come on Georgia !………..lets stop being so dadgum nervous !………Take a RED and BLACK “chill pill”, sit back and enjoy the 2010 edition of the GEEEOOOORRRRRGIA BULLDOGS !!! GONNA BE FUN……….GATA…….SIC’ ‘EM….WOOF…….WOOF…….WOOF !!
Paddy
August 13th, 2010
2:44 am
Gator Chomp…you sound like a very angry young lady. Ease up sis, take a midol!
gadawg
August 13th, 2010
2:45 am
no one said entrance exam, genius 12-2. It’s a placement exam. When students take remedial classes, they have to take a placement exam to show they are ready to move on to college level courses.
“shotty” ???? What does that even mean?
cadawg
August 13th, 2010
3:59 am
tide roll: +1 for developing a new talking point, but -1 for repeating your old, nonsensical one. repeating stuff doesn’t make it true.
we get it: cam newton is good. we did recruit him, we just didn’t get him. we also recruited christian lemay, and guess what? we did get him. sometimes you get ‘em and sometimes you don’t. get it?
Destin dawg
August 13th, 2010
6:10 am
they have newspapers in Fla.. maybe they don’t in Alabama??? we may get a chance to play the Tide if they win their Div. ??? Go Dawgs.. get your degree Branden… NFL = Not For Long.. we need educators, coaches, school admin. etc.
SickandTired
August 13th, 2010
6:24 am
Jan Kemp must be looking down and shaking her head. It’s just a small thing. It’s just academics. It’s just about a young man wanting to play football and good for him if he’s on a path to graduation. But, if he’s having to pass a placement test this does no bode well for him in making the grade long term does it? Here ’s hoping someone down there in Athens can perhaps do their job and see that this kid doesn’t have to face this again and will take care of his transcripts in the more discreet fashion of which we have come to expect from the football operation that functions as a criminal enterprise.
12-2
August 13th, 2010
6:32 am
by
gadawg
August 13th, 2010
2:45 am
“It’s a placement exam. When students take remedial classes, they have to take a placement exam to show they are ready to move on to college level courses.”
MAJOR : EDUCATION
3.41 GPA when he came to The University of Georgia
2 times Academic Honor Roll 2 Semesters at UGA
According to you, gadawg, and only according to you, he is a D.A.
I have read every comment in this blog gadawg. Widespread lack of knowledge of what this was all about. Proper reporting would not leave it for YOU to be the only person alive to spell it out, gadawg.
poopdawg
August 13th, 2010
6:53 am
Tide roll , speaking of weird and freakish. Your a racist pig . You don’t like any white OL.
AltamahaDawg
August 13th, 2010
7:16 am
I don’t think he was calling Smith a DA, he was calling YOU a DA for whining that it had been reported as an “entrance exam”, when in fact, you had completely made that up.
GaDawg
August 13th, 2010
7:17 am
Tide roll, you mean anties,didn’t think you guys could spell using the “P” letter.
Jan Kemp
August 13th, 2010
7:22 am
Dear fans:
I am honored that you still bring up my name. It is unfortunate; however, that it is by the same people who speak of UGA’s National Championship as being to far in the past to be relevant.
It is funny how that works.
bungle bee
August 13th, 2010
7:34 am
ya know poopdawg, I think ur right, whats TR’s beef?
dogfish
August 13th, 2010
7:40 am
Do we gain the benefit of Quinten’s scholy now or do we have to wait till next year?
lagadawg
August 13th, 2010
7:41 am
I have a idea,if all the Ga. fans on all their blogs would ignor all fans that are not dog fans,act like what they say goes in one ear and out the other and make them talk to their self, I think most of them might go away.They should worry about their own team and not worry about Ga.and always talking about past games,that’s not going to help them win this year.
B-Dawg
August 13th, 2010
7:42 am
Tide Roll thanks for Ben Jones our O-Line is doing fine, he’s a physical freak look at his strength stats coming out of High School GATA
dawgfan
August 13th, 2010
7:46 am
Techies are such sad, pathetic, and bitter people that they wish nothing but the worst on all of our players. Look at these comments on a daily basis. They want nothing more than to believe that we cheat and that all of our players are felons. This fairy tale land that they create takes away the pain of their most recent beating. They will tell as many lies as they need to so that other people believe it too. They’ve been playing this same low life sore loser game for years. They are complete effing losers. Plain and simple.
30-24. Feel the pain Techies.
FORTY ONE POINTS to your seventeen points
August 13th, 2010
7:56 am
(((((((((((((((((((41-17)))))))))))))))))))
Still hurts, doesn’t it?
say it
August 13th, 2010
8:01 am
dawgfan
August 13th, 2010
7:46 am
tech fans eating you up, aren’t they?
St. Clarkston
August 13th, 2010
8:05 am
Good luck Quinton. Get your degree. You’ll always be a Dawg!
SickandTired
August 13th, 2010
8:15 am
Cudos to Mark Richt for taking care Quintin Banks. Sad for a kid to get injured as hard as they have to work.
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
August 13th, 2010
8:28 am
Good News on Branden Smith- hate to hear that Bank’s knees are shot and not doing well, especially for a young kid. Now he’s got to look forward to a lifetime of arthritis. Glad to hear that he still be on the sidelines supporting his team. Go Dawgs, 22 days away!!!
dawgfan0711
August 13th, 2010
8:28 am
Tide Roll–I have figured it out now, you have a man crush on Bean Anderson. Why no mention of K. Tripp? Did he tell you to quit hiding outside his dorm room. Do everyone a favor and quit blogging about our coaches and trying to insult them by saying they move players out of position. I guess you were on the Bear’s coaching staff and know what’s best for a kid without even seeing him practice. Does your big bad Tide not have a blog that will let you write? Let me guess, a man crush on one of Saben’s little boys had you kicked off the Bama Blog??
jasont13
August 13th, 2010
8:31 am
This is just proof that the City of Atlanta Schools are terrible. If a kid who had over a 3.2 GPA in high school and did well on the ACT, and still had to take remidal classes his freshman year in college. There is something truly wrong there. Branden Smith is a good kid and student. Tech fans lay off cause guess what? He was offered a scholarship from Tech and they recruited him really hard so if he was there he would be in the same situation.
Delbert D.
August 13th, 2010
8:33 am
Red Dog77 – “lots of red shirt FR. QBs have lit-up the score board right out of the gate”
Tom Savage of Rutgers last year, for one. Info on the SI.com site.
Starring Kam Fong as Chin Ho
August 13th, 2010
8:40 am
Here’s a thought, Tide Roll has posted about a thousand times without actually saying anything at all. Was St Simons and Tide Roll separated at birth? What a bufoon
LawDawg
August 13th, 2010
8:42 am
Tide Roll = racist loser
What the heck is a “Tide Roll”. BBQ wrapped in seaweed paper?
Tech Sucks
August 13th, 2010
8:43 am
We are going to stomp everyone we play this year.
dawgfan
August 13th, 2010
8:43 am
Yes, they are. ignorance and arrogance is a dangerous combination and I have little tolerance for it. Are you proud of the kind of low life behavior that I spoke of? Sure seems like it.
30-24. Sure eats you up doesn’t it Techie9
LawDawg
August 13th, 2010
8:48 am
GATOR CHUMP:
I will bet you anything that FU will be on probation within the next 2 years, coinciding with Urban Cryers departure. BOOK IT!!!
HunkerDown27
August 13th, 2010
8:55 am
This the the first time that I can remember that we (UGA) haven’t had any season ending injuries or player suspended for the first two or three games. Ok, Tavarres King is suspended one game but ULL are not Oklahoma St or S Car (first two games of the last two seasons). Maybe Richts practice ideas to keep the players fresh and build them up in the classroom will pay off. Plus the addition of high-level shortened practices, quality is always better than quantity and the games are only 60 minutes. CMR could be starting a new brand of coaching in CFB and I hope it pays off. It has so far.
RxDawg
August 13th, 2010
8:57 am
Great news about Brenden. Sad news about Q Banks. But I’m glad that he is ready to move on with life.
I had a dream last night. The Dawgs went to the SEC championship and played Alabama. They came out and surprised with the black jersies. They also had some major swagger to them because we had a score to settle with Bama and those jersies. Don’t know who won though. I got so excited I woke up! Go Dawgs!
Yellow Fuzz
August 13th, 2010
9:06 am
Can’t wait to return to Athens this November.
Can’t wait to defend our last ((((((((((((((((((((((((( 45-42 ))))))))))))))))))))))))) bitc slapping there and more importantly, our (((((((((((((((((((( 26-0 ))))))))))))))))))))) 3rd quarter, total butt whoopin, beat down. I look forward to experiencing that erie silence of dog fans in TOTAL shock. Priceless.
Freehawk
August 13th, 2010
9:14 am
Nothing to worry about, UGA could get a lump of coal eligible.
Realistic Dawg Fan
August 13th, 2010
9:15 am
Look, we got one or two retarded tek fans who pose as gator fans because that’s the only way to justify talking smack. They have no life because they are on the UGA blogs evey day showing their ignorance, and envy. They are really kinda sad. No self respecting gator fan would hang out on UGA blog.
Tek sux….. 60/39/5 baby… read it and weep
LawDawg
August 13th, 2010
9:16 am
Yellow Fuzz:
And then you woke up!!
LawDawg
August 13th, 2010
9:17 am
Yeah, what a bitc& slapping (45-42). Priceless Nerd, priceless.
Realistic Dawg Fan
August 13th, 2010
9:18 am
Yellow Fuzz, you are easly the most retarded of all tek fans. 30 to 24 punk. 8 of 9 and 60/39/5. We own you and your kind and nothing can change that. Glad it hurts so bad little boy.
say it
August 13th, 2010
9:20 am
dawgfan
LOL!!! Love it..they reeeeally get to you!
How2fish
August 13th, 2010
9:22 am
Quintin best of luck in the future ,you always gave your all for the Bulldog Nation thanks ! Great news on B.Smith and Yellow Fuzz I promise you you can’t be looking forward to Nov anymore than the Bulldog Nation..9-1 and a another nail in the Wattle Neck Goon’s coffin. You did this last year ran your mouth all season and then poof just vanished for what 3-4 months..go ahead and stock up on the chips and dip and have all of your Star War dolls lined up in mommy’s basement you’ll be down there again this year!
Will
August 13th, 2010
9:22 am
Hey Roll Tide…
One of your prized recruits Shannon Brown, the lb prospect from Adel, GA did not attend summer school and is about to get kicked off his high school football team for missing practices. So you can cross him off the list because he is going to Valdosta State if he can even get in there. What a weird coaching staff you have to recruit this guy.
Why don’t you roll tide your ass to another blog. You are a loser. By the way, CMR is 3-1 vs bama.
FORTY ONE POINTS to your seventeen points
August 13th, 2010
9:23 am
LawDawg
will bet you anything that FU will be on probation within the next 2 years, coinciding with Urban Cryers departure. BOOK IT!!!
Didn’t think you’d want to go there…I mean, with GA ranked #11 with ALL TIME major NCAA infractions (source ncaa.org)
Ted Striker
August 13th, 2010
9:23 am
Thank you, Quintin Banks for putting everything you had into your UGA football career. That includes the sweat and time on the practice field and in Sanford Stadium — as well as maintaining a balance with academics.
Great effort, great outcome, keep it up.
Will
August 13th, 2010
9:30 am
Tide Roll
I just saw where UA misspelled Mississippi on all of their tickets. Now that is about as smart as calling yourselves national champions in 1944 when all the kids were off at war. You are a loser.
DAWGS 2010
August 13th, 2010
9:31 am
Hey Tide Roll why are you such a racist ? I really think come December if yall make it to the SEC title game UGA will beat Alabama and make CMR 4-1 against the almighty Tide GO DAWGS