Carrying four losses in a row and staring an 0-3 conference start in the face is where the Georgia basketball team will be Sunday when it hosts Kentucky at 12 p.m. The Bulldogs lost Wednesday night at Vanderbilt, 50-40, for their fourth consecutive loss. Terrance Woodbury led Georgia (9-8, 0-2) with 10 points. Kentucky comes into the game off a win at Tennessee and is 2-0 in league play.
Off the court, luck did not shine on the Bulldogs either, as 6-foot-9 South Atlanta High School power forward Derrick Favors committed to Georgia Tech over Georgia and N.C. State. Favors, considered to be among a few players at the very top of the 2009 class, would have potentially been the type of player head coach Dennis Felton thought he was getting back in 2005 when Louis Williams bypassed college for the NBA. Without Favors, Felton will have to continue to gradually build up the program’s talent. This season’s freshman class of Trey Thompkins, Travis Leslie and Dustin Ware, specifically, has the type of talent needed to make an impact in the SEC. Two or three classes like that strung together, provided that the players stay in the program, would help. The Bulldogs currently have two players signed for the ’09 class: Daniel Miller, a 6-8 center from Loganville Christian High School, and DeMario Mayfield, a 6-3 guard from Franklin County.
Over on the football field, Asher Allen’s decision to join Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno in entering the NFL draft means Georgia will go into 2009 without its top cornerback and its only starter at strong corner from a year ago. Returnees Prince Miller and Bryan Evans played mostly wide corner. There should be an interesting race concerning the Bulldogs cornerbacks come next season, as youngsters Vance Cuff and Brandon Boykin have flashed ability in spot duty. In addition to them, the Bulldogs already have a commitment from Branden Smith of Washington High School in Atlanta and may be in the running for Lowndes cornerback Greg Reid. Reid was a terror in postseason all-star games, winning the MVP of both the Under Armour All-American Game and the GACA North-South Football Classic.
Outgoing seniors Mohamed Massaquoi and Corvey Irvin are getting set for their trip to Senior Bowl. The senior all-star game will be held on Jan. 24 in Mobile, Al., but players are slated to arrive on Sunday with practices starting on Monday. Both Massaquoi and Irvin emerged as team leaders for Georgia in 2008. Massaquoi was voted the team’s permanent overall captain, after catching 58 passes for over 900 yards and eight touchdowns as senior. Irvin, a former junior college transfer, became a vocal leader on defense after being thrust into the starting lineup at defensive tackle after Jeff Owens’ season-ending knee injury in the season opener. Irvin finished the year with 34 tackles and 24 hurries.
Butler can be reached at jbutler@scoreatl.com.
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