John Jenkins won’t start the game when the Georgia defense takes the field against Boise State at the Georgia Dome on Saturday, but that has done nothing to lessen the anticipation of the nose guard from Connecticut, who was one of the Bulldogs’ biggest signees last February.

As recruiting visits go, Jarvis Jones’ to Georgia in June 2010 had an unusual highlight: quality time with coach Mark Richt at ... a hospital. “I actually sat through every single test that he took with the doctors,” Richt said. “I mean, if he had an MRI or whatever, I wasn’t in there, but I was in the hospital, spending time with him and getting to know him better.

One of the most important additions to the Georgia football team doesn’t wear a helmet and won’t run a play this fall. Jenn Ketterly was brought in from North Carolina to address what athletic director Greg McGarity identified as one of the athletic department’s most critical areas of need: sports nutrition.

The good news is Ray Drew seems to have recovered completely from his Aug. 14 scooter crash. The bad news is he plans to ride again. Drew, a freshman from Thomasville, said he’s just waiting to get his scooter out of the repair shop, which he was hoping to do this week.

A large NCAA stain is slowly spreading across the country. From Eugene, Ore., to Los Angeles to Miamito Chapel Hill, N.C., and college campuses scattered in between, college sport's governing body is investigating or penalizing rule-breakers in a dizzying pace.

Dozens of media members descended on Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall on Tuesday to hear the Bulldogs put their spin on Saturday’s game against Boise State. While coach Mark Richt was downplaying the magnitude of the game — “I don’t personally think the season is riding on this one game” — players were talking it up.

He was a UGA and pro football star, posed nude for ESPN and took a swing at mixed-martial arts. Now Herschel Walker wants to hydrate travelers making their way through Atlanta’s airport. Walker and Creative Food Group Inc. announced plans Tuesday to open a "high energy" sports bar called The Greatest Bulldog.

ATHENS -- Georgia held its final full-pads practice of the preseason Monday, with two key players still limited by injuries. Tailback Richard Samuel sat out half of the practice to protect a quadriceps injury, and cornerback/punt returner Branden Smith did only some jogging and rehabbing because of a foot injury.

No, Georgia vs. Boise State wasn't the first idea that occurred to Gary Stokan when he went looking for a college football matchup to bring to the Georgia Dome this season. Quite the opposite. First, he tried to pry the Georgia-Florida game out of Jacksonville.

A federal bankruptcy judge is raising doubts about a settlement agreement that a former University of Georgia head football coach brokered with a company that accused him of recruiting fellow college coaches to invest in a Ponzi scheme. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Smith said he was unlikely to accept the settlement Jim Donnan brokered with West Virginia-based liquidation company GLC Ltd.

Since the 2008 inception of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game, which features 19th-ranked Georgia and No. 5 Boise State on Saturday at the Georgia Dome, it is evident to the coaches and athletic directors involved, and others who want to be involved, that the advantages of playing in the game, and not just winning it, far outweigh losing it.

Big 12 officials expect Texas A&M; to announce within the next week that it plans to leave the conference. A person with knowledge of what was discussed during a conference call of the Big 12 board of directors Saturday told The Associated Press that Texas A&M; officials talked about their anticipated departure.

Orson Charles, TE With just 49 catches in his career and 26 last season, one could argue that Charles has been under-utilized, but with All-American wide receiver A.J. Green and sure-handed Kris Durham gone, Georgia will turn to the fleet-footed junior as its go-to guy.

On July 14, Richard Samuel answered the call of his school — again. With attrition chewing up Georgia’s tailbacks like a de-barker at a sawmill, Samuel heeded the plea of coaches to move from inside linebacker to tailback. Just 15 1/2 months earlier he had agreed to move to defense from offense and took a redshirt season to make the transition.

This offseason has been unlike any other for Mark Richt. He has never come off a losing season as Georgia’s head coach. So making his way through the Bulldog Club speaking tours on the heels of a 6-7 season and an embarrassing loss to Central Florida in the Liberty Bowl, Richt answered a lot of questions about what was wrong and how was he going to fix it.

The offensive line stays healthy Georgia’s depth up front is paper-thin. After losing starters Clint Boling and Josh Davis to graduation, the Bulldogs lost starting left tackle Trinton Sturdivant to a career-ending knee injury in the spring, and potential starters A.

American John Isner won the Winston-Salem Open with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Julien Benneteau on Saturday. The native of nearby Greensboro overcame 34 unforced errors with 19 aces — the fastest was recorded at 139 mph — and won his second tournament of the year.

It’s been 12 years since the helicopter went down and took Steve Jones with it. He was tending to his timber, which he meant to grow just like his sons — straight and strong. Now it’s his memory that is being lovingly looked after. His name is still on the mailbox at the entrance to the family’s 300-acre spread.

While Jordan Jefferson's teammates were practicing Friday for a season opener that is now merely a week away, the quarterback was hiring a new lawyer to defend him against felony charges. Jefferson and teammate Joshua Johns turned themselves in and were released on $5,000 bond each Friday after police obtained arrest warrants on charges of second-degree battery, stemming from their alleged roles in a fight outside Shady's bar in Baton Rouge on Aug.

In the all American semifinal of the Winston-Salem Open, fourth-seeded John Isner upset top-seeded Andy Roddick 7-6 (7), 6-4 Friday in the Winston-Salem Open, a final tuneup before the U.S. Open. Isner won the first set in a tiebreaker by breaking Roddick's serve to go up 8-7.

Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray said freshman tailback Isaiah Crowell need not worry about forgetting an assignment when the Bulldogs face No. 5 Boise State on Sept. 3. If Crowell is not sure what to do, all he has to do is ask. “Especially in the first few games,” Murray said this week.

Everybody in Boise, Idaho, is excited about the Broncos playing Georgia in the Georgia Dome on Sept. 3, but no one is more excited than Tommy Smith. Smith is a junior inside linebacker for the Broncos and the only Boise State player from Atlanta, or Georgia, for that matter.

Trailing 31-0 at halftime, Georgia rallied in the second half and scored a touchdown with 11 seconds remaining for a dramatic 38-34 win over Boise State on Wednesday in Sanford Stadium. OK, so it wasn’t the real Boise State. It was the Bulldogs’ scout team posing as the No.

Isaiah Crowell doesn’t know whether he will start at tailback in Georgia’s season opener against Boise State, but he probably won’t know what to do with himself if he doesn’t. “I haven’t ever not started,” Crowell revealed Tuesday after practice.

Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt has been diagnosed with early onset dementia. In a statement from Summitt released by the university on Tuesday the Hall of Fame coach says she plans to coach the Lady Vols during the 2011-12 season, but may have some "limitations.

ATHENS -- Dallas Lee is feeling healthy again, and that's a good thing for him and the Bulldogs. Lee spent the better part of the past 18 months unsure what was wrong with him, other than he was  having problem with his breathing. He's got that figured out just in time to work himself into Georgia's rotation on the offensive line.

FLOWERY BRANCH -- The Falcons elected to sit out the NFL’s supplemental draft on Monday, choosing no one. “Our focus is on next year’s draft in our college football department, not on drafting right now,” Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said.

ATHENS – By definition, a five-star recruit is expected to come into a major college football program and have an immediate impact. Marlon Brown was a five-star prospect, and he's expected to make an impact for Georgia. If and when he does it will be anything but immediate.

Baton Rouge police say four LSU football players have hired a defense attorney and put off a meeting with police about a bar fight. The meeting was originally scheduled for Monday. Sgt. Donald Stone confirmed in an email that attorney Nathan Fisher arranged the postponement.

Winning “Dancing with the Stars” made life surreal for former Georgia Bulldogs star and Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward, 35. His Pittsburgh Steelers jersey is much more comfortable than any ballroom costume. My Atlanta-based agent and manager, Andrew Ree, and I talked about preparing me for life after football, increasing my visibility and cross appeal.

The bad news is the Bulldogs lost one-time starting safety Jakar Hamilton to a season-ending ankle injury this week. The good news for Georgia is there was a good chance Hamilton wouldn’t have started had he been healthy. That’s chiefly because of the emergence of Shawn Williams.

Georgia tight end Orson Charles will not face any NCAA eligibility issues with regard to his purported relationship with a University of Miami booster he is alleged to have met during recruiting. Charles was among dozens of athletes listed in a Yahoo Sports story who allegedly had interactions with convicted felon Nevin Shapiro.

Texas was No. 1, Georgia No. 6 and Georgia Tech No. 46 in Collegiate Licensing Company's annual rankings of royalties received from the sale of licensed merchandise. The rankings, announced Wednesday and covering the one-year period that ended June 30 for colleges represented by the Atlanta-based company, marked Texas' sixth consecutive year at No.

Georgia coach Mark Richt recently spent a lot of time bragging about the job defensive end Abry Jones was doing and how good he had looked in practice. A short time later Jones was bragging about how good his defensive teammates had looked. From inside at least, indications are the Bulldogs’ 2011 defense is looking good.

One year ago this month, Greg McGarity returned to his alma mater and his hometown to become Georgia’s athletic director. It has been an eventful year for the new boss, from dealing with issues as high-profile as a losing football season to issues as low-profile as how student-athletes are fed.

ATHENS -- Another Georgia football player is sidelined with an injury from a motor-scooter accident -- the second this summer. Ray Drew, a highly touted freshman outside linebacker, suffered a separated right shoulder when he lost control of his scooter while returning to his dorm from church on Sunday.

The Southeastern Conference is staying just as it is — for now. University of Florida President Bernie Machen, the chairman of the league's presidents and chancellors committee, said the group met Sunday and "reaffirmed our satisfaction with the present 12 institutional alignment.

Despite appearances, Georgia running-backs coach Bryan McClendon said the Bulldogs’ tailback situation is not dire as one might think. McClendon opened Saturday morning’s practice with just one scholarship tailback that will be available for the season opener against Boise State in three weeks.

Georgia coach Mark Richt was talking Thursday about the inherent talents of Georgia freshman cornerback Damian Swann when he stopped himself in mid-sentence. “You know, we signed a few of those guys,” he said. Richt was talking about versatile skill players with the speed, athletic ability and ball skills who could help the Bulldogs on offense, defense or on special teams.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Boise State athletic director Gene Bleymaier has been let go as the school faces sanctions due to violations by its highly successful football program and other sports. University President Bob Kustra announced late Wednesday that Bleymaier's career of almost 30 years at the school will end Sept.

Around Georgia and the Southeast and even in Idaho, to some extent, whether Jarvis Jones would be eligible for the Bulldogs’ season opener was a burning question on the minds of many. But inside Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall, it barely was a concern.

Jim Donnan has agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by an Ohio-based company alleging the former University of Georgia football coach played a principal role in orchestrating a "far-reaching Ponzi scheme." Donnan and his wife, Mary, who was also named in the suit, will transfer liquid assets totaling roughly $5.

Compliance clearly is on the front burner for the Georgia Bulldogs. On Tuesday, UGA football season-ticket holders received their tickets in the mail along with a letter from athletic director Greg McGarity urging them to be mindful of NCAA rules.

Georgia not only got good news from the NCAA regarding the eligibility of Jarvis Jones, it got it fast. It was determined that Jones, a sophomore linebacker from Columbus, did not violate any NCAA rules when he accepted benefits from a hometown parks-and-recreation official because of a pre-existing relationship that predated his status as a prospective student-athlete.

ATHENS – There's a lot of things Georgia players don't want to be called, and this season one of those labels is "energy vampire." It's a new distinction for anyone on the team who complains or doesn't meet certain standards. If a teammate is nominated by another player for the "energy vampire board" and coach Mark Richt approves, the offending player ends up with his photo plastered all over video boards in the weight room, usually photo-shopped to include fangs and other unflattering enhancements.

ATHENS – The first time Georgia tight end Orson Charles saw Aaron Murray, they were on opposite sides. Charles played for Riverview High School, Murray for Plant High, both in Tampa, and they competed in a 7-on-7 tournament. Murray, the Bulldogs quarterback, left a lasting impression with his throws and energy that day, stuff that made his opponent want to join him.

ATHENS -- Isaiah Crowell the high-profile recruit has become Isaiah Crowell the scrutinized Georgia football player over the past four days, and early reports are the Bulldogs like what they see. Crowell's energy and focus remind running backs coach Bryan McClendon of what drew the Bulldogs to Crowell in the first place.

A.J. Green has put the buzz in the Bengals' training camp. The first-round draft pick makes an astounding catch or two every practice, showing why the Bengals deemed him worthy of the fourth overall pick. Draft analysts had dubbed him the most NFL-ready receiver in a while, a potential Pro Bowl player for years to come.

One of the two players wearing No. 1 on Georgia’s football team stood out as the star of the second practice of preseason camp. “Branden Smith kind of stole the show,” coach Mark Richt said after Friday’s practice. “He had at least five interceptions in competitive drills.

Talk about police brutality. If you're a college football fan in Alabama, there could scarcely be happier news than hearing that you've won tickets to the Iron Bowl, the annual hate-fest between Auburn and Alabama that many consider the most heated rivalry in sports.

Georgia coach Mark Richt was fielding several questions about the depth problems facing the Bulldogs at various positions in 2011 when he was taken back to the summer of 2002. “Kentrell Curry had some kind of leg injury, and we just didn’t have enough safeties,” Richt recalled during Thursday’s preseason media day at Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall.

In a precautionary measure, Georgia State last year began using a new technology aimed at preventing players from suffering heat exhaustion, dehydration and other conditions that can occur when football coincides with hot temperatures. Players wear tiny sensors in their helmets that transmit their temperatures to a handheld device carried by one of Georgia State’s athletic trainers.

Missouri will face Notre Dame and California will Georgia in the semifinals of the CBE Classic. The 12-team event will culminate with the semifinals at the Sprint Center on Nov. 21 with the championship game in Nov. 22. The early round matchups will be announced at a later date.

Georgia officials said they could not immediately confirm reports that another offensive lineman is out for part of preseason practice. Dawgsports.com, a website that covers UGA for the Scout/Fox Sports network, cited sources when it reported Wednesday that Austin Long would miss two weeks with mononucleosis.

Georgia was below the NCAA’s maximum allotment of 85 scholarship players as the Bulldogs reported for preseason football practice. On Tuesday, 105 players checked in for the Bulldogs’ team dinner and meeting at UGA’s Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall football complex.

Georgia football players report for preseason camp Tuesday night, and among the 105 players expected to show up will be 24 scholarship newcomers. The Bulldogs added 26 players on national signing day in February, but two won't be among the camp arrivals.

Mike Cavan knows more than most about Georgia’s strength-and-conditioning program. Not only is he intimately familiar with Joe Tereshinski Jr. and the principal parties running it, but he also has observed the new regime up close the past month and a half.

Eleven years after his final season as the University of Georgia’s football coach, and two years after his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, Jim Donnan is back in the news. This time, no one is cheering. Donnan and his wife, Mary, filed for bankruptcy this month, shortly before a lawsuit by an Ohio-based retail liquidation company alleged that Donnan was “substantially, if not principally, responsible for the initiation and operation of a far-reaching Ponzi scheme” that cost investors $27 million.

The academic eligibility of two Georgia football signees remains uncertain as players prepare to report to campus Tuesday for preseason practices. Linebacker Kent Turene of Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., is awaiting clearance of his transcript by the NCAA Eligibility Center.

South Carolina's quarterbacks coach, credited with QB Stephen Garcia's improvement despite a series of disciplinary problems, is now in trouble himself. G.A. Mangus was arrested early Tuesday in Greenville, where he was attending a coaching convention, and charged with "nuisance conduct," The State newspaper of Columbia reported.

Give Georgia coach Mark Richt credit, he knows how to excite his team. Richt, as he tends to do when it comes to the Bulldogs’ uniforms, decided to have a little fun as they unveiled the new Nike Pro Combat uniforms the team will wear against Boise State in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game.

Remarks Georgia coach Mark Richt made at SEC Media Days on Thursday revealed a lot about how he feels about the Bulldogs’ tailback situation and maybe even more about the players that recently vacated that position. Bulldogs fans have been concerned since learning that Washaun Ealey and Caleb King, Georgia’s leading rushers each of the past two seasons, would not return this season.

Steve Spurrier has been criticized for his handling of quarterback Stephen Garcia, who currently is with the team “on a probationary basis” after being suspended five times in his career for alcohol-related problems. Garcia was cleared to resume team activities this summer.

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, as he is pretty much every year, was asked at SEC Media Days on Wednesday how much longer he planned to coach. “I always say four or five more [years],” said the 66-year-old ball coach. “I don’t know, maybe I should start staying three or four now.

College football fans, rejoice. As of this week, you can officially pronounce the 2011 season underway. No, the actual games don’t kickoff for another six weeks. But the intriguing ritual of preseason propaganda and prognostication begins in earnest Wednesday in Hoover, Ala.

ATHENS -- Richard Samuel, Ken Malcome or Isaiah Crowell will start at tailback for Georgia in its season opener against Boise State, though none played a snap for the Bulldogs last season. That became clear Monday when it was determined that junior tailback Carlton Thomas had been suspended for at least one game.

ATHENS -- Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones remains eligible and continues to work out with the team while the school investigates allegations that he and prospective Bulldogs basketball player Kentavious Caldwell-Pope received improper benefits from a Columbus parks and recreation official.

Strangely, Georgia’s quarterback of the future has yet to start a high school game. Brice Ramsey is a rising junior who is still waiting to make a name for himself at Camden County High School. But the tall, lanky kid with the high-powered arm already has the stamp of approval from college scouts.

Georgia announced Thursday that Richard Samuel will return to tailback after moving to linebacker a year ago. Samuel, a 6-foot-2, 243-pound junior from Cartersville, played tailback as a freshman and a sophomore. His move to linebacker initially was affected by injuries that led to a redshirt season in 2010.

A disagreement with Georgia’s new strength-and-conditioning coach over training methods contributed to offensive lineman Brent Benedict’s decision to transfer. Benedict, a redshirt freshman from Jacksonville who was the second-team right guard when he left, quit the team June 26 after meeting with coach Mark Richt to air his complaints.

NFL receiver and former UGA standout Hines Ward mixed up letters when he was asked to recite the alphabet prior to his arrest on a drunk driving charge, according to the police report obtained by the AJC. Ward, 35, was arrested early Saturday by DeKalb County police after he was stopped in the 3000 block of Buford Highway.

Pittsburgh Steelers and former UGA receiver Hines Ward was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol early Saturday on Buford Highway in DeKalb County. According to DeKalb police, Ward was stopped about 2:30 a.m. on Buford Highway near Briarwood Road after an officer noticed his Aston Martin failing to maintain lane and hitting a curb.

Charlie Brown's father had been a standout football player at Vanderbilt, but Charles H. Brown Sr. encouraged his son to play at Georgia Tech instead. "My grandfather had a lot of respect for Coach Bobby Dodd because he had a highly regarded program at Tech and because of his reputation as a character-builder," said Charlie Brown's son, Charles Hunt Brown III of Atlanta.

Damon Evans has been hired as a consultant for the Savannah State athletic department, according to a report in the Savannah Morning News. Evans, a former Georgia athletic director, will assess the department following the firing of Marilynn Suggs on Wednesday.

Alabama and Virginia Tech are coming back to Atlanta. The schools have agreed to play in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game to launch the 2013 college football season. The Kickoff game annually matches two top teams at the Georgia Dome to open the season. The 2013 game, on a yet-to-be determined date, will be a rematch of the 2009 Kickoff game when No.

Travis Mays is on the road recruiting for the University of Georgia this week. However, the majority of players he talks to won’t know who he his, at least not beyond his current title of Lady Bulldogs’ assistant basketball coach. Not at first anyway.

Of his 10-week summer offseason, Georgia Tech men’s golf coach Bruce Heppler plans to spend nine of them on golf courses around the country translating what he sees into numbers on his Excel spreadsheet. Heppler is tracking the country’s best junior golfers.

Charles Cantor, who served as an assistant recruiting coordinator for football coach Mark Richt since March 2008, resigned from the position last month. The Bulldogs currently are seeking his replacement. UGA athletic director Greg McGarity declined to comment on speculation that Cantor was asked to leave because of his alleged involvement in NCAA violations.

Former UGA football coach Jim Donnan owes creditors nearly $10 million, according to documents filed Friday in federal bankruptcy court. Donnan and his wife, Mary, have filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the middle district of Georgia, according to documents obtained by the AJC.

Johnathan Taylor, the Georgia outfielder recovering from a spinal cord injury, will be featured on ‘This Week in Baseball’ Saturday. The program will air at 3:30 p.m. on Fox. Taylor sustained the injury in an outfield collision with teammate Zach Cone in March.

Even the golfer who lost last year’s Dogwood Invitational on the last two holes acknowledges that the closers are tough, but fair. The 17th at Druid Hills Golf Club is a hold-your-breath par 3 that is 225 yards to an elevated green with a bunker in the front right.

Georgia's Russell Henley shared low amateur honors at last year's U.S. Open. He captured a Nationwide Tour event, just the second amateur to post a winning score on that circuit. He was on the leader board of this year's U.S. Open as late as Saturday's third round, and finished as the second-lowest amateur.

ATHENS -- Georgia athletic department officials say they had no previous knowledge that two of their athletes might have received improper benefits, as alleged by a newspaper report on Sunday. The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, quoting police documents it obtained, reported that UGA sophomore linebacker Jarvis Jones and basketball signee Kentavious Caldwell-Pope allegedly received financial assistance from Columbus parks and recreation department administrators through a misuse of state funds.

Mark Richt doesn’t squander tears on a football game. What is there in a game to make a man cry? Lose to Central Florida on the last day of 2010, come back and try to make it right next September. That’s a challenge, not a tragedy.

Waiting all night to be drafted wasn’t at all what Trey Thompkins wanted or what he expected. But in retrospect, he said it might have been exactly what he needed. At least that was Thompkins’ rationale Friday as the reality of his new life as a second-round draft pick of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers set in.

Georgia Tech's Guillermo Gomez and Georgia's Wil Spencer will compete as wildcards in the Atlanta Tennis Championships. Both players were given spots in the tournament, an ATP World Tour event that will be played July 16-24 at the Racquet Club of the South.

One of Trey Thompkins’ best traits — besides his 6-foot-9 frame and exceptional shooting touch — is his honesty. And that was on display as he discussed Thursday’s NBA draft. The former Georgia Bulldogs forward by way of Lithonia is not trying to put on a tough face as he prepares for the most important moment of his young life.

Georgia’s Johnathan Taylor had a dream of playing professional baseball, and it didn’t seem too far-fetched in the spring. But when Taylor and teammate Zach Cone collided in the outfield in an early March game in Athens, Taylor was left paralyzed, and the idea of a professional career took a backseat to his completion of basic, daily tasks.

It seems that nothing has ever come easily for D.J. Shockley. The former Georgia quarterback out of North Clayton High had to bide his time, then share time with David Greene before finally getting his time to play for the Bulldogs. A knee injury robbed him of his time just when his opportunity came with the Falcons.

NCAA rules regarding electronic transmissions have caused Georgia a lot of headaches recently. According to documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution via the Freedom of Information Act, UGA has had to report six secondary NCAA violations in five sports since April.

Opinions, not footballs, flew through the air. With more than a month to go before the state’s college football teams begin fall practice in advance of the 2011 season, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame hosted its annual Pigskin Preview on Tuesday.

Former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor appeared at a news conference Tuesday in Miami, making his first public apology (for unspecified "conduct off the field") to former coach Jim Tressel and Ohio State since the quarterback announced June 7 that he would forego his senior season.

Leonard Pope knows what it's like to be a football hero. Now a mother and her child are calling him a real hero. According to a report in the Americus Times-Recorder, Pope, a tight end with the Kansas City Chiefs, saved a 6-year-old from drowning Saturday.

By Monday, three Georgia underclassmen had signed professional baseball contracts, and it's not likely to end there. Outfielder Chase Davidson and pitchers Cecil Tanner and Ben Cornwell all accepted pro deals in recent days. Davidson was probably the biggest surprise.

Georgia landed two football commitments from within the state at Mark Richt Camp over the weekend. Pierce County High School fullback Quayvon Hicks and Cartersville High School punter Collin Barber both pledged to sign with Georgia in February. The Bulldogs now have eight commitments for their 2012 college football recruiting class.

Georgia outfielder Johnathan Taylor, who was paralyzed after colliding with a teammate in March, was drafted by the Texas Rangers on Wednesday in the 33rd round of the MLB Draft. “The kid, he’s obviously going through a tough time, and this was a way to let him know that people are thinking about him,” said Ryan Coe, the Texas Rangers scout for Georgia.

Jared Norris drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning to help Oregon State advance in the NCAA tournament with a 6-4 victory over Georgia on Sunday night. The top-seeded Beavers (41-17), who won College World Series titles in 2006 and 2007, won three straight at home to advance to play Vanderbilt in the super regionals.

The Dogwood Invitational amateur golf tournament will include two players from Augusta State, which defeated Georgia to win the NCAA men's golf championship on Sunday. The tournament will be held at Druid Hills Golf Club. Representing the Jaguars, the two-time defending national champs, will be Derek Chang and Taylor Floyd.

Levi Hyams led off the game with a homer, and Brett DeLoach hit a three-run shot in the fifth inning to help Georgia defeat Arkansas-Little Rock 7-3 on Saturday in an elimination game in the NCAA Corvallis Regional. Georgia (32-31) advanced to a game at 4 p.

Jonas Dufek threw a five-hitter and Scott Thornburg and Anthony Bemboom had consecutive RBI singles in the seventh inning in Creighton's 2-1 victory over Georgia. Dufek (12-1) struck out 10 and walked one for Creighton (45-14) in the game that took 1 hour, 46 minutes to complete.

Georgia begins NCAA tournament play Friday in Corvallis, Ore. That they’re participating again in college baseball’s version of the “Big Dance” has become the standard under coach David Perno. The third-seeded Bulldogs (31-30) will open play at 4 p.m.

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier says suspended quarterback Stephen Garcia is back on campus and working out with teammates. Spurrier adds that Garcia has no room for another misstep. Spurrier says "one more, he'd be finished." Garcia was suspended for the fifth time in his college career — and second time during spring practice — on April 6 after an incident at a life skills seminar.

Something is going to happen regarding over-signing and the SEC’s new “roster management” proposals for football this week. But exactly what, nobody is sure just yet. According to South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, the league’s football coaches took a 12-0 vote to the conference athletic directors Wednesday afternoon to keep at 28 the number of players schools can sign on national signing day.

Georgia football coach Mark Richt was obviously uncomfortable with being portrayed as the face of opposition against over-signing, and Houston Nutt is equally uncomfortable being called the face for it. Nonetheless, their opposing philosophies were getting a lot of media attention here at the SEC Spring Meetings as coaches and administrators entered the first day of debate over whether to introduce new legislation aimed at curbing the practice.

Georgia collegiate golf might be in its best form in years. Four teams from the state will compete in the NCAA championship that begins Tuesday at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla., one fewer than the Georgia entries in 2005, with all finishing in the top 15.

The Southeastern Conference will consider legislation this week to address over-signing, the controversial recruiting action that Georgia football coach Mark Richt has called "an awful thing to do." Over-signing is when a college signs more recruits than it has scholarships available.

Five SEC Meetings discussion topics
1. Roster management The issue: A broader reaching subject than "over-signing," coaches and administrators will discuss a hard cap on yearly scholarship allowances for football to 25 from December to August. Also, the SEC will address the practice of "grayshirting" (delayed enrollment), midyear enrollment, summer enrollment and medical disqualification process.

Georgia Tech didn't receive one of the eight national seeds in the NCAA baseball tournament field announced Monday, even with the necessary RPI, but the Yellow Jackets coach and players were still happy with draw. The Yellow Jackets (40-19), with a No.

ATHENS -- Georgia looked unbeatable in the first game with a 14-2 victory, but the Baylor Bears proved too resilient on Sunday, bouncing back to claim the second and deciding game 9-2 and a berth in the Women's College World Series. Baylor pitcher Whitney Canion was the catalyst, rebounding from her shortest outing of the season in the opener to earn a complete-game victory.

By Jeff HawsFor the AJC ATHENS — For a while Saturday night, it looked as if one pitch was all Georgia would need. But once the dam broke, Baylor’s offense proved to be too good for that. Megan Wiggins’ home run on the first pitch from Baylor starter Whitney Canion ended up as the Bulldogs’ only run, and Liz Paul’s pinch-hit single in the sixth put the Bears in front for good in a 5-1 win.

Nolan Fontana drove in the go-ahead run on a groundout in the top of the ninth inning to lift Florida into the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game with a 3-2 win over Georgia on Saturday. Fontana also hit a game-tying two-run homer in the third inning for the Gators (44-16), who will face Vanderbilt in seeking their first SEC tournament title since 1991.

Chase Davidson had a two-run single in the first inning and three Georgia pitchers combined to contain South Carolina 4-2 Friday night and oust the top-seeded Gamecocks from the Southeastern Conference tournament. The Bulldogs (30-29) still need to beat Florida twice on Saturday to make the championship game, and have to win the first one to secure a winning record and be eligible for an NCAA regional.

Regardless of what happens this weekend, the Georgia softball seniors will go down as the best class in the program’s history. But this is hardly a group ready to rest on its laurels. So it is with considerable motivation that the Bulldogs (50-12) enter this weekend’s NCAA super regional in Athens.

– If Michael Palazzone were a horse, he would have saddle sores by now. The Georgia Bulldogs have ridden hard their ace right-hander, and they’ll be on his back again Wednesday as their season of desperation continues in the SEC tournament in Hoover, Ala.

Weeks on the road have brought Georgia’s Chelsey Gullickson the focus that she thinks will help her defend her NCAA singles tennis championship when the tournament begins Thursday at Stanford. After defeating California’s Jana Juricova in two sets to win the title last year in Athens, Gullickson elected to compete on the pro tour.

The Stanford University women's tennis team, seeded No. 1 and playing at home, defeated 8th seeded Georgia 4-0 in NCAA tournament play Sunday. The win earns the undefeated Stanford women (26-0) a spot in the national semifinals. The loss ends the Georgia women's season, in which they finished 19-4.

ATHENS -- Georgia's softball team won its NCAA Athens Regional and advanced to the Super Regional after pounding out 13 hits and taking advantage of five Florida State errors in a 10-2 victory on Sunday in six innings. The Bulldogs (50-12) are unbeaten in regional play in the last four years, including 6-0 at home.

ATHENS -- Georgia's softball team rolled on and Georgia State's rolled out in the NCAA Athens Regional at Jack Turner Field on Saturday. The sixth-ranked and top-seeded Bulldogs defeated Alabama-Birmingham 9-2 in the first game to advance in the winner’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament.

Brianna Hesson knocked in five runs, and Morgan Montemayor pitched a four-hit shutout as Georgia defeated Georgia State 8-0 on Friday night in the first round of the NCAA softball regionals. With the win — called after five innings via the “mercy rule” — the top-seeded Bulldogs (48-12) advance to the winner’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament.

UGA’s Travis Leslie already has had his first feud with an NBA rival – and it’s not even draft time. According to Yahoo’s NCAAB Blog, The Dagger, Leslie didn’t like being compared with veteran Memphis Grizzlies defensive stopper Tony Allen. In fact, Leslie told DraftExpress.

Athens and the University of Georgia mean a lot to Georgia State softball coach Roger Kincaid and Panthers pitcher Alana Thomas. Kincaid walked on to Georgia’s football team in 1979 and was a scout-team player for the national championship squad in 1980.

Of the 32 men’s and women’s tennis teams left in the NCAA championships, half hail from either the ACC or SEC. Of those 16, four belong to Georgia and Georgia Tech. For the first time, both sets of Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets teams have made it to the round of 16, where play begins Thursday at Stanford for both championships.

Little Orphan Annie had nothing on the Georgia baseball team. It’s been “the hard-knock life” for the Bulldogs all season, and it will get no easier the next three days as they play host to Vanderbilt in the final SEC series of the regular season.

Georgia coach Mark Richt didn’t shed any more light on the sudden departure of A.J. Harmon on Tuesday, but he acknowledged that his loss was yet another blow to a precariously thin offensive line. Richt was at the Gainesville Civic Center to speak at a “UGA Day” alumni gathering.

Vince Dooley surmises Jake Scott could have made the College Football Hall of Fame years ago, but he showed little interest in accepting. “You have to know him,” Dooley said Tuesday. “He just didn’t want to put on a tux.” Scott, the 1968 SEC player of the year and later a Super Bowl MVP, has evidently relented.

Georgia came up a run short in its bid for a SEC tournament championship, losing to Tennessee 6-5 in the title game in an eighth and extra inning in Oxford, Miss. Shelby Burchell hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to decide things Saturday night, giving the eighth-ranked Lady Vols (47-10) their second league tourney title.

Johnathan Taylor closed his eyes and left the room for a moment. He blacked out the scene inside the Shepherd Center gym — the teenager in a wheelchair doing triceps presses, another kid passing through on a self-propelled gurney — and in his head went to that place where athletes go just before meeting a hard, hard job.

Matt Cleaver didn’t know the difference in steeplechase and a church steeple until he watched the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials on television in 2008. Three years later, the Georgia junior has a good chance of becoming the first SEC champion in the quirky distance event in the history of the school.

Senior pitcher Justice French is having his best season at Mercer. Oddly enough, it comes after the scariest, most trying year of his life. French and the Bears will take on Georgia in Athens on Wednesday. A weekend pitcher, he will be watching thankfully from the dugout.

The members of Georgia's men's golf team have proven they can win as individuals. But can they win as a team? That's the primary question facing the 12th-ranked Bulldogs after they received an NCAA Tournament bid on Monday. Georgia found out it will compete in the West Regional at the Colorado National Golf Club in Erie, Colo.

University of Georgia senior Russell Henley became the second amateur winner in Nationwide Tour history Sunday, shooting a 3-under 68 for a two-stroke victory in the Stadion Classic on the Bulldogs' home course. "I can't even feel my arms," Henley said.

If the Georgia baseball team continues to track the way it has, it could pose an interesting study for the NCAA selection committee at the end of the season. The Bulldogs (24-21, 13-8 SEC) sit only three games above .500, but they’ve done that against the nation’s most difficult schedule.

On Saturday, Georgia Tech led Clemson 4-1 in the top of the eighth and had a man on third with one out. With Jacob Esch and his .315 average at the plate, Tech coach Danny Hall called for a squeeze bunt. “In years past, we probably would have just let him hit,” Hall said.

Georgia assistant football coaches Tony Ball and Bryan McClendon recently received significant pay increases, making them the only members of the staff to get raises following the Bulldogs’ 6-7 season. McClendon, Georgia’s running backs coach since 2009 and its youngest assistant, saw his pay more than double from $90,000 per year to $200,000 annually, according to school documents.

By all accounts, Justin Houston will make a terrific professional football player. Whether his first contract will be worth what it could have been may never be known. The former Georgia Bulldog was selected early in the third round of the NFL draft Friday night.

Years before Georgia recruited her to play tennis, 23-year-old Naoko Ueshima grew up in Japan with the experience of earthquakes. One night when I was 7, I had a nightmare and went to my parents’ bed. Later that night, the Kobe earthquake struck, with an impact of 7.

The top of the NFL draft had a decidedly Georgia feel to it. With the first pick, the Carolina Panthers selected former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, a College Park native who played his high school football at Westlake. Three picks later, the Cincinnati Bengals selected former Georgia wide receiver A.

After hitting below .250 for much of the first half of the season, Kyle Farmer has shot past the .300 mark. He has done it with a torrid hitting streak that has seen him hit safely in 19 of the past 20 games and knocked in 27 runs, many of them of the game-winning variety.

Giving Georgia men’s basketball coach Mark Fox a $2 million raise and contract extension was as much about being proactive and capturing momentum as it was about rewarding the second-year coach for a good season. So explained athletic director Greg McGarity, whose recommendation to UGA President Michael Adams and the Georgia Athletic Association executive board Thursday resulted in a five-year, $8.

Georgia coach Mark Richt was ushered through a crowd here at the Julian Smith Casino to an area out back where some local media had assembled to hear from him. “It’s nice to be back here in Augusta,” Richt said to no one in particular. “We are in Augusta, right?” He was only half-kidding.

With an inspiration sitting in the dugout, Georgia halted Georgia Tech's advance on the state. In the final scheduled meeting between the two teams this season, the Bulldogs squeezed past Georgia Tech 6-4 Tuesday night at Turner Field. It ended the Yellow Jackets' five-game winning streak against the Bulldogs and prevented a series sweep for the second year in a row.

Former Georgia standout Justin Houston tested positive for marijuana at the NFL scouting combine in February, according to a story first reported Tuesday by Fox Sports and also reported by numerous media outlets. Houston, who was suspended for two games by Georgia in 2009, is projected to be a late first- to second-round pick in the NFL draft, which will be held Thursday through Saturday.

Johnathan Taylor was the type of hitter who fouled off pitch after pitch, then beat out a dribbler to the shortstop. Georgia Tech pitcher Mark Pope loathed the sight of Taylor coming to bat. Said Pope, "He's the biggest pain in the world to pitch to." Pope and other Tech players, though, know Taylor as more than a scrappy center fielder for Georgia, the one who was paralyzed in an outfield collision March 6.

The college and professional football journeys of former Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green and former Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones likely will be forever intertwined. Both are rangy, fast and athletic receivers who had fine careers in the SEC. Now, they likely will be the top two receivers selected in this year’s NFL draft.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl will be played at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 in the Georgia Dome, officials announced Tuesday. The game, matching the first non-BCS ACC selection against an SEC team, will be televised by ESPN. This will mark the 20th consecutive year the two conferences met in the 44th game.

Sept. 3 -- vs. Boise State (12-1 last season) in Atlanta In the annual Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at the Georgia Dome, this contest is expected to feature a pair of top 25 teams for the fourth consecutive year. The Broncos are led by record-setting senior quarterback Kellen Moore but must replace their leading receivers.

GEORGIA: What we learned from spring camp Progress was made during spring football, but questions remain for the Georgia football team. Following are the pros and cons: Offensive line remains an issue Once again the Bulldogs find themselves with some question marks on the offensive front.

Two adults, juvenile from Columbus named in warrants UGA investigators filed Friday.

Monday’s 115th Boston Marathon is a peak experience for most runners. Former University of Georgia stars Coco Miller (Dream) and Kelly Miller (Washington Mystics), twin sisters, ran their first marathon fast enough to qualify, but decided basketball outranks Boston.

ATHENS – Richard Samuel is barely 20 years old, and already he’s finished his fourth spring of college football. Running that kind of hurry-up in life can have its drawbacks. For when things go wrong, you can be barely 20 and already conversant with such middle-age constants as doubt and failure.

A freshman quarterback still learning the playbook, Christian LeMay, led the winning touchdown drive. Kwame Geathers had a big day on defense, as did Branden Smith on ... offense. And a walk-on safety from Duluth, Connor Norman, called attention to himself.

After helping select one team for Saturday’s G-Day game, Georgia center Ben Jones phoned offensive-line coach Will Friend and declared: “Coach, we’re stacked!” After helping choose the other team, quarterback Aaron Murray called offensive coordinator Mike Bobo with this assessment: “We killed ‘em!” Georgia’s spring intra-squad game will reveal, if nothing else, who did the better job of drafting players — Jones and linebacker Christian Robinson, who were in charge of picking the Red team, or Murray and cornerback Brandon Boykin, who combined to select the Black team.

University of Georgia police are investigating the theft of three Hall of Fame induction certificates from a wall of the UGA Lettermen's Club at Sanford Stadium. Certificates for Bulldogs legends Herschel Walker, Fran Tarkenton and Vince Dooley were discovered missing Wednesday morning.

The hamstring injury that has kept tailback Washaun Ealey on the sideline for most of Georgia’s spring practice also will keep him out of Saturday’s G-Day game. “I don’t think Washaun will go,” coach Mark Richt said Thursday. Ealey had expected to return to practice this week, but Richt said that proved overly optimistic.

Hayes Perno, the 7-year-old son of Georgia baseball coach David Perno, had one question for his father the night after center fielder Johnathan Taylor was rushed to the hospital with a broken neck. “Is JT still going to be able to coach us at camp?” Hayes asked.

Monday’s 115th Boston Marathon is a peak experience for most runners. Former University of Georgia stars Coco Miller (Dream) and Kelly Miller (Washington Mystics), twin sisters, ran their first marathon fast enough to qualify, but decided basketball outranks Boston.

The game remains more than four months away, but it looms large over spring football practice at Georgia. “Every time we go out there,” safety Jakar Hamilton said after a recent practice, “that’s what we think about — getting better to beat Boise State on Sept.

When sports columnist Jesse Outlar thought a coach could do a better job, he'd say so. But his commentary was never mean-spirited, spiteful or one-sided. And despite being a University of Georgia alum, he never let a certain coach off easy. "I knew his intentions were in the right place and were done to be more constructive than anything," former UGA football coach and athletic director Vince Dooley said.

For the second time in about three weeks, Georgia Tech gave Georgia a nine-inning demonstration of the might of its heralded freshman class. From the Bulldogs' vantage point in the first-base dugout, it could not have been a very encouraging presentation.

Georgia is trying to put its offensive line back together in the aftermath of starting tackle Trinton Sturdivant’s third major knee injury. The fallout: -- Cordy Glenn, who had been alternating with Sturdivant between left and right tackles, becomes the full-time left tackle.

Travis Leslie announced Tuesday his intention to remain in the NBA draft, and suddenly Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox finds himself in the midst of a rebuilding job. Leslie and 6-foot-10 forward Trey Thompkins announced a week ago that they would turn pro, but Leslie said he might reconsider and would not sign with an agent.

For the third time in his college football career, Georgia offensive tackle Trinton Sturdivant has suffered a major knee injury. Sturdivant, who twice previously tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, sustained the same injury to his right knee during Saturday’s closed scrimmage in Sanford Stadium, UGA said Sunday after diagnostic tests.

Former Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green, projected to be a top-10 pick in this month’s NFL draft, will speak with Falcons beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter on an occasional basis leading to the draft and share his views on the process of becoming an NFL player.

ATHENS -- Injuries have piled up for the Georgia football team, which continued spring practice Thursday with a number of key players sidelined. Particularly hard hit were the inside-linebacker and safety positions. At inside linebacker, projected starters Christian Robinson and Alec Ogletree missed the practice because of a concussion and a strained groin, respectively, and backup Michael Gilliard was out with a sprained knee.

ATHENS -- From his arrival at Georgia in 2007, Trinton Sturdivant had played only one position: left tackle. Until this spring. So how did he react when new offensive line coach Will Friend told him before the start of spring practice that he would also work some at right tackle? "Instant panic went through my mind," Sturdivant said Tuesday.

ATHENS -- Trey Thompkins has played his last game for Georgia, and Travis Leslie might have done so, too. Thompkins and Leslie, juniors who were the Bulldogs' top two scorers and rebounders this past season, announced Tuesday they will enter the NBA draft, although one of them -- Leslie -- left open the option of withdrawing.

Two foundations supporting the University of Georgia announced Tuesday they will merge to form one group to raise money to bolster the university's academic mission. The UGA Foundation and the Arch Foundation will form a new University of Georgia Foundation, with assets of about $700 million.

Teresa Edwards reeled off the names of several players in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame -- Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley and "my first hero" Julius Erving -- and marveled, "Now I'm among them. It's something I really can't [get] my thoughts around at the moment.

Due to an outage of the georgiadogs.com website, the deadline to order 2011 University of Georgia football season tickets has been extended through 5 p.m. Friday. Georgiadogs.com has been inaccessible to many since Thursday morning due to a problem with the renewal of the domain registration.

ATHENS -- One decision has had ripple effects at three positions during spring practice for the Georgia football team. Alec Ogletree's shift from safety to inside linebacker bolstered his new position, created competition at his former position and freed Jarvis Jones to play outside linebacker.

Anxious metro Atlantans have joined the hunt for potassium iodide tablets, a cheap drug that protects against radiation, but supplies are scarce, and experts say Georgians are not at risk from the nuclear crisis in Japan. "Certainly there is no evidence that there are any health issues [related to the Japan crisis] in the state of Georgia," said radiation expert Dr.

Georgia has opened discussions with men’s basketball coach Mark Fox about a new or amended contract that would increase his pay and demonstrate the school’s desire to keep him long-term. Both athletic director Greg McGarity and Fox confirmed the contract talks in interviews Wednesday with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

ATHENS -- Georgia resumed spring football practice Tuesday with tailback Washaun Ealey on the sideline with a strained left hamstring. Georgia listed Ealey's status as "day to day." Tuesday's was the first of five practices he has missed this spring. The Bulldogs' next practice is Thursday.

It's almost a rite of spring: the Georgia women's basketball team in the Sweet 16. The Lady Bulldogs will play Texas A&M; in Dallas at 4:30 p.m. Sunday -- the 19th time in 29 years and the 12th time in 17 years that Georgia has reached the NCAA tournament's round of 16.

ATHENS -- Bruce Figgins‘ college football career began promisingly. He started the first game of his freshman season for Georgia in 2007 and even caught a touchdown pass in his debut. A few months later, he played in the Sugar Bowl as the Bulldogs routed Hawaii to finish the season ranked No.

Restrictions have been relaxed on tailgate parties before University of Georgia football games. Tents can come back at North Campus. Slightly bigger tables are also allowed – up to six feet long. And the celebrating can start earlier, five hours before kickoff instead of the four.

Former Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green, projected to be a top-10 pick in April’s NFL Draft, will speak with Falcons beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter on an occasional basis leading to the draft and share his views on the process of becoming an NFL player.

AUBURN, Ala. -- Jasmine James made sure she was in the right spot to keep Georgia's season going even as a phantom whistle left Florida State crying foul. James scored on a putback with 2.9 seconds left, then made the subsequent free throw to lift the Lady Bulldogs (22-10) to a 61-59 victory over the Seminoles on Tuesday night and into the round of 16 of the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.

ATHENS -- Matt Skole went 5-for-5 with two home runs and eight RBIs to lead Georgia Tech to a 15-6 win over Georgia, sending cries of "What's the good word" echoing through Foley Field late Tuesday night. Georgia coach David Perno tried to neutralize Skole and Tech's other left-handed batters with a series of left-handed pitchers.

ATHENS -- Georgia's football team switched gears from spring break to spring practice Tuesday -- a rather jolting change. Just back from the university's spring break, which many players and coaches spent on the beach, the Bulldogs returned to the practice field on an unseasonably warm afternoon.

ATHENS -- Justin Houston attempted to silence his critics Tuesday at Georgia's Pro Day. The defensive end/linebacker prospect wanted to show the crowd of 48 NFL scouts and executives that he's a high-energy player. "After every drill, I sprinted an extra five yards to show them my motor," Houston said.

Georgia women’s coach Andy Landers didn’t know where to begin when asked about Cierra Bravard, Florida State’s 6-foot-4 post puzzle his Bulldogs are charged with trying to solve in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Landers smiled.

Two weeks after surgery to stabilize his spine, Georgia baseball player Johnathan Taylor moved out of intensive care Monday. He also celebrated his 21st birthday. Taylor, of Acworth, was seriously injured during a March 6 game when he collided head-on with a teammate as both chased a line drive in the outfield.

While most NFL scouts will be on hand to see wide receiver A.J. Green and linebacker/defensive end Justin Houston on Tuesday, linebacker Akeem Dent hopes to turns some heads as well when Georgia holds it's Pro Day workouts. Green and Houston are projected first-round picks for the NFL draft, which is set for April 28-30.

CHARLOTTE -- In the final, frenzied seconds of Georgia's season, Trey Thompkins made a 3-point shot and Travis Leslie missed one. The question, in the aftermath of Georgia's 68-65 loss to Washington late Friday night in the NCAA tournament, is whether those were the last shots Thompkins and Leslie will take for the Bulldogs.

CHARLOTTE -- Georgia's trip to the NCAA tournament didn't last long. The Bulldogs lost to Washington 68-65 late Friday night in an East Regional game that ended Georgia's season and sent the Huskies to a round-of-32 matchup against North Carolina on Sunday.

CHARLOTTE -- The Georgia men's basketball team will play its first NCAA tournament game in three years Friday night. Seems longer, doesn't it? The 2008 appearance, which the Bulldogs achieved by winning the SEC tournament after finishing last in their division, amounted to an upward blip on a downward spiral.

Former University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley and several authors will speak at the opening day of Gwinnett Technical College’s spring plant sale at the greenhouse on campus, 5150 Sugarloaf Parkway, Lawrenceville. Dooley, an avid gardener, will be joined by Erica Glasener, the host of HGTV’s “A Gardener’s Diary”; Jim Wilson, author of five bird identification guides; and Jane Bath, author of the “The Landscape Design Answer Book.

A judge has ordered former University of Georgia football coach Jim Donnan to turn over income tax returns and other financial records in a federal bankruptcy case unfolding in Ohio, the Athens Banner-Herald reports. Donnan is listed as a creditor of the company in bankruptcy, GLC Limited, the parent company of a chain of liquidation stores and other businesses such as  sporting goods and hardware stores.

For its opening opponent in the NCAA tournament, Georgia drew a school from 2,700 miles away that the Bulldogs have never before faced in basketball. (Nor, for that matter, in football.) Here are five things you should know about the Washington Huskies before Friday's 9:45 p.

Former Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green, projected to be a top-10 pick in April’s NFL Draft, will speak with Falcons beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter on an occasional basis leading to the draft and share his views on the process of becoming an NFL player.

Georgia teams had to feel like winners after the women’s NCAA tournament pairings were released on Monday night: Neither Georgia nor Georgia Tech landed in the Connecticut and Maya Moore bracket. The Georgia Tech women drew the higher tournament seed — fifth compared to Georgia’s sixth — but the Lady Dogs landed a Southern site — three hours away in Auburn, Ala.

ATHENS -- After days of debate about whether Georgia would reach the NCAA men's basketball tournament, the verdict came quickly Sunday night: The Bulldogs are in. Georgia will open against Pac-10 tournament champion Washington on Friday night in an East Region game in Charlotte.

It was the type of violent injury normally associated with the mayhem of the highway or the football field. Not a baseball park. A young man plays all his life between the green grass and the blue sky. He chases a thousand and more baseballs with no thought other than to make the catch, never imagining a worst case as bad as this: A line drive in the gap between left and center.

Kentucky didn't lose a game at Rupp Arena all season, and the Wildcats are looking just as strong in their home away from home, the Georgia Dome. After going 15-0 in Lexington but 4-7 in true road games this season, Kentucky won for the second time in two days in the supposedly neutral Dome by routing Alabama 72-58 in the SEC tournament semifinals Saturday afternoon.

Thankfully, Georgia cheerleader Alex Smith's turn hoisting the flag known as "Super G" on Friday went far better than a recent attempt by Sam Clay. Clay, a teammate of Smith's, ran the massive black banner with the familiar oval "G" onto the Stegeman Coliseum floor to lead the Gym Dogs gymnastics team.

For a millisecond, Dustin Ware thought he had made the shot of his dreams -- a desperate 3-pointer to win a tournament game. Then he had the crushing realization that the shot did not count, that his coach had called timeout before the ball left his hands.

Johnathan Taylor, the UGA outfielder seriously injured during a game, was transferred Friday morning to Atlanta's Shepherd Center. Taylor, 20, sustained a spinal injury after colliding head-one with a teammate as both chased a line drive Sunday. Taylor underwent surgery Monday afternoon at St.

Tennessee, the SEC's most erratic team this season, looked the part in the SEC tournament Thursday night at the Georgia Dome. Seemingly coasting to an easy victory over Arkansas, leading by 16 points with just over seven minutes to play,  Tennessee gave up the entire lead on a wildly improbable 16-0 Razorbacks run that tied the game at 68-68 with two minutes remaining.

ATHENS -- Isaiah Crowell hasn’t arrived at Georgia, but running backs Washaun Ealey and Caleb King already feel his presence. Coach Mark Richt said Ealey gave “as good as an effort as anybody” in Georgia’s first spring practice Thursday, and King said he’s “going to go hard every practice” after a season in which the Bulldogs’ top two backs had costly fumbles and missed games because of suspensions and injuries.