Transfers

This is not Georgia related, necessarily, but Jon Rothstein hits on one of my biggest pet peeves:

5. Will the NCAA officially change the transfer rules prior to the start of fall practice?

I've repeated over the past few years that all transfers need to sit a year if they change schools and don't be surprised if you see that partially come to fruition in some form prior to next season. Multiple sources told CBSSports.com that there was a strong chance that the NCAA was going to pass a rule prior to the start of practice next year that would no longer allow transfers to apply for waivers so they could become immediately eligible without sitting out a full season.

However, it doesn't benefit college basketball to constantly have players changing programs and looking for waivers to be immediately eligible. Let's hope the NCAA gets it right and forces any player who transfers to sit out a year. Sources also told CBSSports.com that the only way a player would likely be immediately eligible was if he graduated and had a fifth year of eligibility. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out.

I could not disagree with Rothstein more.  There are very legitimate reasons a player may want or need to transfer schools, and there are plenty of things that "don't benefit college basketball" a lot more than the transfer rules.

How about we leave it up to the coach and the institution from which the player is transferring?  If the coach will sign off on the transfer, and the school will release the player from his scholarship, let him go.  Would some people try to abuse the system?  Of course.  But that is life.

As an alternative, maybe we make coaches sit out a year if they take another job before completing the terms of their contract?

I kid, of course, but more and more, the NCAA is being exposed as an institution that does not have the players' best interest in mind.

Am I way off base here?

h/t Jon Rothstein

More good news

The good news just keeps rolling in for Georgia fans.  It is getting a little eerie, no?

This time, it is out of Knoxville:

Jarnell Stokes is bypassing his senior season at Tennessee to enter the NBA draft.

Stokes, a 6-foot-8, 260-pound forward, confirmed Friday at a news conference that he has decided to begin his pro career. The news was first reported by CBSSports.com.

First of all, my congratulation to the young man.  It will be a challenging road for him, as his build leaves him as something of a tweener.  However, he has game, and I suspect he will find a way to contribute to whatever team takes a flier on him.

Second of all, good riddance.  Stokes was all but unguardable when the Dawgs went to Knoxville this past season.  We were never more outmatched than when the opponent had a real post presence.  Hopefully his subtraction, plus the addition of our two freshman, can start to swing that pendulum back towards the middle. 

h/t ESPN

SEC files

File this one under "it could be worse" if you're a Georgia basketball fan:

A former Missouri player is seeking a protection order against Zach Price, who remains suspended from the team after being arrested twice for allegedly assaulting his roommate and a woman.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reported Wednesday that Earnest Ross filed the petition in Boone County Circuit Court on April 2. Price was arrested twice the next day after reportedly first ramming his car into another vehicle and then in a later encounter with the pair. Police say he hit his male roommate in the face then pushed the woman to the ground.

The restraining order request identifies Ross as the roommate and his girlfriend as the other victim.

Hey, we got problems.  But we don't got Missouri problems.

h/t ESPN

Stats, stats, stats

So we embark on another long summer with no college basketball, which means very little news, which means plenty of time to kill over at www.statsheet.com/mcb.  Or, you know...go outside and stuff...your choice...

What I wanted to know today was any area where Georgia was really terrible this past season.  I certainly know the team well, and I probably could have guessed, but the stats don't lie.  Georgia's national rank in assists/assists per game/assist to turnover ratio?  311/331/330 respectively.  That is out of 351.  Let that sink in.

Georgia assisted on 341/767 made field goals.  How much does it matter?  A lot, it seems.  There was only one tournament team with fewer assists per game than Georgia:  Nebraska.  After that, you have to move up about 80 slots to find the next one:  Colorado (yeah, those teams have something else in common, but let's move on).

Is this something Georgia should improve on next season?  Absolutely.  Charles Mann is one of the more seasoned point guards returning in the SEC next year.  It is time for him to turn drive-and-score into drive-and-kick.  An abundance of 3-point threats (Gaines, Frazier, and Djurisic at least) should be available to cash in.  We will talk more this summer about what else Charles needs to do to elevate his game, but the irony is that drive-and-kick will also open up more drive-and-score.  It should help cut down on the turnovers, too.  The circle of life.

Way-too-early Top 25

Eamonn Brennan puts out the first of many way-too-early Top 25 rankings.

Not to spoil the surprise, but Georgia didn't make the list.  They also didn't make the 15 additional teams Brennan believes could crack the top 25 in the first month of the season.

I personally have no problem with that.  If Georgia had been included in those 15 teams, I would have nodded my head in tentative agreement, but I am not at all offended that they weren't included.  I personally think Georgia is likely to finish somewhere in the 40-50 range, but the potential is certainly there for a borderline top 25 club.  Who knows?

A few notes of interest:

1. He expects Kentucky and Florida to reload.  No surprise there, but I think Kentucky needs to fall a few spots once a few of those freshman declare for the NBA, and Florida at 8 seems really high considering what they are losing.
2. Tennessee makes the "other 15 to watch list," and that rounds out the SEC's representation in what is essentially Brennan's top 40.  The point?  Expect the SEC to remain top-heavy for at least one more year.
3. Gonzaga checks in at #15, and could be an early season opponent depending on how the NIT Season Tip-Off shakes out.

h/t ESPN

When God is for you

The AJC has some more details surrounding the recruitment of Yante Maten:

Although Maten has been contacted by other colleges this week – and the courtship will likely continue until he officially signs his UGA papers next Wednesday — his mother told the AJC that the Bulldogs have nothing to worry about.

“Yante remains faithful to God, and because God told us to go Georgia, he will remain faithful to God because that’s what God said to do,” said Maten’s mother, Toiya Paige. “He could have chosen any school but he decided to go where he was told to go. And he remains obedient to that.”

Sounds like it's time for Daniel Giddens and Jaylen Brown to start praying.

Seriously, though, quotes like this should get you excited:

 “Georgia won the lottery and doesn’t realize it yet. He took our team on his back and carried us to the state finals in Michigan, and we weren’t even supposed to be there. We’re a blue-ribbon school where we produce academic scholars, not basketball players or football players. What Yante did for (our high school) is awesome.”

I also wouldn't worry too much about the star rating.  Yante himself realized he had not lived up to his potential before his senior season.  That's why he didn't commit in the early signing period.  Sure enough, he had a monster year, and offers from powerhouse schools like Indiana and Michigan State started to show up.

Oh, and how about one more tidbit?  Maten's mother attended Michigan State.

Is it proof that the tides have turned on Georgia recruiting?  Not necessarily.  That remains to be seen with the all-important class of 2015.   It is a big win though, and the more I read about this young man, the more excited I am to see him in red and black.

h/t AJC

Hope

As the University of Connecticut men cut down the nets in Texas, they usher in an off-season that brings with it emotion.  Jealousy?  Frustration?  Apathy?  Perhaps.  But also hope.

Always hope.

Hope is the currency of the sports fan, and it is the drug of the Georgia basketball fan.

A McDonald's All-American?  Hope.

KCP is coming back?  Hope.

Tony Parker is transferring?  Hope.

All but one of our players is returning?  Hope.

I remember the night the Tony Parker rumors heated up.  KCP had not yet announced that he would be leaving.  I was beaming.  I told my wife, "Hey, if this happens, we are going to be really, really good."  I knew I shouldn't get my hopes up, but as sports fans, we have no choice.  There is always hope.

So here we are, hopeful again.  Georgia has some nice pieces.  The SEC is ripe for the picking.  Marcus Thornton is healthy.  J.J. Frazier is plucky.  Fred Iduwe is tall.  Kenny Gaines is probably still hot.

I am not warning you against hope.  I am asking you to embrace it.  Life is too short otherwise.  Georgia may not have the biggest arena, or the most butts in the seats, or the endless tradition, but like every fan base, we have all summer to dream.

But of course, you don't need that message.  That's why you're here.  That's why you'll be looking all summer for news.  Tidbits.  Anything from Athens.  That's why your nerves will kick up in September.  That's why you'll pull the schedule up every day in October.  That's why you'll be in your seat in November.  Because you have hope, whether you like it or not.

You and me both.

Go Dawgs.