Archive for the ‘Basketball’ Category

We now know who was Georgia’s “Plan B” to Tony Parker.

Houston Kessler, a 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward out of Landmark Christian School in Fairburn, signed with the Bulldogs on Tuesday night and faxed in his signed letter-of-intent Wednesday morning, his coach confirmed.

“They have been watching him since his sophomore year,” Landmark Christian coach Chip McAllister said via email. “They have always really liked him. He had a huge year this year and as the season wore on things just fell into place.”

Kessler is a UGA legacy, the son of former Georgia basketball player Chad Kessler and the nephew of the late Alec Kessler, who starred for the Bulldogs’ 1990 SEC championship team. Kessler averaged 22 points and 11 rebounds as a senior at the Class A private school and finished as Landmark’s career scoring leader at 1,600 points. The War Eagles have gone 39-16 over the past two seasons, including a 20-8 mark in 2012 that was capped by a Round of 16 showing in the Class A state …

Continue reading Georgia lands legacy Houston Kessler as final signee of 2012 hoops class »

Congratulations to former Georgia star and U.S. Olympian Katrina McClain, who learned Monday she’s heading to the Naismaith Basketball Hall of Fame. Here’s the report from New Orleans filed by UGA’s Sports Communication office. . . .

McClain

Katrina McClain, Georgia Basketball’s first-ever National Player of the Year in 1987 who went on to become a three-time U.S. Olympian, has been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The Hall’s Class of 2012 was announced on Monday in New Orleans in association with the NCAA Men’s Final Four.

“It’s always good to feel like you’re part of a family,” McClain said at the ceremonies. “Knowing from the past, my best friend Teresa Edwards was inducted last year, she talked about how great the Naismith family is and how great the people from the Hall of Fame treat you. This is a wonderful feeling and I feel so honored.”

McClain’s basketball resume is as distinguished as virtually any player in women’s basketball history. She …

Continue reading Georgia’s Katrina McClain joins Teresa Edwards in Naismith Hall of Fame »

Sixty-six-point-six percent of the SEC’s men’s basketball teams will be involved postseason play this year. The Georgia Bulldogs won’t be among them.

That’s no revelation. Nobody was expecting the Dogs to receive some kind of miraculous at-large invitation. They didn’t deserve one. I’m just bringing it up as a point of mathematical illustration.

Four of its SEC brethren is all that Georgia needed to be better than to be involved in some sort of madness this March. Four SEC teams were selected for the NCAA Tournament and four are headed to the NIT in what would have to be considered a relatively down year in the league.

For comparisons sake, four other conferences placed more teams into the NCAA tournament: the Big East (9), Big Ten (6), Big 12 (6) and ACC (5). The Atlantic 10 and Mountain West also received four bids each.

SEC regular-season champion Kentucky (32-2) is the overall top seed in the Big Dance despite its loss to Vanderbilt on Sunday in the SEC tournament …

Continue reading Believe it or not, Georgia not far off from being a postseason presence »

NEW ORLEANS – Mark Fox insisted he was not concerned about the turnaround his team faced in playing on back-to-back nights in the SEC tournament. But the Bulldogs looked a step slow Friday night as they fell to Vanderbilt for the third time this season, 63-41 this time.

Despite much evidence to the contrary, Fox was still hesitant to admit fatigue was a factor.

“We just didn’t defend well enough,” said Fox, who saw the Commodores outscore his team 39-16 in the second half. “That would be unfair to Vanderbilt to say that. Our defense was pretty good in the first half, but I think they made their first five or six shots to start the second half, and I really think that was the big key. . . . Our defense failed us.”

That poor defense probably had something to do with tired legs. The Bulldogs fought hard and played one of their better games in defeating Mississippi State 61-51 on Friday. But they looked completely different 22 hours later.

After having five players score …

Continue reading Bulldogs run out of gas vs. Vandy in SEC quarterfinals »

Georgia's Nemanja Djurisic (42) was an offensive and defensive force to be reckoned with in the Bulldogs' first-round win over Mississippi State. He'll have to be again tonight against Vanderbilt. (AP photo)

NEW ORLEANS — There were a number of reasons Georgia was able to dispatch Mississippi State in such a dominating fashion Thursday night. Nemanja Djurisic was a big one.

The 6-foot-8, 230-pound import from Montenegro became the Bulldogs’ first post player to record a double-double all season when he scored 11 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the 71-61 victory in the opening round of the SEC Tournament. Five of Djurisic’s rebounds came on the offensive end. He added a 3-pointer, an assist and a steal.

“Nemanja is a better player now,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said of the freshman. He’s more experienced and he’s just more comfortable. . . . I thought his effort on the glass was critical to the game. Obviously he made some real key plays for us.”

Two plays loom …

Continue reading Bulldogs need more of same from Djurisic against Vandy »

NEW ORLEANS – Dustin Ware didn’t get the 16 points he needed to reach 1,000 for his career. But he got something more important – a chance to play again.

Ware did manage 13 points, however, and along with the 23 of fellow guard Gerald Robinson, the veteran back court was a big reason Georgia was able to defeat Mississippi State 71-61 and advance to the second round of the SEC Tournament.

“Dustin’s had a tough year but he shot it well tonight,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “I thought he and Gerald played like experienced players, like seniors should play. We had a lot of guys make plays to win tonight. I thought they all felt good about seeing a teammate chip in.”

It was particularly uplifting for Ware, who has been mired in a long shooting slump.

“I wanted to be aggressive,” said Ware, who was scoreless at the half. “Teammates, coaches, they all kept a lot of confidence in me and really kept me going. I saw a few go down and it really felt good.”

Ware was 3-of-6 from …

Continue reading Georgia shoots lights out in New Orleans for SEC tourney win »

NEW ORLEANS — Auburn officials acknowledged Thursday afternoon that its basketball program is currently under investigation by the FBI, NCAA and SEC, but remained vague about the nature of the probe.

“Auburn officials were made aware of a rumor regarding an allegation two weeks ago and immediately reported it to the FBI, the NCAA and the SEC,” Auburn assistant athletic director Cassie Arner said in a statement released by the school. “Because of the nature of the allegation, Auburn is not in a position to make any further comment on the situation.”

Yahoo!Sports, citing multiple sources, reported earlier Thursday that Auburn is being investigated for an alleged points-shaving scheme planned by Varez Ward, a sophomore guard from Montgomery. Ward, who transferred to Auburn from Texas, has been suspended indefinitely for the last three games for “conduct detrimental to the team.” Fellow guard Chris Denson of Columbus was suspended at the same time but was reinstated after one …

Continue reading Auburn acknowledges investigations by FBI, NCAA »

SEC TOURNAMENT NOTEBOOK

The rebuilt houses in New Orleans' Ninth Ward are both modernesque and flood resistant. But much work remains to be done. (Photo from makeitrightnola.org)

NEW ORLEANS – The last time Mark Fox came to New Orleans was in 2007 when he was head coach at Nevada. The Wolf Pack was 28-4 and came for the NCAA tournament as the No. 7 seed in the South Regional.

That happened to be just two years after Hurricane Katrina devastated this city. So Fox took his team down to the Ninth Ward to survey the residual damage. He has never forgotten what he saw there..

“It really was staggering to see it up close,” Fox said.

Five years later, Fox took a different team back to that area on the banks of the Mississippi River. The Georgia Bulldogs surveyed the neighborhood early Wednesday as they awaited their turn to practice at New Orleans Arena for the SEC basketball tournament.

“I just felt it would be good for our players to see what people went through in this …

Continue reading SEC Tournament notes: Bulldogs tour New Orleans’ Ninth Ward »

ATHENS – The good news is Georgia drew a team it beat during the regular season for the first round of the SEC Tournament. That’s the bad news, too.

As the 11th seed, the Bulldogs (14-15, 5-11 SEC) will face sixth-seeded Mississippi State (21-10, 8-8) in the first round Thursday night in New Orleans. Georgia shocked the “Maroon Bulldogs” 70-68 in overtime on Feb. 11th. At the time coach Rick Stansbury’s team was ranked No. 20 in the nation.

As a result, Georgia will be facing a team that not only is fighting and clawing for an NCAA Tournament berth, but one that will also be motivated by revenge.

“Our first game versus  Mississippi State was a terrific win for us,” said Georgia coach Mark Fox, whose team capped the regular season with a 67-55 win over South Carolina on Saturday. “They’ve been nationally ranked most of the year and we were fortunate to catch them on short rest. They are hard to beat because they have a great point guard in [Dee] Bost, great size and good …

Continue reading Georgia draws Mississippi State for first round of SEC Tournament »

ATHENS – They won’t go down as one of Georgia’s most accomplished bunches and many that should be among them won’t be when the Bulldogs’ seniors are honored before Saturday’s regular-season finale. But all-in-all they were darn good Dogs, according to coaches and teammates.

Four players will be recognized during Senior Day festivities before the Bulldogs tip off against South Carolina at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum. On paper they are a four-year letterman (Dustin Ware), a transfer (Gerald Robinson) and two walkons who stuck it out and earned scholarships (Matt Bucklin and Connor Nolte). But all of them are equal in their contributions to the team in the eyes of head coach Mark Fox.

“Because we lost those guys early, all the responsibility of leadership and scoring and teaching guys to defend all kind of fell on those seniors,” said Fox, who’s in his third season with the Bulldogs. “This has probably been as dependent as we’ve been on a senior group, ever really, …

Continue reading Georgia’s seniors fought hard to fill void left by NBA defectors »

Georgia and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (1) will face a tall task against Anthony Davis (23) and Kentucky on Thursday at Rupp Arena. (AP photo by John Bazemore)

ATHENS — To be clear, Georgia coach Mark Fox says he doesn’t care about Georgia’s eventual finish in the SEC regular-season standings or what seed it gets or which game it plays in next week’s SEC Tournament.

“We don’t ever worry about that,” Fox said Monday. “I think the only time you ever worry about a lot of that is if you’re in a position to get a bye and we’re not in that position. Our focus with this group all year, as young as we were, was just to try to win the next game and keep getting better. That’s how we’ll approach it this week as well.”

For those who do pay attention to record and seeding, this is a very big week for the Bulldogs (13-15, 4-10 SEC). Coming off an impressive 76-62 upset of No. 12 Florida this past Saturday, Georgia wraps up the regular season with a road game against No. 1-ranked Kentucky …

Continue reading Bulldogs head into final week battling to stay out of SEC’s last place »

ATHENS – Spotted two points before the opening tip, Georgia never relinquished that lead on the way to knocking off No. 12 Florida 76-62 Saturday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum.

The Gators (22-7, 10-4 SEC) were assessed a technical foul because sophomore Casey Prather dunked the ball during pregame warmups. That’s considered an unsportsmanlike act, though it’s an infraction rarely enforced. Florida was also assessed a flagrant foul in the game’s final minute.

As it turned out, the Bulldogs (13-15, 4-10) could have given back all the freebies and still claimed victory as they played their best game of the season..

“It’s the first time I’ve seen it happen,” said freshman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who led the Bulldogs with 18 points and 4 steals. “That definitely gave us a good feeling. It put us ahead two points and we just kept it going ’til the end of the game.”

The win broke a three-game losing streak for Georgia, which notched it’s second victory over a ranked team this …

Continue reading Georgia scores impressive 76-62 upset of No. 12 Florida »

Pretty impressive win by Georgia on Saturday. The Bulldogs went to Starkville and took down No. 20 Mississippi State. The Maroon Dogs are, in my opinion, one of the best-built teams in the SEC south of Kentucky. So I certainly wasn’t expecting Georgia’s first SEC road win to come there.

In case you missed the telecast, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a late 3-pointer in overtime and finished with 20 points to lead the Bulldogs to the 70-68 victory. Gerald Robinson’s bucket sent the game into the extra period.

Following was the AP burst. Wanted to give folks a chance to comment. . . .

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 20 points, including a crucial 3-pointer late in overtime, and Georgia beat No. 20 Mississippi State 70-68 on Saturday.

Georgia (12-12, 3-7) earned its first Southeastern Conference road win this season and only its second road victory overall. Gerald Robinson Jr. added 13 points, including eight in overtime. Dustin Ware had 11.

Mississippi State …

Continue reading Bulldogs pull out impressive 70-68 overtime win over No. 20 Miss. State »

With an 8:05 p.m. tip, Georgia’s basketball game against Arkansas Wednesday night was one of those slam-it-in-for-print kind of games. So following is a recast of my game story on the Bulldogs’ impressive 81-59 win updated with quotes from players and coaches, some minor tweeks and some addition quotes at the end.

ATHENS — Two teams on divergent paths met at Stegeman Coliseum on Wednesday night. But it was the one supposedly heading downward that came out on top.

Georgia, which won one of its eight games during the first half of the SEC schedule, started the second by doubling its conference total with a 81-59 victory over Arkansas. The Razorbacks (16-8, 4-5 SEC) came in with wins over three ranked teams but searching for their first SEC road victory.

The Bulldogs (11-12, 2-7) got a career-high 27 points from senior guard Gerald Robinson — including 17 in the first half — along with five assists and SIX rebounds as the SEC’s worst offensive team trumped the league’s …

Continue reading Georgia finally puts it all together in win over Arkansas »

Georgia's John Florveus sends Tennessee's Cameron Tatum packing with this blocked shot in a defensive slugfest Wednesday night at Stegeman Coliseum. (AJC photo by Hyosub Shin, hshin@ajc.com)

ATHENS – To look at the stat sheet handed out at the end of Georgia’s 57-53 overtime win over Tennessee Wednesday night, one would think Marcus Thornton had little to no impact on the proceedings. The sophomore from Atlanta’s line read: 23 minutes played, zero points, 1 rebound, 4 personal fouls.

But to the man who fills out the lineup card for the Bulldogs, there was not a more important contributor.

“I was really pleased with our defense and, I gotta tell you, the main reason was Marcus Thornton was back,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said. “He gave us an element we’ve been missing since he’s been out.”

Thornton, a 6-foot-9 power forward, has been out since going down with a knee injury in the Furman game on Dec. 23. Shortly after Christmas he underwent arthroscopic surgery and has remained …

Continue reading Thornton returns as Bulldogs beat Tennessee 57-53 in overtime »

ATHENS — Greetings from Stegeman Coliseum where I will be covering tonight’s game between the Georgia Bulldogs (9-8, 0-3 SEC) and the Tennessee Vols (8-9, 1-2).

I’ll be in a tight deadline situation with tonight’s 8 p.m. tip — the game is being televised on the SEC Network — so I won’t be doing any live blogging. However, I’ll send out an occasional tweet with details from the game if you care to follow me @ajcuga.

• Following are a few notes and quotes about tonight’s matchup that will hopefully provide a little insight:
• Game is first of three-game homestand. Others versus Ole Miss and Kentucky.
• Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is Georgia’s leading scorer 14.5 ppg
• Dustin Ware expected to get second straight start at point guard.
• Georgia and Tennessee have split their last four games.
• Georgia hasn’t started 0-4 in SEC play since 2009 when it lost its first nine in coach Dennis Felton’s last season. The Bulldogs finished 12-20 that season and 3-13 in SEC play and Felton was fired with …

Continue reading Important hoops game for Georgia and Tennessee at Stegeman »

What coaches and players were saying after Georgia Tech’s 68-56 victory over Georgia  in Athens on Wednesday night:

Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory:

“I was 10 years old when that [Tech's last win in Stegeman Coliseum] happened. I told our guys that on Monday. Now, there were some [years] in between we didn’t play down here. I didn’t tell them that, you know. I just wanted our guys to understand that one of the things that is unique and special about Georgia Tech is the great tradition we have. There’s a lot of great players who have worn that uniform and never won down here.  Part of our process in getting it back on track is doing some special things, and tonight was special. Our guys will be able to say they broke the streak,  and they will remember it forever. And I know the guys who wore the uniform before tonight, they’re proud of the way our guys played. Irregardless of whether we won or lost, we played the way Georgia Tech is supposed to play in terms of great …

Continue reading Tech 68, UGA 56: What they were saying afterward »

Greetings from Athens. Once again, it’s Georgia vs. Georgia Tech — this time in hoops. Eleven days after the rivals met in football at Bobby Dodd Stadium, they’ll convene tonight for the 188th time in men’s basketball. Tipoff is 7 p.m. at Stegeman Coliseum, where Tech hasn’t won in 35 years. Tickets are available. The game will be televised on Fox Sports South. If you missed it, here’s a preview of the game from today’s AJC:

State of the teams

Tech was picked to finish 10th in the 12-team ACC and Georgia eighth in the 12-team SEC — prognostications that reflected two programs in transition. Georgia lost last season’s two leading scorers and rebounders, Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie, to the NBA draft, and other than a pair of senior guards the Bulldogs have a young team that coach Mark Fox labeled “as green as the New York Jets.” Tech also lost its top scorer and best player, point guard Iman Shumpert, to the NBA, and the Yellow Jackets have no seniors on the roster except …

Continue reading Dogs vs. Jackets tonight in Athens »

News release from UGA Sports Communications announcing the signing of three prospects on Wednesday, the first day of the NCAA’s early signing period:

University of Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox announced on Wednesday the signing of three in-state high school seniors to national letters-of-intent to attend UGA and play next season for the Bulldogs: Kenny Gaines, a 6-4 guard from Atlanta; Charles Mann, a 6-6 guard from Alpharetta; and Brandon Morris, a 6-8 forward from Lithonia.

Gaines, at 6-4 and 190 pounds, is currently beginning his senior season at Whitefield Academy in Smyrna. As a junior last season he averaged 20.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists in leading the Wolfpack to a 23-4 overall record. Whitefield Academy reached the Georgia Class A Final Four last season after reaching the state championship game in Gaines’ sophomore year.

He is rated as the nation’s No. 20 shooting guard prospect by Scout.com and the #24 shooting guard by Rivals.com. ”Kenny is …

Continue reading Georgia inks 3 basketball prospects on opening day of early signing period »

ATHENS — Georgia received good news from the NCAA on Tuesday. Five-star freshman basketball player  Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was cleared to compete in the 2011-12 season.

Caldwell-Pope, a 6-foot-6 wing player from Greenville, Ga., was being investigated for receiving improper benefits from a person in Columbus involved with AAU basketball and the local parks and recreation department.

“I am pleased that the situation regarding Kentavious’ eligibility has been resolved,” Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox said. “Kentavious can now put these issues behind him and focus on becoming a better student-athlete. We can all move forward in our preparations for the coming season.”

A police investigation in Columbus alleged that that an unauthorized bank account controlled by Columbus parks and recreation director Tony Adams and his associate Herman Porter paid for the cell phone bill of Caldwell-Pope’s mother. Both Caldwell-Pope and junior outside linebacker Jarvis Jones — who had two …

Continue reading UPDATED: Basketball star Kentavious Caldwell-Pope cleared by NCAA »

The Georgia men’s basketball team will travel to Xavier, Colorado and Southern California, among other places, under an ambitious 2011-12 schedule announced Thursday.

The Nov. 25 game at Xavier and the Nov. 28 game at Colorado are rematches of dates in Athens last season. The Dec. 17 game at USC will be Georgia’s second ever against the Trojans, who will return the cross-country trip the following season.

Other highlights of Georgia’s non-conference schedule include games against California and either Missouri or Notre Dame in the CBE Classic on Nov. 21-22 in Kansas City, a game against Cincinnati in Athens on Dec. 2 as part of the Big East/SEC Challenge and the annual meeting with Georgia Tech on Dec. 7 in Athens.

“I think we have established a schedule that, first, should prepare us well for SEC play and, second, should give us the strength of schedule needed in the eyes of the [NCAA tournament] selection committee, if we are successful this season,” Georgia …

Continue reading UGA hoops schedule set; includes trip to USC »

In case you missed it, Teresa Edwards, the legendary Georgia basketball player and Olympic gold medaliist was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday night in Springfield, Mass.

Edwards will go down in history as one of the greatest women’s basketball players of all time. She’s the only American basketball player to have represented her country in teh Olympics five times. Of course, she was an All-American at Georgia and led coach Andy Landers’ Bulldogs to three SEC championships and two Final Fours, including a runner-up finish in 1985.

Mike “Jiggs” Mobley of the UGA Sports Communiations office — a legendary figure himself — accompanied Edwards, Landers and a UGA entourage of dignitaries to Springfield for Friday’s ceremonies. Following is his account of the night.

Congratulations Teresa. . . .

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Teresa Edwards delivered a heart-felt and emotional induction speech to celebrate her inclusion into the Naismith Memorial Basketball …

Continue reading UGA legend Teresa Edwards enters Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame »

Just talked to Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox on the SEC’s summer teleconference call with coaches.

I was able to get in only two questions — writers from all over the league participate — but the first thing I asked him about was, of course, the eligibility issues suddenly surrounding the Bulldogs’ prized recruit, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Specifically, I asked Fox when he was made aware that there may be some issues and if he anticipated the five-star shooting guard from Greenville would be subject to NCAA suspension.

“Really I was just made aware of that yesterday,” Fox said Monday. “Obviously we’ll cooperate with the process. I really can’t speculate on what penalty there will be if there is one.”

I also asked Fox where he thought the team’s scoring will come from this season with the loss of last year’s top two point producers — Travis Leslie and Trey Thompkins — to the NBA draft.

“That’s the question,” he said. “We did lose a lot of scoring and I think any coach would …

Continue reading UGA’s Mark Fox unaware of eligibility issues for top basketball recruit until Columbus report »

A police investigation in Columbus has uncovered alleged illegal activity in the parks and recreation department there that may or may not affect the eligibility of Georgia football player Jarvis Jones and basketball signee Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported Sunday that an unauthorized bank account controlled by the parks director and one of his associates was used to pay for flights to and from Los Angeles for Jones while he was playing football for Southern Cal, and for the cell phone bill of Caldwell-Pope’s mother. Both Jones and Caldwell-Pope played AAU basketball for the Georgia Blazers, a “city-funded, Nike-sponsored” group overseen by parks director Tony Adams and Herman Porter.

Adams allegedly used the team’s credit card to pay for four flights for Jones to or from Los Angeles worth a total of $828 from June to October of 2009, according to the police investigation. Also, police allege Porter paid the $280 Verizon phone bill of Rhonda …

Continue reading UGA aware of accusations in Columbus that could affect eligibility of Jarvis Jones, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope »

Criticism of his physical conditioning contributed to Georgia's Trey Thompkins dropping to the second round in Thursday night's NBA draft. (AJC photo by Jason Getz)

Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie thought they had left Georgia to pursue their NBA dreams separately. As it turns out, they’ll be reunited in Los Angeles after the Bulldogs’ star players were both drafted in the second round by the Clippers.

Thompkins, a 6-9, 240-pound power forward from Lithonia, was the first to go, but not until the37th pick. His call came at 10:45 p.m., or three hours and forty-five minutes after the NBA Draft show on ESPN began.

The call for Leslie, a 6-4 guard from Decatur, came 10 picks and nearly a half-hour later.

“Congrats to Trey and Travis on being drafted,” Georgia coach Mark Fox said via his Twitter account. “Never thought I’d say I was going to cheer for the Clippers. . . . I will now.”

Thompkins (17 points/8 rebounds) and Leslie (14/7) were the Bulldogs’ leading scorers and …

Continue reading UGA’s Trey Thompkins, Travis Leslie reunited in NBA by L.A. Clippers (UPDATED) »

DESTIN, FLA. – And now, we wait.

The presidents are hunkered down in the executive boardroom here at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Resort and the athletic directors are gathered in the Emerald Room where they’ve been all week during the SEC Spring Meetings.

I just talked to SEC Commissioner Mike Slive and UGA President Michael Adams this morning and both said it would be after lunch before we get some real news.

Of course, over-signing and roster management have dominated the conversations here this week. But there are actually a lot of things on the table in front of the presidents today. Among the issues we expect to get some resolution on today include:

• Anti-oversigning legislation
• Elimination of divisional play in men’s basketball
• Banning of 7-on-7 flag football tournaments from SEC campuses
• Rescinding the exception for one-year, postgraduate transfers
• Elimination of noise-making devices such as cowbells at football games.
• We’ll find out the SEC revenue distribution for …

Continue reading Vigorous debate continues among SEC presidents »

DESTIN, FLA. – Welcome to Day Three of the SEC Spring Meetings at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Resort. This is traditionally known as the quiet day around here, which is in stark contrast to yesterday when Steve Spurrier was proposing paying players, Nick Saban was storming out of meetings and the conference leaders were retooling men’s basketball.

UGA President Michael Adams expects a battle among SEC presidents over the issue of over-signing. (AJC photo)

As of today, all of the coaches and some of the administrators have gone home. This morning there were golf and tennis outings for attendees. But this afternoon the real work gets done.

The SEC president conduct the first of two meeting at 2:30 p.m. EST to discuss the legislation brought before them by the coaches, faculty athletic reps, senior women’s administrators and athletic directors. Sometime tomorrow morning they will cast actual votes on said legislation and then we might see some changes regarding roster management, …

Continue reading UGA’s Michael Adams expects ‘robust discussion’ among SEC presidents on over-signing »

DESTIN, FLA. — Over-signing in football has dominated the conversation at the SEC Spring Meetings this year, but the real sweeping changes came in basketball.

Conference athletic directors on Wednesday accepted the men’s basketball coaches’ recommendation that divisional play be eliminated and SEC tournament be seeded 1 through 12 with the top four teams getting first-round byes.

The league’s 12 presidents, who will not arrive until Thursday, still need to vote on the recommendation on Friday before it’s official.

“If [the presidents] approve it, we want to go 1 through 12,” said Georgia coach Mark Fox, who voted for the change. “We have to come up with tiebreakers and everything else, but the seeing will be based on conference record. It wasn’t unanimous but I think everybody is confident that this was the best thing for the league.”

The fact that they eliminated divisions this year is somewhat of a surprise because SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said earlier this week wasn’t …

Continue reading No mandate on over-signing but SEC men’s basketball to eliminate divisions »

DESTIN, FLA. — The SEC football and basketball coaches have finally emerged from their meeting rooms after discussing for more than four hours this morning possible legislation regarding their respective sports.

Over the next couple of hours they will share their opinions on over-signing and tournament seeding with their respective athletic directors. Exactly what those opinions are remain secretive.

“I think we all came to some conclusions together that are in the best interest of our league and the players,”Georgia coach Mark Richt. “That’s the big thing. We’ve got to make sure we’re doing what’s in the best interest of the players.”

Football coaches were debating new “roster management” legislation that could further restrict the number of players they can sign to scholarships each year. Basketball coaches are discussing possibly changing the SEC tournament seeding format to eliminate the divisional finish component.

Said Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox: “I’ll say this, …

Continue reading SEC coaches emerge, take opinions into meeting with ADs »

DESTIN, FLA. — It’s Day Two here at the SEC Meetings at the Sandestin Beach Hilton and it promises to be a somewhat eventful day.

Nothing will actually be enacted today. But the football and basketball coaches, after meeting together all morning, will get together with the athletic directors this afternoon and let them know how they feel about the respective legislation before them. At some point they will put it to a vote and, however that turns out is the recommendation they’ll forward on the presidents, who aren’t due to convene until Thursday. On Friday, the presidents will discuss it and make a final decision on which way to go.

“We’ll get in there and talk about the issues together and they’ll take some straw polls,” Georgia AD Greg McGarity said Wednesday. “eventually they’ll ask the question, ‘All for say, aye; opposed say, no.’ But nothing is going to be official until the presidents have their say. It’s their vote Friday that matters.”

This much we know after …

Continue reading Coaches, ADs prepare to vote on issues on Day Two of SEC Meetings »