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.
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267 comments Add your comment
Hopelessly Devoted
October 12th, 2011
2:47 pm
@Where is The One?
Funny thing is that Tech didn’t even need a snitch for the NCAA to nail them to the wall.
The Answer
October 12th, 2011
2:47 pm
42
Thomas Brown
October 12th, 2011
2:47 pm
We could have beat South Carolina early in the year too, without OUR starting QB
Hopelessly Devoted
October 12th, 2011
2:48 pm
What is 6 x 7?
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
2:48 pm
Thomas Brown, you’re just not smart dude. What you go off of is what they were ranked when UGA played them. NOT where they finished the year since a loss to UGA helped lead to their end of year ranking or lack thereof. Face it dude, you got nothing. Your “facts” are spun up from your imagination. And since we are talking SEASONS and this one isn’t a full season, 2006 was really FIVE years ago .. 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010. Let this one finish, then you can say it was SIX years ago.
Rampdawg
October 12th, 2011
2:49 pm
Same goes for you Sarah, Where is the One, Purity or whhatever your name is. You know we are getting better and jelling as a team,and you’re scared shi*less. What a puss. you are.
DawginLex
October 12th, 2011
2:49 pm
Jan Kemp was a deeply disturbed woman who led a life to which no rational human being would aspire. Consider: two suicide attempts, once by pills and once by stabbing herself multiple times in the chest with a butcher knife. She spent stretches in psychiatric wards and went to jail for almost a year for contempt of court. The rumors out there are much, much worse. But really, you don’t need to get into any of the rumor and innuendo to conclude that this woman had serious problems. Actually, given the climate in Athens in the early 80s, you’d have to be crazy to call out UGA on academic preferences for football players. That may be proof enough right there that she was nuts.
**********************************************
there is the one…………..
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
2:51 pm
Upset Special is just another troll who hasn’t figured out that posting little tirades without the use of verifiable facts just makes you an idiot.
Thomas Brown
October 12th, 2011
2:53 pm
Joe Cox ?
(1) Knew the playbook ?
(2) had flu
(3) flew in private charter
(4) chronic sore shoulder could not practice once a week every week
Zach Mettenberger would have ?
(1) Lost game vs Okie State ?
(2) missed any practices ?
(3) was sick ?
(4) had chronic sore shoulder ?
I mean get real bubba. Okie State ended the 2009 season NOT RANKED in the AP Poll Top 25. And, that was WITH the win over us.
If that is NOT a CUPCAKE
JAWJeRDAWG
October 12th, 2011
2:53 pm
DawginLex
Would it be too much to hope that you could add Thomas Brown to your list?
Hopelessly Devoted
October 12th, 2011
2:54 pm
@TampaDawg
Face facts. Richt maintained a better than average win percentage early in his career because he was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. His C average, however, won’t stand up to many more seasons like the past three. He has never even had an undefeated regular season, much less a shot at a National Title.
Maybe UGA doesn’t really deserve any better than this? I, for one, hope that is not the case.
Thomas Brown
October 12th, 2011
2:54 pm
Funny TampaDawg’s list has
HALF HIS LIST great wins by Mark Richt
over
teams who ended up UNRANKED TEAMS
Pulpwud Smif
October 12th, 2011
2:56 pm
Anyone have Zach’s phone number?
Thomasina Brown
October 12th, 2011
2:59 pm
A note to the AJC: Ask Mark Richt about that 74% “special admit” rate (i.e., dumbasses who can barely read and who will spend four years in remedial studies) and the average SAT scores for his recruits. That should be an interesting answer.
Thomas Brown
October 12th, 2011
3:00 pm
Oh, that really matters, where the opponent was ranked week 2 of the season. Shall I go get your quotes TampaDawg where YOU SAID that polls should not come out until much later ?
The only thing that matters is WAS THE OPPONENT A QUALITY OPPONENT
or were they NOT ?
There is ONLY 1 POLL which is listed for each season.
The final poll.
YOUR LIST ALSO does not list the LOSSES the same year
Talk about SKEWED FACTS
heavens above.
Everyone knows that UGA has NOT DONE WELL.
You think you can run in here and post revisionist posts about how great we were Seven (7) seasons ago, and that is supposed to make us feel as great as YOU DO about this down football program ?
That is rhetorical question TampaDawg that means you don’t have to answer it – since you don’t answer any of the other questions other than to SAY you aren’t picking on me and we are doing just great beating in a row 5 cupcakes.
Rolo
October 12th, 2011
3:03 pm
Thomas Brown…….I didn’t know there were computer stations in the nut house.
DawginLex
October 12th, 2011
3:04 pm
Whine
Whine
moan
Groan
Wah
Wah
Wah
Whine
Whine
Whine
JAWJeRDAWG
October 12th, 2011
3:04 pm
Thomas Brown
We’ve beat four consecutive SEC teams that we were scheduled to play.
JAWJeRDAWG
October 12th, 2011
3:07 pm
Excuse me, 3 consecutive SEC teams. But we’ve beat them.
Thomas Brown
October 12th, 2011
3:07 pm
Tampo,
“NOT where they finished the year since a loss to UGA helped lead to their end of year ranking or lack thereof.”
Auburn won 7 games vs teams who FINISHED in the AP Poll Top 25.
UGA went 0-5 vs teams who finished in the AP Poll Top 25 and Lost
2 more games vs teams who did NOT finish in the AP Poll Top 25.
Why is your EXCUSE one that holds water only for UGA and not for Auburn last season ?
LSU 2007 beat 2 teams who finished in the AP Poll Top 10.
UGA 2007 beat 0 teams who finsihed in the AP Poll Top 10.
Sorry, try again bubbette
Thomas Brown
October 12th, 2011
3:14 pm
We are in fact – ALL 11 years :
3-10 vs teams who finished AP Poll Top 10
17-26 vs teams who finished AP Poll Top 25
18 more LOSSES to teams all of whom would have
NOT been ranked had they NOT beat us, and of those
8 only ended up being ranked of the 18 even WITH
their win over us. Of the 18, all 18 end the season with
5 or more losses, all 18 CUPCAKES without their WIN
over a football program who cannot beat CUPCAKES,
Definition : CUPCAKES
We also cannot beat teams finishing in the AP Poll Top 10 and
also HAS A WAY LOSING RECORD to teams who
end up AP Poll Top 25 all 11 years.
ISSUE : Wasted Talent avg # 7 recruit class rank all 11 yrs
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
3:15 pm
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.
————————–
I know being a loser is painful, but good Lord, give it a rest. Calling CMR names with NO proof whatsoever just the cheaters in Atlanta get caught regularly!!!.
Thomas Brown
October 12th, 2011
3:16 pm
Let’s give him another year; he has a good recruiting class Dream Team ranked # 6 Scout.com. What did that get you ? 29 scholarship PLAYERS just GONE. That is what it got you.
DawginLex
October 12th, 2011
3:17 pm
I SAID METT WAS A TRUE FRESHMAN AND SAID HE DIDN’T KNOW THE PLAYBOOK BECAUSE HE WAS A TRUE FRESHMAN.
You want to play a true freshman QB, on the road in his 1st game and he does not know the playbook, the checkdowns, how to identify a blitz, change the play at the line etc????
Play Murray and Mett and Gray in 2009, we go 4-8.
You would have gotten your wish though. Richt would have been fired for being stupid, just like you are.
Thomas Brown
October 12th, 2011
3:17 pm
Do you get paid TampaDawg to sit there and DREAM-UP EXCUSES for our football program, or are you here only to make us ALL look bad, that YOU THINK we are the 2nd Coming ?
DawginLex
October 12th, 2011
3:18 pm
29 scholarship players gone?
You count the ones that left early for the NFL and were injured.
Are you really that stupid?
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
3:18 pm
Then go cheer for someone else Thomas Brown. You’re not a real fan anyway. Anyone who complains as much as you doesn’t deserve the team you claim to be a fan of. Take a hike you spin doctor. Again, no one cares where the team you played finished the season. What matters is what they were when the strapped on the helmets against your team. That’s just plain common sense, seeing as how, again, the loss to UGA was a contributing factor to where they finished the year at.
DawginLex
October 12th, 2011
3:19 pm
I’m done wrestling with the pig
I’m covered in mud and smell like sheet
LHarding Dawg
October 12th, 2011
3:21 pm
Thomas Brown – Does’nt donate money or attend games. A total uninformed loser.
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
3:21 pm
You must get paid to sit there and post crap that makes no sense to ANYONE but yourself and the trolls. Judging by how much you type on here, it’s a full time job.
JAWJeRDAWG
October 12th, 2011
3:22 pm
Thomas Brown
Seriously, what are you looking for out of the Dawgs this year?
The past is just that; the past.
We can’t undo it.
Today, we can only play those remaining on our schedule to play, and move forward.
And hopefully, continue to play well and win.
Terry
October 12th, 2011
3:22 pm
Thomas Brown, Just because a team is ranked, does not make them a quality team, there are many teams that are ranked, that could not beat Georgia right now, if they played, GT is ranked #12, and by your statement has not beaten a team that is ranked, because even tho NC was ranked #25 in the polls when they played, them they are not ranked now. Dude, if they were ranked when you played them they were a ranked team.
Spaceman Spiff
October 12th, 2011
3:32 pm
@Thomas Brown
Hey, the real Thomas Brown called and said he is getting a little freaked out about you stalking him. Please don’t let your momma catch you with those magazines! Oh, and will you tell us for once why you are so in love with him that you have to use his name??
WDE
October 12th, 2011
3:33 pm
@Where is The One? Ok Ok you win Moron of the Day ! Congrats!
DawginLex
October 12th, 2011
3:36 pm
Jan Kemp was a deeply disturbed woman who led a life to which no rational human being would aspire. Consider: two suicide attempts, once by pills and once by stabbing herself multiple times in the chest with a butcher knife. She spent stretches in psychiatric wards and went to jail for almost a year for contempt of court. The rumors out there are much, much worse. But really, you don’t need to get into any of the rumor and innuendo to conclude that this woman had serious problems. Actually, given the climate in Athens in the early 80s, you’d have to be crazy to call out UGA on academic preferences for football players. That may be proof enough right there that she was nuts.
**********************************************
there is the one…………..
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
3:45 pm
Unfortunately, you can’t have him banned for being stupid. He brings up the scholarship argument which has been debunked on here SO many times. He talks about losing to cupcakes but contradicted himself in his own post. He loses all credibility by wanting to throw in LeMay this early and his lack of QB knowledge is readily apparent when he talks about Murray. And his cupcake argument is laughable at best. Thomas Brown needs to just find another team to cheer for.
WDE
October 12th, 2011
3:56 pm
Can we hold an intervention for Thomas Brown? Or an exorcism perhaps? He’s a troll that makes other trolls look good.
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
3:58 pm
Yeah WDE, even GT Joe is at least admittedly pulling for a different team .. albeit a bad one.
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
4:01 pm
$10 says he is googling and wikipedia-ing his butt off trying to spin more info to try to make his argument even somewhat valid.
Beast from the East
October 12th, 2011
4:01 pm
I have no dog in this fight, but what is up with this Thomas Brown character. Who posts endlessly to one in the wee hours of the morning? A friendly piece of advice……SEEK HELP NOW!
Dawg48
October 12th, 2011
4:02 pm
Thomasbrown go put on the blue shirt and join your gator brethren! All rankings are now is just to promote for tv games. Do you really think auburn jumped up to number 15 in the nation for beating Carolina? No is was to promote tv rankings for the arkansa auburn game! Do you think Penn state is a good enough team to be ranked when they played bama? No same thing! So stop posting books on here and get a life or start pulling for your team and stay positive!
WDE
October 12th, 2011
4:04 pm
@TampaDawg yeah I think he really believes that we think he is a Bull Dog and we don’t know he is a Bug .
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
4:07 pm
Yeah, the bugs definitely want CMR gone .. only shot they got of getting some respect when they play the Dawgs
Dawg48
October 12th, 2011
4:10 pm
I think it is ealy!
Dawg48
October 12th, 2011
4:12 pm
Did any one actualy take the time out of their day to read thomasbrown crap?
Not Complacent
October 12th, 2011
4:12 pm
@Dawg48
I’d lay off PSU. They’re 5-1 and ranked #25 in the Coaches Poll. That’s not great – but it’s better than some teams ’round here. I heard they were planning on keeping their coach for another 10 years.
Dawg48
October 12th, 2011
4:14 pm
In what a casket? Lol
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
4:17 pm
Not Complacent, if PSU keeps their coach another 10 years, it will turn into “Weekend at Bernies II, Headed to Happy Valley”
DawginLex
October 12th, 2011
4:31 pm
PENN STATE SUCKS
Three fourths of the SEC would destroy them
TampaDawg
October 12th, 2011
4:38 pm
your 4:30 post Not Complacent just made my day. Where is GT Joe when you need him?