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Oklahoma drill & 3rd degree burns

Things are quite shambolic at the moment. I got home from a trip to visit my wife’s family two hours late last night from NJ. While I was there my stepfather broke his hip and my mom is a mess dealing with it. My stepfather is also in mental decline and being very difficult. I am driving up to their house today to go help my mom so the mailbag will be delayed until tonight.

My house is also all in pieces as the repairs from my last vacation/flood are nearly completed so it’s a fun situation at the moment. Nothing like getting home at 1am with a toddler.

In other GT baseball news, I have returning/leaving projections for several other draft-eligible players that were not picked from GT's roster this season-

(in alphabetical order)

P Dawson Brown - RETURNING
P Terry Busse - RETURNING
P Drew Byers - RETURNING
3B Drew Compton - LEAVING
P Ben King - RETURNING
C Nathan Smith - LEAVING
P Jackson Vaughan - RETURNING

That would bring the full incoming/outgoing from a non-signee standpoint so far (key word) to this:

THE FLATS – Preseason honors have continued to roll in for Georgia Tech football student-athletes, with Yellow Jackets included on the list of nominees for the 2023 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team and the 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl.



Georgia Tech junior defensive back LaMiles Brooks (Jacksonville, Fla./Trinity Christian Academy) is one of 136 student-athletes across all levels of college football, and one of just 73 in NCAA Division I FBS, nominated for the 2023 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. Established in 1992, the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team is one of the most prestigious community service awards in college football. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be actively involved with a charitable organization or service group and maintain a strong academic standing.



Brooks is one of Georgia Tech’s most active student-athletes in the community across all sports. His long list of volunteer activities includes: Jackets Without Borders – international service trip to Villa del Rio, Puerto Rico, in May 2022 to help rebuild houses that were destroyed by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017; For Others – organization that helps prevent vulnerable children from being placed in the foster care system; Michael Isenhour Toy Drive – annual service project spearheaded by Georgia Tech’s Student-Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB) to collect and deliver toys to the Atlanta Children’s Shelter during the holiday season; Children’s Health Care of Atlanta – was one of several Yellow Jackets that recently visited Children’s Scottish Rite to spend time with patients. Brooks is also an active member Tech’s SAAB and this summer has represented Georgia Tech at the 2023 Black Student-Athlete Summit in Los Angeles and the Atlantic Coast Conference Unity Tour in Washington, D.C.



A panel of former Good Works Team members, current and former head coaches and journalists will select this year’s 22-member squad from the list of 136 nominees in September.



Brooks is also one of the 10 Yellow Jackets included on the Shrine Bowl 1000, which is the official watch list for the 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl, one of college football’s most prominent postseason all-star games. In addition to Brooks, the 10 Jackets on the Shrine Bowl 1000 include senior tight end Dylan Leonard (Milton, Ga./Milton H.S.), redshirt senior linebacker Braelen Oliver (Douglasville, Ga./Douglas County H.S./Minnesota), redshirt senior defensive back Myles Sims (Atlanta, Ga./Westlake H.S./Michigan), redshirt senior running back Dontae Smith (Spring Hill, Tenn./Spring Hill H.S.), redshirt junior defensive back K.J. Wallace (Atlanta, Ga./Lovett School/Notre Dame), redshirt junior defensive back Kenyatta Watson II (Loganville, Ga./Grayson H.S./Texas), senior linebacker Andre White (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg H.S./Texas A&M), junior offensive lineman Jordan Williams (Gainesville, Ga./Gainesville H.S.) and senior defensive lineman Sylvain Yondjouen (Ruisbroek, Belgium/Don Bosco School).



The 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl – the 99th edition of the historic game – will be played on Feb. 1 at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

Thanks to our new sponsor Inteleca for helping bring back Q's Take my weekly look at things around GT and college sports from my vantage.





Many wonder what will happen in the first season under new Georgia Tech football coach Brent Key. The underachievement under Geoff Collins and the quick bounce back with Key as the interim has fans excited about the 2023 campaign, but there are still many questions facing the Jackets as Key and his new (and a few returning names) aim to reset both the bottom and lift the ceiling on the program.

I thought it would be interesting to see how each of the current ACC coaches fared in year one and compare them against the previous season as well to shed light on the uncertain nature of these moves.

BC- Jeff Hafley took over during the awful covid season in 2020 and notched a 6-5 record including a beating of Georgia Tech in Chestnut Hill in front of a crowd of about 25 people working the game and zero fans. He won as many games as the man fired the year before Steve Addazio did. Hafley won six games each in his first two years before regressing to just three wins last year.

CLEMSON- Like Key, Dabo got a taste for coaching as an interim in 2008 going 4-3 including a 4-2 record in the regular season after taking over for the perpetual underachiever with the famous last name Tommy Bowden. Bowden’s last full season in 2007 ended with a 9-4 record. Dabo matched that in his first full season but lost twice to Georgia Tech including in the ACCCG to finish 9-5. He fell back to 6-7 in year two before posting 12 straight 10-plus win seasons and two Nattys as well as 7 ACC crowns in eight years. He is the high-water mark for the interim position coach taking over as head coach in recent college football.

DUKE- Ask anyone who knows a lot about college football who did the best coaching job in the Southeast last year and they will say Mike Elko. I have a soft spot for Elko after trying to get CPJ to hire him way back in 2013 when he was the DC at Bowling Green. Elko won nine games at Duke with a bad roster! His team played their asses off every week and benefitted from some truly horrid non-conference opponents like Northwestern and Temple who were historically bad last year. His team got better and won some key games down the stretch and it will be interesting to see what year two under Elko looks like. David Cutcliffe another coach I am fond of but who had a real beef against GT and Paul Johnson thanks to him always being Duke’s second choice won just five games in his final two seasons in Durham.

FSU- Things started very poorly for Mike Norvell as he had to take over a situation equally tarnished by a catchphrase-friendly quick-rising coach Willie Taggart. Norvell started off his Noles career taking a L to GT and Jeff Sims in Tally during the covid 2020 season and he had a losing record in year one and two and looked to be on the ropes going into 2022 before going 10-3 last year and ending the season in the 10 in the coaches poll. Like Key, Norvell had to fix a culture issue in the locker room that was enabled by both Jimbo Fisher and Taggart and really going back to the Bobby Bowden days of entitlement.

MIAMI- The mighty Hurricanes are probably the program all ACC schools could point to as being the one that has screwed the league over the most since joining as they were brought in to bring another big gun to the arsenal and instead turned into a peashooter. The Canes went 201-41 in the previous 19 years before joining the ACC with four national titles. Since 2004, they have a 141-97 record with not even a conference championship and just one division title to show for their efforts. Mario Cristobal is the latest coach aiming to bring back the U and he went 5-7 replacing the Collins-lite Manny Diaz who was fired after going 7-5 in 2021. Cristobal has had some recruiting drama and hasn’t hit the ground running the way people expected thus far in Coral Gables.

NC STATE- Dave Doeren is the cockroach of ACC coaches, he has survived through all kinds of drama and through leadership changes and just keeps doing enough to stay employed. Doeren had a rough start going 3-9 in his first season in 2013 replacing Tom O’Brien who went 7-6 the season prior and was fired. Doeren basically wins 8 or 9 games a season and has been the Chan Gailey without having to play a UGA every year of the ACC. He jumped to eight wins in year two.

UNC- Mack Brown 2.0 has been a more disappointing version of Dave Doeren at NC State so far with several bad losses including his two Ls to GT the last two seasons and not a lot of signature wins or moments despite having the second-most offensive talent in the league overall the last three or four years. Mack went 7-6 in year one and has won eight, six and nine games with one Coastal Division title last year. He did improve greatly on the crater Larry Fedora parked the Heels in his last two years with five wins total in his final two seasons.

PITT- Pat Narduzzi is the slightly better Dave Doeren punching above his weight in a difficult job at Pitt. His teams are tough outs and he had one really spectacular season with his 30-year-old QB in 2021 going 11-3 with the only non-Clemson or FSU ACC Title since 2009. Nard Dog went 8-5 his first two seasons after taking over Paul Chryst who somehow turned a 19-19 record and the most average Pitt tenure into the Wisconsin job. Narduzzi has had just one losing season as a HC.

CUSE- Dino Babers is probably near the end of the line at a difficult job at Syracuse. He has been all over the map with one-win seasons and a 10-3 campaign. He was 7-6 last year somehow making a bowl game with three good wins over Purdue, NC State and Louisville before the wheels came off and they lost six of their final seven games. Babers went 4-8 and 4-8 in his first two seasons taking over for a dreadful Scott Shafer.

UVA- Tony Elliott set the low bar for coaching transitions last year with a 3-7 season and just one ACC win over Georgia Tech with the wrong backup quarterback playing after Jeff Sims reinjured himself in that game and couldn’t run. Bronco Mendenhall quit after a 6-6 season when the Cavs administration allegedly forced him to fire one of his closest assistants. The former Clemson OC Elliott appeared to be in over his head in year one in Charlottesville.

VaTECH- Justin Fuente really screwed things up in Blacksburg replacing Frank Beamer and Brent Pry probably has the toughest rebuild job right now in the ACC. Pry went 3-8 last year including a L to GT. Fuente was let go in-season in 2021 and that team finished 6-7. The Hokies have lost their recruiting base to other programs and are struggling to rebuild it so it could be a long recovery there.

WAKE FOREST- Dave Clawson might be the best coach in the ACC pound for pound. The job he has done in Winston-Salem is impressive but it took a very conservative and long-term approach that would be difficult to replicate there to succeed. He redshirted everyone from the jump and tried to get old and stay old. The portal has screwed over his program as they’ve been hit hard losing key guys the last few years, but he still won 19 games the last two years and played for the ACC Title in 2021 falling to Pitt.

IN SUMMARY:

We don’t know what will happen and really history hasn’t been even a great indicator of future success or failure as some coaches like Norvell or Clawson had to claw their way out of bad situations while others hit their stride or didn’t quickly. I just thought it would be interesting to put some perspective on the situation.

THE FLATS – Kelsey Bennett has been named an assistant coach for Georgia Tech softball, coach Aileen Morales announced on Tuesday. Bennett comes to The Flats on the heels of a decorated playing career for ACC constituent Virginia Tech from 2019-23. The first-time coach will join the ranks after lacing up for Smash It Sports Vipers this summer, currently competing in the inaugural season of the WPF (Women’s Professional Fastpitch) through August.



“I am thrilled to welcome Kelsey to our staff,” said Morales. “I am fortunate to have known her since she was a youth softball player coming to our Junior Jacket softball camps here on The Flats! She has amassed an impressive career at VT, and I am proud to see the successes she has had in our sport and our conference. Kelsey will bring high energy and enthusiasm to our staff, and I can’t wait to get working alongside her.”



A native of Buford, Ga., Bennett returns home to join the Yellow Jackets after suiting up for nearly every game for her alma mater since 2019. A five-year starter, the infielder piled up conference honors throughout her career as she was named ACC Freshman of the Year, ACC all-freshman and all-ACC three times - landing on the first team as a freshman in 2019, second team in 2021 and third team in 2022. Leading into the spring, Bennett was also recognized on three preseason all-ACC teams before earning ACC Co-Player of the Week honors twice in season. On a national scale, Tech’s new addition was a Schutt Sports/NFCA National Freshman of the Year top 10 finalist and appeared on the JWOS All-Freshman Team following her first season in Blacksburg, Va. In 2021, Bennett was also named among Softball America’s top 100 players before earning NFCA All Mid-Atlantic Second Team recognition and a JWOS third team all-American nod. Amongst Virginia, the incoming assistant received VaSID Rookie of the Year (2019) and was a three-time honoree on VaSID’s all-state teams, twice landing on the first team and also earning a second team selection.



Starting every game of her collegiate career, Bennett made her mark on the Hokie program with a plethora of records. She remains the all-time leader with 170 career RBI while ranking second in Virginia Tech’s record books with 47 home runs and 411 total bases. Bennett is also among the best in her alma mater’s history for a career ranking fifth in slugging percentage (.599), tying the fourth most in triples (nine) and sac flies (seven), finishing fifth in games played (244) and sitting in seventh in hits (214). In a single season, the longtime Hokie finished among the Virginia Tech record books slotting second in slugging percentage (.725), tied for the fourth most home runs (14) and tied for the third most sac flies (three). Of those marks, Bennett owns freshman records in home runs and slugging percentage while also pacing first-years in total bases (116). In an explosion against NC State in 2021, the Buford, Ga., native set single-game records of three home runs and 12 total bases that currently stand.



Consistent at the plate each season, Bennett batted .312 for the Maroon and Orange as she piled up 214 hits, 38 doubles, nine triples and 47 home runs for 170 RBI through her career. The steady presence also slugged .599 with a .391 on-base percentage at Virginia Tech. Bennett got off to an electric start on the way to her record-setting season as a freshman, totaling a .369 batting average by way of 59 hits, 11 doubles and two triples for 45 RBI and a .455 on-base percentage, including the aforementioned records for home runs and slugging percentage. She remained on a similar pace in the following shortened 2020 campaign, batting .368 with a .794 slugging percentage and a .511 on-base percentage for 25 hits, four doubles, two triples and seven home runs in 25 games. Including another plus .300 season at the dish in 2021, Bennett rounded out her final three seasons with back-to-back 48-hit totals in 2021-22 and 34 hits in her final year of 2023.

Jordan Williams
LaMiles
Sylvain

I just finished watching the match on Tennis Channel. Our very own Chris Eubanks who has his world rankings in the 70s already will improve on that as he gets to his first ever ATP final. He is playing in a tune up tournament for Wimbledon on grass in Spain. Championship tomorrow morning I think?

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THE FLATS – Carson Kim, a 2022 Rolex All-American from Yorba Linda, Calif., ranked among the nation's top junior golfers, has signed a grant-in-aid to join Georgia Tech’s golf program, Yellow Jacket head coach Bruce Heppler announced.

Kim, who attended Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, Calif., earned Rolex All-American first-team honors in 2022 to cap a year that saw him post five top-5 AJGA results. He is ranked No. 3 nationally in the Junior Golf Scoreboard, No. 6 in the Golfweek Boys rankings and 10th in the most recent (June 27) AJGA rankings after finishing 11th at the 2023 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley and 21stat the AJGA Simplify Boys Championship at Carlton Woods this year, as well as 17th at the California Amateur Championship.

“We are really excited about adding a tremendous student-athlete to our program,” said Heppler, beginning his 29th year as the Yellow Jackets’ head coach. “Carson has had the commitment and passion to excel in all aspects of his life. Not only is he one of the nation’s highest ranked junior players, but has as a student excelled academically at a level that would have allowed him entrance into the very best universities. He is going to make a great contribution to our program as a player, a student and a teammate.”

A Rolex Scholastic All-American, Kim originally signed a letter-of-intent to play at Southern California, but was granted a release following a coaching change.

Kim represented the U.S. in the 2022 Junior President's Cup and won all three of his matches, including a 5&3 singles win, the second largest victory of the competition for the U.S. side. He earned the spot thanks to a fourth-place finish at The Junior PLAYERS Championship. Kim also played for the West team in the 2022 Wyndham Cup.

His 2022 AJGA results were highlighted by a third at the Sergio and Angela Garcia Foundation Junior Championship while he posted a trio of fourth-place finishes (Junior PLAYERS and the Jack Burke, Jr., Invitational) and one tie for fifth (PING Invitational). He tied for seventh at the season-ending Rolex Tournament of Champions.

Kim, who captured All-Freeway League first-team notice and co-MVP team honors at Sunny Hills, earned the AJGA Billy Dettlaff Sportsmanship Award and was active in the AJGA Leadership Links as the top fundraiser for the Veteran's Golf Association.

He compiled a 4.67 GPA with an academic resume that featured Rotary Top 100, AP Scholar with Distinction honors, the Servite President's Scholarship Award and inclusion in the California Scholarship Federation.

This aint going away

In Las Vegas courtesy of the Phoenix Suns this weekend. Tough loss last night to Milwaukee, but good to see Jordan Usher on the Suns roster. Josh Okogie was at the game as a spectator. Happy he was resigned.

Does anybody know him? I know he went to Wesleyan but not sure if he graduated yet from GT.

Just picked up GT Campaign Quarterly and see where Coach Key and wife donated very generously to GTAA. Good for him! I know I had posted the contribution Scooter made($300K) a few years ago and wanted to give Coach Key credit. Nice job Coach Key!

It’s not you, the sun is more reddish orange today. The smoke from
The wildfires in Canada or rather the haze anbd particulate matter is back in our area in Georgia. Evidently we’ve been reinvested by the haze. It’s expected to get worse and clear later though. Be mindful if you’ve got respiratory issues going on and need to be outside. Track it with the interactive map above. Go Jackets!

Watched Nickel this week when I was at Milton.. a trip already proving fruitful haha.
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I have no words.

Fire away

Harpsichords and choir of angels...

good evening.

Following my trip to the school earlier this week, I am now in a place where I can give you the promised update on the LB board..

Jacorey Stewart, a 6-foot-1, 216 pounder from Milton HS, has been committed to Kansas for just over a month.

Stewart was a regular on the Georgia Tech campus earlier this summer, and has grown quite comfortable on The Flats.

A return visit has been locked in for the end of this month, once the dead period ends.

"I'm from Atlanta, 404, I will always go over there and kick it with them. I feel like Georgia Tech is about to be a program on the rise. The perception of the program is changing."

He will soon be added back to the offer list. Login to view embedded media

AFLAC takes over for CFA

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Has entered the transfer portal, I have learned.

Bogue pitched 1.2 innings this season, allowing 2 ER on 2 H, with 5 BB and 1 K.

I've been asked about this as well.

The ACC Media Kickoff starts July 25th and GT and Louisville will be on the first day.

Here is the rundown of that event. I'll be there probably only Tuesday as of now. I have a hotel for Wednesday as well just in case I wanted to stay and work that night.

Tuesday, July 25
Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D
Georgia Tech
Louisville
Miami
Syracuse

Wednesday, July 26
Duke
Florida State
Pitt
Virginia
Virginia Tech

Thursday, July 27
Boston College
Clemson
North Carolina
NC State
Wake Forest

FALL CAMP

July 31st players report for camp
August 1st is the first day of camp, this is also the day all schools have to be at 85 scholarship (this is not an issue for GT)
August 19th should be the final scrimmage of fall camp if tradition holds

CLASSES BEGIN
August 21st is the first day of classes and the 20-hour rule starts up