Start at the 6:30 mark

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Carson Ballard getting the start tonight. John Giesler is back.

He still has to get an injury waiver to play somewhere next year. He played in nine games in 2021-22 and is trying to get a waiver. Strange.

If lethal weapon 3 Kenny Anderson, Dennis Scott and Brian Oliver played today game with nil how much money would it take in your opinion to keep all three to stay at Georgia Tech?

KQ- Huh, interesting question. I would guess Kenny would be a million dollar player or close to it. I would guess 3-D and Oliver would be $500k a piece depending on which season you are talking about, so probably $1.5-2 million on the trio.

@dtm1997 could probably weigh in on this as well since he follows NIL a little more closely than I do.

With the CFP seemingly going to 14 teams and ND apparently getting paid, what value does ND bring to the table at this point to the conference? It seems that ND needs the ACC more than the ACC needs ND, especially in the case of all other non-football sports. ND appears now more than to have ever zero interest in ever joining the conference.

KQ- Well they are contracted into the ACC so the league can't just dump them either. Blame Swofford for that. I do think ND will end up having to blink at some point. Everyone is getting way too worked up about something like the CFB Playoff discussions right now. This stuff is ever-evolving and changing and I think getting worked up about what happens with ND is not really worth the energy as so many other things are left to play out. ND needs to worry about scheduling moving ahead. That will be a bigger driver of their move than the playoffs IMO.

With basketball season officially over for us, when is the portal open date/when will our first player departure be announced?

Going off the list of expected returners (Baye, Nait, Reeves, Lance, Gapare, and let’s throw Sacko and Kelly in for this), what should each work on most to improve their game for next year?

Dark horse player for the 2024/25 season? (My gut says Lance, a freshmen or player not yet know via the portal)

KQ- So I answered a lot of this already over the weekend.

Going to what guys need to improve upon.

Baye- mid-range shooting and basketball IQ are his two big things. He needs a 17-footer to make it to the NBA. He can hit it at times and even some threes, but he needs to add more of that element to his game and he needs to improve his feel for the game and where his teammates are and the defenders are on offense and defensively he lacks a lot of instincts on what players driving to the hoop are going to do and how they attack and that again comes with game reps.

Nait- consistency with his shooting and I think that comes from both reps but also his stamina which was a problem when he hit the freshman wall. Defensively he wanders too much and if you go look he was responsible for a lot of the open threes on defense during switches and trying to double guys when he wasn't reading the situation correctly. That will come with time and experience as well.

Reeves- he needs to learn how to be more engaged on the offensive end of the floor. He would disappear for long stretches or get too passive with the ball. His shot is always going to be hit and miss and a little funky, but he is a good driver and finisher and he should work on that more. His pump-fake is solid enough and a lot of times he was too quick to give up the ball. I thought he was pretty solid on D.

Lance- His handle is a big thing because he is capable of beating someone off the dribble and getting to the rim. I thought that was a big missing element from the off-guard position. They've been teaching him PG in hopes of helping with that.

Gapare- It is all about his hands and handle with the ball. He was a turnover machine at times driving to the hoop. He has to learn to go up with two-hands and finish better. He missed so many layups and dunks by fumbling the ball out of bounds this season. He would have another 40-50 points this past year with just cleaner finishes. Also he has to figure out his corner three. He was shooting all of them flat as hell late in the year. He is actually capable of shooting threes despite what we saw on the court. He was 3-3 in the secret scrimmage from outside for example.

Sacko- Sacko has to work on his outside shot and being consistent there. He is very solid as a finisher and a tough body though undersized, if he can shoot it a little better outside that will get him on the court more. Assuming he sticks around.

Kelly- He has to stick his threes. I thought he made tremendous strides on defense and with his rebounding, but he is WAY too emotional on the court. I think that fuels a lot of his problems. He plays with too much emotion at times and gets frustrated IMO.

How long do you think Amir stays at USF? Hypothetically if Damon were to get a NBA job in the next few years, do you think Amir might be in the mix or do you think he will have been poached to a higher level by that point?

KQ- I think he will be picky about his next gig. He likes the set up in Tampa and they've embraced him. He is a good dude and I think he may stay there for a little bit so anything is possible. I think coming back to Atlanta would be very attractive as well. I think he wants to set up somewhere to raise his family right now as they've moved four times in less than 8 years.

Other than a few home and homes or MTE tournaments like the Diamond Head, most of the next season’s basketball schedule gets put together in the summer, right? The Big 12 notably gamed the NET the best they could and got rewarded for it. On the other side of it Pitt had one of the worst OOC schedules in the country. Couple of questions:

- Do you think the ACC should take a more active approach in helping teams put together schedules? For example, your projected bottom teams need to pile easy wins, middle teams need help gaming the metrics, top teams playing other top teams?

- Do you think they should have gone back to 18 games (like the ACC women play) and added two extra non-conf opportunities? With 18 teams starting next season, it would actually have worked out easily - play one designated rival twice, play everybody else once. 20 games seems to be hurting the ACC bubble teams a lot more than it is helping.

KQ- The 20 games thing was all about TV making more money off the ACC and them trying to squeeze every penny out of ESPN. I agree that it is hurting them in NET a little and they should have 18 games and then add maybe two marquee non-conference games as a requirement against one of the top 6 leagues, but with the ACC expanding that is now off the table and they are stuck at 20. I think it will help though with three new teams jumping in because you won't have as many repeats.

The schedules are put together now and over the summer other than things like the Diamond Head. I think GT is due for a trip to Europe so maybe Damon will do that this August. It would dovetail well into a trip to Ireland for me so I'm all for that.

- Over/under on the number of Rivals250 guys in the 2025 football class?

KQ- @Russell Johnson

- The defense will get into the top half of CFB in yards, points, and/or 3rd down% against because of what key factors?

KQ- So if that happens it will be because of solid tackling and improved pass rush. I think those two areas are the things that Santucci and his staff are going to push the hardest on. I have noticed how much attention he puts on run fits for example and steps with the LBs in practice. You can see the attention to detail that was missing IMO in the past.

Got an on the field gig. Familiar colors

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I've been doing some recon tonight and here is what I found out about the scrimmage today from valued sources.

This echoes a lot of what Coach Key said after the scrimmage but offers a little more detail.

The offensive dominated the first half of the scrimmage and a lot of that was how sound the operation was from the play call to getting lined up and that was the case with each of the QBs and offensive units and not just the ones. The twos were just as dominant. Haynes King and Zach Pyron both looked really good especially early on. King has complete control of the offense and was in sync from the jump and the OL was blocking well despite having some new pieces in without Keylan Rutledge (RG) or Corey Robinson (LT). Pyron out of out the pocket on the well-covered plays and extended things and made some nice plays stepping up in the pocket and running as well. Aaron Philo connected on a long TD pass as well.

The QBs were doing a much better job of progressing through their reads and getting to the third option at times and not locking in early (King's biggest issue last year).

After the offense got rolling, Key took a break and huddled the defense up for an extended period of time and then the D came out with their hair on fire for the second half of the scrimmage and it became more of an even match.

Zeek Biggers was a big part of that, he was very dominant up front. Key also shouted out Horace Lockett in his thing along with Zeek. Both have really benefitted from Jess Simpson as Key mentioned.

Tyler Santucci's main linebackers were Kyle Efford and Tren Tatum with the first group and Efford is rock solid. Tatum started out slow and then turned it on after Key's speech to the defense and was all over the field.

Clayton Powell-Lee and Rodney Shelley both made plays in the secondary.

On the ground, Evan Dickens had a pair of long touchdowns and was very impressive as was Anthony Carrie as Key mentioned.

Leo Blackburn just plays without fear and looks like he was never injured. He had two very nice catches and the on the second one he tried to lower the boom on a defender and truck that player. He was pulled out after that, no need for Leo to get hurt in the first scrimmage, but it goes to show he isn't holding back at all and is back.

Eric Singleton just gets open, he is really good when he is in single coverage and not bracketed.

Avery Boyd also had a big day and the staff are hoping to find a bigger role for him as they evolve some of the offense and get playmakers in space. He is a guy that Key also shouted out.

There were no lost fumbles and no interceptions. The only fumbles came late in the day on some meshes and just two fumbles which is pretty good for a first scrimmage. The OL had a lot of young guys getting major reps for the first time like Jameson Riggs at LT and Tana at center and there were no false starts or holds, just one penalty on the third team O upfront.

Key really pushed them today ahead of the day off on Sunday. It sounds like the team responded well to that test. Our media session was 1:45 later than it was originally scheduled for and they did move back the scrimmage start time, but they also went at it for a long time for 155 plays or whatever Key said up from a normal 100ish plays.

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Northeast (Ga.) S Keiland Miley
2027 Westside (Ga) ATH Jayshon Williams

Sorry for the delay, was driving most of the day and attempting to get to Florida with everyone healthy..

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Hope CBK files this away for the right time:

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April Fools, fools. 😂 😂

THE FLATS – Brad Kimble, a veteran athletic trainer that most recently served as assistant athletics director for sports, performance, health and wellness at Boise State, has been named associate athletics director for sports medicine at Georgia Tech.



In his role at Tech, Kimble will oversee the day-to-day operations of Georgia Tech sports medicine and serve as the head athletic trainer for the Yellow Jackets’ football program.



Kimble spent two seasons as the head football athletic trainer at Boise State (2022-23), where he helped the Broncos to the 2023 MountainWest Conference championship, a win in the 2022 Frisco Bowl and back-to-back Mountain West championship game appearances.



His two seasons at BSU followed five years as the head football athletic trainer at Rice. In addition to directing Rice’s football sports medicine efforts, he also served as an approved clinical instructor (ACI) in the University of Houston’s athletic training master’s program and directed and organized sports medicine coverage for Rice’s 2017 season opener versus Stanford in Sydney, Australia.



Prior to his five-year stint at Rice, Kimble was an assistant athletic trainer at Syracuse (2011-17) and associate athletic trainer at his alma mater, Baldwin Wallace (2006-11). His first stint in the Atlantic Coast Conference at Syracuse primarily included being the lead assistant athletic trainer for football, as well as serving as the head athletic trainer for field hockey and men’s soccer during his time with the Orange. At Baldwin Wallace, he was the head athletic trainer for football, men’s basketball, men’s tennis and women’s tennis.



Kimble’s experience also includes time as a graduate assistant at UAB (2003) and John Carroll (2005-06) and internships with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (minor league baseball – 2001-02), Cleveland Barons (minor league hockey – 2002-03), New York Jets (2003) and Cleveland Browns (2004). His graduate assistantship at John Carroll came as part of a graduate assistantship at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic, and also included working as an assistant athletic trainer at Mentor H.S. and a clinical athletic trainer at a physical therapy center.



Kimble has given multiple invited presentations over the course of his career and has been published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. He is a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association and the College Athletic Trainers Society and is certified by several professional organizations across wide range of athletic training specializations.



He graduated from Baldwin Wallace in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in athletic training and fitness management and earned a master’s in exercise science from Cleveland State in 2006.

April Fools’ Day, circa 1990, I meticulously swapped the sugar and the salt dispensers in our company’s break room.

Then, I sat in the back corner, and nearly choked trying to suppress laughing at the resulting chaos. Yes, I was THAT guy.

These days, I’m reminded of a mentor who advised me to take my work seriously, but not myself. Be humble, and take time to laugh at yourself - when warranted. Here, I poke some fun at my own quirkiness:

What if … I’m really NOT that “Southern”?

Here's my blog on the matter: URL: https://jreid.esourcecoach.com/what-if-im-really-not-that-southern/

Tip of the first game just under 10 minutes away, let’s use this thread throughout the next few weeks to discuss everything..

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Took an unofficial visit to GT on Sunday. The Jackets are trying to make a move for him.

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



Georgia Tech football wrapped up the second week of spring football with a scrimmage last Saturday in Bobby Dodd Stadium and by all accounts including Brent Key, he put the team through their paces and was pleased with the outcome. It is still early, but the foundational elements that Key has made a constant point of emphasis in his program appear to be sticking and resonating within the program. No one wants to win games at Georgia Tech more than Brent Key. No one expects more from his staff, players and support system than Brent Key, but ultimately the man holds himself the most accountable for the success and failure of his version of the Georgia Tech football program.

The offense should be good with 70% of the production returning and new pieces coming in like freshman running back Anthony Carrie or transfer tight end Jackson Hawes plus the return of a pair of injured receivers Chase Lane who basically around six quarters of healthy ball last year and Leo Blackburn who had zero with a second ACL injury. Seeing Leo run around healthy is a big thing and Lane showed flashes in his brief healthy playing time last year to take the pressure of All-Freshman WR Eric Singleton and the two returning slot receivers Malik Rutherford and Christian Leary. The O-line is back and healthy save for incoming starting right guard Keylan Rutledge who is recovering from a car accident-related foot injury. He will be back and help give Tech a likely 9-deep offensive line room or more come kickoff in Ireland against FSU.

New defensive line coach Jess Simpson and outside linebacker/rush coach Kyle Pope are earning rave reviews with Simpson's teaching having an early impact on veterans like Zeek Biggers, Horace Lockett and Makius Scott while Pope takes over an undermanned rush position with Kevin Harris and true freshmen Jordan Boyd as the lone full-time guys on scholarship at the moment at that spot. I expect the Jackets to be actively searching for additional rush ends in the portal post-spring to help take the load off Boyd who is raw, but very talented and Harris who has not been a full-time productive starter, but mostly a part-time starter and not as impactful as he would like.

Tyler Santucci has also injected new energy into the linebacker room that probably suffered from too much energy under Andrew Thacker and not enough under Kevin Sherrer. Santucci comes in somewhere in between those two with the coaching style of an old pro and also an understanding that he needs to tailor his system to the personnel and not ask Kyle Efford or Tren Tatum to do things they can't do or are not good at for the sake of a system. That has been the most interesting revelation so far of his addition to the staff and something that was desperately needed along with the development and expectations/standards for those linebackers to do their job and only their job at the highest level with proper technique. That was a huge issue over the years with the prior defense.

Looking at the secondary they have two veteran safeties back in Clayton Powell-Lee and LaMiles Brooks and then new faces or new options at the nickel like Omar Daniels who played some last year and transfer pickup Syeed Gibbs. Getting Powell-Lee and Brooks to return to their 2022 production will be a key aspect of the defense for Santucci and he will need help from backups like Taye Seymore as they aim to manage the workload better on the entire defense and not have guys play 70-80 snaps again regularly.

At the corner position, Rodney Shelley had a very nice scrimmage and they have a trio with Shelley, Ahmari Harvey who came on at the end of last season and Warren Burrell who all have good game experience under their belt but none have turned into top-level corners yet. The skills are there, but the production has to come with it and that will be interesting to watch.

The same man in charge of bringing up that group will handle special teams as well, Ricky Brumfield. He has a veteran group that should be one of the better special teams units in the country with the core four pieces, kicker, punter, snapper and kickoff specialist all back with starting experience plus several walk-ons on the team with some game experience.

Will this good momentum carry GT to a win in the opener? Who knows? That is a long way away, but right now things are going in the right direction, and using Coach Key's analogy from Saturday, the program has the bricks being laid down in the correct order to put up the walls for a future of success in the rebuild of Georgia Tech football.

Practice coverage will be Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday this week. GT switched the schedule for reasons unknown to me.

Brent Key opened his presser talking about recruiting and they've had more kids in already this spring than the entire last spring. He said that one day they had almost 300 kids and he was freaking out as they were getting to close to the field and there were too many people in the indoor and Don Hill-Eley his chief advisor reminded him that last year they had like 10 kids come on the same day so they should count their blessings that kids are interested in GT again.

They ran 155 plays today and he talked about how they are tearing down the Edge Building and getting ready to build the new Fanning Center and he said each year putting together the football team is like building a new building and you pour the footers and start to build block by block and if you don't do it correctly the exterior of the building won't endure and sometimes you have to start over to get the foundation correct otherwise all the pieces won't fit together. He said he feels like they have the pieces of a good football team but they need to build it the right way and everyone has to work collectively toward the same goal of laying that foundation correctly and spacing and putting the bricks together correctly. He joked he should've been a construction worker.

Key said they had a great group of recruits and the families of those recruits plus it was friends and family weekend at the scrimmage so they had lots of people watching including some of his former teammates. He said that Key Fox and Darryl Smith were both there and hung out with the LBs and Coach Santucci and were able to share some of their knowledge and experience with the LBs. He said it is great to see those connections.

Charlie Thomas was here and came over to chat with me. He has been trying to put on weight and is ready to surprise the NFL next season.

They did four moves the field starting at the -20 with the ones, twos and threes and in the eight series it was 7 TDs and a FG.

They did some situational football with eight series of 2nd and 3rd down play with whatever yardage to get and the defense really stepped up during that spot. He said there were some good plays by the ones with one-on-one tackles. He thought the defensive line did a nice job as the scrimmage went on of containing the QB after some early seepage and that was an issue last year and something they are harping on this year to avoid those QB runs. He thought Zeek Biggers and Horace Lockett did a nice job of handling their responsibility within the call and containing the QB.

They did eight series of short yardage and that is where he wants to build the toughness of this team and identity when you know you are going to run the ball and the defense has to stop it. He thought the O-line did a good job and the DL got some penetration and the RBs did a great job during that period and he said that Anthony Carrie and Evan Dickens really stood out during that along with walk-on Chad Alexander. He loves how Alexander plays and runs behind his pads and he was really impressed with the young RBs today.

They ran very vanilla defense with no blitzes just to let them play and the next scrimmage will have more defensive calls.

They ended with four series of move the field where they started in the +35 or 30 and tried to move into the red area. That was back and forth and things got a little sloppy at the end and pad level went up on both sides of the ball and there were some QB/RB exchange issues.

Ahmari Harvey showed up again on special teams with a blocked field goal and he should've blocked a second one. It was very close. He said it was great seeing how hard he was going at the end of a 140-150 plays of work. He said they need to sure up the blocking on the wings to keep Harvey from getting those blocks.

They have some guys banged up and some out, but that is normal for spring ball especially when you are as physical as they are on both sides of the ball.

They had 40 plays 40 and 40 not live of tackle football on Friday and then 155 today so he sent home a lot of tired puppies for Easter.

He said his goal is for each player to look in the mirror on Monday and ask themselves if they got better last week and what do I have to do to get better this week?

They had 26 ACC officials out there today doing training and they were able to answer questions from the players about calls and things like that so that was helpful feedback.

I asked Key about the newcomers and how they are coming along and how they fared in the scrimmage he said that Jameson Riggs started at LT with the ones today and played the entire scrimmage holding his own against a static defense (no blitzes or exotic calls). He will know more on him to watch.

He said that Carrie and Dickens who isn't a new comer, but still young both impressed him.

Jackson Hawes the TE is amazing ball catcher across the middle and a big body in the red area that can fall forward for you.

Tana Alo-Tupuola was running 2nd team center in the scrimmage (Gabe Fortson is banged up) and he has been impressed with him so far as well as Harrison Moore who was also running with the twos at guard.

Key said Leo Blackburn isn't a new player but he feels like a newcomer and it is so good to see him out there making plays and imposing his will on the defense.

He said that Warren Burrell and Syeed Gibbs have impressed him on the defensive side of the ball and Jackson Hamilton at LB has flashed but he didn't notice him as much today but he was not watching the LBs as much so he wasn't sure. He said they got to get off blocks better on the defensive side of the ball and continue to learn how to and develop how they use their hands.

He said he likes the LB group with Jackson, Kyle Efford, Tren Tatum and Tah'j Butler that was going today in the top four (EJ Lightsey is still out with an injury).

He said that Jordan Boyd is flashing on defense and he is very athletic and has a chance to be a good football player.

Key said that Santucci's defense is basically the same defense that GOL ran for years and years so he is very comfortable with what they are trying to do. He is a really impressed with what Jess Simpson and Kyle Pope are doing with the defensive line and Simpson is a phenomenal teacher and Tyler Santucci is like an old coach out there even though he is only 35.

Key said he likes the top 3 CBs they are running together right now, Rodney Shelley, Harvey and Burrell. Gibbs is playing nickel btw.

Key said the safeties are coming along and he wants to see more plays out of them. He said that Clayton Powell-Lee made a nice play on Eric Singleton in the open field with a tackle and he was very pleased with that as it shows what they are executing. He said that leadership piece needs to come from that group.

Key said that two freshmen QBs have a lot on their plate right now and they are playing catch up because even though Buster Faulkner has them installing from square one those veteran kids know and pick up everything much faster and they've got that learning curve to deal with. He joked that they open each first scrimmage with a freshman QB with a deep throw and both overthrew it.

Key said that Trent McKnight has done a great job of stepping into a tough situation just before spring ball getting hired. He said also everyone thinks they look alike and he is offended because he is older and fatter than Trent, but they are both from B-ham. He said that McKnight was honest with the kids from the jump that he is starting at square one and is learning this stuff as they are during install and getting caught up and they may have to help him with some things as they get comfortable with each other. He said McKnight has impressed him coaching from the bottom up meaning he coaches a walk-on just as hard as Eric Singleton or Malik Rutherford in that room. He said he has been impressed with the development they are seeing from guys like Avery Boyd and Chase Lane being back healthy. He said Zion Taylor is really talented and they are excited about him as well.

I asked about the helmet comms system and he said it has been pretty seamless and they are more curious about how it changes the pacing of the game during the season because unlike they NFL most teams don't huddle so you are still signaling plays for the other guys on the field and the QB has to process the call and some guys are more visual than auditory with processing information so that is a how thing too.

In case you missed it, I've been keeping the Ramblings thread updated with visitors from today here-

Russell's Ramblings, pres. by MyPerfectFranchise.net: A big weekend on the Flats on the diamond, recruiting trail​

The latest addition to the list for this weekend, LB Christian Gass, is a big one.

Gass and Taylor (also visiting this weekend) are two priority in-state targets. Santucci has identified his top guys and is pushing (hard) for them it seems.

More visitors from today coming in individual posts.

This thread will remain locked.

The demand for a Tech education and the resulting selectivity continue to blow me away:


59,760 applied
8,250 admitted
13.8% admission rate OVERALL
33% admission rate for Georgia residents
Estimated yield: 47.3% (admitted who attend)

Thanks to @John Garcia Jr. for the instant analysis.

"This is a banner commitment for Georgia Tech, from a prospect steadily on the rise. He is one who increased his impression at every turn, something we saw during the 2023 season and multiple times thus far in 2024 as well. Fuller can really get after the passer in a hurry, from multiple positions at that -- all valuable in the modern era.

What flashes most on tape is the snap quickness. He's engaging blockers while they're on their heels on many occasions, and he has a bag of tools to use thereafter. We see Fuller win with pure speed as much as he does with swim moves, clean rips and bounds from one gap to the next.

Perhaps the most impressive with Fuller's potential is that he's as productive as he is without the classic edge frame. However, his length allows him to mask a lot of the shortcomings associated with being built as more of a 'tweener' compared to most. As he fills out, the quality of his power and extension should combine even more effectively at the next level to help round out his game."

He IS Risen! Hope everyone has a great day.

Yellow Jacket Fam,

Somewhat shamelessly, I wanted to see if you would be willing to help a good friend of mine's family. They have their faith. They need prayers from many. And, they will certainly have some monetary needs for medical bills, etc. if you are so inclined. The tl;dr version is that a very good friend of mine (50 y/o) with whom I have a ton of memories is nearing the end of his battle with cancer and is not long for this world. While not the first classmate of mine to pass, he's the first in sort of our inner circle of friends for both my wife and I, and this is hitting hard. Thank you for listening. Story below…

He's in Hospice care right now after an approximately yearlong battle with colorectal cancer, and his departure from this Earth is imminent. For some background on his situation, at some point last year, he began having apparent symptoms of something being wrong. He began his diagnosis and treatment here in Augusta, and the doctors identified a growth they attempted to treat with chemo and radiation in order to minimize the size and potentially remove it. The treatment did not help. In fact, the growth was found to be larger post-treatment. The medical recommendation at that point was to perform radical surgery to remove the growth among other organs required for "normal" life. The initial surgery was performed here, and, while they did implement two (2) colostomy bags, the doctors backed out of the removal since it had attached to his bladder. He was referred to doctors at Emory. The next surgery actually happened pretty quickly compared to the first, and it was initially deemed successful. The growth was described as "the size of a small infant". With that behind him, he began his recovery and his continued adjustment to life being wholly different than before. At some point, he began to have discomfort and pain with "violent vomiting" and inability to pass anything. He was rushed back to Emory where he spent the better part of the last month or so with doctors trying to figure out what the problem was. After what his wife, Allison, described to me as "1 step forward and 10 steps back", they were informed that the cancer was back and that he did not have much time. This was Mon Mar 18. His wife told us this past weekend that they sort of tried to regroup upon the news and figure out how to spend his final days and weeks. His son Joseph is set to graduate from UGA on May 10 this year, and they obviously hoped he may be around for that. Masters is upon us and golf and ANGC/Masters history is one of his "things". Allison said they were also hoping to maybe at least get him to the course one last time even if in a wheelchair. Joseph told me on our visit this past weekend that he and his Dad had watched highlights of the 1986 Masters together where Jack brought the magic back one last time. Sadly, these plans were rendered null and void as they were further informed that "no, this thing is a matter of days not weeks." He came home via ambulance on Thu Mar 21. I happened to be traveling back home myself that day and received a text alerting his departure from Emory around the time I was on the downtown connector. While I knew it certainly was a longshot, I kept my eyes peeled hoping I would see the ambulance ahead of me or behind me so that I could selfishly get in line and "escort" him back home. Needless to say, I was disappointed as the text update was about an hour late.

Joey is one of my best friends from high school, and we share a ton of memories mainly from playing baseball, running with the same circle of friends, and trying to stay out of -and sometimes getting into- trouble. He went on to play college ball and eventually play in the Boston Red Sox organization in the minors as a pitcher. Once that dream settled down, he came back home to Augusta where he and Allison wed in 1998. They, my wife and I initially picked the same date for our respective weddings. We ended up marrying 2 weeks later, and we always joked that we "negotiated" the date. Hopefully needless to say, we have both been married happily for 25 years each and have enjoyed fun times together, sad times together and watched our kids grow older. Anyway, I could go on a good long while, but I've already made this long enough.

Our family absolutely loves his, and they are absolutely lifelong friends / family to us. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

(Mods: Please nuke if not appropriate)

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Fire away

This weekend is a big one for Georgia Tech’s efforts in the 2025 class.

With Spring Break looming for much of the state, several local recruits are set to visit schools they may not normally get the chance to see.

The same is taking place around the country, with Georgia Tech being a stop for several out of state recruits, such as new QB target Grady Adamson who was offered following his visit earlier this week.

For Brent Key and his staff, this means that this weekend is a chance to leave a lasting impression on several priority targets.

Among the expected group of visitors this weekend-

Four-star Sandy Creek CB Dalen Penson
Four-star Grayson DE Andre Fuller Jr
Four-star La. RB Jasper Parker
Stockbridge LB Chase Taylor
Four-star Ohio LB Grant Beerman
Coveted S.C. CB Cam Strong
Ala. DE Caleb Smith
Tenn. DT Jhrevious Hall
Newly-offered ELCA S Fenix Felton
No. 12 recruit in the 2026 class, Zelus Hicks from Carrollton (Ga.)
No. 50 overall recruit in the 2026 class, Shadarius Toodle from Cottage Hill (Ala.) Christian Academy

I’m not one to make guarantees or promises, and I’ve abandoned the FutureCast feature for this cycle, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Key closed on his first commit this weekend.

QUICK HITTERS:

The offer from GT to Alpharetta DL JQ Madison earlier this week was a big one.

“My hometown school wants me, that makes this offer way more important to me than a lot of others,” said Madison when talking to JOL. Jess Simpson gave him the offer. He plans to return again soon.

Georgia Tech is in the thick of things for Okla. QB Grady Adamson after offering earlier this week. Brent Key impressed both Adamson and his dad, and the two spent a good amount of time with him in his office prior to getting the news of the offer. A return visit could be in the works, but Adamson also has some other visits coming up.

New WR coach Trent McKnight did a great job earlier this week with Langston Hughes trackstar and WR Maurice Gleaton. When GT lost Crawford, Gleaton wasn’t sure where he stood on the board for the hometown Jackets, but he got the clarity he was hoping for and thoroughly enjoyed his time both with McKnight and at GT.

“I like the new WR coach, he’s a pretty cool guy, and is straight forward. The visit was a great experience.”

The combination of McKnight and close friend Eric Singleton are key factors here.

BC SERIES PREVIEW:

On paper, this BC team is one that Danny Hall’s bunch should not have much trouble with.

They don’t hit a lot of home runs, they don’t score an extraordinary amount of runs, and they strikeout a ton.

They’ve got three batters with an OPS over 1.000-

Nick Wang (.315/.394/.674) 27 RBI

Kyle Wolff (.348/.455/.629) 27 RBI

Cameron Leary (.338/.509/.713) 25 RBI, 8 HR

Leary seems to be the x-factor among the trio, leading the team in OBP and slugging. He is also the only regular for the Eagles that has more walks (27) than strikeouts (24)

Thursday’s starter for BC, Michael Farinelli, enters the weekend with a not-so-pretty 6.75 ERA, but the issue with Farinelli is more about his command than it is control. He’s missing his spots, and teams have made him pay for it.

He could only get one out in a start earlier this month against NC State, allowing 7 runs (4 earned) on 5 hits without a single strikeout.

His best starts of the season have been against Cal (4 IP, 0 ER with 7 K) and W&M (3 IP, 0 ER with 5 K)

If GT can get to him early, which I project they will, the Eagles are going to have a tough time finding their footing in Atlanta.

If they are passive at the plate like they were last weekend in Chapel Hill, the Eagles might steal one, or two, and could head out of Atlanta on Saturday with a series win.