ESPN: Georgia Offers Anderson $2 million per year

UPDATE 4: He's staying at Missouri for $600,000 - 800,000 less per year in base pay than UGA offered. I'm not sure what Damon should've done different. He offered a quality, qualified candidate 300 percent more money than he was currently getting, 50 percent more than his current employer counter offered with, AND roughly the same amount that UK paid their coach last year. Geez. As for the leak, it wasn't our end. We had no incentive to leak. All the leaks started in Memphis.

Here's the official statement from Mizzou. here's the money line:

Financial details of Anderson's seven-year deal will be released at a later date upon complete execution of the contract.

I read that to mean, he hasn't signed anything. So, he could STILL end up at Memphis if they offer $3 million a year as rumored. He's just not coming here.

UPDATE 3: KC Star lists what Big 12 coaches make. If you're wondering, Anderson's rumored offer in SEC terms would put him third behind Calipari's offer and Donovan. Pearl would be fourth at $1.6 million.

UPDATE 2: Towers talked with Jimmy Sexton, Anderson's agent. Sexton says no offer from UGA yet. Sexton is legendary at working over all parties in situations like this. He's an artist. This is his true medium.

UPDATE: I desperately want Anderson, and I'm not sure we can get him if Memphis throws a staggering offer at him. But I'll say this. Anyone that doesn't think UGA is serious about putting a winning product on the court after we offer more than $2 million a year for a b-ball coach has their head lodged squarely in their rectum. The rumored six year $14 million offer to Anderson would be roughly the equivalent aggregate salary that we've paid all our head basketball coaches for the past 30-35 years combined.

PWD

The Search Continues

The flight tracking has started. Anthony Dasher of UGASports.com tracked a plane from Missouri to Memphis to Atlanta and back last night. The plane in question wasn't on the ground at Peachtree-DeKalb airport long enough for the passengers to really do much in Athens. They had time to eat dinner and get a tour of the practice facility.

It's interesting to note that the plane in question is not "Bulldog One" or whatever UGA calls its plane. Our guys are using third party equipment and flying into not as obvious airports to move more stealthy. Comedy.

(UPDATE: I normally ignore all the plane tracking stuff...except to make fun of it....and Dasher has screwed the pooch on that topic before during this coaching search. However, I have strong reason to believe that he had it locked this time. Otherwise, I wouldn't have mentioned it.)

Chip Towers and Dean Legge both wrote articles suggesting that things aren't looking very good right now because of the Memphis job opening. I agree that things are quiet, but that doesn't mean that things are going poorly. If we end up with Frank Haith, then yes. Things are crappy. If we end up with Leonard Hamilton, then that's better than what we had...but it doesn't make me run out to purchase season tickets.

(UPDATE 2: I'm not saying those are the guys we end up with. They were just names used for the purpose of making a point. Although, there were rumblings about Hamilton as a Plan B type guy yesterday. Regardless, it's not Knight.)

Overall, I agree with David Hale. Something will break very soon one way or the other.

Around the Horn:

• ESPN reports that Calipari took last night to sleep on UK's offer. Could we ever be so lucky as to have him actually stay put? Probably not. Mr. SEC has a complete update on the situation in Memphis.
  
  
• St. Louis Post wants Missouri to keep Anderson.
  
  
• The Commercial Appeal looks at where Memphis goes if Calipari goes.

PWD

Dawgs Clean Up In Knoxville, Prepare for Big Week

 (Image: Baseball America)

In a performance worthy of  folklore, Rich Poythress led the Diamond Dawgs to a clean sweep in Knoxville this past weekend.  Poythress went 6-for-10 over the series with 4 HRs and 10 RBIs.  It was quite a hitting display.  For his efforts, Poythress was named both the SEC Player of the Week and the Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week.  The Dawgs are now 22-3 with seven straight SEC wins and are still No. 1 in most polls.

This week, however, will reveal some answers about UGA baseball.  We've been consistent winners this year, but our schedule, to this point, has been mild.  Only Mississippi State was a Top 25 team when we played them and none of our opponents are in the top 25 now.  That will change tonight when Clemson comes to town for the first game of a midweek home-and-home series.  The Tigers are hovering in the teens in most polls and have a solid team.  Then, this weekend, another set of Tigers, the Cajun variety, come to Foley Field for an absolutely huge weekend series.  LSU is in the top 5 in the national polls and have performed up to their storied history in the past couple of years.  This is prime time for the Diamond Dawgs. 

Despite the sweep in Knoxville, normally a place where UGA baseball teams go to fail, there is some significant room for improvement.  Lefties Matt Cerione, Lyle Allen and Chase Davidson struggled against UT pitching.  Those guys must be locked in this weekend since LSU has a complete staff of excellent right handed starters in Anthony Ranaudo, Louis Coleman, and Austin Ross.  All of those guys have ERAs under 3.10.  We'll need some production out of those big lefty bats.

Alex McRee has had two mediocre starts since returning from mono.  In Saturday's game, he gave up only a single hit, but walked six over four and a third innings.  He also had 5 Ks, but you can't keep pitching out of jams against good teams.  Eventually a clutch hitter is going to burn you.  McRee has to tighten up his control because his stuff is still there. 

Three of five this week would be great, especially if two are against LSU.  Get out to Foley Field tonight and this weekend. 

Quinton

The Search Just Went Nuclear

Memphis Fox Affiliate (Fox13) is reporting that Damon Evans and Jimmy Sexton met in Atlanta today. Sexton's only published basketball coaching clients are Mike Anderson of Missouri and Rick Stansbury of Mississippi State. It seems much more likely that Sexton is talking about Anderson.

The search has gone nuclear because most media outlets are reporting that Kentucky has just given the deed to the City of Lexington and 14 coal mines to Memphis Coach John Calipari. Reports place the value of the deal at $5-6.5 million per year. I think the technical term for a deal that large is "a shit load of money."

Various reports have Memphis asking for permission to speak with Mike Anderson while other reports say that they haven't asked yet. TigerSportsReport is the Rivals.com Memphis affiliate. They paint a pretty bleak picture for Memphis fans regarding both the incoming recruiting class and existing players as it relates to retention.

Per TigerSportsReport.com the Tigers would almost definitely lose unsigned commit Demario Cousins, a top 2 player in the country, and others. The site's editor feels that Memphis would be unable to lure Mike Anderson back to Conference USA from the Big 12 due to the lack of prestige and anticipated player departures. Per their site:

"If Calipari goes to Kentucky, who are on the short list to coach Memphis?

Memphis fans on the Commercial Appeal message board are clamoring already for Mike Anderson, the former UAB head coach who took Missouri to the Elite Eight this season.

That is highly unlikely, however. With seven scholarship players and a sour taste after Calipari leaving, the situation at Memphis would be a lateral move, at best, for Anderson. As he would be leaving the Big 12 for C-USA, it is realistically a step backwards for the highly regarded Anderson."

The Memphis Commerical Appeal adds that Tiger recruit Nolan Dennis has an addendum to his letter of intent that releases him from his scholarship and allows him to sign with Calipari at another school.

In barely news, FoxSports.com is reporting that UVA is set to hire Washington State's Phil Tony Bennett as their coach. ESPN now has the same story. The UVA search is interesting because I'm pretty sure that Parker Executive Search ran it for the Hoos, and they kept their process just as quiet as Damon has kept ours. Could a similarly out of left field, but absolutely qualified candidate emerge if the Mike Anderson talks collapse?

You think things are nuts now? Wait til tomorrow.

UPDATE: Yes. I've heard the rumor that there's a press conference on Wednesday. I do not believe that such an event is currently scheduled because my sources tell me we do NOT have a done deal. If we have a press conference on Wednesday, it's just coincidence. I also know about the rumored note to the UGA pep band asking them to be ready for a press conference, but I understand that there was no actual date on the note.

UPDATE 2: Dean Legge of DawgPost.com expects a hire this week. I do, too.


PWD

Mid-Day Rumor Update

Kentucky is reportedly going after Calipari with both guns blazing.  Several reports state that the Memphis coach met with his players today and sounded like a coach with a foot or more out the door. 

SI.com reports that UK has not asked for permission to speak with Calipari as of 1:00 pm.  Sportsline suggests that's because Calipari's people are dealing with a third-party representative of UK. 

Again, this is only relevant to UGA in so much as Memphis might be a better fit for Anderson geographically, and Memphis might be more desperate to hire him.  UGA does play in a better conference, but Memphis may be inclinded to spend like a drunken sailor to land Anderson given that the basketball coach is THE financial engine of the entire Tiger athletic department.  Calipari's total salary plus annuity at Memphis is in the $2.8-3.0 million per year range.  It's extraordinarily unlikely that UGA will pay more than $2.8 million per year for anyone.

Speaking of Anderson, Jason Whitlock of the KC Star today writes that Missouri should pay Anderson an elite level salary.  Here's hoping they don't.

PWD

Basketball Coaching Search Rumors

As the coaching world turns:

• Mike Anderson - The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says that Missouri has a big job to keep its coach. The two most interesting tidbits from this article include MU stating that they have no idea where the rumor of a $1.3 million/year offer from MU got started, and the rumblings from inside the MU athletic department that they can't match a $2 million offer. The NY Times also discusses the in demand status of Anderson.
  
  Chip Towers says that UGA hasn't contacted Missouri for permission to speak with Anderson, yet. It can't be long now.
  
  
• John Calipari - The Memphis coach is not a candidate in Athens; however, he is a candidate in Lexington. Calipari currently makes around $2.8 million a year in total compensation when you factor in annuity payments. I doubt he goes to Kentucky. However, if the Memphis job opens, they could go after Anderson. The former CUSA Coach / Tiger Slayer would be the ultimate hire for Memphis. USA Today offers a look at their suggested Top 5 candidates for the UK job.

Also, if you have a Scout.com subscription, check out Josh Kendall's piece on the potential recruiting advantages at UGA. The comments from Dave Telep, Scout.com's hoops recruiting guru, are very encouraging.

PWD

Hugh Durham on the UGA Opening

UGA's 1983 Final Four Team

Jeff Schultz goes one on one with Hugh Durham about the opportunity in Athens, his trip to the 1983 Final Four, and the upgraded facilities in Athens. It's always encouraging to read other folks talk about the opportunity in Athens.

See Also:
-- Hugh Durham Fan Club - Facebook

PWD

Grant to Alabama. Donovan to Stay at UF

The Birmingham News has confirmed directly with Anthony Grant that he has accepted the head coaching job in Tuscaloosa. The Associated Press agrees. It appears that Grant was waiting to find out if Billy Donovan would jump to Lexington and open up the job in Gainesville.

Donovan and the Gators had issued a statement that he would be staying at Florida before Gillispie's termination press conference was over.

"In response to the rumors circulating about my interest in other jobs, I wanted to address this as quickly as possible," Donovan said in a statement e-mailed by the school he works for in Gainesville. "I am committed to the University of Florida and look forward to continuing to build our program here."

The impact for UGA? I got the sense that Grant was viewed as a solid Plan B in Athens if a home run hire wasn't available. Now, Damon will swing for the fences without a safety net. Let's hope for the best.

PWD

The latest coaching rumor mill

Gillispie will likely be fired at any moment. After UK administration issued a denial earlier today that any decision had already been made, several Lexington TV stations have come back within the past hour and said a meeting will take place today that may seal Billy Clyde's fate.

Pat Forde, who lives in Louisville and understands the Big Blue landscape better than any other national writer, wrote an excellent piece for ESPN.com explaining how this messy marriage and soon to be divorce happened.

So?
A couple of hours ago, Ian Rapoport put together a good link aggregation discussing the dominoes that may fall after UK makes their decision. The next move is on Billy Donovan. Will he go to Lexington? I think he won't, and he'll probably announce one way or the other pretty quickly. The Richmond Times thinks it's a possibility, and that interests Grant greatly. The Tuscaloosa News latest article talks about the lack of movement from Grant.

And Mike Anderson?
Before last night's game the St. Louis Post-Dispatch suggested that Missouri could offer Anderson around $6 million for five years. Surely, they'll offer more after last night's win, but they may not even been in the right ball park if Bama and/or UGA are willing to offer $12 million for six years.

See Also:
-- Kentucky's great expectations trickle down to Bama - AL.com

PWD

Is Mike Anderson obtainable. Apparently, so....

This article in the Columbia (Missouri) Daily-Tribune says:

A source said MU wants to extend Anderson's deal to five years and increase his guaranteed money from $850,000 to at least $1 million.

Six years ago, Missouri was willing to spend like college basketball royalty. Mizzou Arena was under construction, and Quin Snyder was the fourth-highest-paid coach in the nation. Snyder earned $1.2 million annually in guaranteed money in his last contract. Times have changed, thanks to the tanking economy. Pinkel, with his new $2.3 million deal in November, got paid before the bottom dropped out.

The athletic budgets at Georgia and Alabama are in the $70 million range, while Missouri's is about $44 million. MU can't afford to get into a bidding war with those schools.

If they are talking about pay raises in that general ballpark, they aren't remotely close to what UGA and Bama are rumored to be willing to spend on a coach with Anderson's resume. If you're wondering why we would have a shot at Anderson, that's it.

See Also:
-- End of the Line for Missouri and Anderson? - Kansas City Star
-- Love letter to the 2009 Missouri Hoops Season - Rock M Nation

Unrelated: Andy Katz talks about the UK / Gillispie situation.

PWD

It's Mike Anderson's World. We Just Live in It

Mike Anderson: Image STLToday.com

Today, we profile Coach Mike Anderson of the Missouri Tigers. In an attempt to give you an idea for why he's such an appealing commodity, let's look at the profile pieces on his coaching styles around the country.

• The Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball - NY Times
  
• The New 40 Minutes of Hell - Memphis Commercial Appeal
  
• Run, Tigers, Run - Detroit Free Press
  
• 20-20 Visionary - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
  
• Creating his own legacy - Tulsa World

He runs a style of ball that recruits and fans love, and he's an accomplished recruiter at a school that doesn't have the financial strength of Georgia.

Anderson currently makes $850,000 plus incentives. After the best record in Missouri history, that's certainly going to change. It'll either change because they take care of him or we do. BTW -- If you're researching Anderson's tenure at UAB, remember that Marquette, Louisville and Cincy all played in Conference USA for the bulk of his years there.

The tricky part with Anderson will be navigating his agent. Anderson is represented by Super Agent Jimmy Sexton, and this is Sexton's first marquee college basketball coach relationship. Will he try to leverage Anderson's next contract into a defining moment for both of them?

Elsewhere:
On the Anthony Grant front, Bama is in the wait and see mode. Grant has 3-4 days to make up his mind on their enormous offer, or they'll move on to the next guy. With a few breaks, UGA could be deep into contract negotiations with their finalist.

Speaking of coaching searches, UK may terminate Billy Gillispie within the next 48 hours. After which their rumored list of candidates are (1) Donovan (2) Calipari and (3) Travis Ford. The more time they spend screwing around with Donovan the better.

The next 48 hours are everything in Georgia's search.

PWD

Good Vibrations From Spring Football

Mostly positive headlines from yesterday's practices:

• ESPN says Richt is going old school. The first step in getting better is admitting you have a problem. They are focused on fixing something they acknowledge was broken last year. It took a little long for my tastes to admit there was a problem, but it's being fixed now. The Banner Herald also discusses the renewed emphasis on defensive toughness.
  
  
• Jeff Owens is thrilled to be back. If his blog post on his first practice doesn't fire you up, nothing will. He's not the only DT in the news. The ABH profiles DeAngelo Tyson's development.
  
  
• Dave Hale profiles AJ Green. It's scary to think what this kid will do when he's fully healthy and recovered from the nagging groin injury.
  
  
• Lastly, the AJC looks at our tailback situation. I've got to tell you that I'm not at all excited about the situation back there right now. Maybe I'll feel better after G-Day, but I think this is something we'll be nervous about until Sept. 5th.

PWD

Is that Score Wright? Dawgs Lose.

Yes, it's true. Wright State 8, #1 Georgia 5. In college baseball, it's not uncommon for a substantially less talented team to bite a big boy with just a couple of breaks. Wright State got boatloads of breaks in the 4th inning last night: an error, a balk, walks, three straight bunts, and some seeing eye singles.

Heading into the bottom of the 4th, it was Wright State 7, Georgia 2. Despite Perno's power outfield of Cerione, Allen and Davidson, the bats just couldn't get enough pop to get back in the game after that disasterous 4th inning. It happens. It's baseball.

Here are some other results from last night from the out-of-town scoreboard: Ohio State 7, #2 Miami 1 and Georgia State 10, #3 Georgia Tech 1.Frankly, if I had to select a mid-week game to lose, it would have been easy to pick the Wright State game.

The Diamond Dawgs travel to Tech tonight where lefty Jason Leaver will get the start. Leaver can strike batters out (15 Ks in 13 2/3 innings), but he's had control problems. The game is on CSS at 7:00 EST.

See Also:
-- No extra motivation needed for UGA vs. GT - AJC

UPDATE: It's an official rainout.  No makeup date yet.

Quinton

AP: Georgia May be Targeting Sweet 16 Coaches

If we haven't formally asked for permission to speak with Anthony Grant, Lon Kruger, Brad Stevens or Brian Gregory, then the only logical conclusion one can draw is that our candidates are all still playing ball. (Or we're just sneaky bastards who aren't going to ask for permission until the deal is done....which seems unlikely given what I understand of the situation)

Meanwhile at Alabama, Anthony Grant will be in Tuscaloosa on Wednesday to visit with Tide officials. He's expected to get an offer while he's there according to the Tuscaloosa News, Birmingham News and Mobile Press-Register.

PWD

Even Broadway Joe didn't promise a refund

When Joe Namath made the most famous guarantee in sports history, he didn't offer to give Jets fans or owners their money back if he didn't deliver a Super Bowl victory.  All he was risking was public ridicule.

Oklahoma women's basketball super star Courtney Paris took sports guarantees to a whole new level earlier this month when she promised to repay her scholarship if the Sooners didn't win the NCAA Tourney.

While Paris has completed her course work toward a degree in journalism and entered the N.C.A.A. tournament attempting to become the first player, male or female, to collect 2,500 career points and 2,000 rebounds, she said her ambitions would be fulfilled only by winning a championship.

David L. Boren, the president of Oklahoma, said Paris was apparently so serious about her vow that she checked beforehand with university officials to make sure that repaying her scholarship would not be a violation of N.C.A.A. rules. Since then, Paris has repeated her promise to follow through, presumably using money she will make playing professionally in the United States and perhaps overseas, and from endorsements.

The NY Times provides a look at her $64,000 guarantee and the implications of it to women's sports.

I rarely cover our own women's hoops program, but this story was an intriguing lunch read to me.  It's really about the definition of success.  Or you could just skip my Title IX coverage, and read The Onion's "Famous Sports Guarantees" list.

PWD

Quick Basketball Coach Rumor Update

From here and there:

• Tubby Smith is going out of his way to let Minnesota fans know that he's staying. It's not exactly the sort of vague denials when promoted that you get before a coach leaves. These denials actually sound like a guy staying put.
  
  
• Alabama asked for and received permission to speak with Anthony Grant about their opening.
  
  
• Mike Anderson sidestepped questions regarding his future at Missouri. It was the sort of comments that fuel speculation that he'll listen to offers after the season. Interestingly, Mike Anderson, Jr. is a senior on this year's Tiger team.

There is a sense growing around Grant that schools need to move extremely quickly to lock him up; however, there's no logical reason for Grant to move quickly from his end. If he's smart, he'll wait and see what UK does with Gillespie. If UK opens up, they could move towards Donovan which would create an even bigger opportunity for him in Gainesville. Besides, he's one of the prettiest girls in town right now. Why rush into anything?

Speaking of Kentucky, the Wildcats beat Creighton by two points last night in the NIT. They will play Mike Brey's Notre Dame squad in South Bend on Wednesday at 7:00 pm. The longer UK's season lasts the harder it is for them to fire Billy G.

PWD

UGA Ranked #1 in three Baseball Polls

UGA vs. Nerds on Wednesday! (Image: DawgsOnline.com)

OnlineAthens.com gave us the heads up that the Georgia Bulldogs are ranked #1 again. Since their story ran a third baseball poll has put UGA at #1.*

USAToday/ ESPN	College Baseball Newspapers	NCBWA Poll
1. Georgia	1. Georgia	1. Georgia
2. Arizona State	2. Cal St. - Fullerton	2. Miami (Fla.)
3. Cal St. - Fullerton	3. Georgia Tech	3. Georgia Tech
4. Miami (Fla.)	4. LSU	4. Cal St. Fullerton
5. LSU	5. UNC	5. UNC
Others of Note
7. Georgia Tech	9. Arkansas	7. LSU
10. Arkansas	14. Ole Miss	14. Ole Miss
16. Mississippi	22. Clemson	16. Arkansas
20. Clemson	23. Florida	20. Clemson
26. Florida	26. Alabama	23. Florida
28. Alabama	28. S. Carolina	27. Alabama

Jim Harrick once said (paraphrase) that college basketball polls only have value in so much as they determine which teams have their highlights featured on ESPN SportsCenter and their recaps in every national paper.

College baseball polls mean even less because the World Wide Leader doesn't cover the sport until the post-season.

Various RPI-style ratings determine the NCAA Post-Season. With that in mind, Warren Nolan says the Dawgs currently have the #24 RPI. That rating could skyrocket after games with Tech, Tennessee (3), Clemson (2), and LSU (3) over the next two weeks.

On Wednesday, UGA plays at Tech (7:00 pm). I think the game will be carried by CSS in Atlanta.

This team is extremely fun to watch. They play 3-5 freshman per game so their bound to have some stumbles along the way, but the is a team worth watching. We'll know what type of team we have very soon.

See Also:
-- Georgia's Baseball Schedule - Georgiadogs.com

PWD


*Baseball America has the Dawgs at #6. But three out of four is good enough.

Your Moment of Zen

Today's Photoshop gem comes from Spencer Hall (aka Orson Swindle).  It compares the differences in Matthew Stafford's Wonderlic score and Percy Harvin's score. Good times.

PWD

Is Foley Field Worthy of the Dawgs?

The Diamond Dawgs swept last weekend's baseball series with Mississippi State in front of record crowds at Foley Field.   Originally constructed in 1966 and refurbished in 1990, Foley Field currently seats an official capacity of 3,291, the second smallest in the SEC.  Only UK is smaller.  Despite it's small size, the facility held crowds of 3,876 Friday night, 4,461 Saturday (the largest crowd in Foley Field history), and 3,689 Sunday.  Those crowds broke the all-time attendance record for a weekend series.  Clearly, demand for UGA baseball is at an all-time high.  And it should be.  Very few programs have performed like UGA in the last ten years.  So, isn't it time to expand Foley Field?

We've mentioned, albeit briefly, that a new Foley Field is included in the athletic facility master plan. The master plan, though, is a long range wish list.  It's projects are aspirational over the next ten to fifteen years.  The plan advances two alternative designs for a new Foley Field.  The first would involve a completely new structure, rotating the field so that home plate would be moved to the present right field.  This plan would present two significant changes: 1) present a more aesthetic view beyond the outfield wall, with the Rankin Smith Center and Stegeman as the view beyond the batter's eye, and 2) eliminate the view from Kudzu Hill, the most unique aspect of Foley Field.  I'd rather keep the kudzu.  

A second alternative is presented in the master plan that maintains the existing structure and simply adds seating all the way down the outfield lines.   This alternative was presented without comment, so I'm at a loss on details, but it has to be less expensive.  Because it's less expensive and would preserve the charm and beauty of the existing setting, I like the second alternative.  Depending on how the additional seating is planned, we could also add additional baseball specific facilities under the new stands, like offices, weights, or batting cages.

This season, three SEC teams have new or refurbished baseball facilities. Six other schools have new digs, too.  (Baseball America put together this slick review of all the new stadiums.)  

• Ole Miss refurbished Oxford-University Stadium for an estimated $18 million.  Their expansion looks a lot like what the second alternative of the master plan would look like.  The Rebs added a bunch of seats down the lines and redid their entire stadium facade.  
• LSU built a new Alex Box Stadium, expanding from 7,760 seats to 9,200.  The Tigers have led the nation in attendance for several years now, so an expanded stadium makes perfect sense for them.  They added 288 luxury boxes, too. 
• And, South Carolina built an absolute palace for an estimated $38 million.  It is a seemingly self-contained baseball shrine, with built-in batting tunnels, weight room, media rooms, and athletic training facilities.  It also has luxury boxes.  LSU and Carolina's new digs make Foley Field look even more like a little league park when compared with the rest of the conference.

Look, I'm not demanding that Damon unveil the best facility in the country, although that would be great.  What we need is increased capacity so we don't leave ticket revenue on the table.  UGA already has a renovation plan that preserves Kudzu Hill and shouldn't cost as much as building a plush, new AAA-equivalent ballpark like LSU and Carolina.  Let's advance the plan.  

Coach Perno continues to coach and recruit at a high level.  The program looks like its on a solid foundation for years to come.  Let's build a facility worthy of such a program.

Quinton

UGA and Anthony Grant getting closer?

Virginia Commonwealth's Anthony Grant
David Hale of the Macon Telegraph says that Anthony Grant was in Atlanta after his team was eliminated from the NCAA Tourney for "recruiting" purposes. TotalUGA.com's Brett Jensen takes it a step further saying that UGA has offered the job to Grant (subscription required).

(UPDATE: David Hale has confirmed directly from UGA that no such offer has been extended. More on that shortly)

I'm expecting multiple false starts -- both real and rumored -- during this search. I think the administration is expecting that as well. So this could all be nothing. Or it could be the start of an announcement process next week. Georgia can do much worse than Grant (age 42).

His accomplishments at Florida (12 years):

1 National Title
2 Final Fours
2 SEC Tourney Titles
2 SEC Regular Season Titles
3 SEC East Titles
Dozens of obscenely talented players

As a head coach at VCU (3 years):

3 CAA Regular Season Titles
2 CAA Tourney Titles
2 High Major Wins (Duke & Maryland)

Pearl and Donovan were both mid-major coaches before landing in the SEC so hiring a mid-major doesn't scare me. And it doesn't mean "Felton II." More than anyone else we could possibly interview, Grant knows what type of athlete, effort and system required to win in today's SEC.

The downside with the guy I've mentioned numerous times. He's in a mediocre at best league where one transformational player completely shifts the power structure of the league. His transformational player was recruited by his predecessor, and I think his offense needs a lot of work.

Bottom line -- he could be Mark Richt, or he could be Brad Scott. We won't know until he gets here. If he's coming here.

I was hoping and continue to hope that we'd shoot a bit higher and use Grant as a strong Plan B candidate. I continue to hope that is the case. My own sources haven't said word one about these rumors, but they usually don't chime in over the weekend. My sources are all union labor, and don't work weekends. (kidding)

Let's see where we are on Tuesday.

PWD


Note 1: I heart Mike Anderson and Sean Miller
Note 2: Grant's agent is a UGA grad.

Basketball Coaching Rumors

Tubby wants to come back to UGA "this much." (Image: Star-Tribune)*

The basketball coaching search rumor mill has really started to heat up. Here are some highlights:

• Michael Wilbon has high praise for Anthony Grant of VCU. He's hoping he lands at UVA if they can't get Tubby. Like I said yesterday, he's not my favorite candidate. But we could do a heap worse.
  
  
• The Tuscaloosa News reports that Bama is set to call Anthony Grant. Although, the Mobile Press-Register doesn't expect any real sense of urgency from Bama until Mike Anderson of Missouri exits the Tournament.
  
  
• Tubby, Tubby, Tubby. Everyone is talking about what Tubby will do next. Some at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune think Tubby may be drawn to warmer weather while others at the paper think he'll stay. The Charlottesville paper absolutely hearts him.

I had an interesting discussion with someone the other day about Tubby's "inability to recruit." Tubby averaged 26 overall wins and 12 conference wins a year at UK, won the SEC Tourney or Regular Season title 7 times in 10 years, won a national title and had four Elite 8 finishes. He recruited T. Prince, R. Rondo, J. Meeks and others at UK. From the results, it looks like he recruited pretty well to me.

The comment originated from "he didn't recruit anyone in Athens." It's true that his first team that went to the Sweet 16 was made up almost entirely of an exceptional Hugh Durham recruiting class. But his second team earned a #3 seed in the tourney with mostly his own players making key contributions. When he left UGA on May 12, it was well after the Spring Signing period, when he landed Jumaine Jones as his first signature rock star recruit. Although some how Ron Jirsa (who couldn't draw flies as a head coach) managed to get credit for signing Jumaine in the eyes of some Dawg fans.

Said differently....Tubby recruits good enough to win a pile of games. I don't think we'll get him because of the difficulty of going back to where you've been before. It's like getting back together with your ex-wife. But I sure would be giddy to have him.

PWD


*I wish that were the caption.

Mississippi State Series Sketch

Mississippi State comes to Athens this weekend for the SEC opener at Foley Field.  The Dawgs took out Georgia State Wednesday in Atlanta 11-6.  The good news from that game, other than the win, was Alex McRee's return to the mound after his bout with mono.  The bad news was McRee may have rushed back a bit soon.  He pitched just one inning and gave up two earned runs.  McRee will start Saturday in his usual spot, between Holder on Friday and Grimm on Sunday.  Frankly, I'd rather have McRee at 100% later than 75% now, if the rush back is going to hinder his recovery.  He's just too important to jeopardize. 

Thus far, State hasn't hit or pitched particularly well.  Their team average is .288 and their team ERA is 4.18. They won their series against Carolina last weekend, but have three bad losses at Hawai'i earlier this year.  State is #25 in the Colligate Baseball poll, so they can play.  But, they haven't seen a team with Georgia's offensive firepower yet.  It should be a good series.

The weather is supposed to be great this weekend, so get out to Foley Field and root on the team.

Quinton

By Monday Morning, we'll be knee deep in rumors

The following coaches have seen their seasons end, and all of them are being mentioned for multiple openings.

• Tubby Smith (Minnesota) - Name mentioned with UVA, UGA, Arizona and Bama jobs. Tubby's wife is from North Carolina, and Tubby is from Virginia. He also coached at VCU for 7 years. He's one of the top candidates to fill the Cav's opening if he's interested. Arizona should have their job open by Sunday night at the latest so Tubby is about to be Ground Zero for coaching hot stove talk. Any movement regarding Tubby will be very public given the media attention from around the country.

• Anthony Grant (VCU) - Mentioned mainly with UGA and UVA. I watched the UCLA vs. VCU game last night and felt better about some issues with Grant, but other concerns were confirmed. Grant's team plays with great intensity and tempo, and I liked their defense. It was also nice to see that Sanders is such a solid product because it means that VCU's key talent isn't just Capel's recruits. Offensively, he runs the same 4 out 1 in offense that Felton, Purnell and Hewitt run. It's a system dependent on individual players creating their own shots. It's not a pretty system for those who value ball and player movement. Grant wouldn't be a bad hire, but he's not who I would start my search with if I had $2 million to spend. Grant's team was in that game because Eric Maynor (who he didn't recruit) was the best player on the floor. I could live with hiring him, and I do think this is who we end up with. But it doesn't wow me. A killer press conference could sell me more. (Update: Mark Bradley has a man crush on Grant.)
  

• Brad Stevens (Butler) - He's 56-10 in two years as a head coach at Butler. They play an intriguing brand of basketball, but he's very young (32). He hasn't really been associated with our job, but he's one of the hottest mid-major coaches in the country.

• Lon Kruger (UNLV) - Kruger only makes $1 million a year. As I said earlier, he's a Plan B candidate at Arizona, and he's probably on the list at Missouri if Anderson bolts. With his regional experience at UF and the Hawks, he's someone that logically would get a phone call as a Plan B candidate in Athens.

A game to watch today is Tennessee vs. Oklahoma State. We heard an interesting theory earlier this week that if Travis Ford's Oklahoma State team beats Bruce Pearl's Vols; it might spell the end to Gillespie's career in Lexington. Many Wildcat fans would love to have Travis Ford return home, and beating Pearl would set their hearts a flutter.

I'm expecting Capel, Anderson and maybe Miller to still be in the tourney on Monday. So their names won't heat up yet.

By Monday, the rumors should be running wide open.

PWD


ht - rnb34

The World's Largest Indoor Cocktail Party?

Image: DawgBone.net
The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports that the Atlanta Sports Council and the Georgia Bulldogs are in discussions about possibly moving the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party to the Georgia Dome at least once every four years.

(UPDATE: The AJC talked to Damon Evans. He says that there are no discussions to move the game. The rest of this post is the original note on the subject)

I'm pretty sure that the current contract expires in 2010, but all parties involved like to have the contract renewed before Year 3 of the 4 year deal starts. In other words....now.

Here's why I'm against this:

• We don't lose because of the location - The City of Jacksonville didn't cause Terrence Edwards to drop a game tying catching in 2002. It didn't cause Quincy Carter to throw the INT before the half in 2000. It didn't call timeout in the rain in '93. It didn't fumble the kickoff to start the second half in 2006. It didn't bust Shockley's knee before the game in 2005. We lose when we go down there because we don't play well. We could play the Gators on the moon, and we will lose if we wet the bed at first sight of an Orange helmet with script letters.
  
  
• Access to Tickets in Atlanta - The current cut-off for tickets is over 10,000 Hartman points. Some of the demand for tickets is suppressed because it's logistically and financially cumbersome to get to Jacksonville from the Atlanta area -- where the vast majority of our fans live. There would be dramatically more demand for tickets to a game in Atlanta. The listed ticket prices, the secondary market and the Hartman cut-off for the tickets would explode due to increased demand.
  
  
• The Dome is Smaller -- Capacity at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium is 84,000 for UGA vs. UF. The record crowd at the Georgia Dome is 75,000. That's roughly 11 percent fewer seats. Cutting 4,500 tickets out of the UGA allotment would be a real problem.
  
  
• The Dome has ZERO personality -- Part of the appeal of the game in Jacksonville is the party. 75,000 people can't tailgate in Atlanta the way we do in Jacksonville.
  
  
• Access to Florida Talent -- I'd like Mark Richt to explain how Alabama and Clemson playing games in Atlanta is good for their recruiting in Georgia and bad for UGA. While UGA playing games in Florida isn't a good thing for us.
  
  
• We're chicken shit if we leave -- This would be the first step in running us out of Jacksonville.

Georgia fans didn't complain about the location when Dooley won 17 of 25 contests against the lizards.

I assume most of this is posturing for a better deal from the City of Jacksonville. I'm all for that especially in light of what other neutral site games are paying their participants. But a long term move away from this most excellent tradition makes no sense to me.

Recruit better players. Win the game. Stop making excuses.

See Also:
-- Another reason to stay in Jax - GTP
-- Orson's take on this - EDSBS

PWD

Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?

You put your release form in.
You pull your release form out.
You put your release form in,
And you call West Paducah State.
You do the "Do You Want Me"
And you shop yourself around.
That's what it's all about.
Troy Brewer confirms what was expected and then denied and now done. UGA has officially confirmed that he asked to leave the basketball team.

Speaking of in state high school basketball players that aren't playing in Athens because we have scholarships tied up with out of state kids who didn't contribute in a meaningful way.

The AJC reported yesterday that at least 40 kids who played high school basketball in Georgia are participating in the NCAA Tourney. Is that a bunch? Well, consider that around 700 total scholarship players are participating in the tourney. The 40 discussed in the article only make up 5.7 percent of the total players.

If you assume an even spread of talent across all 50 states, we should have 2 percent. Weighting for population, you might come to the conclusion that 5.7 percent is within the margin for error for how many kids should be in the tourney from GA. Until you consider this....UGA, GT, GSU, Georgia State, Mercer, Kennesaw and Savannah State aren't in the tourney.

To have 5.7 percent of the players in the NCAA Tourney from Georgia, and not include the 50-60 players from our own colleges is a jump off the page stat.

At one point this season, FSU had three starters from Georgia high schools. As FSU's coach Leonard Hamilton said:

“We like to have a presence [in Georgia] because it’s kind of like football in the state of Florida,” he said. “It’s a great football state. It seems every great program in the country, they have stars from Florida. It’s almost getting that way with basketball in Georgia. They have so many outstanding basketball players, they’re kind of distributed all over the country.”

If you're wondering why the UGA job has so much potential, this is it. We don't have to build a fence around Georgia or Atlanta to be exceptional in basketball. We just have to get our fair share.

If we could consistently recruit and retain one of the Top 3-4 players per year in state plus two more Top 5-15 players in state, we could consistently compete for the SEC title and the Sweet 16.

For perspective. The coaching staff apparently had to choose between Drazen Zlovaric (Tennessee by way of Serbia and several US high schools) and Tanner Smith of Norcross last year. Draz participated in 17 games and went 1 for 7 in SEC play for UGA.

Tanner Smith, who's mother is a UGA graduate, played in 31 games, averaged 13 minutes and 4 points while shooting 36% from three point line for the Top 25 ranked Clemson Tigers.

This is a good job. If we just take advantage of the abundant and painfully obvious resources at our disposal.

PWD


(BTW - If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm extremely bullish on the future of Georgia Basketball. It's simply a question of 'when." Not "if.")

Barnhart on the SEC East

Tony Barnhart is back blogging at AJC.com, and it's good to have him back. Today, he posts a quick hitter regarding the SEC East.

As far as I'm concerned, Georgia's spring practice looks like it could be labeled the "Spring of Unanswered Questions." Our biggest problems going into next season are:

1. Defensive End - There aren't enough healthy DEs to get a feel for the talent level in the Spring.

2. Running Back - Samuel is out for Spring, and King will be going against the defense operating without elite DEs.

3. Defensive Back - We may know more here after the Spring.

4. Leadership - You never know until you face real adversity. Seriously, has there ever been a spring in which Van Halanger hasn't said, "The unity and chemistry is the best I've seen in years." (UPDATE: To clarify. This wasn't a shot at Coach Van. I think he's excellent at his job. However, his boundless public optimism clouds any ability to really judge where the team actually is heading. It's not a shot at him.)

5. Kickoff Coverage - Jon Fabris still appears to run the kickoff coverage unit so I'm not expecting any changes or improvements here. Once a hard headed, inflexible man unwilling to change his broken approach despite mountains of statistical evidence that it isn't working; always a hard headed, inflexible man, blah, blah, blah. If they fix Blair Walsh's kickoff stroke to mirror his field goal stroke, it would go a long way towards resolving some of our issues here. That and putting fast scholarship athletes with experience in delivering collisions on the field.

We're really not going to know if any of those issues are fixed until we hit Stillwater. Biggest thing we can hope for in the Spring is that Cox looks poised and confident like he did vs. Colorado in 2006 or early last season. That and NO INJURIES!

PWD

Wizard of Techwood isn't a Value?

I meant to post this yesterday and forgot.

When the Wall Street Journal talks about value formulas, they generally bring something interesting to the table.  When the result of their mathematical exploration finds Paul Hewitt as providing "the least value" of any major college basketball coach, it's a must read.  Mark Bradley appears to enjoy poking the Yellow Jackets at moments like this.

On the subject of value, I'm pretty sure that UGA paid Felton about $1 million per SEC road win when you factor in his severance package.  That's obviously not a "fair and balanced" way of looking at the numbers.  But it makes a nice sound bite.  The difference between us and them....we wised up.

PWD

Our politicians will save us

Go Gator, Urban Meyers and Percy Harvey. Sigh.



ht - GADevildawgs

Update: Brewer Says He's Staying

Troy Brewer told the Banner Herald yesterday that he wants to stay at UGA.  Developing.

PWD

Brewer to leave UGA Basketball Team

The AJC reports that Troy Brewer will join Zac Swansey in asking for his release from Georgia. I'm not really sure where he'll land given the lack of demand for shooting guards that hit for 30% from the field over a two year period.

As I said earlier today, this was bound to happen. I doubt it's over with yet.

Just two quick thoughts here. First, Swansey....who I don't begrudge for wanting to leave...has bizarre logic for wanting to transfer. He's unhappy with how his demotion was communicated to him. So....he's going to transfer. Huh? Is that to get away from a coaching staff that is already fired? Wouldn't he want to stick around now that the troublesome coaching staff who didn't communicate well is gone? Pffft. Kids.

Secondly, I feel for Brewer. It's not his fault that Felton offered him a spot in Athens. He never should've been given a scholarship to start with. You don't travel 500 miles to offer a kid that no peer school is offering when your state is producing 6 to 8 high major recruits per year at the same position. When he signed, I said this:

The difference between being a "diamond in the rough" and "just being rough" is where coaches make their money. And where bloggers spend their time second guessing.

All I know is that it's very difficult to improve your program by consistently out recruiting programs that your fans can't find on a map. I had hoped we were past that phase of recruiting.

If we just make logical decisions going forward in regards to recruiting, we're going to improve the talent base of the team.

Best of luck to Brewer. We wouldn't have beaten Delaware State or Augusta St. last year without his points. Seriously.

PWD

About the Moody situation

I honestly don't see how this is a big deal. Moody is an exceptionally gifted linebacker by most accounts who was the longest shot to qualify in this recruiting class. Georgia released him from his scholarship unconditionally for not basically getting his act together in the classroom and/or staying out of trouble.

Sounds like a bullet dodged if you ask me. Sort of like Greg Reid saying he didn't want to come to UGA because it would've been too much work. How is that a loss?

I don't need a team full of choir boys to be happy as a fan, but if you aren't going to work hard and do what you're asked during this honeymoon period now....how are you going to help us beat the Gators when the going gets rough?

PWD

Zac Swansey asked for his release from UGA

The Red and Black is reporting that sophomore point guard Zac Swansey has asked to be released from his scholarship at Georgia. Swansey is best known for his clutch, miracle jumper to beat Kentucky in the 2008 SEC Tournament. Without that shot, Georgia doesn't win the SEC Tourney. It's for that reason that I have nothing negative to say about the kid.

I know he expressed some seamingly harsh words over the past few days regarding the future of the program, but I'm not the least bit annoyed. He just finished the emotional end to a brutal season that saw his playing time decline almost daily. He shouldn't have said it, and he'll regret it eventually. It is what it is. He's not happy so he's leaving.

Frankly, this could be a blessing in disguise for all parties.

Prior to Zac's announcement, UGA had very few open scholarships to play with.

• Fall 2009 Enrollments: 1 scholarship remaining
  
• Fall 2010: 1 more opens when Jackson leaves
• Fall 2011: 4 open when Zac, Barnes, Price and Brewer leave

A new coach can't rebuild a program with only two scholarships to offer in Years 1 and 2. Zac's departure gives the new coach some breathing room, and it probably won't be the last change.

We have some other young players like Drazen Zlovaric and Troy Brewer who've struggled to make their mark in Athens. The new coach will need to have long talks with them and mutually decide if their college careers should continue in Athens. Additionaly, Travis Leslie is having well publicized academic issues, and Jeremy Price struggled to find happiness this season as well. Chip Towers discussed this at length a few days ago, and player movement is definitely a topic to watch.

The only player I'm not worried about losing is Trey Thompkins. Trey and his family likely fancy him as a player in the NBA within 3 years. Sitting out a year for a transfer doesn't accelerate those plans. He and Ware are the keys to the future of the program, and we should be able to retain both.

The rest? Well....if the roster was great, we wouldn't have lost 20 games. For the first time in a few years, attrition is probably going to be a good thing for the hoops program.

I wish Zac the best. He kept his frustration out of the papers until after the season, and he never got in trouble on the court or off. Thanks for the shot. Best of luck in your future.

See Also:
-- About Swansey's original comments - TotalUGA.com

PWD

Dawgs Salvage a Game

The great ball the Diamond Dawgs have been playing this season had to even out right?  Well, sure, but not all in one series, right?  Maybe not.  This weekend's games on the Capstone were as bad as the team has played this year.  Seven errors (including two dropped fly balls), sixteen walks, and six unearned runs led to a Bama series win, two games to one.  Tuscaloosa has always been a house of horrors (last series win there was in 1993) and this week was no exception.  

I'll look at the bright side, though.  Avoiding the sweep this early in the season was crucial.  No SEC East team won their series this weekend, so we didn't lose any divisional ground.  The freshmen got a taste of SEC ball which should give them an idea of what it takes to compete at a serious college level.  They had varied reactions in Tuscaloosa.  Johnathan Taylor only had two hits this weekend, way under his early season production.  Levi Hyams, though, was great, leading the team to the Sunday victory with a pair of hits.  So good was Hyams, in fact, that Perno may move him to short and slide Demperio back to second. 

The team has better baseball in them and I'd expect them to show it this week.  Alex McRee will be back soon (we hope).  Perno plans to platoon more in order to help the offense.  The Dawgs travel to Georgia  State midweek, before returning to Foley Field to host Moo State this weekend.

Quinton

Pistol Pete Holds Up Bulldog Nation

 

"Get 'em up and keep 'em up, bulldog." 

If you haven't gotten your season ticket order form yet, get ready for a mild shock.  Road game tickets to Oklahoma State are $100 a pop.  That's the price of two tickets almost everywhere else.  It's $15 more than OSU charges its own fans for single tickets to conference games and $40 more than OSU's other nonconference games.  They are not selling individual tickets for the our game, either.  In other words, OSU has targeted Georgia fans for a severe gouge. 

An increase in ticket price isn't going to make or break those of us heading to Stillwater, but it's the principle of the thing.  Yell nasty stuff at us?  Sure.  Give us crappy seats?  No big deal.  Run out of beer at your local brewery?  We'll manage.  Turn us over inside your port-a-pottys?  Umm ...  But don't single us out for disparate treatment in ticket prices.

I suppose we should't expect egalitarianism from Okie State.  Their program is the second most prominant example of the disproportionately powerful single donor.  With OSU's pervasive use of variable ticket pricing and the impressive showing Dawg fans put on in Tempe last year, we should count on this type of treatment from the Pokes.  After all, they have some money to make up after Uncle Boone lost all their money in the market.  They might as well force visitors to make up for those losses.   

Quinton

Bama Series Sketch

If you want a full preview of this weekend's series in Tuscaloosa, here are the series notes typed up by the athletic department.  My comments are much more brief. 

Bama has been a good, but not great, team so far this year.  They lost their opening series to Southeast Missouri State and have had mixed results since.  Their offensive production has been slow to heat up this year, with the very large exception of senior rightfielder Kent Matthes, who leads the NCAA with 11 homers. Matthes also hit for the cycle earlier this year against Nicholls State.  Another familiar name for the Tide is Ross Wilson, Bama's second baseman. He's John Parker's little brother and star of MTV's "Two-a-Days" reality show on Hoover High School.

The Dawgs will start Holder, Grimm, and Leaver this weekend as Alex McRee continues to recover from mono.  Bama's ace, senior Austin Hyatt, pitches tonight for the Tide.  He's 3-0 in his three starts with a 1.89 ERA.  

Sunday's game is supposed to be televised by CSS. First pitch is at 2:00 PM EST.

UPDATE: Given the weather in Tuscaloosa, it's unlikely that this series gets all three games in.  Sunday looks good, but I doubt they get today's game or tomorrow's game in.  Not sure how completely missed conference games are made up and I doubt they play two on Sunday because it's get-away day.

Quinton

Let the Rumor Mongering Start

The basketball season is mercifully and finally over. The next coach will find a program with lots of long term potential, and two short term intriguing pieces in Dustin Ware and Trey Thompkins. The rest of the roster is a gigantic question mark.

Thompkins was Freshman All-SEC while averaging 12.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. With better conditioning, two working legs, and a better offensive scheme, he could easily develop into a 15-16 points per game type of player next year.

Ware averaged 7.4 points and 3.3 assists per game, and he could grow into a 10-11 pts and 4 assist per game kid. As a point of comparison, Rashad Wright lead the SEC in assists in 2002 with 4.74 per game. Both players must reduce their turnovers and play consistently hard at both ends going forward.

A wild card next year is Jeremy Price. Price averaged over 8 points a game as a freshman but saw his productivity fall to 5.2 points per game. If he can get his confidence back, he could be a 10 points and 7 rebounds a night type of guy. Right now, he's a shell of the player he was last year.

Regardless, the next coach has his work cut out for him. As there appears to be no SEC caliber starters on the roster at shooting guard or small forward. The team will need Demario Mayfield (incoming FR) or Ebuka Anyaorah (redshirted due to injury) to contribute at a freshman All-SEC level to open up the offense in a meaningful way.

The first step in stabilizing the roster is finding 5 starters who can do one thing really well. The next step is finding 5 who can do two things really well. Right now, we have several guys who don't do much of anything really well.

This and that:

-- Dumb rumor of the day in Tampa - Someone tried to tell me that Rick Pitino is interested in coming here. As if. Rick has $7.2 million in longevity bonuses scheduled to hit over the next 4 years plus $2.25 - $2.5 million in base pay. We'd have to pay him $4 million a year to get him. Silliest rumor yet.

-- Interesting rumor of the day. Saw a regularly-credible message board poster say that Tubby might be interested. I think it's a bad fit right now. Two years ago? Who knows. I know that I'd crawl over broken glass to get him back, and I know this guy is often in possession of great info.

-- Insane Name thrown out - The Orlando Paper mentioned Bill Self of Kansas as a candidate in Athens. I wish, but that won't happen. What is interesting about the Orlando article is this line:

Armed with a $60 million budget surplus, word out of Athens is Evans isn't going to search for a coach, he's going to buy one from another program. A big-timer.

I love that mentality.

I don't think we'll have a coach in place until after the Tourney's second weekend at the earliest.

PWD

Been Off the Grid

Extremely limited access to interwebs the past few days. And felt crap
with the crud. Heading to Tampa. Will blog after tourney Game 1

Go Dawgs.

Top-Ranked Diamond Dawgs?

After a weekend sweep of Quinnipiac (which I assume is either an actual college, some sort of Native American tribe, or the national team for a small Caribbean island lost on their way to the World Baseball Classic), the Diamond Dogs are now a school record 12-0 to start the season. One more win will tie the longest winning streak of the Perno era.  The Dawgs get a two game, mid-week series with LeMoyne starting Tuesday to add to their historic streak.

The Dawgs were #2 in the Collegiate Baseball poll going into the weekend, behind LSU. Illinois took this weekend's series with LSU in Baton Rouge, two games to one. With the Bayou Bengals losing a series to an unranked team, the undefeated Dawgs should take over the top spot in this week's poll. While that's exciting, remember that the baseball championship is decided in Omaha, not by polls. Baseball polls are like basketball polls, they can make you feel good, but they're irrelevant in the end.

Mid-week we learned that Alex McRee had mono and wouldn't make his start Saturday. Against Qinnipiac, it didn't really matter as Justin Grimm started in McRee's place Saturday (no earned runs through six innings) and Jason Leaver pitched yesterday, although Jeff Walters got the win. Trevor Holder was spectacular Friday, as he didn't give up a hit through seven before Perno pulled him in favor of Dean Weaver. I've heard some optimistic things about McRee's return, but I find it hard to believe a pitcher will come back from mono at full strength after only a few weeks of recovery. We can handle the absence right now because of the depth of the staff, but it's hard to really replace a pitcher as good as McRee.

Conference play starts this weekend when the Dawgs head to Tuscaloosa to face the Crimson Tide.

Quinton

Mark Richt drinks the Coffee

For a staff that "can't close well," they did pretty damn well. Orson Charles picked UGA yesterday. Scout lists Georgia's signing day or later kids as a 5 star WR, a 4 star DT and a 5 star defensive tackle. Blake from Mitch & Murray is impressed.

Scout lists UGA as having signed the #6 class in the nation. Rivals has the class at #8. Georgia is the only SEC East school in the Scout.com Top 10 final recruiting ranking. The class only has 19 signees so its ranking isn't as high as other larger classes. However, the class has the 2nd highest "average star rating" for Scout.com and is tied for 4th highest average star rating on Rivals.

(Update: They updated both Scout and Rivals rankings since I first published this. We're up to 4th and 6th respectively. All the other stats have been updated as well. See links above.)

I say all of this to say this....

I really don't care about ratings. Other than DE, I think they got everything they needed in this class. All of the bitching and moaning about "closing well" on signing day never made any sense to me to start with. What difference does it make if they commit in Feb. or Sept?

Anyway...it's a strong class, and I'm eager to see what we do with them.

PWD

What College Basketball Coaches Make

The Next Renovation of Stegeman
As we said on Tuesday, there's a rumor out there that UGA is "preparing" to offer Jeff Capel of Oklahoma "in excess of $2 million" to coach Georgia. I said at the time that this looks like the sort of rumor put forth by Capel's agent to drive up the price for Capel at OU.

The latest rumor plastered on several Big 12 message boards says we'd pay Capel as much as $2.8 million per year. The initial reaction from many Dawg fans is "That's what Richt makes. No way we'd go that high." I've said previously that Richt's salary has nothing to do with this search, but I do realize that statement has its limits.

Instead of discussing the merits of football vs. basketball, I thought it might be interesting to get some perspective on what different coaches in basketball actually make. A random sampling of coaches (per year):

• Billy Donovan (UF) - $3.4 million
• Bill Self (Kansas) - $3 million
• John Calipari (Memphis) - $2.5 million
• Billy Gillespie (UK) - $2.3 million
• Rick Pitino (Louisville) - $2.25 million + $7.2 mil in longevity bonuses
• Roy Williams (UNC) - $2 million
• Ben Howland (UCLA) - $1.97 million
• Tubby Smith (Minnesota) - $1.85 million + enormous incentive upside
• Jim Calhoun (UConn) - $1.6 million
• Bruce Pearl (UT) - $1.6 million
• Jamie Dixon (Pitt) - $1.3 million
  
• Jay Wright (Villanova) - $1.3 million (per a poorly sourced article)
• Lon Kruger (UNLV) - $1 million
• Jeff Capel (Oklahoma) - $1 million
• Mike Anderson (Missouri) - $850,000
• Dennis Felton (ex-UGA) $760,000
  
• Mark Few (Gonzaga) - $750,000 (per a poorly sourced article)
• Anthony Grant (VCU) - $700,000

With Georgia, Alabama, Arizona and others about to go on the prowl for coaches, lots of coaches are going to huge get pay raises. Particularly, Mike Anderson, Jeff Capel and Jamie Dixon.

Georgia is going to get aggressive in compensation. I buy into that. But $2.8 million? Puhleaze. We're not going to pay our next coach 40 percent more than what Roy Williams makes at UNC. We're getting serious ... not stupid.

I personally think we'll end up paying $1.5-1.8 million, and that would land us plenty of prime time candidates.

PWD


BTW -- If you're wondering why Tom Izzo isn't on the list? He gets a balloon payment of $4 million in 2010 on top of the $1.7 million he makes currently and the $7 million he made in 2006. He's not going anywhere. Also, I didn't list Mike Brey or Sean Miller because the salaries of private university coaches can be tough to find.

Damon Evans Address Jeff Capel Reports

Roger Clarkson of the Athens Banner-Herald talked with Damon Evans about yesterday's reports that Jeff Capel may be a candidate for the head basketball job and the rumors of a $2 million per year salary for the prospective new coach. 

Damon wouldn't specifically say that anyone is a candidate, and he couldn't be pinned down on the dollar figures.  Here's the most interesting part of what he did say:

"I am committed to the basketball program and we are willing to pay what we think is a competitive salary based on the qualifications of the applicant," Evans said. "What that is will depend on the applicant, and we are willing to pay what we think is appropriate."

Evans has not been reluctant to spend money on basketball since he took over in 2004. Georgia opened a $30 million practice facility for men's and women's basketball and gymnastics in 2007.

A $2 million yearly salary would rank third in the Southeastern Conference after Florida's Billy Donovan ($3.25 million per year) and Kentucky's Billy Gillispie ($2.36 million).

That's about all Damon can really say at this time.  It's a good read.

PWD

Bubble Schmubble - Dawgs Top UK

Last night was delicious.  Georgia beat the Kentucky Mildcats 90-85 in Rupp Arena and delivered a life threatening body blow to UK's NCAA Tournament hopes.  With an RPI of 67 (per Real-Time RPI) and falling, the Cats likely need to win the SEC Tourney or beat the Gators this weekend and make the SEC Finals.

The idea that a loss to UGA may have severely injured both the chances for the Cats and Gators to go dancing leaves me in a state of giddiness.  Welcome to our pit of basketball hell.

The only downside to this event would be UK terminating Gillespie and entering a coaching search at the same time as us.  Barring his team losing their next two games, I don't see that as a realistic possibility.  Firing Gillespie for winning 19 or more games this year after finishing 2nd in the East last year would not be wise.

And somewhere a lone Kentucky hillbilly looks over his jug of moonshine and ponders aloud how this is Saul Smith's fault.

Here's the reaction to the game:

-- UK Tumbles to New Low - Lexington Herald-Leader
-- Lowly Georgia Shocks Cats - Lexington Herald-Leader
-- Give me a beer to put these flames out - Sea of Blue (UK Blog)
-- Cats Dog it Against Georgia - Louiville Courer-Journal
-- Game Box Score - Yahoo

A huge thanks to the entire team for a great effort.  That type of effort on both ends of the floor is what the program desperately needs.

PWD

Andy Lopez Throws Roses at the Dawgs

The Diamond Dawgs have been impressive this season, but no one may be as impressed as Arizona skipper Andy Lopez, according to this article in the Daily Wildcat. Lopez doesn't think the 'Cats played that bad in this past weekend's UGA sweep.  It was a case of the Dawgs just playing much better.  Lopez quipped that he hasn't "seen (an offense) like that in a long, long time."

Lopez was especially enamored with Johnathan Taylor:

UA pitchers had a particularly difficult time containing freshman outfielder Johnathan Taylor. The speedy leadoff hitter went a combined 6-for-13 from the dish and scored seven runs.

"I would give the Golden Spikes award to (Johnathan) Taylor right now if I could," Lopez said.

For those who don't follow college baseball, the Golden Spikes is the baseball equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. 

Lopez isn't a some uninitiated buffoon, either.   He's led three different teams to Omaha, coached Brad Wilkerson to a Golden Spikes trophy, and won a national championship with Pepperdine in 1992. 

Quinton

Jancek Named Co-Defensive Coordinator

Based on the UGA press release and the AJC article this means just about nothing. It sounds like a job title change to warrant an off cycle compensation adjustment.

If you're worried about Rodney Garner being pissed....until yesterday he made about twice what Jancek made...as the lowest paid member of the coaching staff over the age of 28. And if Jancek is such an invaluable member of the brain trust, why was he the lowest paid member of the staff until McClendon came on board?

I don't get it. But I seriously doubt it matters regarding the '09 season.