Practice Notes: Recruiting Implications Will Be Big Saturday

In his first year on the job at Tennessee, Lane Kiffin made a point to put a target on Georgia. He called the Bulldogs his team’s biggest rival, and for good reason. The Volunteers need to recruit in Georgia, and Kiffin wanted to get his regime off on the right foot. The result was a dominant win over the Bulldogs in Knoxville last month.

This week, Georgia faces another first-year coach of another SEC program that relies on the Peach State to fill a sizable portion of its roster when Auburn comes to Athens. And once again, the victor will earn bragging rights – not just among fans, but in the living rooms of recruits throughout the state.

“Winning helps recruiting,” Georgia recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner said. “That’s the single most important factor is winning. Everybody loves a winner, and if you win, you’re hot, and you’re the most attractive person out there.”

For the past three years, Georgia’s had the edge over Auburn, but that hasn’t stopped the Tigers from competing for many of the same players the Bulldogs have recruited. Twenty players on Auburn’s current roster hail from Georgia, and a win for first-year coach Gene Chizik would help to boost that number in the future.

But the familiarity also breeds a bit of intensity, too, and head coach Mark Richt said his current players aren’t interested in letting Auburn become the latest to earn a win over the Bulldogs, on the field or on the recruiting trail.

“Auburn being so close to our border, just about every guy that we have on our team was more than likely recruited by Auburn and has been to Auburn and has seen what they are all about,” Richt said. “It’s a big deal for us as a staff, it’s a big deal for us as a team.”

CHANGE FOR THE BETTER

A year ago, Clint Boling was pressed into action at left tackle thanks to a slew of injuries at the position, and he never quite felt at home.

This season, Boling has made the move once again, but now he’s a bit more comfortable playing the most demanding position on the offensive line.

“I got a lot of experience playing left tackle last year and I’ve been working on it the last few weeks of practice, so I feel a lot more comfortable there now,” Boling said. “It’s not a big deal at all.”

Boling has started the past two games at left tackle after opening the season as Georgia’s starter on the right side of the line. When Trinton Sturdivant went down with a season-ending knee injury, many fans clamored for Boling to return to the left side where he eared rave reviews a year ago, but the change was slow to come.

With the return of junior Josh Davis from injury, however, Georgia had more leeway to fill any void Boling might leave on the right side of the line, and Boling said one the pieces were in place, everyone was happy to make the move.

“I think Coach (Stacy) Searels was just trying to find the best lineup he wanted with a group of guys that could play hard and do what he wanted to do,” Boling said. “And if that was me at left tackle and Josh at right tackle, then both Josh and I will do whatever Coach Searels wants to do.”

NO HUDDLE, NO PROBLEM

Georgia opened last week’s game against Tennessee Tech with a new look on offense – a no-huddle attack that kept the Golden Eagles guessing.

“We did the first couple of series. It wasn’t no-huddle, hurry-up offense, but it was just something we had gone into the game planning on doing,” quarterback Joe Cox said. “We wanted to get some plays run, get the line up and down fast, and try to put points on the board quick those first couple of drives. We scored on both those drives.”

The fast-paced offense was something offensive coordinator Mike Bobo had been toying with but saw a prime opportunity to run it against Tennessee Tech, and it gave Georgia a chance to show a more dynamic side of an offensive unit that has failed to show much life at times this season.

“It was just a change of pace, something that a lot of people haven’t seen us do, and it definitely caught them off guard because they were looking to the sideline trying to figure out what they needed to get in, and we went right down the field,” Cox said.

Despite the success the offense had against Tennessee Tech, Bobo isn’t sure if he’ll continue to use the approach going forward, but he said he liked the results enough to keep it as a possibility.

“It’s something we mess around with from time to time, and a lot is depending on our depth at receiver and how much we can do,” Bobo said. “But it was one of those games that we did want to spread them out and get our guys in space, and that’s something we could use in any game.”

TIGHT ENDS ARE TOP DAWGS

With A.J. Green out of the lineup last week, Cox found his tight ends made for appealing targets downfield against Tennessee Tech. The Bulldogs’ tight ends caught seven passes and one touchdown in the game, and that’s a trend Cox said he thinks can continue as Aron White and Orson Charles continue to develop within the offense.

“We’ve got two tight ends that are really making a lot of plays right now,” Cox said. “They’re dedicated to run blocking and work hard on it every day, and they’re great in the passing game. Orson and Aron, they run great routes and have great hands. You don’t have too many of those, and we’re lucky enough to have to of them on the same team.”

LINEMEN ON THE MEND

Two of Georgia's injured offensive linemen are making strides toward recovery, but Richt isn't sure either will be practicing before the spring.

Freshman Austin Long underwent back surgery before the season and has yet to practice with the team. There was hope he might be ready to practice by December leading up to an anticipated bowl game, but Richt said that's unlikely.

"He's got another appointment with the doctor, and it's sometime in December, to try to gauge how well it's healing," Richt said. "There's a possibility it's healed, but there may have to be some things that are taken out."

Richt said Long has been relegated to minor workouts -- elliptical machines and exercise bikes -- but he has not been able to run or do any significant weight lifting.

Trinton Sturdivant tore his ACL for the second time in as many years in Georgia's opener against Oklahoma State, but Richt said the left tackle is already well ahead of where he was two months after his first surgery.

"He's very excited about the repair," Richt said. "This is so much different than the last one because there was so much less damage that was done. The recovery is faster or at least he feels better faster. He feels like it's a great repair, he's confident in it, and he's excited about the future."

INJURY UPDATES

Richt on A.J.: "A.J. looks like A.J. Green, which is a very good thing. You'd never know he had any issues, and he might be a little more fresh than he would have been because we really didn't let him exert hardly at all."

Richt on Justin Houston: "He was wearing green but he was practicing and we expect him to play."

Richt on Quintin Banks: "He had a dislocated finger and they just kind of put it back together again and taped it to the next finger and go."

PRACTICE UPDATE

For the second straight day, Georgia's coaches and players braved the elements to get in a day's worth of practice, and while the energy was high, Richt said the passing game has been challenged by a day of rain and a day of high winds.

"We really haven't had a chance to throw and catch extremely well with the horrible weather yesterday," Richt said. “I think the wind was blowing like 14 to 20 mile-an-hour gusts out there, so it wasn't ideal conditions. Hopefully tomorrow we can have a pretty day. But we got the work in we needed to get done these last two days, and I'm happy with that and think we've got a good, solid plan.”

FOX LANDS RECRUIT

In the first day of college basketball’s early national signing period, first-year Georgia coach Mark Fox landed another recruit from the state of Florida when Orlando-area prospect Cady Lalanne signed a national letter of intent to join the Bulldogs.

“Cady is a terrific young kid who has the ability to score inside and outside,” Fox said of the 6-foot-8, 215-pound Lalanne. “One of the things we were looking for was a good interior offensive player, and I think we were able to find him. But his versatility on offense is something I really like, too. He was also very well-coached in high school, so I expect that his transition to college will be a smooth one.”

Lalanne is Georgia’s first recruit for the 2010-11 season, but Fox also landed guard Vincent Williams from the state of Florida soon after being hired in April.

Lalanne is rated as the nation’s No. 37 forward prospect by ESPN and the No. 21 center prospect by Scout.com.

From the Mailbag: Ware Gets Some Help

Before the SEC's meetings in Destin last week, I asked some of you to submit questions for Mark Richt and Mark Fox. I've answered some already, I have more answers coming in stories I have planned for the near future. But throughout this week, I'll be posting the answers to a few of them here.

This one comes anonymously (but let's assume it was posted by TV's Erik Estrada): With the recent announcement of the transfer of Gerald Robinson and the signing of Vincent Williams in the spring period, is it fair to say your recruiting focus has shifted to signing more wings and posts, and perhaps another SG, for next year's class?

OK, Fox didn't address his new focus in recruiting directly, but he was happy to talk about the addition of the two new point guards.

First off, Gerald Robinson Jr. will have to sit out the upcoming season, but Fox said his addition will have a big impact long-term. Robinson's dad is a coach at Tennessee State, which was the reason he signed there out of high school, but Fox said his new guard is clearly SEC material.

"He has SEC and ACC offers out of high school," Fox said. "He stayed home, but I think he realized he can play at a high level and we're excited to get him. He's a scoring point guard, a great kid and just wants to come and win. That's really important to him that our team is successful no matter where he fits in, and I think he can really make a difference a year from now."

With Corey Butler graduating and Zac Swansey transferring, that left Georgia with just one point guard on its roster when Fox arrived, so finding players to fill out the roster was essential. So the first two players Fox brought into the program were Robinson, Tennessee State's leading scorer last season, and Vincent Williams, a point guard from Homestead, Fla. who averaged 26 points and six rebounds per game his senior season. Even though Robinson won't be able to play next season, his addition should still be felt during practice.

"You need three point guards ideally on your roster so you can scrimmage, practice and give a guy a break now and then," Fox said. "That position expends so much energy. You have a tendency to wear those guys down if you don't have some depth. Like everybody else, when I first started we saw there was only one on the roster, and we needed to get him some help."

That one point guard is Dustin Ware, who was Georgia's starter down the stretch last season -- his first in Athens -- and made as big an improvement during the course of the season as anyone on the roster. Fox said that he has been extremely impressed by Ware so far, saying that Ware has the best approach to preparation of any player he has ever had. That's a big compliment coming from a coach who has put a half-dozen players into the NBA.

"As a freshman he went through a lot of the growing pains most freshmen do, but usually as a sophomore the game slows down for you just because of all the experience you get as a freshman," Fox said. "I've been real pleased with Dustin and his approach and I think he's working hard to have a great sophomore year."

Video Blog: Fox on Williams

Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox discusses the significance of landing his first commitment, Florida guard Vincent Williams...

Hoops Notes: Fox Leans on Richt for Input

From Roy Williams to Bobby Knight to Rick Barnes, new Georgia coach Mark Fox said he has gotten some important advice from plenty of the elite coaches in college basketball before deciding to head to Athens.

Since he has been at Georgia, he has already met with several of the top SEC coaches, too, including Mississippi's Andy Kennedy, LSU's Trent Johnson and Kentucky's John Calipari.

But the one coach Fox said he has been most excited about spending time with is Georgia's football coach, Mark Richt.

"There's only one Mark in town," Fox joked, "and it ain't me."

Fox said that he first met Georgia's football coaches on the day he was hired, spending some time with Richt and several of the assistants.

Since then, he has talked with Richt several times, including during some of the stops the two have made on the school's Bulldog Club tour, which began two weeks ago. At one point, Fox said, the two scheduled to meet for about 15 minutes and ended up spending nearly three hours together. Richt even set up an impromptu tour of Sanford Stadium for Fox's son, who was visiting Athens for the weekend.

It's a relationship Fox said he embraced immediately and said that he has always relied on coaches from other sports for input and advice, and to have a staff as good as Richt's nearby makes the process even easier.

"They understand how to win at Georgia," Fox said. "There's a lot of things if you're smart you can use from each other."

NO HARD FEELINGS

There are no hard feelings aimed at former Georgia recruit Daniel Miller, who had committed to the Bulldogs under Dennis Felton but was granted his release by Fox two weeks ago and has since signed with Georgia Tech.

Fox said he met with Miller and his family, and while he would have honored the scholarship offer made by Felton, he was also happy to allow Miller to explore other options.

"I think he wanted a fresh start, and that's understandable," Fox said. "I told his family and him that I'm not going to stand in your way. That wouldn't be the right way to begin."

Fox said he was not aware of Miller's intent to sign with Tech, but said he was not interested in limiting the former recruit's options regardless.

A PERFECT FIT

A few days after losing Miller, Fox added a new name to Georgia's commitment list for 2009.

Point guard Vincent Williams, of Homestead, Fla., was Fox's first commitment since taking over at Georgia, and he said Williams fulfills a key role on the offensive end of the court.

"One of the things we felt like this team needs is to become a little bit more offensive – well, more than a little bit," Fox said. "Trey (Thompkins) can score a lot of different places, but unless we can stretch the defense and isolate him, he's going to have a tough time. … Vincent can shoot the ball. He can score."

STILL WORKING

Williams' signing leaves three available scholarships for the Bulldogs, but Fox said he doesn't plan on using them all this year. With Albert Jackson as the team's only senior, Fox said it's important to help even out the classes and maintain some flexibility for the future. More importantly, however, he wants players who will fit at Georgia.

"We want to recruit players who can help us win, not just play here," Fox said.

Fox and his staff had just nine days to recruit this year, and they hit the ground running, stopping at as many as seven schools in one day. New NCAA restrictions that prevent coaches from attending post-season basketball tournaments for recruiting has made things more difficult, but Fox said they haven't given up on landing a last-minute addition.

"We'll look at transfers if we can," Fox said. "We're looking internationally. We'll keep looking because you never know what you're going to find."

IT'S TRICKY

One of the biggest headaches of Fox's brief tenure at Georgia has been the schedule. The Bulldogs are already tied into several road and neutral-court games in their non-conference schedule, but the trick has been finding some competition willing to come to Stegeman Coliseum next season.

Georgia has return dates at Virginia Tech and Missouri to fulfill home-and-home agreements that began last season, and the Bulldogs will play Illinois in a neutral site game at the Gwinnett Center as well. They'll also head to New York for a date with St. John's as part of the new Big East-SEC challenge. Georgia Tech remains the only major non-conference game set for Stegeman, and that has been a concern for Fox.

Fox also announced that Georgia would not participate in the Diamond Head Classic, a new tournament hosted by Hawaii, due to the extensive travel. The Bulldogs had initially been scheduled to appear.

Georgia needed eight games to finish out its schedule for 2009-10 and Fox said he is close to agreements with four schools already.

"They wanted to wait and let the new coach make the decisions, which is one of the things I give the administration credit for is they didn't go ahead and schedule a bunch of games," Fox said. "But we're behind. … We have some serious work to do in getting some games, we have some major work to do on the schedule, and that's not going to be solved overnight."

Fox said the schedule would not likely be finalized for a while yet, noting that during one season while he was at Nevada, the final game on the slate wasn't set until October. Fox also said he would not agree to any two-for-one agreements in which Georgia would play a team on the road twice in exchange for one home game, but said he may consider a home-and-home deal with teams he would normally want to visit Stegeman twice.

"I think that we want to play some teams from other BCS leagues," Fox said. "We want to be on TV. We want to be able to certainly take advantage of playing in a big league and playing at home."

MORE TO COME

Up next on Fox's schedule is finalizing his staff, which will include one more assistant and support staff. He also wants to evaluate the team's summer lifting programs and finish up the schedule. Overall, however, he said his first month has been pretty productive.

"I don't think I've had a bad day," Fox said. "We've enjoyed every second of it."