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DEL.ICIO.USFelton: ‘We can dominate the nation with just Georgia players’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Athens — Four of Georgia’s five signees for the 2008 men’s basketball class are from Atlanta. According to coach Dennis Felton, that’s not a coincidence.
Felton said he is focusing more on an 80-mile area between Athens and the far side of metro Atlanta. This year that netted them Howard “Trey” Thompkins (Lithonia), Travis Leslie (Decatur), Ebuka Anyaorah (Suwanee) and Dustin Ware (Kennesaw). Drazen Zlovaric, a 6-foot-8 wing from Serbia by way of Weston, Fla., rounds out the class.
“We can literally dominate the nation and win championships with just Georgia players,” Felton said. “That capability exists because of the level of coaching and talent in this state. It’s just a fantastic area for basketball. This is a basketball hotbed.”
According to Rivals.com, 14 of its top 125 men’s basketball prospects are from Georgia, including 11 from Atlanta.
During his first few years at Georgia, Felton was signing a lot of players from out of state. In fact, the Bulldogs’ last four graduating seniors (David Bliss, Sundiata Gaines, Steve Newman and Levi Stukes) all were non-Georgians. But only two of the last year’s five signees came from out of state.
“It’s critically important to us that we do our best work at home,” Felton said. “We want to get the best players, period, but a lot of them are here. I think the way our recruiting has gone is a great indicator of how well we’re doing with the folks in Georgia.”
Felton was unavailable to talk about the Bulldogs’ two latest signees until late Wednesday evening. Here’s what he had to say about Anyaorah and Lesile, both 6-foot-4 guards.
On Leslie, who averaged 22 points as a senior at Columbia: “Travis is an extraordinary athlete. That is clearly his strength. He jumps of the gym. He’s just a great, great leaper. I think he’s probably the best leaper that’s been here since Dominque Wilkins. He uses athleticism to get things done and make plays.”
On Anyaorah, who averaged 26 points as a senior at North Gwinnett: “Ebuka is athletic, too, but he’s a wonderful shooter. He can really shoot the 3. The thing I love about Ebuka is he has a real good understanding how to play the game and play the game with his teammates. He can shoot, score. Not as explosive as Travis but very athletic; as or more athletic than any guard we have.”
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By I-DOG
April 17, 2008 5:28 PM | Link to this
It would be fantastic if UGA was able to hold onto 2-3 of the top half dozen prospects in the state of Georgia each year and to have a team that consistantly made the NCAA tourney and every 3 years or so made some noice in the tourney (sweet 16 appearance etc…)
Lets walk before we run… lets have a better than .500 record in conference. I like Felton’s enthusiasm, but I don’t know about “dominate the nation” any time soon.
By ozzfest
April 17, 2008 5:31 PM | Link to this
Matre was telling me about some kid from Deerfield in Albany…did UGA sign him or not?
By Tommy-Dawg
April 17, 2008 5:50 PM | Link to this
Travis is special kid who plays effortless. Dawg Nation mark my words he will be a diaper dandy and will rewrite the basketball history at the University Of Georgia. He will be the next great thing to come after Dominique Wilkins. He is an all around player who can shoot, pass, dunk, and create a shot in mid-air. People see his spectacular dunks on the AJC and thinks thats all he can do. Just check his shooting percentage. Just like Nique they thought the same thing about him. Do well DAWGS.
By Tommy-Dawg
April 17, 2008 5:50 PM | Link to this
Travis is special kid who plays effortless. Dawg Nation mark my words he will be a diaper dandy and will rewrite the basketball history at the University Of Georgia. He will be the next great thing to come after Dominique Wilkins. He is an all around player who can shoot, pass, dunk, and create a shot in mid-air. People see his spectacular dunks on the AJC and thinks thats all he can do. Just check his shooting percentage. Just like Nique they thought the same thing about him. Do well DAWGS.
By Tommy-Dawg
April 17, 2008 5:50 PM | Link to this
Travis is special kid who plays effortless. Dawg Nation mark my words he will be a diaper dandy and will rewrite the basketball history at the University Of Georgia. He will be the next great thing to come after Dominique Wilkins. He is an all around player who can shoot, pass, dunk, and create a shot in mid-air. People see his spectacular dunks on the AJC and thinks thats all he can do. Just check his shooting percentage. Just like Nique they thought the same thing about him. Do well DAWGS.
By I-DOG
April 17, 2008 7:18 PM | Link to this
This year we had a good recruiting class in hoops.
From the state of GA, we got the #7, #22 and an unranked player on a national basis.
What if we could get a couple of the VERY BEST players from the state of GA each year (that weren’t going directly into the pros)
Next year, here is the kind of talent I am talking about:
I’m using their numerical national ranking from one service and I understand that #4 in the nation at their position may actually be better than #2, but lets just assume this is an accurate measure of talent:
In the state of GA alone there is:
The #1 Center, The #4 shooting guard, the #5 small forward, #6 shooting guard, the #7 point guard and #8 small forward.
What if we could get two of these six players to come to UGA next year? Any combo of 2!
What if we could do something like that 2-3 years in a row?
The next group down is still formidable talent:
16 Center, #20 Power forward, #25 Power Forward, #22 Center, #24 small forward,What if we got just one of these players to come off the bench?
Would that kind of talent make us the #1, #2, or #3 team in the entire SEC each and every year? Would we be ranked in the top 10, pre-season just about every year?
Is it completely unrealistic for UGA to get 2 of the top 6 to stay home and 1 of the next 4 to do so? Many of these kids want to stay close to home and may have grown up huge Dawg fans in hoops and football?
Even if only 2 out of every 3 of these type recruits could stay in school academically, we would be one of the top program in the nation.
By Gus Whitlock
April 17, 2008 7:22 PM | Link to this
Hey Tommy-Dawg, if you had to sum up Travis’ game with three posts, what would you say?
By alabamadawg
April 17, 2008 7:39 PM | Link to this
Hey 1-Dog, who are these players ??? Any dawg lovers among them ??
By J-Keeza
April 17, 2008 8:23 PM | Link to this
Sounds awesome! Lets by a football,basketball,and baseball(we are #7 now) school We already own gymnastics, GO DAWGS!!!!
By bryan
April 17, 2008 9:02 PM | Link to this
Felton has proved he can coach.
Let us now see if he can win! Consistently!!
Go Dawgs!!!
By Bravesfan79
April 17, 2008 10:00 PM | Link to this
I-DOG: the recruits your talking about in 09 know what program is the best in the state, and plays in the best conference in the nation with more games on ESPN than any SEC team. The team im talking about is GT baby!!
Your school knows little about basketball and by the cluelessness showed just on this blog alone (who is D Favors?) lol… um…only the TOP RECRUIT IN THE NATION! Who…by the way had a child hood dream of playing at GT!
UGA fans dont deserve Felton as coach because just a few months ago yall were ready to throw him under the bus! But true Basketball fans like me could tell Felton was a good coach.
Yall dont deserve your coach, and you dont deserve (and wont get) the very top recruits like GT will. Now im a fan of UGA football and basketball, but im hardcore when it comes to GT hoops. No doubt which program is better and gets better players! Its not even a fair comparasion. Its like trying to compare the kids UGA football gets compared to GT football. Weve just been really hurt by one and dones. Marbury, Chris Bosh, Crittention, Young. Who from UGA is in the NBA except Jarvis Hayes?? point proven!
By Tar Heel n GA
April 17, 2008 10:07 PM | Link to this
Keep dreaming mutts. You will NEVER DOMINATE the nation in basketball. Why don’t you guys schedule some good out of league teams before you start shooting your mouths off. Play the good/great teams first, ie- UCONN, UNC, PUKE, KANSAS, UCLA, etc… Play teams like this, and beat them, then we’ll talk.
By adeshort
April 17, 2008 10:37 PM | Link to this
BravesFan, every decent team has been hurt by one and dones….but most one and dones leaving programs like Duke and UNC actually “do” something before they leave like at least make it to final fours. GT has a rich basketball tradition, and under BC always seemed to be in the national mix, but the guys that you named did what amounts to nothing when the spotlight shined brightest. UGA having even a decent b-ball team is just a bonus, and even the horrid editions they’ve had lately have had some degree of success against the bees…so brag on another team. GT hasn’t been anything to scream about in a pretty good while.
also, how can you be a UGA football and baseball fan, and call yourself a “hardcore” GT basketball fan in the same breath….then completely botch the name “Crittenden”?
By DirkDawggler
April 17, 2008 10:45 PM | Link to this
Hey Bravesfan79: We still have your nets. You can’t have ‘em back. Thanks for your letting us use your gym. Take your patheTECH Tech rant elsewhere because I have a feeling our little SEC Tourney run just opened up a big ol’ can of whip-a* and a new era of Georgia Basketball has begun. You guys still dominate Dragoncon, though. Congrats.
By dawgsFan45
April 17, 2008 11:40 PM | Link to this
hey bravesfan 79… ya know what ur just a bandwagon fan. i mean seriously how could u lyk georgia in football and i guess u meant baseball who’s teams are obviously better than techs but u lyk tech hoops who has been better than the dawgs in the past but not anymore. the dawgs r gonna dominate and all sports this year so y dont u take ur techy A** and go play world or warcraft or something
By martin
April 18, 2008 7:52 AM | Link to this
Bravesfan79
Does GT deserve Hewitt? Lately he struggles just to make the NIT bubble. The GT forums are full of folks ready to throw him off the bus.
And what is the head to head record of the 2 teams over the last decade? GT might get better players but the on court results don’t show it.
By Hugh Durham
April 18, 2008 8:06 AM | Link to this
Andre Young is the kid from Deerfield…Great player but only 5-7…signed with Clemson…Had great head to head matchups with Dustin Ware…Ware’s team won championship over Deerfield 3 out of last 4 years…
By Knowshon
April 18, 2008 8:52 AM | Link to this
To Tar Heel, I have nothing but respect for UNC and consider myself a Tar Heel fan, but you have no reason to bash us. We are finally recovering from the NCAA violations and Felton has decided that we have to strive for greatness if we ever want to have a respectable basketball program. I would say our basketball situation is much like your football situation. The hiring of Butch Davis is a great effort by your athletic program to win the ACC. Why should you care or be treatened by Georgia basketball in the first place.
By MIlledgevilledawg
April 18, 2008 10:50 AM | Link to this
Yeay, we can “dominate the nation” if we get the right ones.
why don’t we target the top prospects from georgia instead of getting the leftovers (other than tompkins)?
and why did we use all 5 scholarships this season?
i swear that felton is a running blooper reel when it comes to recruiting and that’s why he’ll never win at georgia.
By MIlledgevilledawg
April 18, 2008 10:50 AM | Link to this
Yeay, we can “dominate the nation” if we get the right ones.
why don’t we target the top prospects from georgia instead of getting the leftovers (other than tompkins)?
and why did we use all 5 scholarships this season?
i swear that felton is a running blooper reel when it comes to recruiting and that’s why he’ll never win at georgia.
By DJ
April 18, 2008 11:22 AM | Link to this
Felton is a real joke. Try getting your team to be over 500 this season. Try playing good competition. Dominate the nation? He was on the verge of being fired for running such a jacked up program. Talk is cheap baby. You got lucky Felton and you know it.
By DJ
April 18, 2008 11:23 AM | Link to this
Felton is a real joke. Try getting your team to be over 500 this season. Try playing good competition. Dominate the nation? He was on the verge of being fired for running such a jacked up program. Talk is cheap baby. You got lucky Felton and you know it.
By AC in Boulder
April 18, 2008 12:04 PM | Link to this
Glad to hear the basketball team has a bright future. Has anyone heard if the football team is supposed to be any good or is it going to be a down year??
By I-DOG
April 18, 2008 2:19 PM | Link to this
Braves fan 79.
tech has a good basketball program. It has gone downhill quite a bit since Cremins left and it doesn’t seem like they let in quite as many Stephon Marbury’s or Kenny Anderson’s as they did in the 80’s and 90’s.
tech may get some of the to GA recruits, but most of them go out of state.
Even if tech got 1 or 2 of the top 10 players in state each year, there would be PLENTY of talent for UGA to become a national powerhouse. tech isn’t really a factor as far as that goes.
By The Nation
April 18, 2008 9:48 PM | Link to this
Nice little run you had there. Too bad your last McDonalds All American was Dominique Wilkins and your fans don’t care. Even if kids did want to play JV basketball in the SEC they would play for Bruce Pearl or Donavan. Stick to football.
By Johnny Visconi
April 18, 2008 10:38 PM | Link to this
A top 15 or even top 10 national program ? With UGA’s athletics dept and top recruiting base it’s a very realistic goal.
By SOUTHSIDE DAWG
April 19, 2008 5:18 PM | Link to this
HOW IS TECH SUCH A POWERHOUSE OVER UGA? NEITHER WITH A NATIONAL TITLE N BBALL. SINCE THE SERIES HAS GONE BACK TO HOME AND HOME INSTEAD OF THE OMNI PRETTY MUCH EVEN. SEVEN N ROW N FOOTBALL NOT INCLUDING PLAYING ILLGEAL PLAYERS N FOOTBALL. BASEBALL UGA 1 NATIONAL TITLE TECH NONE.
By ramble ON!
April 19, 2008 9:45 PM | Link to this
Felton looks hot without the ‘stache!