UGA blog finds new home
Morning all. As I’ve said a couple of times this week, we’re converting this blog over to a WordPress platform and it will be a permanent move the first of next week.
Those of you who are regulars probably know that I’m not what you’d call techno-wizard when it comes to these things. But from what I understand the technology offered in this new format should make the blogging and commenting experience better for all. Of course, I’ll be learning as we go along, too. But I’m hoping to provide more pictures and video and things like that which should bring the blog more to life.
Of course, this blog is nothing without all you guys so I want to heartily invite (read: beg) you to come over to the new site by CLICKING HERE ON THE NEW ADDRESS and save it in your browsers. As of Monday, Feb. 23rd, this will be the permanent home of the UGA blog you so love or, in the case of some of you, love to loathe. If you’d prefer to copy and paste or just memorize, the new address is: http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/.
See at the new place!
AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2009 > February > 02 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USDurham believes Georgia’s “a great job”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Had a great conversation with Hugh Durham over the weekend. Surely everybody remembers Georgia’s basketball coach of 17 years. He’s living comfortably in retirement these days, splitting time between homes in Boone, N.C., and Jacksonville, Fla. He’s in Florida this time of year, of course, and was getting ready to hit the links shortly after I called him. Poor Hugh.
Do you realize that since Durham was fired in 1995, Georgia will have had six coaches by the time Damon Evans hires Dennis Felton’s successor sometime in the next six weeks? The last five were Tubby Smith, Ron Jirsa, Jim Harrick, Felton and interim coach Pete Herrmann. With the exception of Herrmann, on whom the book is still out, only Smith could be considered a success.
Anyway, couple of things from Durham: (1) He still loves Georgia. Said the Bulldogs and his alma mater Florida State are the only two teams he truly roots for. Said he follows the Dogs very closely. (2) Durham said he thought Felton was a decent coach but might not have embraced the Georgia people as well as he could have. When times got tough Feltyon didn’t have enough folks standing up for him. (3) A lot of people think Georgia is a tough job, hard to recruit to. Durham believes Georgia is not only a good job, which it was when he had it, but “a great job.” He said it still has its unique set of obstacles to negotiate but, with Stegeman fixed up like it is these days and the $30 million practice facility, there should be nothing holding them back. (4) Said he likes Bob Knight and thinks he would create a nice buzz for Georgia but he doesn’t believe it’s what’s best for the Bulldogs in the long run. (5) Of the candidates we discussed Anthony Grant seemed to be the only one he was real enamored with but he didn’t want rate candidates, not right now anyway. (6) No, Hugh’s not applying… .
— Speaking of “Herrmann’s Hounds” (see how I just slipped that in there?), they’ll be looking for their first win in more than a month — and first under Herrmann — Wednesday against LSU. That’ll be another toughie. I’ll be interested in seeing what kind of support the team gets back home post-Felton… .
— By the way, take this for what it’s worth but a person I know that spends a bunch of time in the Coliseum Training Facility said more noise hsa been coming out of the men’s practice gym in the last few days than had been heard in there the last few years… .
— What else is going on this week? Oh, yeah, I think something’s happening with football recruiting. But you’re probably not interested in that… .
— OK, not to steal Michael Carvell’s thunder (he’s our in-house recruiting guru), but I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. The Dogs will get DB Greg Reid and TE Orson Charles and some wide receiver from somewhere not named Marlon Brown. So there, now you can just relax until signing day.
— In case you hadn’t guessed, those were guesses… .
— Another ring for Hines Ward. You gotta like that… .
Tell me what you want to know this week and I’ll try to get you an answer.
Permalink | Comments (38) | Post your comment | Categories: Football and basketball
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Comments
By JB
February 2, 2009 7:48 AM | Link to this
I certianly don’t get the buzz with Knight. He’s an a* and not a guy that will be here for long. Go pay one of the up and comers, a chunk, and get this thing where it should be.
HBTD!!!
By bill
February 2, 2009 8:28 AM | Link to this
I agree with JB, though I will say thanks to Knight for throwing his name into the ring. If nothing else it at least gives the job some added credibility, which is nice.
I will say this. Knight would win here, but it may not end well and it wouldn’t last very long. (By win I don’t mean National Titles, but he’d win about 20 games per year and get to the tourney, perhaps even with the current talent level.)
Sean Miller and Jeff Capel are the top targets for me followed by Grant and Stevens (Butler).
By Ted Striker
February 2, 2009 8:50 AM | Link to this
As good as Knight is at coaching, it’s not his first love. That would be himself.
By Thomas
February 2, 2009 8:56 AM | Link to this
Great story. Love Coach Durham. We should bring him back and name the court after him. But that would stick in Adam’s craw too much as he wants everything named in his honor when he leaves. How bout the Michael Adams urinals in the Butts-Mehre building? But back to Durham -he’s absolutely right. Not only could Felton not keep or recruit players - he really came in with a chip on his shoulder. I think he felt there was something to prove because he was an “outsider.” Guess he didn’t notice the Tubby Smith run. Dr. Thomas Johnson Class of ‘74
By Chris
February 2, 2009 9:01 AM | Link to this
Tubby! Tubby! Tubby!
By ET
February 2, 2009 9:09 AM | Link to this
Didn’t Bobby Knight walk out on Texas Tech in the middle of the season and leave the team to his son? Why in the world would UGA even consider hiring him after that.
Go young like South Carolina just did with Horne. They are in first place in the sec east his first year. Old guys can’t relate to these young players. Trust me I’m 54 and don’t get it either. Go Young
By Geaux Tigers
February 2, 2009 9:38 AM | Link to this
It doesn’t matter who UGA gets as a coach. Your basketball team will always be the joke of the SEC. Yes I said joke, they pulled an SEC Tournment championship out of your @ss last year and got bounced in the first round by a purely crappy team.
LSU will run your little puppies out of that thing you call a gym up there in athens.
GEAUX TIGERS!!!!!!!!
By tony
February 2, 2009 9:40 AM | Link to this
all u no brainers out there who are against coach knight coming to ga, go jump in a lake some where! yall are obsessed with lossing and don’t no whats best for you. hire coach knight NOW!
By tj
February 2, 2009 10:23 AM | Link to this
Geaux Tigers I guess like we ran you guys out of your football stadium this past fall. Bobby Knight would bring added exposure to the UGA basketball program, something UGA needs. We would finally get to watch UGA basketball on T.V. . We need a coach that will keep the state’s top basketball talent in state like CMR has done with the football program.
By St. bernard
February 2, 2009 10:45 AM | Link to this
Please name the last big name recruit to play for Knight. End of story.
By 82DAWG
February 2, 2009 10:53 AM | Link to this
If Knight came in for three years (or so) and got the program winning and fans excited again, it would be easier to get a good young coach to take it from there. It would not require them to start from square one and try to rally support and create wins in a mausoleum. Knight at UGA would fill up the coliseum with fans and excitement right away.
By Michael Scharff
February 2, 2009 12:21 PM | Link to this
I realize there’s lots of baggage with it, but I think hiring Coach Knight would be a HUGE shot in the arm for the basketball program at this time.
By dave
February 2, 2009 12:59 PM | Link to this
Who needs big name recruits who might not be around 2 years if you can coach up the others into consistent 20 wins teams. Big TEAM little me. Bobby can!
By ThaDawgdude
February 2, 2009 2:17 PM | Link to this
82DAWG said it! There are always going to be good up and coming coaches. There is hardly ever a guy like Bob Knight. Take the bad with the good and make this job worth taking 3 or 4 years from now. We don’t have to have great recruiting to win with Knight. We need to immediately establish consistent winning and recruiting. Once the ball is rolling it will be a much more favorable position to bring in a younger guy to add long term success. However, if the absolute right young long term guy is there now, go ahead and get him. But how do you really know who thats supposed to be. Hopefully the powers that be do if they’re not going to hire Knight or Tubby.
By gdawginkalamazoo
February 2, 2009 3:35 PM | Link to this
I don’t know. Bama brought in Saban and that seemed to work at least for a year anyway. Bolt down the chairs, teach the players how to break choke holds and speak like a sailor then bring in Bobby. Worth a shot. What do we have to lose? The reputation of our basketball tradition? Hahahaha. Would be great press and Dicky Vitale would be talking UGA basketball constantly? Marketing coup. The only downside would be him not winning. Then it would be “if Knight can’t win there nobody can”.
God bless Hugh Durham. Class act.
By virgilshouse
February 2, 2009 3:41 PM | Link to this
xavier was a good team
By quaildawg
February 2, 2009 3:53 PM | Link to this
The first step in “rebuilding” (if you could really ever consider UGA Basketball relevant) UGA’s basketball team is to garner some media attention to get it on the map and the radar of any prospect. Knight would do that and more. No one can argue his success (maybe some of his tactics) and the hard nose, disciplined style of play. I feel the big difference with UGA and TX Tech is the talent pool that is available in GA vs. TX from which he could recruit from. If you could get #’s 11-20 in GA (you wouldn’t even have to get the top 10) night in night out you would be competitive. If he gave you 10 years it would go a long way in putting UGA at the forefront for decades to come. I would be willing to bet that if Knight were hired and then tickets were put on sale that within a week season tickets would be sold out!!! To heck with what the scribes like Bradley think the bottomline is putting fannies in the seats and a good product on the floor and Knight would do both better than any other candidate in America. I guarantee he would create more buzz than Anthony Grant or any of the other candidates the AJC has mentioned (save for Lon Kruger)
By SEC Football
February 2, 2009 4:06 PM | Link to this
Chip, you need to handle UGA recruiting also. Not enough information on UGA recruiting. What is on stays for a week or just changes the format after a couple of days. There are to many in home visits that we do not hear about in the AJC but the recruiting services have. Have someone dedicated to each school UGA and Tech where we can get current updates.
By Jim Doanan as in Doans Pills
February 2, 2009 4:18 PM | Link to this
Maybe we should hire Knight and get him to also inspire the football team to get mean on defense. Fire Willie and Hire Knight today!!!!!!
By el cid 1980
February 2, 2009 4:24 PM | Link to this
DEAR UGA, PLEASE DONT HIRE A TYRANT AND EGOMANIAC IN THE CHILDISH LITTLE BOBBY KNIGHT. HE NEVER HAS GOTTEN OVER HIS MOMMY MAKING HIM CLEAN UP HIS ROOM WHEN HE THREW HIS FIRST TEMPER TANTRUM. HE IS A FAIR COACH IN COLLEGE, BUT ABSOLUTELY NOT THE KIND OF COACH GEORGIA NEEDS TO GET A PROGRAM GOING. IF HE COACHED A PRO TEAM THEY WOULD PUNCH HIS LIGHTS OUT AND LAUGH AT HIM. HE HARRASSES AND BERATES HIS PLAYERS AND IS NOT A ROLE MODEL. HE IS ABUSIVE AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN ARRESTED FOR ASSALTING PLAYERS ON A NUMBER OF OCCATIONS. WE DONT NEED A DONKEY TO GO WITH THE HOLE WE NEED TO FILL IN A COACHING CHANGE.
SECONDLY PLEASE DAWG NATION DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE BLING BLING, TATTOOED, GOLD TEETH URCHINS YOU ARE CALLING COLLEGE STUDENT BASKETBALL ATHLETES, AND RECRUIT SOMEONE WITH DISIPLINE AND AT LEAST MIND ENOUGH TO PASS IN COLLEGE. NEARLY 70% OF ALL UGA MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM IN THE PAST FEW YEARS HAS NOT GRADUATED!! MOST OF THESE PEOPLE CAN BARELY UTTER A CORRECT SENTANCE WITH OUT THE THE USE OF “DUH”, “ITS LIKE DIS”, “WHAT IT IS IS DIS”, ECT. COACHES SHOULD BE ASHAMED IN TAKING ADVANTAGE OF DISPLACED UNDERACHIEVING ATHLETICALLY INCLINED INDIVIDUALS WHOM THEY USE TO MERELY “WIN THE GAME” AND NOTCH THEMSELVES (THE COACHES) A PLACE IN THE ANNALS OF “GREATNESS” WHILE THE SUFFERING FORMER ATHLETE IS DOING MENIAL LABOR AND OR UNEMPLOYED WITH NO COLLEGE DEGREE AND NO SUPPORT AT ALL.
By BAMA STAN
February 2, 2009 4:42 PM | Link to this
31-0 at the half?
Both UGA and Bama roundball is in sad state of affairs.
Agree with Coach Durham - Knight = short term buzz - but not a long term program. Interesting to see what UGA will do.
ROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By Atlanta Gator
February 2, 2009 4:52 PM | Link to this
Bobby Knight? Really? He would certainly get the Dawgs above .500 in short order, but at what cost? Bobby is old school, and he has no problem “getting a little physical” with his players (or the referees). He’s a good on the court coach, and he has a relatively high graduation rate, but controversy follows him wherever he coaches (indiana, Texas Tech, Pan American Games, Olympics). If hired by UGA, his career would predictably end in a “Woody Hayes” moment of fiery controversy.
UGA desperately needs someone who can make his name in Athens, and then stay to make it “his program.” UGA does not need an end-of-his-career retread. An outstanding athletic program deserves a (future) great basketball coach.
By SlimG
February 2, 2009 5:46 PM | Link to this
2008 SEC Champions! Nobody else can make that claim.
By route66
February 2, 2009 7:10 PM | Link to this
Maybe we can bring in Coach Knight in a dual role.Head bb coach and then move over to the football field as DC.
By Diggity Dawg
February 2, 2009 8:47 PM | Link to this
Durham was coach when I was at UGA, and it was great. Several post-season appearances IN A ROW, and you felt like the Dawgs were in most every game. I’ll never forget one game against Florida that got real chippy. Dawgs were up by about 10 late, and people (students mostly) were throwing crap at the Gators. The refs stopped the game, and Hugh grabbed the mic and started laying into the crowd. Still don’t know exactly what he said as his voice shot through about three differnt octaves. But he got a huge cheer, and the Dawgs won, so all was well.
By jeff grady
February 2, 2009 8:49 PM | Link to this
If UNC is a 10 in BB and a 6 in FB, and UGA is a 9 in FF and a 4.5 in BB. Using the same scale and given the direction that UNC’s FB program is heading and UGA’s BB program is heading, what do you see as the potential for UGA BB (1 - 10) and UNC FB (1-10)? The answer should project which school potentially has the best combined program.
By jeff grady
February 2, 2009 8:51 PM | Link to this
If UNC is a 10 in BB and a 6 in FB, and UGA is a 9 in FF and a 4.5 in BB. Using the same scale and given the direction that UNC’s FB program is heading and UGA’s BB program is heading, what do you see as the potential for UGA BB (1 - 10) and UNC FB (1-10)? The answer should project which school potentially has the best combined program.
By Rabun Dawg
February 2, 2009 9:02 PM | Link to this
Atlanta Gator, I agree with you totally. What UGA needs is Billy D.!!( yea, I know you won’t give him up). We need someone like Jeff Capel who has Oklahoma rolling at present,so why not go after him. UGA is pretty good in most all sports and no reason we can’t be more competitive in roundball. While coach Knight would no doubt bring attention to the program, not what needed for the long haul. I question whether he can really relate to today’s athletes, and better yet, could they relate to him? And to Geaux Tigers, I do not think that you could call Xavier a crappy team, they are very competitive every year.
By AltamahaDawg
February 2, 2009 9:28 PM | Link to this
Is it possible to cover a story about what somebody said, about what somebody thought, somebody might do, if somebody were interested, in any more detail? A story about how UGA has not called Coach Knight 6 days into the search. Oh My!
By Dawg MD
February 2, 2009 10:20 PM | Link to this
Hope D Evans will talk seriously with Knight. He would definitely be a shot in the arm for the program. No worries about NCAA probation there. He could be there 4-8 years and possibly groom a coach to take over. How many years has anyone else lasted? The program would not be left bare when he left and as Dickie V states it would be instant credibility! He has always left a program far better off when he left it than when he arrived.
Just ask his former players about him. The media has always been overblown because he’s his own man. Our admin won’t talk with him because they want someone who will always be under their thumb. If they are truly interested in the BB program, the student athletes, and winning the right way, they have to talk seriously with him. And they should do it BEFORE they pay an enormous sum to a search committee.
Whatever happens, we owe him a favor for mentioning us which already has made us more credible. Even our fans have this defeatist attitude feeling that no one would consider us. Well the winningest men’s BB coach of all time just did!
Thanks and Go Dawgs!
By Really?
February 2, 2009 10:41 PM | Link to this
El cid- your 2nd paragragh sounds like a plead for CBK now. That is why we need him. And are you accusing any UGA BB coach of using these athletes to win and glorify themselves? Didn’t realize our BB program had been that successful.
Tampa- if you knew who would be the next Coach K or Coach Rupp before he was discovered I would agree with you. Polish up the crystal ball and get back with me. Don’t blame a gator for putting him down as a UGA hire. Who would you recommend for us, Ron Jirsa?
Don’t tell me CBK did it for personal glory. He has always stepped back and allowed the players to enjoy the wins while he took the heat for the losses. John Wooden is not available. I bet even he chewed a little butt or had someone else do it occasionally.
By Hill Dawg
February 2, 2009 11:05 PM | Link to this
One Dawg Knight…..I like that.
By PT Bluster
February 3, 2009 12:15 AM | Link to this
Forget about Bobby, it ain’t happening. He would never get along with President Adams and would be a disaster waiting to happen. He may be a great coach but we don’t need a coach that mistreats his athletes. That kind of regime doesn’t work any more. I like the Butler coach.
By UGAslobberknocker
February 3, 2009 5:43 AM | Link to this
Hugh Durham is a class act. My senior year at UGA was Durham’s first year. About a week after he was hired, he showed up one night at Stegeman Hall; which back then was the intramural basketball location.(Student center is there now for all you young Dawgs). Everyone gathered around, Durham spoke for a while about what he hoped to accomplish, asked for the student’s support, had a great conversational session with about 50 of us for at least 30 minutes. Then he shot a few jumpers, made all but 1, then left to an huge ovation from the BB intramural crowd. I have admired him ever since. Even though I love Dooley, him firing Hugh Durham was a bad decision in my mind, despite a couple of down years that had happened.
Best of luck Coach Durham; a lot of Dawg fans still love you and remember what you did for the basketball program.
By phil
February 3, 2009 6:35 AM | Link to this
I envision a great pay per view event. We would pit Knight versus Spurrier in a Texas death match.
By Randy Amos
February 3, 2009 11:43 AM | Link to this
Great interview! Coach Durham is a great friend of mine. He does Love UGA. I think that he would be a great addition to the selection committee. He has no ax to grind and he remembers when Georgia Basketball was successful YEAR AFTER YEAR. Only FINAL FOUR was under Hugh. GO HUGH !!
By Dan Dawg
February 3, 2009 3:46 PM | Link to this
I hope UGA hires Bob Knight. He could moonlight as the discipline coach fot the football team.
By masivatack
February 3, 2009 4:54 PM | Link to this
Jeff Grady
If UNC is a 10 in BB and a 6 in FB, and UGA is a 9 in FF and a 4.5 in BB. Using the same scale and given the direction that UNC’s FB program is heading and UGA’s BB program is heading, what do you see as the potential for UGA BB (1 - 10) and UNC FB (1-10)? The answer should project which school potentially has the best combined program.
UGA Basketball is something like a +52 in our fans positively not giving a $#it. So put that in your bell curve and $uck on it.