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Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Felton deserves more time to fix inherited mess
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
In the 13 years that have passed since Hugh Durham was nudged out the door, Georgia’s basketball program can be accused of being a lot of things. Mundane is not one of them.
Tubby Smith stayed for two seasons, then left for something better. Ron Jirsa stayed for two seasons, then left when they changed the locks. Jim Harrick stayed for four seasons, then was paged back to the netherworld.
Dennis Felton didn’t merely enter a bad situation when he was hired in 2003. He was handed a plot of land in Kabul and asked to turn it into a competitive resort property as soon as humanly possible.
Sorry. I realize this may not jibe with the win-now mentality that has smothered major college athletics. But when a coach largely spends his first three seasons trying to scrub out the grease spot left by his predecessor, five years isn’t enough to build Pompeii.
Or even a Holiday Inn.
Dennis Felton deserves another year.
Whether Dennis Felton gets another year is another matter.
“I find it bizarre that the question is even being asked,” Felton said when asked about his tenuous job security. “It’s like, ‘What do I say?’ “
He tried to stay calm. Staying calm can be difficult when you take a team from eight wins in year two to 15 in year three to 19 in year four (despite losing arguably their best player, Mike Mercer, for the last 10 games).
It’s hard to stay calm when season five implodes and suddenly you’re viewed as flotsam.
“If I were to be fired, I can tell you one thing for sure: It’s not because we’re not doing things the right way,” Felton said. “It’s not because our players don’t represent our university with class and dignity. It’s not because we’re not getting it done in the class. I mean, we’re getting it done on levels academically that Georgia basketball probably hasn’t seen since the ’60s.”
Georgia’s tip-off in the SEC tournament is 9:45 p.m. So with a loss, Felton’s tenure could end around midnight. It’s another year without an NCAA tournament berth. Such bottom lines upset the torch-bearing villagers in Athens, who otherwise have nothing to obsess about until spring football.
Publicly, Georgia athletics director Damon Evans says that his mind isn’t made up. You wonder. Circumstances notwithstanding, Evans sees that wins are down and fan apathy is up. He sees what Tennessee has done with its hoops program. He sees a sparkling new $30 million practice facility connected to Stegeman Coliseum, and maybe wants a payoff.
The fact that Felton is a good coach and an even better man doesn’t preclude the possibility that he may get squashed. It’s the reality of sports.
“I’m going to give you my standard response: I’m going to evaluate everything when the season is over,” Evans said Wednesday by phone.
His criteria?
“I would rather not get specific. All I can say is there’s a lot that goes into managing a major basketball program at the University of Georgia. There are a lot of factors other than just wins and losses. There are a lot of things that have a direct impact on your success on and off the court. Believe me when I say that I am looking at everything in totality.”
More the reason to give Felton another year.
He had a track record for success at Western Kentucky. He inherited a mess and probation at Georgia. He turned things around and likely had the Dogs headed for the NCAA tournament last year until Mercer’s knee injury.
This should have been a very good season. But it was like somebody stuck a pin in an Uga voodoo doll. Mercer and Takais Brown were among three players suspended for not attending tutoring sessions (eventually they were kicked off the team). Billy Humphrey missed three games for underage consumption of alcohol. Two freshmen, Chris Barnes and Jeremy Jacob, were injured. Boom goes the season. Georgia enters tonight having lost 11 of its past 13.
Now, so many want to pull the chute. Why? Felton’s last recruiting class was strong. He has shown he can coach. He deserves a chance to work with next year’s roster, amid somewhat normal circumstances.
It doesn’t mean he’s going to get it.
Permalink | Comments (115) | Post your comment | Categories: Jeff Schultz, UGA / SEC
Hansbrough honors go overboard
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
OK. This settles it. NCAA honcho Myles Brand, the president of the United States, the czar of the solar system and everybody else with a little juice should force all universities to adopt the Georgia Tech rule when it comes to the retirement of an athlete’s number.
Tech’s rule? Graduate first, and then we’ll consider giving you a call.
Are you listening, North Carolina officials? I’m just trying to keep you from embarrassing yourselves again. I mean, did you really say you’re retiring Tyler Hansbrough’s number?
That’s awful for several reasons. We needn’t go beyond this: Hansbrough hasn’t finished his junior season. In fact, the Tar Heels haven’t finished their regular season, period.
They have the ACC Tournament this weekend and the start of March Madness after that. Even so, university officials already have announced the hanging of Hansbrough’s jersey with their basketball elite of Jordan, Worthy and Ford.
Guess they’ll name the floor of the Dean Dome after Hansbrough, too. Anything is possible with these suddenly knee-jerk leaders of Carolina Blue.
No question, Hansbrough deserves to have his North Carolina number retired someday. He just became a rare unanimous choice for ACC Player of the Year. Under North Carolina guidelines, the winner of a national player of the year award —which is what Hansbrough did — automatically gets your number retired. Hansbrough also captured a third straight game against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, home of the Tar Heels’ dreaded rivals.
It’s just that Tech has it right: No retirement of an athlete’s number with the Jackets until he or she holds a diploma instead of a ball or something.
And no exceptions.
Not for Kenny Anderson, Stephon Marbury, Dennis Scott.
Nobody.
Too bad Tech has higher standards than many of its colleagues, especially those in Chapel Hill.
Permalink | Comments (127) | Post your comment | Categories: Quick Hit, Terence Moore
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