Sports

Bulldog hype benefits UGA

Paul Dehner Jr.

ALBANY — The motivational tactics of Georgia coach Mark Richt made national headlines and propelled the Bulldogs to a breakout year that was supposed to be a stepping-stone campaign toward 2008.

While it invigorated his team to go 11-2 and march to a dominating Sugar Bowl win against Hawaii, it produced a recruiting class thrilled to jump on board of a program suddenly recognized as edgy.

“Right, wrong or indifferent, after Florida, there was a lot of hype,” recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner said Wednesday. “People were like ‘Whoa, I am into this.’ Then after the blackout, kids were like ‘I know I made the right decision.’ That’s society. Just the environment, our fans, everybody changed and our persona changed after that Florida game. When kids came here, they felt the renewed energy and spirit. People wanted to be a part of something.”

One of those was early enrollees was Ben Jones. The center from Centreville, Ala., already committed, but saw the attitude of those around him change toward his decision.

“That helped a lot,” Jones said of last season. “At first all my buddies were big Alabama fans. But as the year went on they said, ‘Oh, I like Georgia now,’ and were telling me I made the right choice.”

HARDLY KNEW YA’

Dwayne Allen just couldn’t make up his mind. On Wednesday, he left Georgia hanging.

Allen, a star tight end from Terry Sanford High (N.C.) called a press conference Monday to announce his commitment to the Bulldogs.

Two days later, his letter of intent never came as he decided to attend Clemson.

It was the sole odd moment on a day that went as otherwise expected.

Georgia coach Mark Richt couldn’t speak directly about the Rivals.com four-star recruit, but could utter some disappointment in how the process evolved.

“I would have done some things differently,” he said.

The 6-foot-4, 243-pound Allen also was recruited by Florida State.

PROJECT WILSON

Two years ago, there was likely thought Georgia Tech signee Antonio Wilson could play for Yellow Jackets next year. But he would have been in shorts and a jersey for coach Paul Hewitt and the basketball team.

A three-year star for a basketball team that won the state championship in 2006, Wilson decided to play football for the first time last year. There was good news and bad news. The bad was Wright was injured just four games into the season. The good? It was quite a four-game stint.

He racked up 25 tackles and 11 sacks in the contests playing defensive end.

The 6-foot-6, 220-pounder now is fully recovered and among one of the most intriguing athletic prospects of the Yellow Jackets’ class.

“He is tall and rangy,” Tech recruiting coordinator Giff Smith said. “He has a solid ability to rush the passer. We think he can develop into something.”

WELCOME BACK

A familiar face returned to the Bulldogs program when Georgia announced the re-arrival of Akeem Hebron A 6-1, 225-pound linebacker, Hebron originally red-shirted with the Bulldogs in 2006. He was a Parade All-American coming out of Good Counsel High (Md.).

Instead of returning last season, he attended Georgia Military College, where he registered 25.5 tackles, three for a loss, two sacks and a forced fumble. The GMC defense was ranked fourth nationally.

He was asked to rejoin the team and was the final member of the 24-player contingent.

ANOTHER NICE FIT

The touches of Paul Johnson’s option offense attack were stamped across his class, but none more clearly than Quentin Sims from Cincinnati Colerain.

Sims, one of two Ohio signees, played nearly every position on offense during his three years on varsity.

Recruited as a lanky receiver at 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, he caught 24 passes out of an option offense, but he ran 75 times for 764 yards for a team that finished ranked No. 14 nationally.

He even took over at quarterback during the playoffs due to injury. He chose Tech over Virginia.

FACING THE NATION

Richt spent some time meeting with a crowd which gathered during the early morning as the commitment letters began rolling in Wednesday. Some people came from as far as 300 miles away for the annual event.

And the coach couldn’t help but talk about how well the program’s running right now.

“We are rolling into year eight,” he said of his eighth season as coach. “It is hard to be rolling into year eight and have everybody really jacked up about your program. We are not having a whole lot of complaints. Right now it seems like the overwhelming majority of Bulldog Nation is excited. That is what you hope for with a program; that is what sells.”

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