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Looks like Logan Gray will be leaving UGA upon his graduation in May, so there is another spot open for this class potentially, or this could help keep a kid like Faloughi or Frix on scholarship. I really hate that Logan will be leaving because I think he could have helped us some next year but that just means more of chance for Troupe (unless he leaves to play baseball-rumors), also Wooten, Michael Bennett, and the incoming guys, possibly even Branden Smith moving to offense, or certainly Mitchell going 100% at WR now. Best wishes to Logan, here is the release notice I read.
http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/020111aab.html?utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=BR_UGABulldogs&utm_source=twitter.com
Speaking of Bennett, he is listed on this link as a potential impact redshirt player, see below article from rivals.
http://uga.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1182799
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Ok, so I gave you some stats about Arkansas yesterday, they are basically identical to us record wise, except they are 4-3 in SEC play while we of course are 3-4. They have been tough at home, yet to lose there matter of fact-I stand corrected here, they HAVE lost a home game, that being to UAB-the pesky team we struggled with before eventually getting the W back in December. Impressive wins would include Oklahoma, Seton Hall, Tenn, Bama and of course their latest win, at Vandy. Losses, besides the home loss to UAB, they have lost the other 5 games on the road, @Texas A&M, Texas, LSU, South Carolina and Florida. So, if you take a look at that, you would have to say this is a pretty good team if they can beat Vandy in Nashville, Oklahoma is down this year but that is a quality win, Seton Hall is also down but they are in the Big East so that win looks good. They were able to beat Tenn at home unlike us, they also beat west leader Bama at home which looks to be a nice win right now. That being said, I don't think there is any doubt we can win this game and NEED to win it badly. We split with them last year, losing in Athens but then knocking them off in the SEC tourney. Looking at their starters, leading scorer is guard Rotnei Clarke, he is only 6'0" but can really shoot the three, as in nearly 41% behind the 3pt line. They like to screen for him and let him get open looks, something we will need to work hard to defend. He has already taken 155 three point shots, compared to 199 inside the line so you can see, he really likes taking 3's, he averages 13.7 pts a game. Next up is Forward Delvon Johnson, a big kid at 6'9" but not really a bruiser at 220. Just a really athletic player, averaging 10.4pts and 7.5 boards a game. He is without question their rebounding leader and also averages3.5 blocks a game. At the other forward spot is Marshawn Powell who averages 10.2 pts a game. He is 6'7" and 220, again more athletic and less big bodied that some of our past opponents. Next is guard Julysses Nobles, at 6'1" 170lbs, a small but quick guard that averages 8.7 pts a game and leads the Hogs in assists per game at 3.4. Rounding out their starting 5 Jeff Peterson, another small guard at 6'0 averages 6.6 pts a game. I have to admit, looking at their roster, I just don't see any star power here. Other than Clarke who shoots FT's at 83%, the other starters 61%, 61%, 76%, and 67%.
They do look to bring a lot of guys off the bench, with 7 guys averaging 10 minutes or more a game. The top guys off the bench look to be Glenn Bryant, a 6'7" forward, Marcus Britt a 6'3" guard, forward Marvell Waithe, 6'9", Michael Sanchez, a 6'8" forward and finally Mardracus Wade, a 6'2" guard. All 5 of those guys average around 4pts a game, with Wade getting the most minutes of the group at nearly 17 minute a game. Again, nothing about this group says to me great team-but they must be just good enough to win. No doubt we have the size and talent advantage in this game. They have the more tested and ready bench but unless Trey is badly hurt, I expect this is a game where he can dominate-and should dominate. Also, with big bodies in Price and Barnes, they should also be able to be forces down low. I mean, Price checks in at 240, Thompkins 247 and Price at 264, they are all in the 6'8" to 6'10" range, they have the size advantage and NEED to use it against these guys. Arkansas does have depth so foul trouble is not as much an issue for them at say Kentucky but still, our bigs really need to play big tomorrow. You can also throw Travis in the mix, he will have a HUGE advantage if Arkansas sticks with the 3 guard lineup because all three of the guards that get the bulk of the minutes, 6'0" while Travis is 6'4". To me our gameplan should be get the ball down low early and often with Travis, Trey, Price, Barnes, even Thornton when he is in there. If they double down low, kick out for what should be wide open looks. With our size advantage, it should also open us up for some offensive boards as well.
In looking at their win at Vandy, it appears that Michael Sanchez might very well now move into the starting lineup after his performance against Vandy, with 20 points in 33 minutes. Sanchez had injury problems last year and is slowly but surely getting into better playing condition this year-he appears to be coming along at the right time to complinent Clarke-that guy had 36 against Vandy, including 6-8 on threes and 12-16 from the floor, in fact Arkansas as a team shot nearly 58% Sat night at Nashville. As you can see, we must find a way to strongly defend Clarke and our chances are very good. This is just my opinion so take it with a grain of salt, our poor performance Saturday by our NBA players, Trey and Travis, coupled with Clarke having his season high 36 also on Saturday, I tend to believe the law of averages come back to us in this game. Yes, I have my red and black glasses on but I really do believe we can and will pick up a much needed win in Arkansas Wed night. IF we can secure that win, we can get a roll with 3 of our next 4 games in Athens. I am not going to say this game is a must win because there are still 10 games left but it could really help turn our season back to very positive if we could secure the win as it then evens our home losses and means that with one more road win, taking care of business the rest of the way at home, we can get to 9-7 in SEC play.
Ok, back to football recruiting. UGA picked up its second verbal for the 2012 class yesterday in K Marshall Morgan, from Miami, Fla decided to make UGA his college choice. This is BIG news considering we will lose Walsh, Butler and Bogotay after the 2011 season. This might possibly be the top rated kicker in the 2012 class, and best of all, he is an equally good kicker and punter. Here his his profile from rivals.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/uga/football/recruiting/player-Marshall-Morgan-119480
Here are some stats for you, per rivals site.
As a junior, Morgan was the top-rated kicker in the state of Florida for the second year in a row, converting 15-of-16 field goals with a long of 53 yards and eight longer than 43.
"I feel comfortable from like 62 yards in," Morgan said.
As a punter, the 6-foot-3, 195-pounder averaged 43 yards per punt and on kickoffs put all but three of his kickoffs into or through the end zone.
This is certainly great news because I have NEVER been a fan of having 3 kickers taking up spots on our roster. Now, I wouldn't mind having someone that can punt also on the roster but we have always had good success with walkon punters, before Butler and would like for that to continue after Butler.
Also, the rival experts have made their predictions on the kids that will announce and sign tomorrow, they all feel very confident we get Crowell and Pagan.
http://uga.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1180322
Here is a Chip Towers article, what if Crowell goes to Bama, is there a plan B back waiting. Chad Simmons, who covers recruiting for Scout doesn't think so and neither do I at this point-all eggs are in the Crowell basket and considering UGA leads for two 2012 potential 5 star backs in Keith Marshall out of NCarolina and Matt Jones out of Florida, I would not sign a back just to sign a back. We still have Ealey, Thomas, Malcome and hopefully Caleb King if he can regain his playing status-all indications are he will be ok for the fall at this point.
http://blogs.ajc.com/recruiting/2011/01/31/what-if-georgia-bulldogs-fail-to-land-rb-isaiah-crowell/?cxntfid=blogs_recruiting
Also here is another link to read this AJC article, one where of all people Mark Bradley is complimenting Coach Richt for a great recruiting class to this point. What is the world coming to? Something positive about UGA football from Mark Bradley!!!!
http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2011/01/31/credit-to-richt-a-big-recruiting-yield-at-a-big-moment-for-uga/?cxntfid=blogs_mark_bradley_blog
So there you have it, basketball preview and some recruiting updates. Tomorrow is the big day and I will wait until after the Crowell decision before updating the blog. I have already put down my thoughts about who might see the field in 2011 out of the signing class but after it becomes official, I will again list the kids I feel have the best shot and the percentages, only my opinion. Should be an exciting day of coverage for sure. ESPN and CSS I believe both have about 10 hours worth of coverage, if you already miss Urban Meyer, check him out on ESPN as he was hired yesterday-I always knew ESPN loved the guy so this hire didn't surprise me in the least.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6077362
If you have any comments or questions, feel free to post them on this board and I will get back to you. I am not a beat writer so not like I can give you insider scoop but I can give you my two cents, for whatever that is worth. :)
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