The State Farm Wade Trophy is the player of the year award in women’s college basketball, and only Georgia and LSU have two players among the 12 finalists. Senior Sherill Baker and sophomore Tasha Humphrey have been named finalists. Humphrey has been an All-American since she stepped on campus, and so her selection isn’t much of a surprise (though still a huge honor that shouldn’t be taken for granted). But Baker’s selection is a great personal triumph for her and recognition of the growth of her game during her four seasons at Georgia.

The Wade Trophy winner will be announced along with the Kodak/WBCA All-America Team on April 1 during the Final Four in Boston.

Also, Baker and Alexis Kendrick have been selected to participate in the WBCA All-Star Challenge. This is the sport’s equivalent of the Senior Bowl – a chance for the best seniors to show their stuff for the upcoming draft. Baker is already expected to be a first-round pick, but this is a big opportunity for Kendrick. She has been a rock-steady point guard and invaluable leader, but she has been kept out of the spotlight this season while her teammates put up the points.

Hopefully both will be unable to participate – the event is also held during the Final Four weekend in Boston (because the WNBA draft is held the next week).

The SEC has had a freshman all-conference team for 19 years, and Mike Mercer is now the 7th Bulldog to receive that honor. Mercer’s teammate Levi Stukes in 2004 was the last Georgia player to be named to the freshman all-SEC team.

The SEC Tournament went about as expected for Georgia. Though they fought back from a poor start and held the lead in the second half, they just couldn’t stop Tennessee’s inside game. Parker and Fluker scored at will, and Georgia was outrebounded 40-22.

I guess if there was a disappointing part of the game, it was Tennessee’s (specifically Zolman’s) success from outside. Tennessee’s dominance inside was to be expected, but Georgia did match up along the perimeter. One sequence in particular put it all together – Tennessee had a slim 3-point lead late in the second half. They hit a basket and were fouled to set up a possible three-point play. They missed the foul shot, got the rebound, kicked it outside for a three-pointer, and a three-point lead was suddenly eight. Dagger. Nail in coffin. Game over.

Now at 21-8, the Lady Dogs await their NCAA Tournament fate. The seedings won’t be announced until a week from today (Monday the 13th).

Georgia’s current RPI is 16. If that were the only consideration, Georgia would be a 4 seed, probably in North Carolina’s region. Let’s look at some other factors:

• Strength of schedule. According to the RPI figures, Georgia had the 11th toughest schedule. That’s a nice plus. Strength of schedule can help a team, but it can go overboard. For instance, NC State currently sits ahead of Georgia in the RPI because of their schedule rating of 2 despite three more losses and a .500 conference record.
• Wins and losses. 21 wins, particularly with an SEC schedule, is what you’d expect from a team making its case for a higher seed. Eight losses seems like a bit much, but five of those losses came to teams in the RPI’s top 4.
• Bad losses. Georgia simply has none. The “worst” loss is Temple – a team with an RPI of 39 who is ranked in the Top 25 and on the verge of winning its conference tournament. All other Georgia losses have an RPI better than 20. No shame there.
• Big wins. This is a negative for Georgia. The Lady Dogs have played seven games against teams in the RPI Top 20 and lost them all. The best win RPI-wise might be Kentucky, and there are several decent wins against teams like Florida and Vanderbilt who are just on the periphery of being ranked and have an RPI from 30-40. The bottom line is that they pretty much beat everyone they should have (especially in conference) and did it in impressive fashion but lack any really landmark wins that stand out.
• Finish to the season. Georgia is 7-3 over their last ten games, and those three losses were to LSU and Tennessee. The seven wins feature three wins by 20+ points over ranked teams (Florida and Vanderbilt) and a devastation of Kentucky, the SEC’s #4 team. Forget the last ten games – if the jersey hasn’t read LSU or Tennessee, Georgia has been playing at a very high level with great consistency since Christmas.

There aren’t many negatives that should drop Georgia much below a 4 seed. They might even move up. They present as good of a case as teams with slightly higher RPIs such as Western Kentucky, DePaul, and NC State. Let’s be honest -the Georgia name carries some weight, and at the end of the season they could play with all but about the top 5 teams. Could the Lady Dogs slide up into a 3 seed? It’s possible. Georgia would present a big concern for any 2 seed in a potential Sweet 16 matchup.

The NCAA selection committee, especially on the men’s side, always likes to add little twists to create matchups along the way. How would you like to see Oklahoma and their freshman phenom Courtney Paris as a 2 seed going up against Georgia and sophomore all-American Tasha Humphrey as a 3 seed?

Georgia will be extremely sensitive to matchups in this tournament. As we’ve known all season, they are thin (and short) in the frontcourt and have had problems against quality teams with strong frontcourts. A lower seed with those strengths might mean that Georgia faces a tough game in an early round. On the other hand, Georgia might get a draw where they can hold their own among the frontcourt and can get the upper hand with favorable guard matchups.

Tasha Humphrey and Sherill Baker were named first team All-SEC, and Cori Chambers was named to the second team. Baker was also named the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year. All three are very deserving of the recognition.

I hope it never becomes old to point out how good Tasha Humphrey is. She WAS the Georgia frontcourt this season. She faced double-teams all year, and she also usually played against taller girls. Importantly, she had to learn how to play smart ball and avoid fouls to remain in the game. Her conditioning after off-season foot surgery got a serious test this season, and she has passed.

Baker has shed the “defensive specialist” label to become much more of a complete player. Though she has stepped up the defense, she is now much more assertive and effective on the offensive end than ever. Though her outside shot is still spotty and the only real weakness of her game, she is devastating inside of 17 feet. Baker has likely earned a first-round WNBA selection with her all-around improvement.

I might be most pleased with the recognition for Chambers. Baker got press for her steals record, and Humphrey is a superstar. But Chambers was the critical piece of this year’s team. Inconsistent outside shooting hurt the Lady Dogs several times in the 2005 season, and they didn’t have the frontcourt to compensate. Chambers hasn’t only been consistent from outside this year – she’s been outstanding. During a three-game stretch in the heart of the SEC schedule, Chambers was hitting nearly 60% from outside. When she is on, and she usually is, defenses must extend, and lots of things open up around the basket for other players.

Only six players on this team generally get more than five minutes a game. Half of them are all-SEC honorees. That’s how a team with such serious depth issues can continue to operate at a very high level.

Though they didn’t make All-SEC, Darrah, Kendrick, and Hardrick all had huge roles during this season. Case in point – Alexis Kendrick was injured during the Arkansas game. Janese Hardrick has come off the bench to score around 20 points per game in the final two games of the regular season right when the team needed an offensive shot in the arm.

PS…I really disagree with the selection of Mickie DeMoss as Coach of the Year. That’s basically an award for beating Tennessee. Landers’ job with the personnel he had was far more impressive.

The NCAA released the first round of Academic Progress Reports today. The reports measure the academic progress of student-athletes within each team and through formulas derived from Max Planck’s recently-discovered diaries arrive at an index. If a program’s index number is below 925, problems start.

Georgia came out fairly well, and no UGA sport will incur penalties. The flagship football program is in very good shape, and both basketball teams did well. Only baseball and men’s track seem to have work to do, and I’m not going to look into why they are below the 925 mark and what they have to do. You can see any school’s report by clicking here. (PS…”University of Georgia” is under “U”.)

It’s not surprising that the penalties announced today impact smaller public schools and especially historically black schools. In the case of a school like Middle Tenn. State, they built a program by finding the marginal qualifiers who fell through the cracks of larger Division 1 programs who didn’t want to take the risks. The pressures of winning are still there without the resources of the big programs, and one or two difference-makers can build a smaller program and enhance a coach’s career. I noted this earlier when it was found that women’s basketball graduation rates are dropping – more programs are willing to take more academic risks because the pressure to win has increased.

Much of the postgame analysis of Georgia’s 74-61 win over Auburn yesterday focuses in on the fact that Georgia saw another first half lead disappear but withstood the opponent’s run this time and kept control of the game. It’s true – just as in the Baylor and Tennessee games, hot first-half jumpshots built a nice lead, but the lack of an inside game put the brakes on the scoring as the jumpshooting went cold in the second half.

I think a key fact getting overlooked is that Georgia retained control of the game by going to the basket. Now as Coach Landers admitted afterwards, Georgia didn’t mimic the entry passes and straight post-up offense Auburn had used to claw back into the game. Instead, they used penetration to get to the basket. Tasha Humphrey stopped the Auburn comeback with a drive from the elbow on which she scored and drew a foul. Janese Hardrick cut inside the Auburn defense on several occasions and found herself at the front of the rim.

The penetration was made possible because Humphrey and Megan Darrah, playing at the 4 and 5 spots, were effective enough from outside to draw Auburn’s sizeable post defenders away from the basket. Though Humphrey lacked the size to compete inside with KeKe “Aircraft” Carrier, Carrier was no match for Humphrey 15 feet from the basket. Humphrey was able to shoot over her or drive around her, and the result was a team-high 22 points despite a serious height disadvantage. Same thing with Hardrick. Since Humphrey and Darrah were able to draw the Auburn posts towards the perimeter, there was an opening for guard penetration, and Janese used some nice moves to weave through the forest and get to the basket.

I do wonder why Auburn stuck with a man defense. Auburn’s posts were of no use once they were drawn away from the basket, and that allowed Georgia to rely less on jumpshots and even get to the foul line to put the game away. Tennessee used a 3-2 zone to great effect against Georgia, and I think Auburn had the personnel to try the same. Auburn’s two posts could have controlled the lane, and they had enough size on the perimeter to pressure the outside shots.

In the end, possessions won the game for Georgia. They attempted 13 more field goals than Auburn (64-51). So even though Auburn was able to work the ball inside for higher-percentage shots, Georgia was able to overwhelm them by attempting more shots, even if they were lower-percentage jumpshots. How did Georgia get more possessions? The obvious answer is turnovers. Georgia forced 19 Auburn turnovers and committed a thrifty six of their own.

Another more hidden answer is rebounding. Although Auburn had a huge size advantage, they only outrebounded Georgia 36-30. Georgia was able to work for 11 offensive rebounds – two more than Auburn – and offensive rebounds mean additional possessions and field goal attempts. The kicker is that at least half of those offensive rebounds came from Georgia’s tiny guards. Again – where were Auburn’s posts to clean up on the glass? Auburn coach Nell Fortner seems to have made a strategic mistake with her tremendous size advantage.

Getting excited about a college baseball series in February is like talking about the basketball NCAA Tournament during the first week in November. We’re talking about six games into a season that might go 50 or 60 games.

But when you start the season 6-0 and in the process sweep a Top 10 team that had already swept mighty Texas, it’s worth some attention and congratulations. Georgia lost plenty of close games in a 2005 season that came up just short of the postseason, and it’s not too early to think that this sweep of San Diego will impress any selection committee down the road. Friday’s 1-0 win is already a classic moment for the season.

The Diamond Dawgs will likely be ranked after this sweep, and it’s up to them how this return to the polls will end up. The remaining nonconference schedule is still extremely difficult (including a trip out to the west coast and Southern Cal), and the SEC circuit will be brutal as always. For those of us who suffered through the agonizing close losses last season, this early turn of events in 2006 is very welcome. We hope it keeps up – the SEC standings and Georgia’s postseason fate will likely depend on their ability to flip a few more of those one-run games in their favor.

As a followup to the tennis post and since it seems to be a day in the Bulldog nation to spread some love around, it’s worth noting that four Georgia teams are currently ranked at the top of their sport:

• Gymnastics
• Men’s tennis
• Men’s golf
• Women’s swimming and diving

It’s not a surprise that any of those programs are ranked where they are. All have legacies of national titles and are consistently competitive. Gymnastics, men’s golf, and women’s swimming and diving are defending NCAA national champions, and the men’s tennis team recently won an indoor national title.

It’s likely that several national titles could come from this group. The Swim Dawgs will be competing for theirs soon. The Gym Dogs continue to beat quality opponents. The tennis team hasn’t lost yet in this young season. The golf team returns a strong core from the national title squad.

We all understand that #1 rankings don’t always translate into national titles. A national championship – even a conference championship – in any sport requires excellent preparation and execution and even a little luck sometimes. A fall during a gymnastics routine or a bad day of winds on the golf course can humble the best teams. But these four programs aren’t at the top as a fluke, and each has to be considered among the favorites to remain at the top at the end of the year.

There are athletes who make names for themselves by excelling in statistics other than scoring. Dennis Rodman made an NBA career out of the rebound. Tim Duncan differentiated himself in college by blocking every shot taken in his ZIP code. There have been dozens of great point guards, but no one was a better assists man than John Stockton.

A steal in basketball is a sign of individual defensive effort. You must have yourself in position, be alert and react instantly to the opportunity, and you must intercept or tip the ball away without creating contact and fouling the opponent. The reward is usually a transition opportunity and often easy points – defense creating offense. In a pressing or trapping defense, a steals specialist can help fuel game-changing runs or get that crucial late-game defensive stop.

Last Thursday, Sherill Baker became the career steals leader for Georgia womens basketball. Baker passed by Teresa Edwards – one of the biggest names in the history of the sport. It was very cool that Edwards was on hand Sunday to present the Ole Miss game ball to Baker during player introductions. Though she doesn’t seek out the spotlight, this was a very well-deserved moment in the sun for Baker, and kudos to Georgia for coming up with a unique and memorable way to recognize her achievement.

In typical Sherill style, she responded by stealing the ball in Florida’s first two possessions, setting the tone for a good team defensive outing that led to a rout of the Gators. It seems silly that Tasha Humphrey’s 26 points and 15 rebounds are considered another day at the office, but it’s her 20th double-double in a season and a half in Athens. Just incredible. After dominating inside, she stepped out to the left wing during the second half and knocked down three-pointers on consecutive possessions almost just to show she could.

Oh, Baker isn’t doing so poorly in the scoring column either. She reached 20 points against Florida – the third time in four games she’s reached 20 points.

When asked whether Georgia’s nationally-ranked football team, nationally-ranked women’s basketball team, or the young men’s basketball team which lost by nearly 40 in Atlanta last year would stand the best chance of delivering a sound beating to Georgia Tech, not many people would have picked Dennis Felton’s squad.

But while the football and women’s hoops teams survived nailbiters against their North Avenue counterparts, the men’s basketball team decided to give us a nice, solid rout to keep us warm until the spring sports. The Dawgs took control of a back-and-forth game, built a double-digit lead in the first half, and maintained it against against a few second-half Tech pushes.

Even though the Steg wasn’t sold out, the crowd was vocal and into the game as you’d expect when Tech is in town. Kudos to the students in the nerd outfits. Beyond the outfits (wait ’til Florida comes to town), this group has more importantly been behind the program since Felton got on campus, and they are a fixture now.

Georgia maintains an important advantage over Tech with the win. The Dawgs are now 7-4 against Tech since the series went home-and-home for the 1995-1996 season. Georgia has won all six meetings in Athens. Given that the glory years of Tech hoops were roughly from 1985 into the early 1990s, they had been dominant while the series was in “neutral” Atlanta. No longer. Hewitt will continue to recruit well, and Tech will improve, but Felton is now 2-1 over the Jackets, and his program is also on the rise. Tech’s recent trips to the NCAA Tournament and Final Four make it seem strange for Georgia to claim that it is the premiere program in the state, but the head-to-head results over a decade tell another story.

After last season, there’s so much to be excited about, but let’s start with the obvious: Georgia can score. So long as they’re not attempting a free throw, the Dawgs can put the ball in the basket. Georgia’s offensive output last year frequently resembled totals from the era of the “Four Corners” offense. Dennis Felton preached intense defense, and he had to with a team struggling to put more points on the board than your typical PAC 10 football team.

So with an infusion of freshmen, Georgia suddenly has something that resembles a frontcourt and depth. Talented shooting guards no longer have to do everything from bring the ball up the court to parking the team bus. A cold hand no longer means a 12-minute scoring drought; someone else just starts scoring. Role players can be role players and do not need double-doubles every night in order for the team to be competitive. It was enjoyable to see Felton turn to his bench without having to hope the guy just didn’t screw anything up.

What am I saying? The foundation for a complete team is here. There are guards who can handle the ball and distribute. There are guards who can shoot from Winterville. There are posts who can bang, posts who can leap, and posts who can defend. We saw all of this promise last night.

With that promise, and with the hunger all of us have to see the Dawgs back on top, I can’t help but think immediately of the top areas where improvement will really turn this bunch into something dangerous.

• Posts: It’s as simple and as complex as hands. Georgia’s big men surely made their presence known, esepcially on the defensive end. They shut down Ra’Sean Dickey, who had a huge game at Michigan State. They made it so that the vast majority of Tech’s offense came from the wing (Morrow’s and Smith’s performances do create a bit of concern for the Georgia defense). Yet for all they did well, Georgia was soundly outrebounded. Loose balls and blocked shots ended up in the hands of more assertive Tech players. It wasn’t until late and Dave Bliss came up with elbows swinging that Georgia showed some determination on the glass. They’re already doing a good job of blocking shots and altering shots with defensive position – now just get two hands on the ball.
• Guards: Patience. This is one of those things that comes with experience and maturity. Georgia frequently put up quick or difficult shots when a pass would have been the better option. Sure, some of the quick shots went in, and everyone is talking about Humphrey’s impossible shot this morning. Still, those are decisions that will cost Georgia in SEC play. Particularly when protecting a lead, you want aggression but also good decisions. I think specifically about a time with around 9:30 remaining where a few rushed shots fueled a Tech run that put them in a position to bring the lead under ten points. Fortunately, Georgia was able to hold off the run and build the lead back up, but other teams will take better advantage of that situation. Georgia’s guards will learn that there are four other guys on the court, and the offense will become even more efficient when these emerging weapons get better shots under control.

Let’s not mistake Tech for a good team. This isn’t the team that came into the previous two meetings ranked in the top 5. They impressed themselves by beating Virigina last weekend; Virginia just lost to Fordham. Still, it’s Tech – a rivalry game, an ACC name, and a much more visible opponent than better teams Georgia might face before the SEC season. If anything, Georgia should now after seven games have the confidence it lacked last season of being able to challenge any team on its schedule, and that’s remarkable progress.

As soon as Dennis Felton arrived in Athens in 2003, he began recruiting…the class of 2007. Even back then when junior high was barely in the rearview mirror, it was becoming clear that the class of 2007 would be one of the best collections of basketball talent ever produced by the state of Georgia.

So while Felton made the effort to recruit well in the short-term (crowned by the signings of Mercer and Williams last season), his aim continued (and continues) to be on 2007. He hit the pavement and began developing the relationships that would be neccessary to compete for these prospects against more successful programs. Keeping as much of that in-state talent at home as possible would set Georgia basketball up very nicely.

The first fruits of that effort came yesterday as Jeremy Price, a 6’9″ 260 lb. junior PF from Decatur, committed to Georgia. Price had been getting interest from, among others, Kansas and Indiana.

Things are looking up in hoops land. Price is only one commitment, but if his pledge is any indication of the quality of Felton’s 2007 recruiting effort, watch out.

UGASports profiles Kelin Johnson today. Not many fans knew who he was, and even some recruitniks questioned why the Dawgs would want a lesser-known safety from Florida. No one knows how good a safety he’ll be, though that interception at Kentucky was pretty (and nearly a touchdown). But what everyone does know is that #30, whoever he was, was in on most every special teams tackle last season, and there was usually a nice hit involved. So we have a guy that can get down the field quickly and get quality hits on the speedy, elusive types that are put on kick returns. Not bad traits for someone looking for work in the defensive backfield. Special teams success doesn’t automatically lead to a spot on the two-deep elsewhere – just ask Ryan Davis. Still, Johnson is hoping to turn his freshman success into a starting job and is competing with Tra Battle for that starting role opposite Greg Blue.

Coach Richt and staff have a nice history of turning lesser-known defensive propsects into success stories. Thomas Davis was the biggest. Tim Jennings has beaten the “too small” rap to become a four-year contributor and multi-year starter. Is Johnson going to be another?

Good to see punter Gordon Ely-Kelso rewarded with a scholarship. He’s obviously earned it, much like Billy Bennett capturing the placekicking job a few years ago. Ely-Kelso joins placekicker Andy Bailey on scholarship, though Bailey’s status as a starter isn’t as stable. If Brandon Coutu continues to press Bailey for the kicking job, Coach Richt may face the decision of leaving a scholarship player on the bench in favor of a walk-on. Given Richt’s historically stingy use of scholarships for special teams, it’s unlikely that a third specialist would be put on scholarship.

I believe OL Ryan Schnetzer has earned a scholarship for his senior season. Schnetzer was a walk-on, but he was pressed into duty over the past two seasons, especially in 2003 where he started two games. Georgia’s offensive line has been thin since 2003, and it was fortunate that Schnetzer was able to contribute alongside the few scholarship linemen who were able to play. Though the line situation is better entering 2005 and Schnetzer’s playing time might be diminished, the scholarship is well-earned for the service he’s already given to the program.

Georgia’s top men’s basketball signee for 2003, Mohamed Abukar, is exploring seeking a release from the letter of intent he signed with the Dawgs. Without the release, he would have to sit out for two seasons before becoming eligible to play elsewhere. Another signee, Corey Gibbs, has said that he will honor his letter of intent and come to Georgia.

Georgia will come under pressure to grant a release to Abukar and anyone else who might want one, but acquiescing now would be very premature. Even those conducting this investigation don’t know what the result will be. Will there be a coaching change? Will there be sanctions? Possibly. Probably.

Should Harrick be fired or Georgia ends up with sanctions (self-imposed or otherwise), then it might be appropriate to offer the option of release to the incoming signing class. But Georgia would be doing itself a great disservice by forcing these kids into an uninformed decision. Only when it is known who will coach Georgia next season and under what restrictions (if any) the team will play will the signees have all of the cards on the table.

It might sound cold, but simply playing for a program with a black eye isn’t a valid reason to release a signee from his letter of intent. Should the investigation produce a coaching change or sanctions, then it will be time to consider such requests. But given the way this has been handled so far, look for UGA to cave early.

Although lots can change, Jarvis Hayes sounds as if he’ll be back in Athens next year. It makes sense – with the (relative) struggles this year and a mid-season injury, he would have been in better shape leaving after last season.

Should Jarvis stick to this and return, the Dawgs appear to be loaded next season. Ezra Williams is the sole loss among the regulars. The Dawgs welcome in a class big on size and talent. Jarvis’s return will mean that Georgia will still have a proven outside threat while they develop a strong post game.

Hayes’s return also means that Mohamed Abukar, perhaps the top recruit coming in next year and Georgia’s future at the wing position, can spend a year learning as the understudy to one of the best wingmen in the game.