The following, a weekly feature of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, allows our reporters to open their notebooks and provide even more information from our local teams that we cover daily. We think you’ll find it informative, insightful and fun.
An assist from a Tech legend
When Damon Stoudamire arrived in Toronto for his rookie NBA season in 1995, he wasn’t treated any differently than any other first-year player. In fact, Stoudamire said Monday on his weekly radio show, he had to deal with some standard, low-key hazing despite being a seventh overall pick out of Arizona.
Former Georgia Tech legend John Salley, who began the 1995-96 season with the Toronto Raptors before finishing it with the Chicago Bulls, and Alvin Robertson told Stoudamire they wanted to read the USA Today each day. Problem was, in Canada at the time, the daily publication was delivered to newsstands two days after print.
Stoudamire had to pay for a subscription to have the newspaper delivered on time in order to get it into the hands of Salley and Robertson.
The first-year Tech coach went on to say that Salley would become one of the biggest influences in his professional career.
“He literally taught me everything,” Stoudamire said. “He taught me how to take care of my body. He’s the first guy that actually took me to get a massage. He was doing all that yoga stuff before you even knew what it was. ‘You gotta stretch, go in the sauna, get in the steam, take care of your body.’ He was really big on that, man.”
“He was really good to me in terms of what he did, in terms of helping me grow off the floor and taking care of my body, being able to have the longevity that I did.”
Salley was the 11th overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft. He led the Yellow Jackets to the 1985 ACC championship and to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament that year.
Stoudamire now coaches Salley’s former program inside McCamish Pavilion, where Salley’s No. 22 jersey is retired and hangs from the rafters. When Stoudamire was hired by Tech on March 14, he was handed a Tech jersey during his introductory news conference.
The number on the jersey? 22. Stoudamire soon sent a text message to his old pal.
“Man they got me holding up your damn jersey!” Stoudamire laughed.
Georgia softball picked 2nd in SEC
Optimism is high for the 2024 Georgia softball team.
The Bulldogs, in their third season under coach Tony Baldwin, received six first-place votes and was picked second overall in preseason voting by SEC coaches, according to announcement from the league office this week. Georgia garnered a total of 136 points in the poll, just one behind Tennessee, which was picked No. 1, and also received six first-place votes. LSU, Arkansas, and Auburn rounded out the top five.
Also, four UGA players were tabbed preseason All-SEC in Jayda Kearney, Sydney Kuma, Sara Mosley and Shelby Waters. Kearney, Kuma and Mosley were All-Americans last year when they combined for 45% of Georgia’s run production and 52% of Georgia’s home runs.
Georgia returns every position player from last season’s Super Regionals team, six of whom were named to the 2023 All-SEC team. That includes right-handed pitchers Madison Kerpics and Walters, who combined for 243 strikeouts and 37 wins.
The Bulldogs were 42-15 last year and finished second in the SEC with a 16-7 record, their best mark since 2018.
Georgia opens the 2024 season at home Feb. 9 when it hosts the Red & Black Showcase, featuring teams from Murray State, South Dakota and Purdue.
Lady Bulldogs’ streak in jeopardy
One of the more impressive streaks in college sports is in danger of coming to an end this season.
Georgia women’s basketball is one of only three programs in the nation to have logged a winning record in every season of the NCAA era. That’s a streak that extends to 1981. The other two are Tennessee and Wisconsin-Green Bay.
The Lady Bulldogs have some serious work to do to keep that streak alive. In their second season under coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, Georgia fell to 10-9 overall and 1-5 in SEC play with a 69-59 loss to Ole Miss Jan. 21 in Athens. That was the team’s fifth loss in a row.
The Bulldogs defeated Texas A&M and former Georgia coach Joni Taylor in the SEC opener for their only league win so far. Their next game comes Monday on the road against Auburn (13-6, 2-4)
The Bulldogs never had a losing season under longtime coach Andy Landers, who led the program from 1979-2015. He retired March 16, 2015, with 944 total wins, which ranked fifth all-time among women’s college basketball coaches. He was 866-299 at Georgia.
The Lady Dogs have made appearances in 36 of 41 NCAA tournaments (second-most all time) with 20 Sweet 16s and 11 Elite Eights.
Georgia’s roster is in transition year under “Coach Abe,” who saw four players enter the transfer portal after her first season. The Bulldogs also recently lost starting forward Zoesha Smith to a season-ending knee injury. Four top-100 prospects have signed in UGA’s Class of 2024 in twin sisters Indya and Summer Davis of Farmington Hills, Michigan; Mia Woolfolk of Midlothian, Virginia; and Trinity Turner of Orlando, Florida.
Chipper still No. 2
Third baseman Adrian Beltre was listed on 95.1% of the Baseball Hall of Fame ballots, making him a first-ballot inductee. While that’s an impressive percentage for a third baseman, it falls short of cracking the top-three Hall of Fame electees at his position.
1. George Brett, 98.2%
2. Chipper Jones, 97.2%
3. Mike Schmidt, 96.5%
Kirk Cousins has local connections
There have been rumors linking veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to the Falcons while they searched for a new head coach, which went to Raheem Morris. Cousins is set to become a free agent this spring, though the Vikings seem likely to attempt to re-sign him. Cousins’ wife, Julie, is from Alpharetta and attended the University of Georgia. Their wedding was in Roswell in 2014.
Cousins’ latest Instagram post won’t quiet any speculation. He posted a tribute to Uga X, the winningest mascot in Bulldogs history who recently died. Cousins posted a picture of him at a Georgia game with Uga IX, adding the following caption:
“Sad to hear of the passing of Uga X. It was a life goal of mine to pet Uga and my dream was accomplished in 2015 when I met UGA IX … Winningest mascot in football history(.)”
DeAngelo Malone’s conversion project stalled
One of the projects of the former Falcons defensive coaching staff was the conversion of DeAngelo Malone into an inside linebacker.
Malone, who’s 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, was drafted in the third round (82nd overall) in 2022 out Western Kentucky. He played at Cedar Grove High.
“DeAngelo is going to play on the line more times than not,” linebackers coach Frank Bush said. “There are times that he will be off the ball. But ultimately, he’s just a kid that’s in development. He’s like clay right now. We’re still molding and shaping him into what he needs to be.”
While working at linebacker in practice, Malone was a major contributor on special teams last season.
“What we like about him is that he’s a long, tall, physical guy,” Bush said. “He plays really hard. He’s about as physical as you can ask him to be. There is some transitioning to things he has learn about being off the ball, he’s taking heed to them. He’s learning those things.”
Malone was coming along nicely. Who knows what the new staff will see in Malone.
“His style of play,” Bush said. “We like the way he plays football. You see it every game on special teams. He’s going to be a physical presence out there, doing what he’s doing. The offseason is going to be big for him to continue to grow and learn how to be an quote ‘all-around linebacker.’”
Malone who played more defensive end in college and was drafted for the 3-4 scheme that Dean Pees implemented before Ryan Nielsen arrived last season. If Malone was bothered by the move, you couldn’t tell because he was always smiling and pleasant in the locker room.
“He looks at it as an opportunity and a challenge,” Bush said. “Can I learn to be off the ball and do things. He asks the right questions. He gives the right answers. The opportunity has not been there because just in transition we have other guys getting the reps.
“He’s learning. There is a level of trust that we are developing because you do see signs that he’s learning, but we must have exponential growth in the offseason. Once we get that and get him kind of comfortable being there, then he’ll take off and go.”
The coaches appreciated his attitude.
“The demeanor, how he operates, the kid himself is a good person,” Bush said. “I think we are working with the right guy.”
The four-point man
Hawks guard Dejounte Murray has completed plenty of four-point plays this season. He’s climbed the leader board and ranks second in the NBA for the number of four-point plays drawn.
Just last week Friday, Murray tied James Harden and Seth Curry with three four-point plays drawn, so far this season. But on Monday he moved into sole possession of second place after drawing another in the team’s loss to the Kings.
“No big deal for me,” Murray said. “But I grew up (watching) Jamal Crawford who is from Seattle. He leads the NBA history of four-point play. So, we grew up watching him do that a lot. Whether it was an open gym, ProAm, in the NBA. He did it a lot. So, for me, I just tried to take it without, you know, cheating the game, trying to play the game the right way. But if I feel like if you’re under me, whatever, hopefully the ref calls it, and I don’t shoot the ball to miss. So, that’s that.”
Credit: Photo courtesy of Atlanta United
Credit: Photo courtesy of Atlanta United
No No. 99
Bartosz Slisz wore 99 for Legia Warsaw in Poland.
He will wear No. 6 for Atlanta United, who signed the defensive midfielder last week.
Slisz unveiled his kit number before meeting with the media for the first time Tuesday at the team’s training ground in Marietta.
“No 99?” he was asked.
“Unfortunately, no,” he said.
Why?
Atlanta United prefers that its starters wear a number from 1 to 30.
The number typically corresponds to the player’s position on the field. A “6″ is a defensive midfielder. A “10″ is an attacking midfielder. A goalkeeper is a “1.”
It’s a system that started in England and has been carried throughout the world.
Not every club chooses to follow the system.
Some players do prefer to wear the numbers that reflect their preferred positions.
Lionel Messi, for example, may be the most famous “10″ in the world for Argentina and Inter Miami. However, Liverpool’s Mo Salah, a right wing, wears “11″ – which usually is for left wings.
-Staff writer Chad Bishop, Gabriel Burns, D. Orlando Ledbetter, Lauren Williams, Doug Roberson and Chip Towers contributed to this report.
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