A good day(s) as JHC is now official, BAD basketball folks

Ok, so let's start with the good news, football recruiting in my opinion went VERY well yesterday. The only miss to me of significance was when Avery Young selected AU over us. Cordarrelle Patterson selecting UT over us, well, let's say would have loved to have him BUT WR to me is not a position of need, his signing with us would have just been icing on the cake. Granted, the loss of Chester Brown hurt as well but I think Chester would have redshirted anyway. First of all, we signed two very talented running backs, in Keith Marshall and Todd Gurley. Second we signed two excellent kickers in punter Collin Barber and PK Marshall Morgan. Third, we signed the best OT prospect in the nation who likely comes in and starts next year at some point. Fourth, we signed some ELITE defensive prospects that will contribute to our already stellar D this coming fall, Josh Harvey Clemons and Jordan Jenkins being the big gets but also Johnathan Taylor and John Atkins will pay dividends this year and especially in 2013 when we lose some DL players. We signed a fullback prospect that could play this year, in Q. Hicks. Also an athlete in Sheldon Dawson that could help at corner and in the return game-in other words could be a potential kid to help out for the loss of Boykin.

For those that are up in arms about our OL situation, I think it will be just fine. We lost three SR's, Jones and Glenn will be missed. Anderson, not so much in my opinion. Now, JA might get drafted in the pros but that will be base more on his size than ability. Jones and Glenn both could be day one draft picks, for sure Glenn as he is pegged as a 1st rounder. That being said, we will have NO senior OL on the team in 2012. We will only have FOUR juniors, that being Gates, A Long,  Burnette and Lee. Beard is a JUCO that redshirted and played one year, thus is a RSSoph, Andrews and Dantzler got some PT last year as true FR, as did Hunter Long. Kolton Houston will be a soph IF he is able to play at all. Xzavier Ward who Richt mentioned has added 40lbs to his big frame, along with Zach DeBell will be RSFR. Pyke is the only OL recruit we will for sure redshirt this year, so by my count assuming Houston is eligible to play, we will have 12 OL for 2012.

Gates, Burnette, Lee, Austin Long, Hunter Long, Mark Beard, Dantzler, Andrews, Ward, DeBell, Houston and finally Theus. I believe that is PLENTY to go to battle with. Now, for the class of 2013, OL will have to be and I am sure will be a priority. We will have 4 kids as SR's in 2013, we will have 4 JR's, 3 Sophs and 1 RSFR. So, you have to figure we will sign 5-6 OL in the class next year, could be as many as 8. I figure 2-3 will be ready to play right away and the rest we can afford to redshirt. Again, we have numbers in place so folks need to chill out. As I posted earlier today on Dawgpost-

 This is the SECOND spring for Will Friend to be in Athens. Second, all our projected OL that figure to play are on campus NOW-except Theus. Pyke is going to redshirt without question. Third, we open the season against a cupcake, a chance for our OL to get some game experience against a lesser opponent before week 2. Fourth, we have a veteran QB that knows our offense like the back of his hand and also is mobile. Fifth, we have a great group of WR's and also have a TE in Lynch that is really going to help whichever tackle he lines up next to when it comes to blocking, and finally, we have quality and depth at the RB position unlike this year.

Also, I honestly believe the 2013 class will be a top 5 recruiting class, DREAM TEAM part 2 because of the following reasons I also shared earlier on Dawgpost-

 The kids in the next class will KNOW that Richt is going to be here, they will get to watch us have a very good season, they will get to see our defense continue to dominate, they will see our QB breaking passing records and potentially be a Heisman candidate, AND they will see some YOUNG guys out playing and making contributions. I will be shocked and VERY disappointed if we don't have DREAM TEAM part 2 next Feb.

So, this year is behind us now and it is time to move forward to class of 2013 where we are already off to a great start in getting verbal pledges from Brice Ramsey, QB from Camden County who is also quite the kicker-and his arm strength has been compared to Matthew Stafford, Derrick Henry out of Florida who is a BIG back that might actually grow into another position but for now is a HS junior at 6-3 232 and runs a 4.54. Also Tray Matthews out of Newnan-yep, seems to be very similar in talent and hitting ability to Alec Olgetree. So, right off the top, we have 3-4 star prospects to start of the 2013 class.


Now on to the train wreck that is our basketball program. I have been a BIG Mark Fox fan since he was hired. He came out nowhere during the hiring process about 3 years ago, and my only worry about him was his ability to recruit. I am still very concerned with that but I am not growing more concerned with his ability to coach in the SEC. I will share what I posted earlier today on the Dawgpost rather than typing it all out again but I am growing very concerned with the direction we are heading. Should a coach be given more than 3 years to turn a program around, in most cases I firmly believe yes. At a program that is lacking basketball tradition like we are, almost certainly a yes BUT I am beginning to change my tune with Coach Fox because honestly, the way these guys are playing is just dreadful. Ole Miss at home is a game we MUST win, AU on the road after having a week off, maybe my expectations are too high but AU is not a very good hoops team and that game was there for the taking-AU doesn't have more talent than us just put it that way. We do have two SR guards and a 5 star wing that is very talented. But, it is pretty evident that Fox's overall recruiting efforts since he has arrived is not BITING his behind. When Thompkins and Leslie left us, along with Barnes and Price, all his inherited talent was gone save Dustin Ware. So, you have HIS recruited talent now on the floor and quite honestly, it is just a bad looking product. Is the talent that bad or is his ability to coach them up really that bad??

I think this could be the last year for Mark Fox. Reason I say that, I honestly don't see next year being any better-so if you cut him loose this year, the next coach has a rebouding year next year and could maybe make a push in year 2. Think about this, Gregory came into GT in what March/April of last year and out recruited Fox in state WITHOUT having made those relationships in recruiting!! Fox has signed some decent players-but are they ready to come in and make big contributions next year-as KCP has done this year, likely no because they are not as highly regarded of player as KCP.

I think it is easy to see that McGarity will give Fox another year and that might well happen but if we go 2-14 in the SEC this year, that is really going to make the decision hard. I watched a good portion of that game last night (and have watched a lot of our games this year) and what came into my head was, we had a week off to get ready for THIS!!! Seriously, we did not play a game since the loss to Kentucky on a Tuesday night so we actually had an extra day to prepare for a 2-5 SEC team, yet played like we did last night. If you look at last year, sure, we made the dance but it was VERY close to not happening because we could not beat Bama.

McGarity was at UF, he KNOWS that with the right coach, UGA can and will be a force in hoops and football. I believe at the very least he is going to suggest that Fox make some changes on his coaching staff. Time will tell but honestly how many games left this season do we have a realistic shot to win-

@UT-likely loss
Ark-likely loss
@ Miss State LOSS
@ SCarolina likely loss
Vandy LOSS
@LSU likely loss
UF LOSS
@UK LOSS
SCarolina-could win

There are maybe 2-3 games left where I think we COULD stand a chance-two games with SCarolina, maybe Arky at home or at LSU. But, is 2-14 or 3-13 a record a school like UGA should have even in a bad/rebuilding season in the SEC??  Check out our records since Jim Harrick was coach-amazing stuff.

Harrick
1999-2000 3-13
2000-2001 9-7
2001-2002 10-6
2002-2003 11-5

Felton
2003-2004 7-9
2004-2005 2-14
2005-2006 5-11
2006-2007 8-8
2007-2008 4-12 (SEC tourney champs saved Felton's job of course)
2008-2009 3-13 (Felton fired during season)

Fox
2009-2010 5-11
2010-2011 9-7
2011-2012 1-6 (real potential to equal Felton's low point or Harrick's first year)

I think what you see is that Harrick could coach and was building the program up-if not for his stupidity with hiring his son and his son's idiotic teaching and even recruiting a kid that contributed NOTHING to our hoops program in Tony Cole, I think Harrick was a guy that could have built our program up-not sure how great a recruiter he was but his style and ability to WIN college basketball games would surely attract some top talent. Felton took the leftovers from Harrick and had a decent first year, then fell to the bottom before topping out at 8-8 in conference play. Heck, Fox only beat that by one game last year. I have been a HUGE Fox supporter since hired because I watched him coach at Nevada and thought his teams there were well coached and executed well. BUT, there is a huge difference in coaching at Nevada as compared to coaching at UGA. Not to mention a big difference in how you recruit to those two schools. I would love nothing more than for Fox to turn the corner and win 5-6 games this year and see that some of the younger guys were stepping up and could pay dividends next year. But Thornton continues to show me nothing, Brantley can't hit the broad side of a barn, other than Robinson and KCP we are VERY limited in who can score. Nemi and Donte' have played well at times but they are more like pieces than kids you can rely to give you production night in and night out. We have three good looking recruits coming in but NONE will be near the talent of KCP and thus I can't see next year being any better unless a few of the kids this year REALLY step up their games.

Ok enough of my rant but I am just beginning to believe Fox might be in over his head just like Felton was. We have MONEY we need to spend it and change the culture of Georgia basketball.

Well, there are my thoughts for today, excited about the direction of the football program, excited to see the spring game with Marshall and Crowell, excited to see what Coach Friend can work on the OL. Excited to see what Grantham can accomplish with this defense, excited to see if Murray can realize his enourmous potential and LEARN to play under control and stop making game killing decisions. Anxious to see if our new kickers can do the job as we will need both during the 2012 you can bet. Also disappointed in our hoops program, disappointed that we had an off week to get ready for a 2-5 basketball team, yet bumbled and stumbled all over the place last night-Fox burned all his timeouts with nearly 4 minutes in the game?? Can we have patience during this dreadful season or just go in another direction. I still contend the basketball program at UGA is a sleeping giant. We just need the right man leading us, and I am growing more and more concerned we don't have the right man in place.