Notebook: Georgia TE Jay Rome decides to play basketball
Jay Rome (L) scored 33 points for Valdosta against Norcross in the playoffs as a senior last season. (AJC photo)
ATHENS – Add another name to the list of football players planning to play basketball at Georgia.
Jay Rome, a freshman tight end from Valdosta, said he recently received the blessing of basketball coach Mark Fox to come out for basketball after the football season in over. Rome will join fellow freshman Nick Marshall on the hardwood.
“I’m not exactly sure when I’ll be able to start working with the team but me and my father talked with Coach Fox a week or so ago and basketball is definitely going to happen,” said Rome, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound forward. “In high school, I always thought basketball was my favorite sport, but I figured I’d have a better chance to play football in college. But over the past month or so, I decided I wanted to play basketball again because I missed it so much.”
Rome was a three-time player of the year at Valdosta, where he averaged 25 points and 12 rebounds his senior season. Rome’s father Stan Rome starred in basketball and football at Clemson in the 1970s. A four-star signee in football, Jay Rome is being redshirted in that sport this season.
“Me and [sophomore forward] Marcus Thornton have become good friends up here,” said Rome, who expects to play small forward with the Bulldogs. “We talked a lot and hang out a lot and he talked me into coming out.”
Replacing Malcolm Mitchell
Receivers coach Tony Ball said the Bulldogs will miss Malcolm Mitchell’s big-play ability but does not see his absence this week due to a hamstring injury radically altering the receiving corps.
“We’re certainly going to miss an element on offense, but other players have got to step up,” Ball said. “That’s what we expect. I imagine Michael Bennett or Marlon Brown or T.K. [Tavarres King] or Chris Conley will step up. Those guys understand that. They’ve got to make plays.”
Ball said Mitchell, who averages 17.5 yards on 25 receptions, is not necessarily faster than the rest of the receivers. He’s merely opportunistic and determined.
“I think there’s comparable speed. I just think Malcolm has taken advantage of his opportunities. He’s where he’s supposed to be and he’s able to make the play when it comes to him. That’s a big part of it.”
They said it
Quarterback Aaron Murray surrounded by reporters Tuesday at Georgia’s weekly media day and being asked what the Bulldogs needed to do to cut down on turnovers when senior tight end Aron White, who was walking by, decided to chime in.
“Yeah, no interceptions,” White interjected.
Murray deadpanned a response. “Yeah, no holding!”
White’s holding penalty against Tennessee was the first of four in a row by Georgia in the fourth quarter Saturday that led to a second-and-56-yards-to-go.
“Touche’!” replied White as he retreated toward the locker room.
Injury report
Cornerback Branden Smith suffered a slight “stinger” on his flattening hit of Tennessee wide receiver Da’Rick Rogers. But he was able to complete the game and is practicing this week.
“That’s part of football,” Smith told reporters. “All spring, all summer, I tried to be a physical player. Ever since I got up here, everybody said I wasn’t a physical player, so this year I’ve been working on being physical with the receivers and running backs. Hard work is paying off.”
It looks like wide receiver Rantavious Wooten will miss his fourth consecutive game with a concussion he suffered in a car accident last month. The junior once
Etc. . . .
Captains for the Vanderbilt game are center Ben Jones, offensive tackle Cordy Glenn, cornerback Brandon Boykin and special teams player Kosta Vavlas. . . . After facing the league’s top-ranked third-down conversion team in Tennessee (56.3 percent), the Bulldogs will square off versus the SEC’s 12th-ranked team in the category in Vanderbilt (18.5 percent). Georgia is seventh in the conference in third-down conversions at 38.6 percent.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
267 comments Add your comment
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
10:42 am
The embarrassing truth about UGA
October 12th, 2011
10:19 am
A few facts about your UGA that you might consider:
—————————
Its amazing you started that entire post with “A few facts” yet nothing on the entire list of spew is a verifiable fact. Nice work there peanut. I am sure your own college of choice is nothing short of being Princeton-esque. Get over yourself. You put a bunch of false garbage on a blog hiding behind your keyboard like a brave little man.
WDE
October 12th, 2011
10:42 am
@MY 2 cents no a swipe at you but I love it for nearly two years all we have heard it what a bad hire CTG was how UGA “was scraping the bottom of the barrel” how he was fired from his only DC job in the pros etc etc etc. Now it starts he’s leaving to go here he’s leaving to go there…pathetic
AltamahaDawg
October 12th, 2011
10:51 am
What you guy are missing about BuLLdawg is that this IS his therapy.
Dawg Tired
October 12th, 2011
10:59 am
Is Coach Ball in touch with reality? Mitchell is the only wide reciever who has consistently played at an acceptable level. T.K. has seemed to actually quit during pass routes, not to mention during games. Brown? Is he serious? Brown has shown no guts whatsoever. Maybe Bennet or Conley will step up, but that is not a sure thing either. Against TN we were basically down to two freshmen performing well on offense at the skill positions – Mitchell and Crowell. Smith did ok when they used him, which, of course, was not enough. It’s fairly obvious we need both Smith and Crowell in the game at the same time, but can’t because both wear # one – perhaps indicative of deeper issues.Without Mitchell, I fear we become too one dimensional.
JB
October 12th, 2011
10:59 am
Dreadful story about Dawgs via Dawgchat link. Say’s don’t be mislead by stats. The four wins have come from 4 teams with dreadful stats, example, Tenn. the previous two games had an average of MINUS 29 yards rushing .
UGA Insider
October 12th, 2011
10:59 am
Let me stop and kill the CTG rumors right here and now. I knew when this D started to succeed the haters would come out and say CTG was not going to stay. Let me just tell you, he loves it here and loves coaching these kids. Go to Athens Banner and look at the picture of him after the UT win. Does this look like a guy who is not happy? $750k ain’t chump change either.
WDE
October 12th, 2011
11:01 am
Hey where is that SSIgator fellow at? Shouldn’t he be here telling us how we have no chance vs Vandy and how we haven’t beaten anyone and our QB is over rated and our D stinks…man where oh where has he gone? Or has he a new handle?
JB
October 12th, 2011
11:03 am
WDE, yes, I’m sure he has a new handle. Wait till Dawgs end up 10-2 and playing LSU in the dome.
Tobias Funke
October 12th, 2011
11:03 am
Can we get an ignore button on these blawgs? This is the worst site ever. Bunch of miserable Trolls on here all day every day.
duronimo
October 12th, 2011
11:06 am
I believe one of the UGA coaches said that injuries opens opportunities for others. But should it take an injury to find out that another person can play as well or better than the starter? It’s a known fact that some players are not good practice players but turn into animals once the gun sounds. I believe players should be rotated into games just for that purpose. Our coaches don’t see the value in doing that and that’s why our other quarterbacks have no game experience. So don’t look for Rome or Marshall unless there’s more injuries.
dogbone
October 12th, 2011
11:06 am
This team is looking much better when playing the cup cake teams, but let’s see what happens with Fla.,Aub. and that school on North Ave………. We are still a mid-tier team with CMR &CMB…………
AltamahaDawg
October 12th, 2011
11:07 am
So you wanted Coach Ball to say all that?
dogbone
October 12th, 2011
11:11 am
UGA cannot beat LSU or BAMA………….Not in the dome or in Athens……………….. The dogs are not well coached as the class of the sec………..They will be lucky to beat a sub-par Fla.
WDE
October 12th, 2011
11:18 am
@dogbone well thanks for your insight, we would love nothing better than a chance to prove you wrong.
Mark
October 12th, 2011
11:22 am
@WDE
SSI is most likely going under the handle of JB or one of the other fools who actually think we believe what they say…
PMC
October 12th, 2011
11:30 am
Well done coach Fox! Two great recruits.
BG
October 12th, 2011
11:33 am
Good luck Rome!
HECKLE
October 12th, 2011
11:37 am
Obama should be impeached for the Solandra scandle!!!
monty
October 12th, 2011
11:42 am
At the end of the day, all GA fans want is to be able to compete and develop a program that can go toe-to-toe with the LSU’s ,Bama’s and the Gators. We aren’t there and we haven’t been there in a while. We get the talent, but we just don’t get the coaching. I realize Richt’s winning %, but there is alot of fuff in there and not enough substance. When is the last time we took down a team rated above us? I don’t remember. We put tons of guys in the NFL but have been the 3rd-4th best team in our division of the SEC for awhile. Can’t beat Florida. We barely got by a young talent restricted Tennessee. Maybe if we had a real offensive OC.
dwayne
October 12th, 2011
11:56 am
Bottom line is that the Dogs can not over look anybody…and i mean anybody, remember CO last year? Goofy to talk about playing in the dome again. Remember, BOOBOO is still the OC. Dogs still haven’t beat a good team. BOOBOO will still give smelluel carries and none of the coaches will make any adjustments at halftime.
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
11:58 am
Monty, don’t buy into the Thomas Brown charades. CMR has many quality wins in the last 5 years. The unfortunate thing is most have not come in the last 2 years.
2009 – @ #7 GTech
2008 – @ #11 LSU
@ Auburn
#18 Michigan State Bowl Game
2007 – #9 UF
#16 Bama
#19 Auburn
#25 UK
#10 Hawaii
2006 – @ #5 Auburn
#15 GTech
#14 VTech
dwayne
October 12th, 2011
11:59 am
@duronimo….In the words of Allen Iverson….practice?, we talking bout practice? practice…practice? repeat 17 more times….
Win P
October 12th, 2011
12:01 pm
evil empire’s post at 8:19am references an article by Russ Mitchell on CollegeFootballNews.com. The article is titled; “CFN Analysis Week 6 Thoughts, Oct.10″ Mr. Mitchell, IMO has done a great analysis of Coach Richt’s “program” at UGA and where it stands.
I am happy over the 4 game winning streak. However, during the last few minutes of the games with Miss., Miss. St. and Tenn., I was on edge wondering if UGA was going to “blow it” and lose. For me an indication that things have “really” improved would be the end of this phobia thing with Fla. Richt did not start it, but it would be nice if he could end it.
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
12:03 pm
Tobias Funke, man that would be nice, but if I can’t get a “Dumb Thomas Brown Post” button, then I guess a standard ignore button might work just the same. When you open the blogs to looooong, drawn out baseless posts, the words “Scroll Through” can’t be said loud enough.
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
12:04 pm
Win P – “For me an indication that things have “really” improved would be the end of this phobia thing with Fla. Richt did not start it, but it would be nice if he could end it.”
—-
Well said, buddy, well said.
1eyedJack
October 12th, 2011
12:05 pm
Coach Fox could add Lonnie Outlaw next year and he’d have a decent “dream team” of football players.
1eyedJack
October 12th, 2011
12:07 pm
Thomas Brown is in a manic state. Forgot to take his lithium I guess.
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
12:20 pm
You know, along the same lines as Thomas Brown (rants that don’t add up), I kinda miss GT Joe around here.
Gay Pride in Athens
October 12th, 2011
12:22 pm
Me and Marcus Thornton have become good friends up here,” said Rome, who expects to play small forward with the Bulldogs. “We talked a lot and hang out a lot and he talked me into coming out.”
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
12:24 pm
and maybe Dogs Smell .. he hasn’t come on here since his prediction of Tauren Poole running for 100+ against the dawgs in Knoxville didn’t exactly pan out.
Let's talk about UGA!
October 12th, 2011
12:35 pm
@PowerDawg
Who said:
“No let downs, boys. Destroy Vandy. Expose them for the weak, barely competitive team that they are.”
The SEC is Alabama, LSU, and the 10 dwarves.
MarineDog
October 12th, 2011
12:46 pm
@Thomas Brown,
Do you ever have anything positive to say?
MarineDog
October 12th, 2011
1:01 pm
@UGA Insider at 9:47,
Outstanding post! Couldn’t of said it better myself.
Spaceman Spiff
October 12th, 2011
1:20 pm
@dogbone
Go back to your technerd site. Don’t forget to tell us who the ‘nerds have beaten…
Oh how I love it when the technerds live vicariously through us!
Thomas Brown
October 12th, 2011
1:55 pm
2009 – @ #7 GTech, no Georgia tek ended up # 13
2008 – @ #11 LSU, no 2008 LUS finished UNRANKED
@ Auburn, no 2008 Auburn finished UNRANKED
#18 Michigan State Bowl Game, no beat no ranked team ended # 24
2007 – #9 UF, no FU ended up # 13
#16 Bama, no 2007 bama ended up UNRANKED
#19 Auburn, actually finished # 15
#25 UK, no KY ended up UNRANKED
#10 Hawaii, no ended up # 19
2006 – @ #5 Auburn, ended up # 9
#15 GTech, no ended up UNRANKED
#14 VTech, no ended up # 19
By the way the 2006 season was Six (6) Seasons ago beat # 9 Auburn
Kingsfoil
October 12th, 2011
1:56 pm
Thomas Brown,
“One guy who can defend the forward pass”–really?
Then what about the pass breakups by Herrara and Gilliard last game. And Baccari’s four picks (I think an interception qualifies as defending the “forward pass”). And Sanders Commings has had pass breakups and INT’s. And there are plenty of other examples.
DawginLex
October 12th, 2011
2:10 pm
Here’s my historical perspective on Richt:
Won 100 games in 10 1/2 years
lost 36 games
Won 2 SEC titles
Won 3 SEC East titles
Faced an improved league with Cutcliffe, Spurrier, Meyer, Saban, Mullen, Fulmer, Miles and has held his own
Made a huge mistake in not retaining BVG and promoting his college roommate Martinez
Made a mistake in promoting Bobo to OC and relinquishing playcalling.
Let the discipline of the team get too far gone before recognizing changes needed to be made
Made a great hire in Todd Grantham(his bad cop)
Remains to be seen if we can finish out this year with 10 straight wins, get to Atlanta and play well.
That’s Richt
Everything else is just whining and complaining.
Thomas Brown
October 12th, 2011
2:22 pm
*Won 2 SEC Titles*
*2002 a 4-loss Auburn only other SEC team in Coaches’ Poll Top 25
*2005 Lost 3 games and ended up the # 3 team in SEC final polls.
Just have to say something about
WASTED TALENT at UGA all 11 years of Mark Richt
ga fan1
October 12th, 2011
2:24 pm
we done decent so far 4-2 but lets all be honest we lost to the only 2 good teams we beat we have beat 3 bottom tier sec team and 1 div2 team we dont play anybosy good til florida…
i think we will win all the rest of the games besides the gt game. we will end 9-3 and richt will still have his job
ga fan1
October 12th, 2011
2:26 pm
??????????????
DawginLex
October 12th, 2011
2:30 pm
Thomas Brown, the ultimate revisionist blogger
Loved Richt from 2001-2008
Now throws his whole 11 years under the bus to suit his agenda
Maybe he is multiple personalities?
Bulldawg loved Richt
Thomas Brown hates him
ga fan1
October 12th, 2011
2:30 pm
1
Hopelessly Devoted
October 12th, 2011
2:35 pm
This season could have gone much better. We all knew that we had the easiest conference schedule possible this year. That, and the current state of the Florida and Tennessee programs gave us hope to make the SECCG in 2011. It is nothing short of a miracle that it is still mathematically possible for that to happen.
If only we could have swapped the SC and Auburn games. Auburn is improving with each game and SC is keeping to their tendencies and self-destructing as the season progresses. We probably could have beaten Auburn early and we could probably beat SC right now without their starting QB.
Even Florida got lucky on timing, since they’ll have Brantley back and Demps and Rainey will be healthy again when we play them. I’m tickled to have won 4 in a row, but look at the four teams we beat. Our defense is better than last year’s. Then again, I don’t see how it could have gotten much worse. I haven’t seen anything that makes me believe that we can beat Auburn or Florida. Do I hope for a miracle? Sure I do. I’m just not gonna hold my breath waiting for one.
Any SEC team should expect to beat Vandy – at any place and any time. How badly we beat them will tell me a lot about whether this team has made real progress, or if our little win streak is all smoke and mirrors.
Some of the comments from the more delusional among us make my head spin. Someone actually said that Georgia is the third best team in the SEC. Oh… I feel dizzy. Arky is clearly #3 and we have to dispatch both Auburn and Florida and have SC continue to melt down to claim #4. Someone else said about Crowell: “Everytime he touches the ball he is a threat to take it to the house.” Really? He’s played in six games and he hasn’t “taken it to the house” yet. So where’s the threat? C’mon people, he’s a true Freshman and he wouldn’t be playing at all if our other running backs hadn’t quit the team.
I may be Hopelessly Devoted, but I’m not bone dead stupid.
Upset Special
October 12th, 2011
2:39 pm
Vandy scholar-athletes 27, UGA moron-athletes 24
ga fan1
October 12th, 2011
2:42 pm
2
Hopelessly Devoted
October 12th, 2011
2:43 pm
147
DawginLex
October 12th, 2011
2:43 pm
Whine, whine wah wah whine wah wah !!!!
Moan
Groan
woe is me
We can’t beat Auburn
We let Joe cox play ahead of Matthew Stafford even though Stafford wasn’t ready as evidenced by his interceptions against Kentucky.
We let Joe cox play instead of Murray and Mettenberger even though Murray couldn’t raise his arm above his head until November and Mettenberger didn’t know the play book.
Wah, Wah, Wah!!!
Whine
Whine
Where is The One?
October 12th, 2011
2:44 pm
God bless Saint Jan Kemp for sacrificing her life to bring down Vince Dooley and his sleazy remedial studies scam.
We need another saint like her to do the same to Mark Richt, the Sleazemeister Extraordinaire.
Rampdawg
October 12th, 2011
2:44 pm
Thomas Brown, just shut the hell up and go away. Pull for Tech, or somebody else, but stick a sock in your mouth and shut the f*ck up.
DawginLex
October 12th, 2011
2:45 pm
Disappearing TROLL list
Colonel Reb
MS bully
Rock E Topp
Dogs smell
SSI Gator
Upset Special
Never to be heard from again after this weekend