Get Better - G-Day 2024
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
CLAUDE FELTON TRIBUTE Pgs. 37-40<br />
GET BETTER<br />
2<br />
24<br />
SPRING<br />
“Being detailed in what we are attacking each day. Don’t go<br />
out there without a purpose. I try to have the coaches go in<br />
each day and give points of emphasis. If we are not careful<br />
right now, there are so many things to correct that you<br />
can’t see the forest from the trees. It can be overwhelming<br />
to a young player, so we try to narrow their focus on small<br />
things. We have 15 opportunities to get better.”<br />
G-DAY<br />
ISSUE
Bank with the<br />
Home Team!<br />
We’re not just fans; we’re a community bonded by the<br />
Bulldog Spirit. But beyond the gridiron we take an active<br />
role in the entire Athens-Clarke community - supporting<br />
local charities, sponsoring area students, and promoting<br />
local businesses. We never lose site of the fact that it<br />
takes an amazing community to make a great<br />
community bank!<br />
GEORGIA BULLDOGS<br />
•<br />
<strong>2024</strong> SCHEDULE •<br />
CLEMSON<br />
@ATLANTA, GA<br />
TENNESSEE TECH<br />
@ATHENS, GA<br />
KENTUCKY<br />
@LEXINGTON, KY<br />
AUG 31<br />
SEP 7<br />
SEP 14<br />
ALABAMA<br />
@ TUSCALOOSA, AL<br />
AUBURN<br />
@ATHENS, GA<br />
MISSISSIPPI STATE<br />
@ATHENS, GA<br />
TEXAS<br />
@AUSTIN, TX<br />
FLORIDA<br />
@JACKSONVILLE. FL<br />
OLE MISS<br />
@ OXFORD, MISS<br />
TENNESSEE<br />
@ATHENS, GA<br />
UMASS<br />
@ATHENS, GA<br />
GEORGIA TECH<br />
@ATHENS, GA<br />
SEP 28<br />
OCT 5<br />
OCT 12<br />
OCT 19<br />
NOV 2<br />
NOV 9<br />
NOV 16<br />
NOV 23<br />
NOV 30<br />
7911 MACON HIGHWAY,<br />
WATKINSVILLE • 706.769.8200<br />
Scan this code to<br />
request your own<br />
UGA football<br />
schedule magnet<br />
CHECKING | SAVINGS | LENDING | DIGITAL<br />
EQUAL HOUSING LENDER. MEMBER FDIC. NMLS #688851.
ACCEPT NO IMITATIONS.<br />
GET READY TO DRIVE THE FUTURE.<br />
The iconic BMW i5 is all yours.<br />
The 100% electric BMW i5 seamlessly integrates strong design with high performance<br />
and luxury—completely setting a new standard for driving.<br />
Explore outstanding driver technology with iDrive 8.5. Elevate the senses with the BMW<br />
Curved Display, luxurious sport seats and an available full-glass Sky Lounge Roof.<br />
The BMW 5 Series and 100% electric i5. Iconic performance. Electrifying innovation.<br />
Accept no imitations. There is only one Ultimate Driving Machine. ®<br />
Athens BMW<br />
3040 Atlanta Hwy.<br />
Athens, GA. 30606<br />
(706) 549-5340<br />
athensbmw.com<br />
©<strong>2024</strong> BMW of North America, LLC. The BMW trademarks are registered trademarks.
#1 BEST SELLING AMERICAN WHISKY<br />
AS<br />
VO T E D<br />
2017<br />
B Y TH E WO R L D<br />
’ S<br />
B EST B AR S
What’s Your Summit?<br />
Our team of experts will help you get there.<br />
Whether your “summit” is an epic comeback just in time for the<br />
championship game or winning a medal for the best cut grass in the<br />
neighborhood, Summit Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Surgery is<br />
here to help you ascend to new heights.<br />
OUR ORTHOPAEDIC EXPERTS INCLUDE:<br />
Jason G. Bowman, MD<br />
Orthopaedic Surgeon<br />
Foot and Ankle<br />
Surgery<br />
Denny A. Carter, MD<br />
Orthopaedic Surgeon<br />
Sports Medicine;<br />
Hip and Knee<br />
Replacement<br />
Beau Sasser, MD<br />
Orthopaedic Surgeon<br />
Sports Medicine;<br />
Shoulder, Hip and<br />
Knee Replacement<br />
Michael J. Sullivan, MD<br />
Orthopaedic Surgeon<br />
Hand, Wrist and<br />
Elbow Surgery<br />
Christopher Yonz, MD<br />
Orthopaedic Surgeon<br />
General Orthopaedics;<br />
Sports Medicine;<br />
Shoulder, Hip and Knee<br />
Replacement<br />
Jason M. Dancy, MD<br />
Interventional Physiatrist<br />
Physical Medicine<br />
and Rehabilitation;<br />
Non-Surgical Spine Care<br />
Gregory R. Kelley, MD<br />
Physiatrist<br />
Physical Medicine<br />
and Rehabilitation;<br />
Non-Surgical Spine Care<br />
Lindsey E. Sweat, MD<br />
Concussion<br />
Management;<br />
Sports Medicine<br />
A strategic affiliate of<br />
Southeast Georgia Health System<br />
BRUNSWICK<br />
912-466-7340<br />
ST. SIMONS ISLAND<br />
912-466-5570<br />
ST. MARYS<br />
912-576-6355
G-DAY/SPRING<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED<br />
IN THIS ISSUE<br />
VOLUME 22 NO. 1<br />
BRETT THORSON CAPTIVATES WITH<br />
HIS FOOT AND PERSONALITY!<br />
PHOTO BY: TONY WALSH/UGAAA<br />
SPORTS<br />
GET BETTER, <strong>2024</strong> | 14<br />
SPRING ALL-LEADERSHIP TEAM | 16<br />
NEW FACES COACHING STAFF | 18<br />
10 PLAYERS MAKING WAVES THIS SPRING | 20<br />
SOCIAL<br />
GEORGIA GIRLS: JARRETT KEMP | 24<br />
ST. MARY’S FOUNDATION BENEFIT HONORING<br />
BARBARA DOOLEY | 26<br />
GEORGIA WOMEN GIVE | 27<br />
PROUST Q&A: BEN HARTMAN | 28<br />
RED & BLACK ROOKIE EVENT | 29<br />
ESP BIG HEARTS GALA | 30<br />
OUR TEAM<br />
EDITOR: Vance Leavy<br />
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Cheri Leavy<br />
MULTIMEDIA DIRECTOR: Greg Poole<br />
CHIEF SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: Jeff Dantzler<br />
ART DIRECTOR: Stacey Nichols<br />
SALES: Caroline Kinney<br />
SPORTS: Jeff Dantzler, Greg Poole, Murray Poole,<br />
Noah Carney, Will Hearn, Matthew Herren<br />
MULTIMEDIA SUPPORT: Hamilton Culpepper<br />
PHOTOGRAPHY: Greg Poole, Rob Saye,<br />
Blane Marable<br />
COVER: Greg Poole<br />
STUDENT SPORTS EDITOR: Hamilton Culpepper<br />
COLUMNISTS: Hamilton Culpepper, Loran Smith,<br />
Kevin Butler, Caroline Champion<br />
DELIVERY: John Cook, Wright Cook, Rob<br />
Freeman, Anna French, Scarlett French, Flynn<br />
Kelly, Caroline Kinney, John Kinney, Eleanor<br />
Morgan, Henry Morgan, James Morgan, Jack<br />
Sawyer, Cullen Sewell, Henry Stokes, Champ<br />
Vance<br />
ISSUE ONE: SPRING/G-DAY<br />
April 9, <strong>2024</strong><br />
GEORGIA - LSU GYM DAWGS MEET | 32<br />
ORANGE BOWL GAMEDAY PHOTOS | 34<br />
CLAUDE FELTON TRIBUTE<br />
CLAUDE FELTON SALUTE BY MURRAY POOLE | 37<br />
CLAUDE FELTON ALWAYS DELIVERED<br />
BY JEFF DANTZLER | 40<br />
MORE SPORTS<br />
A LOOK AT NIL & BEYOND BY GREG POOLE | 42<br />
A LOOK AT THE <strong>2024</strong> GEORGIA SIGNING CLASS | 44<br />
WHAT’S THE WORD: COACH WES JOHNSON | 46<br />
WINTER/SPRING SPORTS UPDATE | 47<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 6 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
FROM THE<br />
EDITOR<br />
VANCE LEAVY<br />
EDITOR IN CHIEF<br />
<strong>Get</strong> <strong>Better</strong>, <strong>2024</strong> – it’s happening every day on the campus of Georgia<br />
as Bulldog teams continue to work hard for wins and championships!<br />
It’s great to be back with our first issue of <strong>2024</strong>. Yes, like many<br />
of you, there is still a sour taste in Team BI’s mouth for how<br />
the 2023 season ended. Of course, I’m not talking about<br />
the 63-3 FSU shellacking in the Orange Bowl. Instead, it’s<br />
still hard to believe that the brain trusts with the College Fooball<br />
Playoff kept out the back-to-back national champions, who had<br />
just completed their third straight undefeated regular season.<br />
With those final words, we now turn the page towards the<br />
upcoming <strong>2024</strong> season.<br />
Our men in Red and Black have been practicing hard the<br />
last month during spring drills. Coach Smart always demands<br />
this out of his players. However, from his opening spring press<br />
conference, he has been consistent in reminding folks that this<br />
year’s team is full of youngsters. There are also new coaches that<br />
are onboarding to the program this spring.<br />
I’m relaying this message not as a cause for concern, but merely<br />
to reinforce Coach Smart being absolutely forthright when saying<br />
these 15 days of spring ball have been all about “getting better.”<br />
<strong>Get</strong> <strong>Better</strong>, <strong>2024</strong>!<br />
As you will read beginning in our Sports section (page 13),<br />
Kirby’s Dawgs are absolutely focused on getting better. Enjoy<br />
reading about the progress occurring in Athens. Like the Georgia<br />
team, our team here at Bulldawg Illustrated has many new faces.<br />
We welcome Noah Carney, Matthew Herring and Will Hearn.<br />
And we appreciate Hamilton Culpepper doing a great job as<br />
this semester’s Student Editor. Cheri and I are still in denial that<br />
Hammy graduates in May.<br />
Continuing on the sports front, don’t miss Greg Poole’s<br />
Exploring NIL and Beyond feature (pages 41, 42). While Greg<br />
doesn’t have a magic fix, his story sheds great insight on<br />
understanding where college football currently finds itself.<br />
As JD writes about on page 10, spring time in Athens certainly<br />
rivals fall on the gridiron. UGA sports on campus are virtually<br />
happening everyday. And like our football team, getting better<br />
has certainly occurred of late for the other Georgia teams. Be sure<br />
to get updated by reading our Winter/Spring sports story (page<br />
47). The Diamond Dawgs (and Softball team) are the hottest<br />
squads on campus this spring. Hamilton Culpepper’s interview<br />
(page 46) with new baseball skipper, Wes Johnson, is excellent.<br />
I love that Coach Johnson’s priorities (in order) are the Lord, his<br />
family and baseball. And we should all heed his advice and get<br />
out and see this current <strong>2024</strong> team because several of the players<br />
are sure to be Big Leaguers.<br />
Finally for our team sports related content, enjoy getting to<br />
know more about the players who signed with Georgia football<br />
on National Signing <strong>Day</strong> back in February (pages 44, 45).<br />
Now to the bittersweet portion of my note.<br />
Long time Georgia sports information director, Claude Felton,<br />
retired earlier this year. What a career Claude had and he did his<br />
job each and every day for the betterment of our University. Our<br />
tribute to Claude begins on page 37. As I’ve done a few times<br />
over the last few years, I brought BI’s longtime contributor, Murray<br />
Poole, out of retirement to write the main story for the tribute.<br />
This was a no-brainer because of the decades the two of them<br />
had working together (Claude with UGA and Murray with The<br />
Brunswick News and BI). Jeff Danzler’s closes out Claude’s tribute<br />
with a marvelous column that starts out, “Claude Felton is one<br />
of best men I have ever known.” Drop the mic! Thank you Claude<br />
Felton. Your service to Georgia is unmatched. And I personally<br />
thank you for all your support of Leavy publications.<br />
Our Social section begins on page 23 and I must say the BI<br />
camera has been quite active in the off-season. Enjoy seeing all<br />
those smiling Bulldog faces. And don’t miss our Georgia Girls<br />
feature with Jarrett Kemp (pages 24, 25) and Proust Q&A with<br />
Ben Hartman (page 28). Jarrett has done great things since taking<br />
over the ownership of the Athens institution Appointments at<br />
Five. And you are going to love Ben’s quote to live by. Great stuff<br />
from two great Dawgs.<br />
That’s going to do it for me. Please enjoy this Spring/G-<strong>Day</strong><br />
issue of BI. We will see you back with our Season Preview issue in<br />
late June. Finally, I encourage everyone to live life to your fullest.<br />
The Bulldog Nation lost Kevin “Catfish” Jackson in early April. He<br />
will be missed by so many, but from what I knew of him, his life<br />
was completely full with faith, family and friends. Rest in Peace,<br />
Catfish!<br />
athens • watkinsville • auburn • lawrenceville
Casual,<br />
Old-Fashioned<br />
STEAKHOUSE & SEAFOOD RESTAURANT<br />
DAILY SPECIALS • SUNDAY BRUNCH<br />
2310 WEST BROAD STREET IN ATHENS<br />
(706) 353-7667 | HILLTOPGRILLE.COM<br />
ENJOY<br />
GREAT FOOD<br />
COCKTAILS<br />
AND GOOD COMPANY ON<br />
ATHENS BEST PATIOS<br />
AND<br />
DINE AND<br />
DAWGS<br />
WALKING<br />
DISTANCE TO<br />
FOLEY FIELD<br />
BRINGING COASTAL CUISINE TO THE CLASSIC CITY<br />
CORNER OF LUMPKIN AND MILLEDGE<br />
IN THE HEART OF FIVE POINTS ATHENS<br />
(706) 850-3451 | MARKER7COASTALGRILL.CO
FROM THE<br />
booth<br />
JEFF DANTZLER<br />
@jeffdantzlerTV<br />
Soak up the joys of springtime in Athens, where so many Georgia sports<br />
are happening every day, which includes the annual G-<strong>Day</strong> game<br />
Georgia Football has been the<br />
center of my universe for as long<br />
as I can remember. Outside of<br />
my parents, there’s nothing or<br />
no one - who is still around obviously - for<br />
as long. One of my first ever memories was<br />
the 1978 Tech game.<br />
The family was in Florida for<br />
Thanksgiving, and I remember watching<br />
with my dad, grandfather and uncle, as<br />
Georgia stormed back for a 29-28 victory<br />
over the Yellow Jackets. I was eight, nine,<br />
10 and 11 from 1980 through 1983,<br />
just when I was getting old enough to<br />
understand football, sports and what was<br />
going on. A lifelong love affair began.<br />
Talk about being spoiled. The 1980<br />
national championship, three straight<br />
Southeastern Conference championships,<br />
Herschel Walker’s Heisman Trophy, the<br />
43-4-1 record in that Early 80s Golden Era<br />
for the Red and Black. I didn’t know any<br />
different. It was natural to think, this is<br />
how it is, and how it always will be.<br />
Flash forward to the magnificent Kirby<br />
Smart dynasty, the 2021 and 2022<br />
national championships, seven straight<br />
top 10 national finishes and regular<br />
season records of 12-0 or 11-1 in six of<br />
those magnificent seven campaigns. So<br />
close so many times in between. So very<br />
sweet and joyful.<br />
No national championship has ever<br />
meant as much to a fanbase as that 2021<br />
crown did to Georgia, and those back-toback<br />
crowns - plus a sweet 13-1 Orange<br />
Bowl Championship season and No. 3<br />
national ranking, the seventh of those<br />
seven straight top 10 seasons - are being<br />
fully savored by the Sons and Daughters<br />
of the “Majority Party of the Empire State<br />
of the South” (Dan Magill magic).<br />
Saturday, April 13 is G-<strong>Day</strong>, and the first<br />
glimpse of the <strong>2024</strong> Georgia Football<br />
team for the Bulldog faithful.<br />
Coach King Kirby Smart - as he’s<br />
affectionately known to the legendary<br />
Hall of Famer Kevin Butler and his co-host<br />
on the Bulldog Network airwaves - is<br />
the country’s premier college football<br />
CEO and the Georgia Bulldogs, 42-2 over<br />
the last three years and winners of 46 of<br />
the last 48, are the sport’s current gold<br />
standard.<br />
Expectations and excitement are high. In<br />
the ever-changing, volatile landscape of<br />
collegiate athletics, Smart’s stability and<br />
consistent excellence are priceless.<br />
So as the Bulldog faithful gather<br />
Between the Hedges, enjoying a beautiful<br />
spring Saturday in America’s greatest<br />
college town, it is a grand time to<br />
celebrate all of Georgia’s grand gridiron<br />
accomplishments and confidently<br />
look ahead to the <strong>2024</strong> campaign. A<br />
season that, despite facing what will be<br />
America’s most daunting schedule, will<br />
likely begin with the Bulldogs sitting atop<br />
the preseason college football national<br />
rankings.<br />
There is nothing like a Georgia Football<br />
Saturday in Athens. Again, center of my<br />
universe for a long, long time.<br />
But this time of year is hard to beat.<br />
SPRING/G-DAY ISSUE<br />
There is a stretch in late February<br />
into early March where 14 different<br />
University of Georgia athletic teams are<br />
competing in-season. That’s both the<br />
men’s and women’s tennis, golf, track<br />
and field, swimming and diving and<br />
basketball teams. That’s baseball, softball,<br />
gymnastics and equestrian (see update<br />
on some these teams on page 44). It is a<br />
very busy and exciting time.<br />
Five Points and downtown restaurants<br />
and hopping, the hotels are bustling<br />
and there is a great energy in the<br />
Athens air with the onset of spring.<br />
Which is now officially here. Some of the<br />
aforementioned sports have concluded<br />
their seasons, but several are still going,<br />
and going strong.<br />
Springtime in Athens is hard to beat,<br />
especially when rejoicing glorious<br />
gridiron exploits.<br />
That includes the Georgia baseball<br />
team, under the direction of first year<br />
head coach Wes Johnson (see Hamilton<br />
Culpepper interview with the skipper<br />
on page 46), and led by All-American<br />
superman Charlie Condon.<br />
Some of my fondest memories are<br />
calling Georgia games at Foley Field from<br />
the Frank and Carol Beltran Radio Booth<br />
(where several distinguished members<br />
of my dynamic legal team are known to<br />
pop in), with my esteemed broadcast<br />
partner David Johnston, with baseball<br />
Sports Information Director Christopher<br />
Lakos one booth over. When baseball and<br />
tennis are simultaneously taking place,<br />
the energy is electric.<br />
One late May/early June stretch that<br />
will be hard to ever be surpassed came<br />
in 2001. Iconic Georgia tennis coach<br />
Manuel Diaz led Georgia to the national<br />
championship, with All-American<br />
Matias Boeker winning the triple crown.<br />
Georgia’s No. 1 player led the Bulldogs to<br />
the team crown, won the NCAA singles<br />
title and teamed with Travis Parrott to<br />
win the national doubles championship.<br />
Adjacent to the Dan Magill Tennis<br />
Complex at Foley Field, Jeff Keppinger<br />
was providing Hollywood Heroics for the<br />
Georgia baseball team.<br />
The All-American shortstop had a<br />
herculean performance to lead Georgia to<br />
the Regional Championship, going fivefor-five<br />
with three home runs, including a<br />
dramatic two out, two run round tripper<br />
(baseball’s Belue to Scott) in the top of<br />
the ninth (Georgia was the designated<br />
road team) that gave Georgia the lead<br />
and ultimate victory against Coastal<br />
Carolina. He hit for the cycle against<br />
Georgia Southern the night before.<br />
The next weekend, Georgia took two of<br />
three from Florida State to win the Super<br />
Regional and advance to the College<br />
World Series.<br />
Incredible.<br />
The scents and sights of Athens are so<br />
wonderful this time of year, so along<br />
with those unsurpassed annual Autumn<br />
weekends Between the Hedges, enjoying<br />
these majestic days of spring. You never<br />
know when something magical might<br />
happen.<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 10 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
ensonsinc.com<br />
WELCOME BACK<br />
DAWGS<br />
EXCITED FOR THE UPCOMING SEASON<br />
ATHENS<br />
DOWNTOWN + WEST
Our local lenders have you<br />
covered from end-zone to<br />
end-zone!<br />
www.fabt.bank<br />
As your community bank, we make all of our loan decisions<br />
right here, in Athens. That means local decisions on local dollars<br />
invested back into our community. With consistently competitive<br />
lending rates and best-in-class customer service, we’re always<br />
working to make your life better!<br />
Proudly supporting our hometown Bulldawgs!<br />
Tal Hutto<br />
VP & Mortgage Lender<br />
NMLS# 410800<br />
Connie Alger<br />
Mortgage Lender<br />
NMLS# 664089<br />
Jeff Bishop<br />
Mortgage Division Director<br />
NMLS# 640461<br />
Sara Story<br />
VP & Mortgage Lender<br />
NMLS# 509038
SPRING ALL-LEADERSHIP TEAM PG. 16 | NEW FACES COACHING STAFF PG. 18<br />
10 PLAYERS MAKING WAVES THIS SPRING PG. 20<br />
SPORTS<br />
CARSON BECK LEADS A YOUNG<br />
GEORGIA TEAM LOOKING TO GET<br />
BETTER EVERY DAY!<br />
PHOTO BY: TONY WALSH/UGA<br />
SPRING/G-DAY ISSUE<br />
PRACTICING<br />
BY:<br />
WITH<br />
PURPOSE<br />
AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL<br />
MATTHEW HERREN<br />
Following the 2023 season, Georgia fans were left with mixed<br />
emotions after dominating Florida State in the Orange Bowl for<br />
the Bulldogs’ fifth straight season with a New Year’s Six Bowl<br />
victory, but ultimately falling short of the standard that has<br />
been set, which is appearing in the College Football Playoff.<br />
Before the Bulldogs open the <strong>2024</strong> football season in Atlanta<br />
on August 31 against the Clemson Tigers, Coach Kirby Smart<br />
has implemented the “get better’ mindset into his team’s<br />
practices this spring to help keep his players focused on the<br />
small details ahead of the offseason that will help define the<br />
team’s identity.<br />
Smart, when asked about what the phrase means for his team,<br />
said “Being detailed in what we are attacking each day. Don’t<br />
go out there without a purpose. I try to have the coaches go in<br />
each day and give points of emphasis.” Purpose and attention<br />
to detail at this point in the offseason are two areas that the<br />
continued on page 14<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 13 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
DILLON BELL<br />
RECEIVER<br />
PHOTO BY: TONY WALSH/UGA<br />
PRACTICING WITH PURPOSE<br />
Bulldogs will have to focus on, as they won’t see any type<br />
of scrimmage aside from split quad games, including the G<br />
<strong>Day</strong> Game on April 13.<br />
Certain players have mentioned specific areas of their<br />
game that they want to improve before the coming season.<br />
Junior defensive back Mykel Williams discussed his areas<br />
of improvement this offseason: “I’m trying to improve my<br />
hand, my hand speed, my pad level, my get off and really<br />
just certain things that I’ll need to be successful at this<br />
position.”<br />
Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback Carson Beck also<br />
mentioned a few of his areas with needed improvement,<br />
saying “I think the biggest thing for me is just continuously<br />
building my confidence level, and then, working through<br />
reads faster knowing when I can take the big shot and then<br />
when I need to check it down and play it safe.” While it will<br />
be important during offseason practices for the team to<br />
bond and build an identity as a whole, players will have to<br />
take accountability and improve their own traits ahead of<br />
the regular season.<br />
Georgia’s multi-versatile receiver/running back Dillon Bell<br />
is capitalizing greatly this spring in getting better, which<br />
will only help the wide receiver unit.<br />
“He’s continued to develop and continues to get better.<br />
He’s still a work in progress,” Smart said. “He played high<br />
school running back. He played 25 percent running back<br />
last year. The kid has worked his tail off at receiver to get<br />
better, but there’s a lot of route running things he can get<br />
How ‘Bout These Dawgs …<br />
UGA Class of 2028!!<br />
Bo Stephens, Om Patel, Charlie Hutton<br />
Providing Personal, Commercial<br />
and Life and Health policies<br />
across the Southeast tailored to<br />
fit your needs.<br />
CAREY STEPHENS | 706-546-8100 | carey.stephens@boswellgroup.org<br />
BOSWELLGROUPATHENS.COM<br />
EVERYONE’S<br />
FAVORITE PIZZA<br />
Try one of our special recipes<br />
or create your own. It’s Your Pie ®<br />
We Deliver!<br />
196 ALPS ROAD<br />
ATHENS, GA 30606<br />
706.549.3179<br />
© <strong>2024</strong> Your Pie Franchising, LLC.<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 14 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL<br />
better at. The good thing is he’s got a quarterback the caliber of<br />
Carson to get him throws, get him 50/50 balls. I’m proud of the<br />
way he leads in practices. He’s taken on more of that Marcus<br />
Rosemy-Jacksaint, Ladd McConkey role of being the guy that’s<br />
the workhorse in that group, that never complains, is really<br />
physical, practices hard and sets the standard for the others. I<br />
think him, Rara, Arian and Dom have taken ownership in that.”<br />
When discussing his younger players, Smart said “It can be<br />
overwhelming to a young player, so we try to narrow their<br />
focus on small things.” Smart and his staff realize that for a<br />
program to be complete up and down the roster, he will need<br />
to prep his newcomers so that they are settled in by the time<br />
the regular season arrives.<br />
After the team’s first spring scrimmage, Smart said “We’ve got<br />
a lot to work on. We were very sloppy in terms of substitutions,<br />
getting guys on and off the field, communication, signals, just<br />
a lot of new people in the organization. It was not as clean<br />
as most of our first scrimmages. So, from scrimmage one to<br />
scrimmage two, starting really today, we’re moving towards<br />
how much can we improve from scrimmage one to scrimmage<br />
two.” He also highlighted the “15 opportunities” that his team<br />
gets this spring to practice before the summer, and said that<br />
he has “full expectations” that they will continue to have<br />
SPRING/G-DAY ISSUE<br />
“intentions of growing and getting better.” The upcoming<br />
G -<strong>Day</strong> Game will be the perfect opportunity for the Bulldogs to<br />
showcase not only their talented roster for their fans, but also<br />
to continue to develop the “get better” mindset into the team<br />
ahead of the much anticipated upcoming season.<br />
MYKEL WILLIAMS<br />
LINEBACKER<br />
PHOTO BY: TONY WALSH/UGA<br />
While celebrating another Spring/G-<strong>Day</strong><br />
in Athens, we also mourn the loss of<br />
Damn Good Dawg,<br />
Kevin “Catfish” Jackson<br />
He was a stellar family and business man,<br />
May he rest in peace - our thoughts<br />
and prayers are with his entire family!<br />
WWW.SANFORDUSA.COM<br />
478.471.4221<br />
WE ARE THE BEST at what we do!<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 15 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
08<br />
SPRING <strong>2024</strong><br />
ALL-LEADERSHIP<br />
TEAM<br />
BY: GREG POOLE<br />
BRETT THORSON (PUNTER)<br />
UGA has been blessed with several punters who became team<br />
leaders over the years. Thorson has added his name to that<br />
leadership roster. In addition to his excellent punting, he is a<br />
consistent sideline asset. His approach is evident in the following<br />
quote when asked about the Ray Guy Award awarded annually<br />
to the nation’s top punter: “It’s not something I actively go out<br />
and look into. The season is five-six months away, definitely not<br />
thinking about that or individual accolades. I have to focus on<br />
spring ball. We have four more practices, a scrimmage, then G<br />
day.”<br />
CARSON BECK (QB)<br />
This one is easy. He is the offense’s leader and, in many ways,<br />
the face of the team. Kirby Smart said recently: “...he’s not a real<br />
emotional guy. He’s not a real fiery guy. He’s very laid back. He<br />
understands his job; he’s very intelligent. Every leader has their<br />
own way, and he certainly commands a room.”<br />
TATE RATLEDGE (OL)<br />
Carson Beck nor any other “skill players” will be successful without<br />
the offensive line’s protection, and Ratledge is a grizzled veteran<br />
of the trench wars. His decision to delay his pro career to finish<br />
the drill at UGA explains his mindset: “There was a bad taste in<br />
my mouth after last year, and of course, there’s things I want to<br />
accomplish by myself and that I want to see this team accomplish,<br />
so both of those things are a big part of the reason that I came<br />
back.”<br />
TREVOR ETIENNE (RB)<br />
It may seem odd to list an incoming transfer as a team leader,<br />
not to mention a transfer who collected traffic charges<br />
shortly after arriving in Athens. That incident could be the<br />
spark that ignites his quest to redeem himself. He has two<br />
years of starting experience in the SEC wars and will be<br />
a veteran in Georgia’s reconstituted running back room.<br />
Etienne found support from Coach Smart after his run-in<br />
with authorities. Smart said, “He is embarrassed, he is upset<br />
and knows he has made a mistake. It is a teaching moment,<br />
and we think he gets better from it.”<br />
JARED WILSON (CENTER)<br />
If quarterback is the most critical position on any offense, center<br />
follows closely. Wilson has the honor (and burden) of following<br />
Sedrick Van Pran’s 34 starts and consistent leadership of the<br />
offensive line. His experience playing in 21 games as a reserve<br />
and in practice behind Van Pran will have him ready for the SEC<br />
grind. And he has been described (by many) as having freakish<br />
all-around skills.<br />
Leadership is a skill. Some folks avoid acquiring it, while others<br />
embrace the opportunity to employ leadership skills to pursue team<br />
and personal goals. The ten players listed below have shown their<br />
ability to lead and will have the chance to guide UGA Football <strong>2024</strong><br />
using the example of past champions.<br />
9<br />
10<br />
WARREN<br />
BRINSON (DL)<br />
A player who opens the season with 50 games<br />
under his belt is a leader. Brinson will bring<br />
stability to a defensive line, helping integrate the<br />
youngsters as the season progresses. As a fifthyear<br />
player, the Dawgs’ horde of underclassmen<br />
will look to him (and fellow 5th year Nasir<br />
Stackhouse) for guidance, and they will find it in<br />
the articulate Brinson.<br />
CHAZ CHAMBLISS (LB)<br />
The last time Chambliss appeared for Georgia’s weekly<br />
press conference, a recent cut was visible on the<br />
bridge of his nose, and it seemed to belong there.<br />
Anyone thinking of seriously trying out for mixed<br />
martial arts is not going to be shy about sticking his<br />
nose into a tackle with extreme prejudice. His motto<br />
has to be, lead, follow or get out of my way.<br />
JALON WALKER (LB)<br />
Walker has played in 29 games during his two years<br />
at UGA. All of those reps were either on special<br />
teams or reserve linebacker, but this coach’s kid has<br />
leader written all over him. It may seem premature<br />
to consider him a leader going into 2023, but he<br />
is a special player whose star will shine brightly<br />
next season. He is cross-training at both inside<br />
and outside linebacker this spring. Chaz Chambliss<br />
noted his progress recently: “...it’s a different mindset<br />
between both of them. You know, he does a good<br />
job of keeping them separate in his mind; he’s grown<br />
and become a middle linebacker. He’s starting to<br />
become a leader in that room and also in our room<br />
when he comes over and pass rushes. He’s doing a<br />
great job with that.”<br />
MALAKI STARKS<br />
(SAFETY)<br />
Let’s see. In 2023, Starks’ accomplishments<br />
included being named All-America by AFCA, AP,<br />
CBS, ESPN, FWAA, Sports Illustrated, USA Today,<br />
and Walter Camp. He is personable, supremely<br />
athletic, intelligent, and exudes leadership. ESPN<br />
made him the highest-rated defensive back<br />
entering <strong>2024</strong>. Mr. Starks knows his stuff and<br />
has the interpersonal skills to lead the defensive<br />
backs and the team.<br />
SMAEL MONDON, JR. (LB)<br />
Georgia’s only senior inside linebacker must be included on<br />
this list of leaders. After making the Coach’s All-SEC team<br />
last season, Mondon is stepping into his own as a leader and<br />
signal caller for the defense. Naturally quiet, he has led by<br />
example but is not shy about his command responsibilities.<br />
Greg Poole is BI’s multimedia<br />
director and on-field<br />
photographer. He also maintains<br />
and moderates the fan thread on<br />
BI’s website.<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 16 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
New Faces<br />
<strong>2024</strong> Coaching Staff<br />
BY: WILL HEARN/BI<br />
A successful college football program is bound<br />
to lose coaches in the off-season. With a variety of<br />
former Georgia coaches accepting offers with new<br />
opportunities, there are plenty of new faces heading<br />
into the <strong>2024</strong> season. All have received nothing<br />
but praise from Georgia’s head coach. Kirby Smart<br />
emphasized the passion each of these coaches have<br />
and their ability to do great things as new coaches<br />
with the University.<br />
SPRING/G-DAY ISSUE<br />
Travaris Robinson<br />
(Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties)<br />
Travaris Robinson is one of the most well-connected coaches in the country.<br />
Robinson is responsible for bringing countless names to any team with which he<br />
has been involved. Robinson spent his past two seasons with the Tide. Kirby Smart<br />
spoke on Robinson’s knowledge of the “SEC Blueprint,” in terms of his knowledge<br />
and relationships. Dan Jackson harped on Robinson’s energy saying, “He’s been<br />
incredible. Coach T-Rob brings the juice every day.” Taking over for Will Muschamp<br />
seems to have been a smooth transition. DB JaCorey Thomas, from Florida, has<br />
known Robinson for a while due to his time coaching at Miami. Thomas told the<br />
media that Robinson and Muschamp are practically the same person.<br />
Donte Williams<br />
(Cornerbacks)<br />
Former defensive back coach Fran Brown left Donte Williams with a variety of<br />
talent and maintained connections. Once Brown headed to Syracuse, Georgia<br />
quickly found his replacement in Donte Williams, who was with USC at the time<br />
of Brown’s departure. Within just a few weeks of spring drills, various corners have<br />
already mentioned how much they love Williams’ coaching techniques. Kirby Smart<br />
referenced Williams’ on-the-field presence and how he participates in some of the<br />
drills with the players. Smart said, “Yeah, I noticed that [Coach Donte Williams with a<br />
helmet on during practice] too. I don’t know if that’s legal. I hope it is, since he’s got a<br />
helmet on out there like an extra player. He may need it for safety, because some of<br />
those corners may be coming after him.” According to Julian Humphrey, the players<br />
love this energy, and it helps the players on a very personal level.<br />
Welcoming New<br />
Patients!<br />
We are welcoming new smiles in our newly renovated<br />
and expanded office and we want to meet you.<br />
Zachary Powell, DMD<br />
Give our office a call today to schedule personalized time with one of our experienced professionals!<br />
Implant Dentistry Cosmetic Dentistry Preventive Dentistry Family Dentistry<br />
288 Redfern Village, SSI | 9 1 2 . 6 3 8 . 9 0 9 0 | Monday - Thursday 8am - 4pm | WELCOMING NEW SMILES<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 18 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
James Coley<br />
(Wide Receivers)<br />
James Coley is a familiar face to Georgia fans. In the past, Coley spent time as both<br />
Georgia’s receivers coach and offensive coordinator. Most notably in his time at<br />
Georgia, Coley flipped five-star wide receiver George Pickens, who went on to be a<br />
star for the Dawgs. Other big names recruited by Coley at the receiver position include<br />
players like Dominick Blaylock, Kearis Jackson, Jeremiah Holloman, Riley Ridley. Coley<br />
is elite on the trail; his history speaks for itself. Since 2019, Coley spent his time on the<br />
Texas A&M staff. He coached the Aggies’ wide receivers and tight ends. In February,<br />
Kirby Smart released an official statement on Coley’s reintroduction to the team. Smart<br />
stated, “He is a tremendous teacher and leader of young men. His previous experience<br />
on our staff will make this a seamless transition.” The transition seems to be going<br />
relatively smoothly. In a recent practice viewing period, Coley was vocal to the receivers<br />
throughout drills.<br />
Josh Crawford<br />
(Running Backs)<br />
Josh Crawford most recently spent time as Georgia Tech’s wide receivers coach, but<br />
he will take on a new role for the Bulldogs. Crawford is filling now Georgia State head<br />
coach Dell McGee’s former role. Taking over for the legendary Dell McGee is no easy<br />
task, but Crawford’s ties will put him in a prime position, especially on the recruiting<br />
trail. Crawford’s has connections all over the Peach state.<br />
He previously coached at: Georgia Tech, Western Kentucky, Colquitt County HS,<br />
Valdosta HS, Lee County HS, Jefferson County HS, Greater Atlanta Christian HS.<br />
Kirby Smart mentioned that Crawford initially interviewed for the receiver coaching<br />
position but believes that this job will suit him just as well. Smart said, “I don’t think you<br />
have to be any certain position if you’re a good football coach.” Smart has been nothing<br />
but pleased with Crawford’s coaching efforts. When talking about both Crawford and<br />
CB Coach Donte Williams, Smart said, “Everything that we heard about them and the<br />
things we wanted them to come into our program for, they’re here for. I’m really proud<br />
of both those guys and how they’ve transitioned thus far.”<br />
ATHENS ACADEMY<br />
EXCELLENCE WITH HONOR<br />
A Safe, Creative & Innovative Learning Environment<br />
A Top-Tier Education from a Highly-Qualified Faculty<br />
STEM, Art, Music & PE Classes Beginning in Preschool<br />
Affordability with $1.6M in Need-Based Financial Aid<br />
A Beautiful 152-acre Campus & Small Class Sizes<br />
BEST PRIVATE SCHOOL<br />
& PRESCHOOL<br />
IN THE REGION<br />
SCHEDULE A TOUR TODAY<br />
www.athensacademy.org/visit<br />
admissions@athensacademy.org<br />
Go Dawgs!<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 19 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
10 PLAYERS<br />
MAKING WAVES<br />
THIS SPRING<br />
BY: NOAH CARNEY<br />
08<br />
These 10 players are definitely guys to look for at the G-<strong>Day</strong> game.<br />
Although most of them may get limited time in the fall, they are<br />
showing a glimpse at the future of Georgia football. The young guys<br />
on this list have been learning behind the veterans of the program for<br />
three months now, and the transfers on the list are showing why they<br />
were sought out by Kirby Smart and his staff in the offseason.<br />
GUNNER STOCKTON (QB)<br />
Although Stockton isn’t going to be coming after Carson Beck’s<br />
job, his spring progress and G-<strong>Day</strong> performance is important. This<br />
game is the time for him to prove to the staff and Georgia fans<br />
that he is already 10-steps ahead in the QB battle of 2025. Now<br />
that Beck has earned his leadership role this spring, Stockton<br />
needs to take full advantage of the veteran QB’s knowledge and<br />
experience.<br />
KJ BOLDEN (DB)<br />
Bolden came out of this year’s high school class as the No. 1<br />
safety for a reason. The 5-star out of Buford High School is<br />
simply a pure athlete. He has a quick twitch about him and a<br />
nose for the football. Bolden has been learning from Malaki<br />
Starks all spring, and will be implementing the knowledge he<br />
has gained come spring game.<br />
JUSTIN WILLIAMS (LB)<br />
The 5-star out of Texas is a beast at the linebacker position that<br />
UGA desperately needs. He has quick hands and great vision<br />
giving him the ability to apply a lot of pressure in opposing teams<br />
backfields, which is something that the UGA fanbase will be<br />
happy to see.<br />
ELLIS ROBINSON IV (CB)<br />
The No. 2 player in the country has it all. He is the epitome<br />
of a ball-hawk and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he gets at<br />
least one pick during the G-<strong>Day</strong> game. With the cornerback<br />
position partially up for grabs, a big spring game from him<br />
would go a long way.<br />
XZAVIER MCLEOD (DL)<br />
McLeod was a 4-star coming out of high school and was also<br />
a 4-star transfer prospect. He is coming from South Carolina<br />
hungry to be a part of the Dawgs’ defense. Although he is most<br />
likely going to be the backup for veteran senior Warren Brinson,<br />
McLeod will still have to prove himself coming in as one of the<br />
higher rated transfers.<br />
9<br />
10<br />
CHRIS COLE (LB)<br />
Like Justin Williams, Chris Cole is another beast<br />
coming in at the linebacker position. The 5-star out of<br />
Salem, Virginia has the perfect size, speed, and agility<br />
to be a great linebacker. Although the linebacker<br />
position is very deep with veteran players, his<br />
athleticism and build won’t be overlooked and will be<br />
on full display during the G-<strong>Day</strong> game.<br />
DANIEL<br />
CALHOUN (LG)<br />
Calhoun was the highest rated trench Dawg that<br />
UGA had coming in this offseason. His metrics<br />
are unreal, standing at 6’7, 365-pound. He is<br />
a force to be reckoned with and is one of the<br />
biggest recruits that UGA has seen. He has been<br />
learning behind some experienced lineman, but<br />
could definitely make a jump in the depth chart<br />
with a good spring game.<br />
LONDON<br />
HUMPHREYS (WR)<br />
Although he wasn’t a shining star coming out of<br />
high school, he is the highest rated transfer that UGA<br />
landed this offseason. The transfer from Vanderbilt<br />
was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team after being<br />
the second leading receiver on his team. With the<br />
No. 1 QB in the nation, the sky is the limit for the new<br />
Dawg in Athens.<br />
DAYLEN EVERETTE (CB)<br />
Although he received a lot of criticism for<br />
performances last year, <strong>Day</strong>len is the guy the Dawgs<br />
want leading their secondary. His size and speed as<br />
a corner is unmatched and with a year under his belt<br />
he is ready to have a breakout year. The spring game<br />
will be a big litmus test for him, but he should be<br />
able to exceed the standards of the staff and the fans.<br />
COLBIE YOUNG (WR)<br />
The veteran wide receiver from Miami is ready to<br />
make his closeout season his best yet. Although<br />
the Dawgs have three of the five wideouts<br />
returning from last season, Young’s size is hard to<br />
look past. He is a 6’5” wideout who targets the ball<br />
well and has unreal hands. He will definitely be<br />
one of the biggest red zone threats in the spring<br />
game, which will give the Bulldog Nation a sneak<br />
peak of what is to come in the fall season.<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 20 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
GEORGIA GIRLS: JARRETT KEMP PG. 24 | BENEFIT HONORING BARBARA DOOLEY PG. 26<br />
PROUST Q&A: BEN HARTMAN PG. 28<br />
Patrice Johnson, Catherine Warner, Bob Pinckney,<br />
Megan Henning, Bonney Shuman<br />
PHOTO BY: CHERI LEAVY/BI<br />
SOCIAL<br />
GEORGIA WOMEN GIVE PHOTOS: PG.27<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 23 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
GEORGIA GIRLS<br />
SOCIAL<br />
Foundation:<br />
NAME: Jarrett Kemp<br />
FAMILY: Daughter of Brian and Marty Kemp, sisters Lucy and<br />
Amy Porter Kemp, and boyfriend, Brooks.<br />
HOMETOWN: Athens, Georgia<br />
CURRENT TOWN: Athens, Georgia<br />
WHAT YEARS AT UGA: 2017-2021<br />
SCHOOL/DEGREE: Mary Frances Early College of Education<br />
PROFESSION: I am the new and proud owner of the amazing<br />
gift and antique shop, Appointments at Five. The store was<br />
opened 36 years ago by two of Athens’ greats, Kitty Culpepper<br />
and Jenny Sligh, and as an Athens native I am honored to<br />
continue the tradition. I took over the reins in September of 2023<br />
and have been working hard ever since to put my own touch on<br />
the store. I love helping our customers whether it’s finding a gift<br />
for hosting, birthdays or babies, helping a couple pick out their<br />
wedding china or finding the perfect antique chest for their home.<br />
Stop by to see how we’ve mixed the old and new and updated this<br />
Athens classic. Also, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook<br />
and shop online at Appointments at Five<br />
Accolades:<br />
Georgia<br />
Girls<br />
JARRETT KEMP<br />
While no official accolades yet, I consider it a major accomplishment to<br />
have taken over an established business especially in a town like Athens<br />
at the age of 24! It isn’t always easy but I am so excited for what the<br />
future holds. Hoping for another 36 years of Appointments at Five!<br />
Inspo:<br />
2.<br />
BOOK: Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers or Where the Crawdads<br />
Sing by Delia Owens are my two favs - must read!<br />
MAGAZINE: Garden and Gun. (1)<br />
PODCAST: <strong>Get</strong> Real with Caroline Hobby.<br />
BLOG: Elisabeth & Butter.<br />
INSTAGRAM: I love following other small businesses to gather<br />
inspiration and just love connecting with other business owners! A<br />
few of my favs are Two Friends SSI, Smiths in Dublin, Ga, Waiting on<br />
Martha and The Blue Print Store.<br />
BRAND: LAKE, Paige, Estelle and anything and everything from<br />
Tuckernuck.<br />
FASHION DESIGNER: The Heath Sisters from Athens, Georgia. They just<br />
started their own clothing line, Melbourne, and their designs are fab!<br />
INTERIOR DESIGNER: Grace Brackman with Maggie Griffin Design<br />
- all of her work is amazing! (2)<br />
CHEF: I love to cook myself but two of my favs are Ina Garten and<br />
Meredith from Wishbone Kitchen.<br />
HISTORICAL FIGURE: Princess Diana. (3)<br />
QUOTE:<br />
“Before you go to sleep, remember<br />
all the beautiful victories you<br />
had today. Be proud of yourself<br />
because tomorrow you are one step<br />
closer to where you need to be.”<br />
Jenessawaits<br />
3.<br />
1.<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 24 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
4.<br />
Athens + UGA:<br />
DESCRIBE ATHENS IN FIVE WORDS OR<br />
LESS: Quaint, vibrant & ever evolving!<br />
RESTAURANTS AND BARS: Last Resort, The<br />
Expat, ZZ & Simones, Georgia Theatre and<br />
Creature Comforts - so many good options!<br />
SHOPS: Amelia’s, and of course, Appointments<br />
at Five!<br />
ATHENS/CAMPUS LANDMARK: Sanford<br />
Stadium and 5 Points. (4)<br />
MEMORY WHILE IN SCHOOL: Gamedays in<br />
Athens are unbeatable! I loved jumping in the<br />
car with all my roommates and riding with the<br />
windows down singing “Teenage Wasteland”<br />
headed to Chick-Fil-A to pick up breakfast then<br />
heading back to our house to pop open the<br />
champagne, make a mimosa and get ready for<br />
a day of tailgating and cheering on the Dawgs!<br />
PROFESSOR/CLASS: Julie Carbaugh! She<br />
believed in me and always looked out for me<br />
even beyond the classroom.<br />
GAMEDAY RITUAL/PLAN: Love keeping the<br />
doors to the store open on Gamedays, getting<br />
all the foot traffic and helping with last minute<br />
tailgating needs, then heading down to<br />
tailgate and the game to cheer on the Dawgs<br />
with family and friends!<br />
5.<br />
TAILGATE RECIPE:<br />
Spicy Sausage Balls (5)<br />
Ingredients:<br />
1 cup of Bisquick baking mix<br />
1 pound of spicy sausage<br />
1 lb sharp cheddar cheese<br />
Directions:<br />
Preheat oven to 350 degrees<br />
Combine bisquick, raw sausage, and cheese in<br />
a large bowl and use your hands to mix until<br />
all combined (you can also put it all into your<br />
stand mixer)<br />
Line your baking sheet with tin foil and spray<br />
with nonstick cooking spray<br />
Form smalls balls and line them onto your<br />
baking sheet about an inch apart<br />
Bake for 30 minutes until they are brown and<br />
crispy!<br />
Cheri Leavy’s rapport<br />
with her favorite<br />
tastemakers and<br />
UGA Alumnae brings<br />
you plenty of doggone<br />
good inspiration!<br />
@cherileavy | @thesouthernc<br />
@wearebulldawgs<br />
@guide2athens<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 25 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY<br />
@ameliasapparel<br />
www.ameliasonmain.com<br />
(706) 850-6373<br />
1738 S Lumpkin Street, Athens<br />
(706) 342-2986<br />
172 South Main Street, Madison
SOCIAL<br />
FAN SHOTS<br />
Ashton Dooley,<br />
Kendall Dooley<br />
Laura Bushatz,<br />
Austin Bushatz<br />
Gabrielle Deliz, Adrianne Beacham,<br />
Matt Beacham, Houston Gaines<br />
Aaron James, Kristin James<br />
Tony Salloum, Heather Salloum Josh Tench, Sam Reed Barbara Dooley,<br />
Ronda Rich<br />
Barbara Dooley cutout<br />
Ben Butler, Caroline Butler, Hunter O’Shaughnessey,<br />
Jamey O’Shaughnessey<br />
(clockwise, from left) Martha Payne, Shannon Candler,<br />
Peter Candler, Melanie Perno, Suzanne Chastain, Woody<br />
Chastain, Leigh Ann Bauerle, Jack Bauerle, Judy Zaban<br />
Miller, Billy Payne<br />
CELEBRATION OF COURAGEOUS LEADERS<br />
BENEFITING THE ST.MARY’S FOUNDATION<br />
AND HONORING BARBARA DOOLEY<br />
By: Hamilton Culpepper<br />
A night to remember … the late, great former head coach Vince Dooley won a lot<br />
of football games on the gridiron, but he outkicked his coverage by marrying the<br />
marvelous Barbara Dooley. Her work off the field far surpasses Ws in the win column;<br />
her work off the field touches and has touched the lives of many in our Athens-Clarke<br />
County community and beyond. Those efforts were recognized at the Celebration of<br />
Courageous Leaders Benefiting the St.Mary’s Foundation on March 2. Family, friends,<br />
loved ones, St. Mary’s staff and anyone who shook the hand of Barbara throughout<br />
the years gathered at the Athens Country Club to show their appreciation for the<br />
longtime First Lady of Georgia football. From the Bulldawg Illustrated family, we thank<br />
you Barbara for everything you have done and continue to do in this community!<br />
Here are a few images that capture the terrific scene from that special night.<br />
MOVING DAWGS ACROSS GEORGIA SINCE 1972<br />
Residential and Commercial Moving<br />
Local and Long Distance<br />
On-site Document Destruction<br />
Document Data Storage<br />
Go Mini’s Portable Storage Units<br />
Packing Materials<br />
DUKE LINDSAY<br />
dlindsay@thelindsaygroup.net<br />
706.549.8902 • 180 Trade Street • Bogart, GA 30622<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 26 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
Stephanie Powell, Becky Tolbert<br />
Natalie Coghill,<br />
Christine Anderson<br />
GEORGIA WOMEN GIVE<br />
The women-directed fundraising group gathered this spring in Athens<br />
with the purpose to engage more deeply with UGA and commit to<br />
philanthropy and learning. It kicked off with a panel discussion with<br />
University Vice Presidents Jill Walton, Jennifer Frum, Marisa Pagnattaro<br />
and Kathy Pharr and was followed by Dine-Around Programs that evening<br />
at spots on campus such as The Entrepreneurship Program Center and<br />
Special Collections Library. The signature luncheon spotlighted the study<br />
away program.<br />
Katie Newell, Ali Gant, Elizabeth Correll Richards, Leslie Candle,<br />
Brandie Park<br />
Robin Grier, Erika Lane<br />
Muffet Arroll, Jill Walton, Sarah Ellis<br />
ULLA JOHNSON + HUNTER BELL<br />
AMANDA UPRICHARD + STAUD<br />
AGOLDE + DOLCE VITA + VERONICA BEARD<br />
MOTHER + SOFTWAVES + CELIAB<br />
LOVE THE LABEL + MARIE OLIVER<br />
RAG & BONE + SEA NY + KREWE<br />
GANNI + ENEWTON + HART<br />
195 COLLEGE AVENUE<br />
ATHENS, GA<br />
706.543.0702<br />
Andrea Parris, Jill Bateman, Lauren Cook, Siara Abdulla,<br />
Bonney Shuman<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 27 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
PROUST<br />
Q&A<br />
COMPILED BY: CAROLINE CHAMPION<br />
NAME: Ben Hartman<br />
FAMILY: Wife: Leslie UGA 1993, son: Hill UGA 2022, daughter:<br />
Curry UGA 2023 and son: Spence (second year at Virginia)<br />
HOMETOWN: Roswell, Georgia<br />
CURRENT TOWN: St. Simons Island, Georgia<br />
SCHOOL/DEGREE: UGA Law Class of 1996<br />
PROFESSION: Lawyer at Hunter Maclean<br />
ACCOLADES: Cum Laude Graduate of UGA Law, Gridiron<br />
Secret Society, Graduate of Leadership Georgia, Graduate of<br />
Leadership Glynn, Past Chairman of the Brunswick- Golden Isles<br />
Chamber of Commerce.<br />
WHAT LIFE LESSONS DID YOU LEARN WHILE AT UGA?<br />
Don’t take yourself too seriously. Know how to take a joke.<br />
WHAT PROFESSOR DID YOU MOST ADMIRE?<br />
Professor Michael Wells brilliantly taught Torts and Constitutional<br />
Law.<br />
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR GREATEST<br />
ACHIEVEMENT?<br />
Raising our three children with Leslie. I couldn’t be more proud<br />
of the three of them. Coach the baseball and softball teams, have<br />
dinner at the table with your family.<br />
WHO ARE YOUR HEROES IN REAL LIFE?<br />
My parents. They taught me the importance of family and being<br />
there for your children. Their lives showed me the importance of<br />
serving others.<br />
My wife, Leslie is a hero of mine. She took over Safe Harbor, a<br />
home for children who need a place to call home, when it was<br />
in a time of<br />
tumult and<br />
has poured<br />
her heart and<br />
love into that<br />
organization for<br />
nearly twenty years. What<br />
an amazing impact her good<br />
work has had on the children and families in our community.<br />
QUOTE TO LIVE BY:<br />
“Family and friends are life’s greatest treasure. Be intentional in<br />
making time for each other. Help folks out. Go easy on each other.<br />
Forgive each other. It is love that matters. It is all that matters.”<br />
WHAT IS YOUR IDEA OF PERFECT HAPPINESS?<br />
A pontoon at sunset on Lake Burton where Timpson Creek meets<br />
the Tallulah River. Cold drinks with Leslie. The kids and the golden<br />
retriever diving into the cold mountain water. Robert Earl Keen on<br />
the radio. In awe of God’s splendor.<br />
IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT<br />
YOURSELF, WHAT WOULD IT BE?<br />
More patience.<br />
Ben Hartman<br />
WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE WRITERS?<br />
Pat Conroy with his insights on the low country and life. Charles<br />
Frazier’s Odyssey-like novel, Cold Mountain. The indelible humor<br />
of Lewis Grizzard on life in the South, fried chicken and the<br />
Dawgs. The musings on clothes, altruism, and transcendentalism<br />
of Thomas Carlyle in Sartor Resartus.<br />
FAVE SOCIAL MEDIA AND WHO TO FOLLOW?<br />
The Poor Man by Ryan Scates. These thoughtful reports begin a<br />
Dawg weekend in the fall.<br />
We believe magic comes from<br />
bringing people together<br />
TO #CONNECTCOLLABORATECREATE.<br />
The Southern Coterie … where beautiful ideas take root<br />
and our members and alums grow and bloom together!<br />
JOIN US<br />
#TSCRETREAT<br />
in Round Top, Texas<br />
September 25 - 27, <strong>2024</strong><br />
Co-founders Whitney Long<br />
and Cheri Leavy<br />
Photo: Kelli Boyd<br />
JOIN THE SOUTHERN C | EST. NOVEMBER 2011 | THESOUTHERNC.COM<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 28 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
Catherine Smith, REALTOR ®<br />
Mary<br />
mc@corcoranclassic.com<br />
FAN SHOTS<br />
SOCIAL<br />
Cameron Evans, Jake Walker<br />
Wyatt Prescott, Natalie Prescott,<br />
Wes Prescott, Wesley Prescott<br />
Daniel Calhoun,<br />
Marcus Easley<br />
Waka Flocka<br />
CLASSIC CITY COLLECTIVE<br />
RED & BLACK ROOKIE EVENT<br />
KJ Bolton, Demello Jones, Nitro Tuggle<br />
Trevor Etienne, Chauncey Bowens<br />
Chris White, Henry Richardson,<br />
Jennifer Richardson, Walker<br />
Richardson, Adam Richardson<br />
Malachi Toliver, Michael Jackson III,<br />
Jake Pope, Ryan Puglisi<br />
Bailey Dickinson, Tate<br />
Ratledge, Nick Tallent<br />
London Humphries, David Wilson,<br />
Colbie Young<br />
Where are you staying this Fall?<br />
AMAZING GAME DAY HOUSES!<br />
495 Old Princeton Road 450 Stanton Way 158 158 Mitchell Street<br />
Bed | 3.5 Bath | 2,160 SF | $1,100,000<br />
2 Five Points Five Points Downtown<br />
m 706.255.6091<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 29 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
SOCIAL<br />
FAN SHOTS<br />
Mary McClain, Patrick McClain<br />
Sharon Murray, Aaron Murray<br />
Martha McJilton, Mike McJilton, John Williams, Amy Stone,<br />
Paul Clark, Amy Clark, Vaibhav Swami, Angie Swami<br />
Philip Bernardi, Courtney Bernardi, Dahlia Brown, Adam Brown,<br />
Karen Dozier, Asher Dozier<br />
The Nelson Family<br />
Elizabeth Katz, Lorenzo Carter,<br />
Ryan Katz<br />
St. Simons<br />
Menswear | Leather Goods | Golf Apparel<br />
Luggage | Knives | Candles & Gifts<br />
Rahab’s Rope exists to empower women and<br />
children in the fight against human trafficking. Profits<br />
from our local and global artisans fund the mission.<br />
See our complete collection at<br />
Bullington SSI or stevebullington.com<br />
36oo Frederica Road | 912.771.8457 | SteveBullington.com<br />
320 Mallery St. • St. Simons Island, GA • 912.434.6059 • rahabsrope.com<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 30 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
FAN SHOTS<br />
SOCIAL<br />
Scott Briscoe, Christie Briscoe<br />
Patti Knick, Nick Smith<br />
ESP BIG HEARTS <strong>2024</strong> GALA<br />
Shannon Speice, Morgan Speice, Ansley Speice, David Pollack,<br />
Caroline Mattison<br />
Jessica Hartley, Todd Hartley, Steven Arnall, Jaime Arnall<br />
Brad Lastinger, Steve Heath, Roger Madden,<br />
Missy Madden, Tammy Lindsay, Duke Lindsay,<br />
Gigi Lastinger<br />
UNDER CONTRACT<br />
75 RIVERHILL DRIVE<br />
YOUR TRUSTED REAL ESTATE ADVISOR<br />
HALLY<br />
DEMENT<br />
Athens Office, Founding Member, Realtor ®<br />
o. 706.995.7500 | c. 404.771.1017<br />
HALLYDEMENT@ANSLEYRE.COM<br />
22 YEARS<br />
OF SERVICE<br />
PUT MY EXPERTISE<br />
TO WORK FOR YOU<br />
You might need a bigger closet!<br />
Alice and Olivia<br />
Paige<br />
Mirth<br />
Poupette St Barth<br />
Brochu Walker<br />
Milly<br />
Farm Rio<br />
Philippe Model<br />
Emily McCarthy<br />
AGL<br />
and many more<br />
www.monkeesofathens.com<br />
1059 Baxter St. Suite A<br />
Athens GA 30606<br />
706.850.8577<br />
Follow Along! @monkeesathens<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 31 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
SOCIAL<br />
FAN SHOTS<br />
Bayleigh Hiers, Marcia McDaniel,<br />
Allison Dykes, Sarah Grace Dykes,<br />
Madalyn Dykes<br />
Jacob Shipman, Toni Shipman, Tara Shipman<br />
Sklar Kane, Madison Kane, Tucker Kane<br />
Angela Miller, Porter Ward, Caroline Ward<br />
Ellie Grace Godbee, Anastyn<br />
Weathington, Karson Weathington<br />
Josh Varela, Ava Varela, Grayson Varela,<br />
Andrea Varela<br />
MAKE YOUR NEXT TRIP TO THE GOLDEN ISLES<br />
A SMART MOVE<br />
• REPRESENTING BUYERS & SELLERS<br />
• VACATION RENTALS<br />
• LONG-TERM RENTALS<br />
• PROPERTY MANAGEMENT<br />
NEW SEASON, SAME GOAL …<br />
CHAMPIONSHIP FOOTBALL!<br />
912.638.1144<br />
WWW.GACOASTREALTY.COM<br />
WWW.GEORGIACOASTRENTALS.COM<br />
105 MAIN ST., PLANTATION VILLAGE<br />
St. Simons Island, GA 31522<br />
ST. SIMONS ISLAND • SEA ISLAND • BRUNSWICK<br />
A leading real estate team in Coastal Georgia<br />
Dana Hill<br />
Realtor<br />
Teri Moore<br />
Realtor<br />
Chrissy Johnston<br />
Realtor<br />
Tina Fallon<br />
Realtor<br />
Matt Thompson<br />
Realtor<br />
Elizabeth Smith<br />
Marketing<br />
Coordinator<br />
Desiree Varnedoe<br />
Rental Manager<br />
Sarah Broyles<br />
Rental Agent<br />
Emily Wages<br />
Rental Division<br />
Freddy Stroud<br />
Broker<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 32 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
FAN SHOTS<br />
SOCIAL<br />
Tracy Savage, Catherine Savage, Carole Fallaw, Teri Sanders<br />
GEORGIA-LSU GYM DAWG MEET<br />
Photos by Mimi Culpepper<br />
Emmie King, Delaney King,<br />
Holly Asbury, Helen Asbury<br />
Stephanie Brown, Crystal<br />
Newsone (Jayda Battle’s family)<br />
Jim Hopkins, Pam Cook, Ina Hopkins<br />
Eleanor Edwards,<br />
Sharon Edwards<br />
Ginny Thompson, Kendall Smith, Turner Templeton,<br />
Elizabeth Clark<br />
Ready to cheer on our Bulldawgs<br />
through another season!<br />
Cole Hixon Insurance • We’ve got you covered!<br />
Insurance professionals to help get you the right coverage at the right price- because<br />
our clients are #1, just like the Dawgs!<br />
Jay & Laura Hixon<br />
1640 PRINCE AVE | ATHENS, GA 30606 | (706) 353-8677<br />
www.ColeHixonInsurance.com<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 33 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
SOCIAL<br />
FAN SHOTS<br />
Brock Bowers, Todd Hartley<br />
Heena Patel<br />
ORANGE BOWL – DEC. 30, 2023<br />
GEORGIA 63, FLORIDA STATE 3<br />
Julia Smart, Mary Beth Smart<br />
Kendall Milton,<br />
Yvonne Johnson-Phillips<br />
Jason Eley, Brian Sims Kirby Smart, Tramel Walthour Weston Smart, Sharon Smart, Sonny Smart<br />
Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler<br />
A small sampling of menu items ...<br />
WHERE SMART DAWGS<br />
EAT AND DRINK!<br />
Oysters Rockefeller<br />
Baked with a topping of spinach, celery, and onion<br />
Classic Crawfish Etouffee<br />
Rich Creole stew of crawfish tails served over rice<br />
Crab Cakes<br />
Lump crab sautéed and served over stewed corn<br />
with remoulade<br />
Stuffed Filet<br />
Stuffed with bleu cheese and port wine sauce.<br />
Served with potatoes and chef’s vegetables.<br />
Carpetbagger<br />
Topped with fried oysters and bernaise sauce.<br />
Served with potatoes and chef’s vegetables.<br />
Seafood Jambalaya<br />
Redfish, oysters, shrimp and crawfish over a<br />
chicken and andouille jambalaya<br />
420 MACON HWY | ATHENS | 706-548-3359<br />
GEORGESLOWCOUNTRYTABLE.COM<br />
OUR GIFT CARDS<br />
MAKE PERFECT<br />
Mother’s and Father’s<br />
<strong>Day</strong> Gifts!<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 34 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
FAN SHOTS<br />
SOCIAL<br />
Kirby Smart, Ladd McConkey Eric Gordon, Robert Hancock, David Sailors Mary Beth Smart, Katharyn Richt<br />
Josh Brooks<br />
Rob Saye, Sony Michel<br />
Julia Nazarowski,<br />
Penny Nazarowski<br />
Mark Richt<br />
DROP BY FOR<br />
SOME OF OUR<br />
FAMOUS<br />
SOFT SERVE<br />
ICE CREAM<br />
Your Luxury Market Leader<br />
Not<br />
JUST<br />
a pharmacy<br />
• Easy Prescription Refills<br />
• Simple prescription transfers<br />
• Express delivery<br />
• Compounding Coming Soon<br />
• Immunizations (flu, new COVID<br />
boosters, and more)<br />
• $0.99 Soft Serve Ice Cream Cones<br />
• Medical equipment<br />
• Pet care<br />
• EzPzPak pouch packaging<br />
• Boutique clothing & accessories<br />
• Gifts with Free gift wrapping<br />
Your local connection in the Golden Isles<br />
to the World of Real Estate<br />
Monday-Friday: 9a.m.-7p.m. • Saturday: 11a.m.-5p.m. • Sunday: Closed<br />
3603 Frederica Rd. • SSI, GA 31522 • 912-357-2357<br />
fredericapharmacy.com<br />
912-638-5161 • seaislandproperties.com<br />
351 Sea Island Road, St. Simons Island, GA 31522<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 35 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
SOCIAL<br />
FAN SHOTS<br />
Maxine Hudson, Edward Hudson<br />
Brock Bowers, Cash Jones<br />
ORANGE BOWL – DEC. 30, 2023<br />
GEORGIA 63, FLORIDA STATE 3<br />
Mason Dill, Carmen Dill, Brian Dill<br />
Suzanne McWhorter, Katie McWhorter,<br />
Jeff McWhorter, Madison McWhorter,<br />
Max McWhorter<br />
Kendall Milton, Kirby Smart<br />
Kylie Beck, Tracy Beck, Leigh Anne Jones<br />
223 MaLlErY StReEt • St. SiMoNs IsLaNd, Ga<br />
912-634-5515 • PalmersVillageCafe.com<br />
549 OceAn BoUleVaRd • St. SiMoNs IsLaNd, Ga<br />
WE CATER! 912-634-5168 • PorchSSI.com<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 36 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
CLAUDE<br />
FELTON<br />
FROM HIS ROLE WITH HERSCHEL TO THE BACK-TO-BACK<br />
NATIONAL TITLES, HIS WORK AT UGA WAS EXEMPLARY!<br />
BY MURRAY POOLE<br />
When Claude Felton was named<br />
sports information director at<br />
his alma mater on July 1st, 1979,<br />
little did he realize that in just over one<br />
year later, he would begin publicizing/<br />
promoting the top high school football<br />
player in the nation.<br />
A player who would evolve not only into<br />
the greatest running back in the history of<br />
the University of Georgia but also arguably<br />
into the best running back in the history of<br />
college football.<br />
Herschel Walker.<br />
“I didn’t see Herschel play in high school,”<br />
said Felton, Georgia’s Hall of Fame and<br />
legendary SID who capped nearly a 45-<br />
year career serving UGA athletics when he<br />
announced his retirement on January 30 of<br />
this year.<br />
“I think I saw some video or film of<br />
Herschel in high school, maybe on TV or<br />
somewhere else but never saw him in<br />
person,” said Felton. “I can’t remember,<br />
I think I might have seen him when he<br />
came in on a visit but I can’t remember<br />
much until he actually got here when the<br />
freshmen came in.”<br />
But for young Claude Felton, the task<br />
of guiding Georgia’s sports information<br />
department – even with all the publicity<br />
and ballyhoo that Herschel was to bring<br />
with him to Athens from Johnson County<br />
High in Wrightsville – wasn’t too daunting.<br />
That’s because of the excellent training<br />
he had previously received at Georgia<br />
Southern University.<br />
“I had two or three roles at Georgia<br />
Southern,” Felton said. “I was sports<br />
information director and I was actually<br />
public relations director there my last<br />
couple of years.” Felton, it should be noted,<br />
also served three years as an assistant<br />
tennis coach for the Eagles.<br />
“When I came to Georgia, Coach (Vince)<br />
Dooley was the head coach and he<br />
was actually taking over the dual role<br />
of athletic director, starting July 1st of<br />
’79,” he said. “Coach Dooley called me at<br />
Georgia Southern in the spring of ’79 and<br />
he had just hired Andy Landers (women’s<br />
basketball coach) and Jack Bauerle (swim<br />
coach) and he wanted to talk to me about<br />
the sports information job so probably me,<br />
Jack and Andy started relatively about the<br />
same time at Georgia.<br />
“I think Dan Magill (Georgia legendary<br />
SID and tennis coach) gave Coach Dooley<br />
a recommendation on me and I tell you<br />
somebody else who talked to Coach<br />
Dooley about me was Harley Bowers of<br />
The Macon Telegraph. He was the other<br />
one I recall.”<br />
Felton said the person most instrumental<br />
in his early development was Ric Mandes.<br />
“My boss at Georgia Southern, Ric<br />
Mandes, was the head of what they call<br />
institutional development, which sports<br />
information and public relations all came<br />
under that,” Felton said. “But he was far<br />
ahead of his time as an institutional public<br />
relations person. He was doing things at<br />
Georgia Southern at that time that most<br />
schools hadn’t even thought about. He<br />
taught me just so many things and what I<br />
learned from him was certainly a lot of the<br />
basis of what I was able to do when I got<br />
to Georgia. But also, when I was at Georgia<br />
Southern, I had gotten to know a lot of<br />
the sports media around the state so that<br />
was a blessing as well, to have so many<br />
relationships already established with<br />
sports media when I got to Georgia.”<br />
Back to Herschel Walker.<br />
When the 6-1, 218-pound Walker, who<br />
was named Parade Magazine national<br />
player of the year at Johnson County,<br />
reported to his first Georgia practice in<br />
August of 1980, hardly anyone envisioned<br />
what the powerful and very, very fast<br />
tailback would accomplish in his freshman<br />
season in the red and black of the Bulldogs.<br />
“Of course, Herschel as a freshman kind<br />
of took the country by storm, for a lot of<br />
reasons,” related Felton, who as the 1980<br />
season moved along, would be tasked<br />
with researching the UGA and SEC records<br />
that Walker was now accumulating. “One<br />
for just what he could do on the football<br />
field,” said Felton, “but also, what the team<br />
was doing at the same time his freshman<br />
continued on page 38<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 37 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
year … going undefeated and winning a national championship.<br />
Herschel finished third as a freshman in the Heisman Trophy<br />
behind George Rogers who was a senior at South Carolina and<br />
I can’t remember who was second (Hugh Green, Pitt). In those<br />
days there was no way a freshman was going to win the Heisman<br />
Trophy, no matter what. And his second year he was definitely<br />
good enough to win the Heisman; he finished second that year<br />
behind Marcus Allen and probably would have won it had Marcus<br />
Allen not been the first player I think in college history to rush for<br />
2,000 yards in a single season. And the third year, Herschel was<br />
pretty much a runaway in the third year.”<br />
Felton said that although Walker didn’t need much extra publicity<br />
due to his extraordinary exploits on the playing field, Georgia’s<br />
sports information department did begin to get his name on the<br />
national sports scene’s consciousness.<br />
“We did some things all three years to some degree,” he said.<br />
“But there were no cell phones, no internet, no email in those<br />
days so pretty much everything you did was direct mail. We did<br />
quite a few direct mail pieces that went to media all across the<br />
country but you could only do it so often just because of the time<br />
it took for the mail to arrive. But pretty much everything was<br />
direct mail in those days and we did a lot of things. We had a lot<br />
of comparisons how he was doing compared to former Heisman<br />
Trophy winners, running backs and those sort of things. There<br />
were a lot of things we did all three years but probably his last year<br />
was the biggest year.<br />
“Herschel would still be the best running back I’ve ever seen, for<br />
sure,” Felton said. “A lot of Georgia people still say Charley Trippi<br />
might have been the best overall athlete ever to play for Georgia,<br />
which might have been true as he was a great baseball player, too. But,<br />
yeah, Herschel is still the best college running back I’ve ever seen.”<br />
What, in Felton’s mind, was the best performance Herschel ever<br />
had at Georgia?<br />
“Probably his freshman year against South Carolina when it was<br />
him against George Rogers,” Felton recalled. “And I believe that<br />
might have been Herschel’s first game on national television. And<br />
in those days, you had maybe one game a week on TV and that<br />
game against South Carolina Keith Jackson was the play-by-play<br />
announcer I recall. And Herschel had a real big day against South<br />
Carolina and we won the game (13-10), which kept us undefeated<br />
going into those last three games against Florida, Auburn and<br />
Tech. And of course, the next week against Florida was the Belueto-Scott<br />
play and he had a big game that day too. He had several<br />
big games against Florida, which I remember. But that game<br />
against South Carolina as a freshman was certainly a big game<br />
that really promoted him onto a real national stage because it was<br />
the first time people were able to see him all across the country,”<br />
said Felton.<br />
Walker, that game, outperformed future Heisman winner Rogers<br />
by rushing for 219 yards on 43 carries including maybe his best<br />
touchdown run ever at Georgia when he dashed 76 yards down<br />
the north sidelines, in the process outrunning several Gamecock<br />
defensive backs who had a perfect angle on Walker.<br />
Felton has been inducted into three Hall of Fames for his<br />
exemplary work in his four decades at the university: the College<br />
Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame, the<br />
Greater Savannah Athletic Hall of Fame and on February 24 of this<br />
year, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. Felton was also presented<br />
the Football Writers Association of America Ben McGrane Award.<br />
But Felton, modest to a fault, is certainly not one to toot his own<br />
horn.<br />
“A lot of that is due to the fact of really just being at Georgia<br />
because if you’re at Georgia, all the years I’ve been there, you<br />
get to work on a national stage, first of all,” he said. “And you get<br />
to work with some of the greatest coaches and athletes in the<br />
history of the college game in a bunch of sports, not just football.<br />
The same year I came was the same year Dominique Wilkins<br />
QUOTES<br />
Claude is the person who gave someone with zero Sports Communications experience a chance<br />
for an internship in 2005 and then a full-time job in 2006. He’s the one who taught me that no<br />
detail is too small to cover and no media outlet is too insignificant not to help. He provided me<br />
with a nugget of his expertise daily and challenged all of us in the Sports Communications office<br />
to work up to the level of professionalism he had created. Claude was also a friend, a confidant<br />
I could trust and a friendly face at church after we had both come in from an away game in the<br />
early hours of the morning. He is a generous, caring, insightful and wealth of knowledge like very<br />
few others around. Claude means the world to my family and me, and I look forward to watching<br />
him embrace this next chapter and enjoy every fish that comes into the boat and every quail that<br />
hits the ground.<br />
LELAND BARROW<br />
SENIOR ASSOCIATE SPORTS COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR<br />
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION<br />
I know of no other person who has served in<br />
the same capacity as Claude Felton who did it<br />
as well as he did. What people need to know<br />
is he was not only masterful in the crafts of<br />
sports information and promotions, he was an<br />
excellent leader. He was honest supportive and<br />
a true friend to ALL of us! Just the best ever!<br />
ANDY LANDERS<br />
FORMER UGA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL<br />
COACH<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 38 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
CLAUDE FELTON SALUTE<br />
QUOTES<br />
came. So, we’ve got a lot of great athletes in a lot of different<br />
sports which really put me in a position to work, like I said, in a<br />
national setting.”<br />
As might be expected, Felton said the three national football<br />
championships the Bulldogs won in his roles as sports<br />
information director, then assistant athletic director, associate<br />
athletic director and finally senior associate executive athletic<br />
director, were the highlights of his career at Georgia.<br />
“You have to say the national championships first of all but I<br />
would point out that since I’ve been at Georgia that Georgia<br />
has won 46 or 47 national championships in all sports,” he said.<br />
“And they all have been something special. I guess I worked<br />
most closely every day with football and to win that 1980<br />
national championship was certainly special since I had been<br />
here only a couple of years then. But at that point you think<br />
we may never win another one. And I guess we went about<br />
40 years before we did win another one. Certainly, these last<br />
two were certainly special because, like I say, it was another 40<br />
years since 1980 before we won another one.”<br />
Felton said he simply wouldn’t have made it his 44 plus years<br />
in his position without all the excellent assistance he received<br />
in the sports information department.<br />
“If somebody asks me what has been my best strength over<br />
the years, it’s probably hiring,” Felton said. “Because I’ve had<br />
an unbelievable group of full-time staff, grad assistants and<br />
undergrad students who have all pitched in and just done<br />
phenomenal work and, as I’ve said many times, they’re the<br />
ones that most of the time made me look good. We had great<br />
stability with a lot of staff members who have been at Georgia<br />
a long time.”<br />
“When I talked to Claude when he did retire, he told me a story I had<br />
never heard. He said one of his first meetings when he was still down<br />
at Georgia Southern that Coach (Vince) Dooley came to him and said,<br />
‘Now Claude, first things first, I just hired two new young coaches you<br />
need to get with.’ And that was Andy Landers and me. And it was pretty<br />
funny. Claude said, ‘I guess it’s one really young enthusiastic guy from<br />
some junior college up in Tennessee and also this young, real friendly<br />
guy that swam here and I hope he has some upside.’<br />
“As time went on, I think some people forget one thing about Claude.<br />
I think he was the same age I was, 27 at that time. And Andy was too.<br />
So, the three of us, unbeknownst to each other, started at the same<br />
time. I didn’t know Andy; Andy didn’t know me and we didn’t know<br />
Claude until he came to us. The bottom line with Claude, I always felt<br />
he was like the anchor in our athletic department. He was savvy with<br />
what he did but his demeanor was always the same, whether it was<br />
something great going on he had to cover or something tough he had<br />
to cover.<br />
“You talk about a baptism of fire is when he started, the year before<br />
Herschel came. So, talk about a learning curve I think Claude, under the<br />
circumstances, learned more in one year than other SIDs could have<br />
learned in a lifetime. Unless you were here at that time, the Herschel<br />
mania was almost inexplicable. You had to see it to believe it. The<br />
thing about Claude was that his influence stretched far and wide. One<br />
of my swimmers who ended up working with him just retired after<br />
an illustrious career at Alabama, and Claude is the father of so many<br />
successful SIDs across the country, there are too many to name. And<br />
the other thing about Claude, he never wanted for anything. He just<br />
did his job and didn’t care about the financial part and would have<br />
been just as happy if no one knew who he was. Bottom line, Claude<br />
was first class and we were lucky to have him!”<br />
JACK BAUERLE<br />
FORMER UGA SWIMMING AND DIVING COACH<br />
FELTON A KEY COG IN THE<br />
FINAL FOUR’S OPERATION<br />
BY MURRAY POOLE<br />
As he drove back from this year’s SEC Men’s Basketball<br />
Tournament in Nashville, Claude Felton wasn’t feeling<br />
that well.<br />
Seems he had contracted a strain of the dreaded flu<br />
bug, an illness that made him bed ridden for several<br />
days and one that would result in nearly a total loss of<br />
his voice.<br />
But Felton, who had just retired from his nearly 45-year<br />
SID position with the University of Georgia athletics<br />
department, knew he had to get well fast. In several<br />
weeks he was supposed to resume his role on the<br />
NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four media coordination<br />
committee. This year’s tournament was to be played in<br />
Glendale, Arizona at State Farm Stadium, home of the<br />
NFL Arizona Cardinals, with the semifinals on Saturday,<br />
April 6, and the championship this past Monday night,<br />
April 8.<br />
As Felton recollects, this will be approximately his 25th<br />
year working the Final Four. He’s been working the SEC<br />
tournament for a good bit longer than that.<br />
“The SEC basketball tournament, there’s several of<br />
us around the league that have been on it, the media<br />
coordination committee for that tournament,” Felton<br />
said. “So, we go and pretty much work for the SEC for<br />
that week, just helping with the media arrangements<br />
for that tournament. I would say I’ve done that SEC<br />
tournament for 35 years.<br />
“The NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four media<br />
coordination committee, I’ve done it for about 25 years.”<br />
Felton said his involvement with post-season<br />
tournament basketball through the years has been a<br />
most gratifying and rewarding experience.<br />
“A fellow named Dave Cawood was the one who first<br />
got me involved with the Final Four committee,” he said.<br />
“I think probably about 1996 maybe. So that’s been a<br />
great experience for a lot of reasons. It’s been a great<br />
professional experience for me as you get to be around<br />
a lot of prominent people. Anybody that’s anybody in<br />
the national media is involved in the NCAA basketball<br />
tournament so it’s allowed me to develop relationships<br />
with all of them. But it’s also been beneficial for Georgia<br />
to have anybody serve on that committee because<br />
there’s only about eight or nine members on that<br />
committee that are from schools around the country.”<br />
Felton said his role on the committee varies from day<br />
to day.<br />
“Over the years we work a little bit with credentialing<br />
and we work with all the media arrangements … we<br />
set up all the media interviews with coaches and the<br />
players throughout the week with the general media<br />
group but also with CBS or TBS or the national networks<br />
that are doing the games as well as the national radio<br />
networks. I work a good bit with photographers as well,<br />
setting up the photography arrangements. It’s pretty<br />
varied.”<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 39 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
FROM THE<br />
booth<br />
JEFF DANTZLER<br />
@jeffdantzlerTV<br />
Always in demand, so many people needing something from him …<br />
Claude Felton always delivered for the University of Georgia<br />
Claude Felton is one of the best men I<br />
have ever known.<br />
Scores of admirers say the same thing.<br />
Claude Felton is the greatest Sports<br />
Information Director of all time. He and<br />
Dan Magill. His mentor.<br />
It says so much about the Greatest<br />
Bulldog Ever, that his two successors<br />
were the very best. Both Claude and<br />
Manuel Diaz, championship accumulating<br />
winningest tennis coach in Southeastern<br />
Conference history, recently announced<br />
their retirement. Their accolades,<br />
astounding.<br />
The first time I ever heard Claude’s name<br />
was back in December of 1982, when my<br />
mom and dad and uncle took me to the<br />
Sugar Bowl, as top-ranked Georgia, three<br />
time reigning Southeastern Conference<br />
champion led by Heisman Trophy winner<br />
Herschel Walker, took on Penn State for<br />
the national title. Claude and my parents<br />
grew up in Savannah and graduated from<br />
Savannah High School together in 1966.<br />
At the Marriott team hotel, while I was<br />
staking out autographs, I remember<br />
getting to meet Georgia’s astounding<br />
young Sports Information Director. I wrote<br />
him a letter the next year, and he mailed<br />
me an autographed picture of Kevin<br />
Butler. The first time Supertoe ever spent<br />
the night at my home, Chateau JD/Emily,<br />
that signed photograph was on the pillow.<br />
When I was 12-years-old, it was pretty<br />
clear I was not going to be the next<br />
Herschel Walker, Dominique Wilkins,<br />
Mikael Pernfors, Tom Watson or Reggie<br />
Jackson. But I loved sports and knew I<br />
wanted to work in sports.<br />
Radio and sports information would be<br />
the path. Growing up in Statesboro, a lot<br />
of really nice people let me hang around<br />
the Georgia Southern SID Office and local<br />
radio stations, owned by the longtime<br />
Voice of the Eagles, Nate Hirsch, also a<br />
friend of Claude’s. They worked together<br />
when Claude was Georgia Southern’s SID<br />
in the 1970s. They both said that Dave<br />
Winfield’s home run in Minnesota’s College<br />
World Series win over Georgia Southern is<br />
the longest home run they’d ever seen.<br />
Having been verbally committed to attend<br />
Georgia since the ‘78 Tech game, I knew<br />
I wanted to work for Claude. When I was<br />
a sophomore at Statesboro High, he said<br />
there would be a spot for me to be a student<br />
assistant in his office. Thank goodness, back<br />
then, getting accepted to Georgia wasn’t<br />
nearly as arduous as it is now.<br />
I had an instant affection for him.<br />
Everything about Claude was and always<br />
has been good, right, sound and first class.<br />
Always in demand, so many people<br />
needing something from him, he always<br />
delivered. Claude has defied father time.<br />
He’s barely aged, and was able to squeeze 26<br />
hours into a day and eight days into a week.<br />
Claude was the ultimate “man behind the<br />
scenes.” He was the genius who stealthy<br />
directed the spotlight to so many of<br />
Georgia’s most famous standout students,<br />
athletes and coaches.<br />
I was astounded watching him work - the<br />
“little things” he did that few ever noticed<br />
had such a huge impact. While I, like many<br />
distinguished cohorts, was graduating<br />
“Summa Cum Claude,” from the Georgia<br />
Sports Info Office, the Dogs were going<br />
through some hard times. Claude was of<br />
course, at his best. Stories were shaped,<br />
fires were extinguished, and on “coin flip<br />
weekends, when TV networks had a hard<br />
choice deciding what game to broadcast,<br />
Georgia was several times chosen in large<br />
part due to Claude’s hospitality and the<br />
exceptional work from his incredible staff<br />
(many of my close friends).<br />
He never wanted any recognition.<br />
When I called him the Michael Jordan<br />
of SIDs on the football postgame show,<br />
about a month later he received a letter<br />
in response to a story the Atlanta paper<br />
had done on some of the nuances of<br />
the Georgia-Florida game. The article<br />
said in one brief paragraph, “Florida’s SID<br />
staff, due to its proximity to Jacksonville,<br />
handles the press box set up and<br />
credential distribution.” This was in the<br />
1990s. An angry fan wrote that “if you can’t<br />
handle all of that, you need to retire!” To<br />
which Claude, the next time I saw him<br />
said, “I really wish you’d stop mentioning<br />
my name on the radio.”<br />
He was at about every baseball game at<br />
Foley Field, and would often laughingly<br />
tell my longtime broadcast partner David<br />
Johnston, “I would come in and see you<br />
guys, but Jeff would say I’m here.”<br />
He wanted no limelight.<br />
But when you are that good, when<br />
you are the best, when you are the gold<br />
standard at what you do, the accolades<br />
come.<br />
A member of the College Sports<br />
Information Directors Hall of Fame, Claude<br />
received perhaps his greatest recognition<br />
in February of <strong>2024</strong>, when he was<br />
inducted into the State of Georgia Sports<br />
Hall of Fame.<br />
A protege to Coach Magill, working<br />
at the right hand of legendary football<br />
coach and athletic director Vince Dooley,<br />
Claude flourished with the most famous of<br />
Bulldogs.<br />
When it comes to those who didn’t play<br />
or coach football at Georgia, Claude is<br />
right there with the likes of Coach Magill,<br />
Larry Munson, Jack Davis and Sonny Seiler<br />
when it comes to great Bulldogs who made<br />
immeasurable contributions to the program.<br />
He was a young SID during those glory<br />
days of the 1980s, and in the autumn of<br />
his career during the Kirby Smart dynasty,<br />
culminating with the back to back national<br />
championships in 2021 and 2022.<br />
From Vince Dooley to our current nation’s<br />
best dynamic duo of Athletic Director/<br />
Football Coach Josh Brooks and Kirby<br />
Smart, through difficult to the grandest of<br />
times, Claude has been THE ROCK of the<br />
University of Georgia athletic association.<br />
Much like Coach Magill was, especially<br />
during the dark days of the 1950s.<br />
In his book Bulldoggeral, Coach Magill<br />
wrote in Claude’s copy, “To The Greatest<br />
SID in the history of the SEC.”<br />
Prior to Coach Dooley’s Celebration<br />
of Life in November of 2022, Georgia’s<br />
lettermen gathered at the Indoor Practice<br />
Facility. Coach and Barbara’s son Daniel<br />
gave a wonderful speech, and mentioned<br />
Claude’s importance to his dad.<br />
This column doesn’t do him justice. A<br />
lengthy book and documentary would be<br />
far better. But he has been an incredible<br />
mentor, friend and second father. Many<br />
could say the same.<br />
When Emily and I were married on Jekyll<br />
Island in July of 2018, the wedding was<br />
at 5:30 p.m. Claude and his wife Cathy<br />
drove the five hours from Athens. After<br />
the wedding, they drove back. The next<br />
morning at 4 a.m., he and Kirby were on a<br />
plane to Bristol, Connecticut to do a bunch<br />
of tv and radio shows on ESPN.<br />
He’ll still be around, just not everyday. We<br />
all figured that at some point, he would<br />
eventually retire. When he did, it was the<br />
end of an era. His office was and is the best<br />
in the land, and is in great hands.<br />
But things will never be the same. Just like<br />
with Coach Magill, no one person can do<br />
all of what Claude did. As great as Herschel<br />
and Brock Bowers were as players, Coach<br />
Dooley and Kirby as coaches, and the mighty<br />
Munson was announcing, Claude was every<br />
bit as remarkable as the incomparable,<br />
incredible, beloved Sports Information<br />
Director for his beloved alma mater.<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 40 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
A LOOK AT NIL & BEYOND PG. 42 | WHAT’S THE WORD: COACH WES JOHNSON PG. 46<br />
WINTER/SPRING SPORTS UPDATE PG. 47<br />
MORE<br />
SPORTS<br />
XAVIER TRUSS<br />
PHOTO BY: TONY WALSH/UGA<br />
BY: GREG POOLE<br />
EXPLORING NIL & BEYOND<br />
Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) is a straightforward, easily<br />
understood concept. Athletes can now earn money by allowing<br />
companies to use their names, images, or likenesses in<br />
promotional activities. That’s all there is to it.<br />
Why all the fuss if NIL only grants college athletes economic<br />
rights that many, if not most, college football fans support?<br />
When federal courts ruled that the NCAA could not deny<br />
athletes the right to earn money from their popularity (NIL), some<br />
university recruiting staff saw an opportunity to close recruiting<br />
gaps with rivals by taking advantage of the NCAA’s enforcement<br />
paralysis in the wake of adverse Court rulings.<br />
The NCAA’s current adverse legal opinions are based on the<br />
Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. Congress passed the Sherman<br />
Act to deal with monopolies in the American economy, like J.D.<br />
Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, which at one point controlled over<br />
90 percent of U.S. oil refining. NCAA members award nearly all<br />
athletic scholarships and the U.S. Federal courts ruled that the<br />
NCAA’s control of college sports violates the Sherman Act when<br />
the Association exercises its monopoly power by limiting studentathlete<br />
compensation to a scholarship, room, and board.<br />
After the Courts ruled that the NCAA violated the Sherman<br />
Antitrust Act by prohibiting athletes from earning money from<br />
their personal popularity (NIL), many university recruiters saw<br />
an opportunity to make recruiting hay by taking advantage<br />
of the NCAA’s paralysis in the wake of adverse Court rulings.<br />
Recruiting practices changed overnight by guaranteeing recruits<br />
and transferring players cash payments if those athletes enrolled<br />
at the school offering them. The Association became powerless<br />
to enforce its rules regarding restrictions on player’s economic<br />
rights.<br />
Recruiting is the most crucial activity in college sports success.<br />
The ability of a coaching staff to mold a group of players into<br />
a team in the short term is a relative constant, as are facilities.<br />
Talent is the critical annual variable. Traditionally, recruiting has<br />
been about lavish facilities and a team’s demonstrated ability to<br />
prepare players for their ultimate goal - NFL stardom and riches.<br />
With those adverse court decisions showcasing the enforcement<br />
weakness of the Association, enterprising recruiters injected a<br />
new arrow into the recruiting quiver - open cash payments. Of<br />
course, players have received extra benefits in the past, but those<br />
under-the-table deals pale when compared to today’s player<br />
market.<br />
The original concept for NIL was simple. Suppose Company X<br />
believes Player Y will produce positive advertising results. In that<br />
case, Company X might contact the school’s collective (a clearing<br />
house for advertising deals) and hire Player Y for an ad campaign.<br />
Savvy recruiting staff quickly understood that there was no<br />
longer a rules structure to punish recruiting offenses.<br />
The Wild West of college recruiting had arrived …<br />
The NCAA, desperate to regain its power and ensure its<br />
continued existence, reasoned that in light of its antitrust<br />
continued on page 42<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 41 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
problem, it would simply plead with Congress to grant an<br />
antitrust exemption similar to relief extended to major league<br />
baseball in 1922. Despite the NCAA’s pleas, Congress has yet to<br />
give the Association a similar antitrust exemption, leaving the<br />
NCAA to face an existential enforcement<br />
battle.<br />
Jim Cavale of Athletes.org (founder of<br />
inflcr.com) sums it up succinctly with his<br />
catchphrase: “Remember, the players have the<br />
power.” At the same time, he councils players<br />
on the realities of the portal:<br />
“The transfer portal hype is really about the<br />
10% of players who have already performed<br />
well; it is not about the 90% that didn’t play<br />
and are just trying to go somewhere else. It<br />
doesn’t mean that if you are part of the 90%<br />
and you haven’t played yet, and you might<br />
have been a highly ranked player in high<br />
school and now your stock is lower, it doesn’t<br />
mean that you cannot transfer and have a<br />
good experience. The portal is really about the<br />
top players, but there are a lot of players who<br />
have worn three or four uniforms since this<br />
portal stuff changed. They had to realize that<br />
the common denominator was them. It wasn’t<br />
their coaches’ fault - it was them.”<br />
Gonzaga Men’s Basketball coach Mark Few, in<br />
a recent interview, adds:<br />
[<br />
Relaxed,<br />
never rushed,<br />
and always<br />
at your<br />
convenience.<br />
ANNOUNCING:<br />
A New Kind Of Primary Care<br />
At Coastal Health Concierge, we work<br />
directly for you, not insurance companies.<br />
PERSONALIZED PRIMARY CARE<br />
URGENT CARE + TELEMEDICINE<br />
Dr. William (Kelly) Johnson, MD<br />
PHOTO BY:<br />
“If used properly NIL can be a really, really<br />
good thing, a positive thing that has been<br />
long overdue,” he said. “We are not in a good space in college<br />
basketball, you know, with how we are operating with no<br />
leadership and no rules right now.”<br />
Georgia football has chosen not to become involved in high<br />
school recruits’ highly publicized bidding wars, preferring to<br />
COASTAL HEALTH<br />
CONCIERGE<br />
coastalhealthconciergemedicine@gmail.com<br />
912.491.9226<br />
ATLANTAAUTOS/<br />
INSTAGRAM<br />
[<br />
put its assets to work securing NIL deals for current players like<br />
quarterback Carson Beck. Beck reportedly signed an agreement<br />
for his final UGA campaign worth $500,000, and shortly after, an<br />
Atlanta automobile dealer signed Beck to a deal that included<br />
the use of a Lamborghini. Beck’s deal illustrates<br />
the dramatic change in NIL from a concept<br />
characterized by payment for services rendered<br />
to a ‘salary’ negotiation. Carson’s Lamborghini<br />
is NIL, but if reports of his $500K deal are<br />
correct, any amount paid to him not funded<br />
by an ad deal is pay-for-play. The days of<br />
college athletes playing in exchange for the<br />
traditionally accepted compensation model are<br />
over, and the current free-market recruitment<br />
environment is unworkable in the long term.<br />
What comes next?<br />
The first step is distinguishing between NIL<br />
(payment for advertising services) and Pay-For-<br />
Play (payment to play for a school). Currently,<br />
both concepts are alive and well across big-time<br />
college football. Carson Beck’s newly acquired<br />
deals appear to have both. First is the Lambo<br />
deal, which seems to be a pure NIL deal. Beck<br />
will endorse the car dealer in exchange for the<br />
use of the car. However, Mr. Beck reportedly<br />
enjoys an agreement that will pay him $500<br />
thousand during his final year at UGA. His<br />
Lambo deal will fund a portion of his contract,<br />
but any portion of his deal not funded through<br />
advertising is pay-for-play.<br />
If the current unregulated player market is<br />
allowed to continue, at some point, annually increasing “NIL/<br />
PayForPlay” deals will cause an acute case of donor fatigue. The<br />
pit of wealthy donors willing to perpetually fund the “market<br />
value” of recruits is not bottomless.<br />
Two possible solutions exist for the quagmire through which<br />
the sport is trudging. The first, and in my opinion, least likely,<br />
is an antitrust exemption like MLB enjoys. Congress must pass<br />
legislation to enable the exemption, which seems unlikely to<br />
happen anytime soon. The NCAA is pinning its survival hopes<br />
on Congressional action because the alternative will gut the<br />
organization’s premier membership and could precipitate its<br />
demise. That alternative to Congressional action is for the schools<br />
that are now known as Division 1 (or some portion of those<br />
institutions) to leave NCAA and form a new governing body.<br />
The NCAA has lost its antitrust cases because it makes rules<br />
that all of its 1,100+ members must follow—the definition of<br />
monopoly power. If (when?) the new governing organization<br />
exists with 50-100 former NCAA members, there will no longer be<br />
a monopoly (trust) governing college sports, and antitrust laws<br />
will no longer apply.<br />
NIL is also profoundly affecting the recruiting of high school<br />
prospects. The recent flip of a state of Georgia high school player’s<br />
commitment from UGA to USC seems to have resulted from Kirby<br />
Smart’s oft-repeated policy of not entering into a bidding war for<br />
athletes. Instead, Coach Smart continues to rely on selling recruits<br />
on his track record of grooming players for the NFL. However, the<br />
lure of big money now will often make it challenging for Smart’s<br />
message to hit home until rules return to recruiting.<br />
The game has changed permanently. Regardless of the ultimate<br />
solution to the current financial lawlessness in college sports, the<br />
solution will not be a return to the rules of the past. NIL is here<br />
to stay. The best hope for traditionalists is an effective ban on<br />
pay-for-play, but the scholarship, room and board days are over<br />
forever.<br />
In a few years, fans will have begrudgingly accepted the new<br />
world order of college sports, and we can get back to the critical<br />
business of hating rivals and winning championships.<br />
It is that simple.<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 42 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
Graphics By:<br />
Georgia Football<br />
Quarterback<br />
After not signing a quarterback out of high school in the 2023<br />
class, Georgia made a strong effort to recruit the position in the<br />
<strong>2024</strong> class. At one point, the Dawgs had two of the top10-ranked<br />
quarterbacks committed. Yet, in this era of College Football,<br />
nothing is ever set in stone until the letter of intent has been<br />
signed. Dylan Raiola, ranked the No. 1 quarterback by some<br />
recruiting services, flipped his commitment from Georgia to<br />
Nebraska just a few days before Early Signing <strong>Day</strong>. There was one<br />
player who stayed firm in his recruitment throughout it all, Ryan<br />
Puglisi. Puglisi initially announced his commitment to Georgia<br />
in October of 2022. Puglisi was able to enroll early and compete<br />
in Orange Bowl practices, and one thing that always seems to<br />
stand out is his mentality. Late into the recruiting season, another<br />
quarterback committed to Georgia. This time, accepting a<br />
preferred walk-on offer. Colter Ginn, out of Perry High School, led<br />
his team to a state championship this past season. Ginn threw for<br />
261 yards and a touchdown in the championship.<br />
Tight Ends<br />
Tight End coach Todd Hartley once again did his thing on the<br />
recruiting trail for the <strong>2024</strong> Class. Starting off, Hartley landed<br />
Jaden Redell. Redell is currently listed at 6-4, 233-pound. Redell<br />
was a participant in bowl practices, and in one image showing a<br />
group of new Dawgs, he towers, looking every bit his listed size.<br />
Georgia also landed Colton Heinrich out of Cardinal Gibbons HS<br />
in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In three years, Heinrich recorded 74<br />
receptions for 947 YDs (12.8 per reception) and six touchdowns.<br />
In addition, Hartley landed a veteran TE from the transfer portal.<br />
Benjamin Yurosek is a 6-4, 242-pound senior. Yurosek, in his time<br />
at Stanford, amassed 107 receptions for 1,337 receiving yards<br />
and five touchdowns. He also ran the ball 14 times for 119 yards.<br />
A great addition to look forward to in the Georgia offense with<br />
plenty of experience.<br />
Wide Receivers<br />
The high school recruiting for the <strong>2024</strong> class only resulted in<br />
one commitment. NiTareon Tuggle committed to the Dawgs<br />
as a three-star but worked his way up the ranks during his final<br />
season. Tuggle was named the WR MVP of May 7th, 2023’s<br />
Under Armor Camp. Tuggle continues to show off incredible ball<br />
tracking and body control in all of his highlights. Standing at<br />
6’1, nearly 200 pounds, the Dawgs got themselves another wide<br />
receiver with great potential. With a lot of talent at the position<br />
heading to the NFL, Georgia hit the portal hard this offseason.<br />
Miami graduate transfer Colbie Young, being just one of the<br />
names, will make an immediate impact. Drawing comparisons<br />
to former UGA and Miami WR Lawrence Cager, Young shares<br />
the size of a tight end, with the skills of a wideout. Young is 6-5,<br />
215-pound, and will fit perfectly in the Mike Bobo offense. In his<br />
time at Miami, Young was seen countless times turning short<br />
screen plays into huge gains. In the past two seasons, Young had<br />
77 receptions for 939 yards and 10 total touchdowns.<br />
Georgia landed two more wideouts this offseason. Michael<br />
Jackson III, out of USC, was hurt by the depth at WR at USC and<br />
decided to look for a new home. While on the field, Jackson III<br />
displayed his estimated 4.45 40 speed at both punter-returner<br />
and receiver. Jackson III played three seasons at USC and racked<br />
up 46 receptions for 498 yards and five TDs as well as two carries<br />
A look at the<br />
BY: WILL HEARN/BI<br />
<strong>2024</strong><br />
Georgia Signing Class!<br />
for 72 yards. Next is true freshman London Humphreys out<br />
of Vanderbilt. Dawg fans may remember Humphreys scoring<br />
a 49-yard touchdown early into the matchup against the<br />
Commodores, blazing past the Georgia secondary. Combining his<br />
height at 6’3, with his speed, Humphreys could be a key piece in<br />
the future.<br />
Running Backs<br />
Dell McGee landed one of the most stacked running back classes<br />
in some time. On some sites, the three running backs signed in<br />
the <strong>2024</strong> class are all listed in the top 10 at their position. McGee<br />
just took the head coaching job at Georgia State, leaving a highly<br />
sought after vacant position on the Georgia staff.<br />
Dwight Phillips Jr. is one of the fastest prospects in the class. He<br />
plays both running back and runs track for his high school, where<br />
he continues to show off impressive times. A year ago, Phillips Jr.<br />
clocked a 10.29 second 100M dash. This speed has been trained<br />
by his dad, who is a 5x World Champion and 2004 Olympic Gold<br />
Medalist in the long jump. Phillips Jr. carried the ball 62 times for<br />
774 yards and seven TDs as well as received the ball nine times<br />
for 245 yards and two touchdowns during his senior season. In<br />
addition, he returned one kick return 95 yards for a touchdown.<br />
Chauncey Bowens, once committed to the Florida Gators, is<br />
another talented back committed to the Dawgs. A combination of<br />
both speed and power, Bowens is listed at 5-11, 209-pound and<br />
runs a verified 10.88 100-meter dash. Bowens played in 10 games<br />
during his senior season and ran 112 times for 811 yards and 10<br />
TDs.<br />
Nate Frazier, out of Mater Dei High School in California, was the<br />
last of the three to commit to Georgia. Frazier split time with Class<br />
of 2025 RB Jordan Davidson at Mater Dei but was still able to put<br />
up impressive stats. In 10 games played during his senior season,<br />
Frazier had 91 rushing attempts for 583 yards and five TDs.<br />
Finally, Georgia also made a major addition in the transfer portal<br />
at the running back position. Trevor Etienne, former Florida<br />
running back and brother of Jacksonville Jaguars running back<br />
Travis Etienne Jr, committed to Georgia just a few weeks after the<br />
Dawgs lost their SEC Championship game. Etienne played for the<br />
Gators for two seasons and racked up 1,710 all-purpose yards.<br />
Look for Etienne to make an immediate impact on this upcoming<br />
season.<br />
Offensive Line<br />
Stacy Searels landed one of the biggest offensive line classes<br />
in Georgia history. Six offensive linemen signed with Georgia in<br />
the <strong>2024</strong> class, and they have an average size of 6-7, 325-pound.<br />
It is unknown which position on the offensive line these players<br />
will play at Georgia, but just know that there is some serious size<br />
in the class. The highest-rated prospect in the class is Daniel<br />
Calhoun, out of Walton High School in Marietta, GA. Calhoun<br />
is 6-6.5, 365 pound, and was ranked the 66th best player in the<br />
country and 5th best OT by 247Sports.<br />
Defensive Backs<br />
Despite DB Coach Fran Brown’s departure (to take the HC job<br />
at Syracuse), Georgia still landed an elite defensive back class.<br />
The No. 1 corner in the <strong>2024</strong> class, Ellis Robinson IV, has been<br />
committed to the Dawgs since February 1st, 2023. Since then,<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 44 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
his commitment stayed strong, and so has his ranking. Robinson<br />
IV is tied with Nolan Smith as the second-highest recruit in UGA<br />
history. Robinson IV showcased his talents at the Under Armor<br />
All-American game. Robinson IV was highlighted multiple<br />
times throughout practices for his lockdown coverage, most<br />
notably picking off one of the best quarterbacks in the class, DJ<br />
Lagway. KJ Bolden is a name I’m sure most Dawg fans heard<br />
multiple times throughout his recruiting process. The No. 1 safety<br />
in the country was initially committed to FSU and flipped to<br />
Georgia on signing day. Bolden knew Fran Brown was leaving<br />
the program, but Brown’s comments on the University and its<br />
success influenced Bolden to stay.Two more DBs, Demello Jones<br />
and Ondre Evans, also signed with the Bulldogs this offseason.<br />
Demello Jones, the 7th-ranked safety in the country, played in<br />
Georgia’s high school state championship against Prince Avenue.<br />
Although the outcome of the game was not in Jones’ favor, he<br />
still was able to record himself a pick-six. Jones returned Georgia<br />
Tech commit Aaron Philo’s pass for 98 yards. Ondre Evans is the<br />
8th-ranked corner in the country. Initially committed to LSU, he<br />
flipped to Georgia due to his and Coach Fran Brown’s relationship.<br />
Jones also says attending a Georgia practice took another step in<br />
influencing his decision to flip. Georgia acquired one defensive<br />
back in the portal this offseason. Former Buford safety Jake Pope<br />
announced he’d be joining the Dawgs on January 12. Georgia<br />
now has two former Buford safeties in the backfield.<br />
Linebackers<br />
An ongoing theme you might be noticing in the <strong>2024</strong> class is<br />
landing the No. 1 ranked player at a certain position. This does not<br />
change with the linebacker group brought in by Glenn Schumann<br />
and company. Georgia landed Justin Williams, the No. 1 ranked<br />
LB in the <strong>2024</strong> class. Williams played High School ball at Oak<br />
Ridge in Conroe, Texas. The 6-2, 205-pound backer ran an 11.01<br />
100-meter dash in his junior year of high school. He is listed as the<br />
10th most talented recruit in UGA history. Fellow five-star Chris<br />
Cole out of Salem, Virginia committed to Georgia in September<br />
of this past year. Finally, Kristopher Jones, from Fairfax, Virginia,<br />
joins the group as the third linebacker in the class. All three of<br />
these players are listed in the top ten at their position.<br />
Defensive Linemen<br />
Georgia landed five players on the defensive line out of high<br />
school in the <strong>2024</strong> class. Consisting of both true D-Linemen and<br />
edge rushers, the group has some serious talent. Joseph Jonah-<br />
Ajonye, high school teammate of linebacker Justin Williams, is<br />
the highest-rated defensive lineman in the class. After his initial<br />
commitment, Jonah-Ajonye said “To put it simply. Georgia is just<br />
different... I feel like I’m built for that defense. Jordan Thomas,<br />
Nnamdi Ogoboko, and Nasir Johnson are all also new members<br />
of the ‘trench mob.’ Each stands no smaller than 6-3, 300-pound,<br />
Tray Scott continues to bring in massive athletes to the defensive<br />
front. Quintavius Johnson, listed as an edge rusher, showed<br />
off his athleticism throughout High School. Johnson played<br />
some time at quarterback and scored himself a 70-yard rushing<br />
touchdown on the offensive side of the ball. Georgia landed<br />
one defensive lineman in the portal. South Carolina DL Xzavier<br />
McLeod announced he was transferring to Georgia on December<br />
22nd, 2023. McLeod’s high school recruitment came down to<br />
South Carolina and Georgia, but he stuck with the Gamecocks.<br />
Things have now come full circle as the 6-5, 284-pound freshman<br />
will put on the ‘G’ this upcoming season.<br />
Special Teams<br />
Georgia managed to land the most talented punter in the<br />
country, Drew Miller. Miller averaged 49.5 yards per punt with<br />
55% landing inside the 20-yard line during his senior season.<br />
Miller only allowed five return yards in all 11 games played.<br />
THE THE DONALD DONALD ROSS ROSS GEM GEM<br />
OF OF OF THE GOLDEN ISLES ISLES<br />
“YOU DON’T HAVE TO<br />
TO TO LIVE HERE<br />
TO TO BE BE BE A MEMBER HERE”<br />
“you don’t have to live here<br />
to be a member here”<br />
The Donald Ross Gem of of the Golden Isles<br />
BRUNSWICK COUNTRY CLUB<br />
brunswickcountryclub.com<br />
brunswickcountryclub.com | Dan Hogan, 912-264-4377, | 912-264-4377<br />
ext 5<br />
PSC<br />
PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION<br />
Public Service Commission<br />
A Watchdog for<br />
Georgia Families<br />
Non-Resident<br />
Membership Rates<br />
Single : : : $160 $155 / month *<br />
*<br />
Family: $205 $195 / month *<br />
*<br />
*Does not not include initiation fee fee<br />
Book your<br />
special event<br />
now!<br />
www.timechols.com Proven. Trusted.<br />
* Paid for by the committee to elect Tim Echols<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 45 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
what’s the<br />
word<br />
BY HAMILTON CULPEPPER<br />
DIAMOND DAWGS’ SKIPPER EXUDES TOUGHNESS!<br />
WES JOHNSON<br />
Toughness, a word maybe<br />
associated with a boxer or a Navy<br />
Seal, but this <strong>2024</strong> Diamond<br />
Dawg squad exhibits a different type of<br />
toughness; a concentration when things<br />
aren’t going the way this team wants<br />
them to; a dedication to the process. That<br />
toughness is the one word head baseball<br />
coach Wes Johnson uses to describe his<br />
team.<br />
The first year head coach has wowed<br />
the Classic City, the University of Georgia<br />
and the Southeastern Conference with an<br />
unprecedented start to the <strong>2024</strong> season.<br />
However, it’s no coincidence sprinkled<br />
on Foley Field from Munson and Lady<br />
Luck. It is a valiant leader with committed<br />
players keeping their heads down,<br />
focused on the trajectory of this program.<br />
A native of Sherwood, Arkansas,<br />
Johnson has been around the baseball<br />
block at the high school, college and<br />
professional level, most recently as the<br />
defending national champion LSU Tigers’<br />
pitching coach. The experience taken<br />
from these various stops all contribute to<br />
Johnson’s early success here at Georgia.<br />
“The biggest thing for me being a<br />
pitching coach at that level is game<br />
management on the defensive side of the<br />
baseball,” Johnson said. “Having to make<br />
those moves at a very high level, and we<br />
[the Minnesota Twins] were good. You<br />
have to stay ahead of the game really fast<br />
at that level, and that experience there is<br />
really helping me be a head coach.”<br />
While the MLB is the highest level of<br />
play, SEC baseball is no walk in the park.<br />
It is second to none in winning, and<br />
playing those types of opponents each<br />
weekend is a heavy load on a team and<br />
head coach. Johnson, surrounded by<br />
it for multiple years of his career, is<br />
accustomed to the grueling schedules,<br />
extended bullpens and hostile crowds.<br />
He’s shown his lineup can match up<br />
with those SEC opponents, sweeping<br />
No. 8 Alabama at home and grabbing<br />
a 16-2 win at Rocky Top over the No. 5<br />
Vols. How is this conference so good and<br />
how can Georgia match that play?<br />
“It’s resources,” Johnson said. Georgia,<br />
Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, they all<br />
have these star-studded high schoolers.<br />
“All of these places, you’re kind of in the<br />
baseball mecca of the U.S … as a general<br />
rule, the majority of good players across<br />
the country come out of the southeast.<br />
You do your demographics homework,<br />
and those players only want to go so far<br />
from home, so they stay close by. And<br />
heck, I say it to everyone. ‘The education<br />
you get from the University of Georgia is<br />
second to none.’”<br />
The high-powered offense of the <strong>2024</strong><br />
Bulldogs is led by two Georgia guys:<br />
Charlie Condon (Marietta) and Corey<br />
Collins (Suwanee). These home-state<br />
Dawgs are a testament to that headdown,<br />
dedicated brand that Johnson<br />
and his staff are trying to promote. “They<br />
want Georgia to be good,” Johnson said.<br />
“They want this program; they want this<br />
University to be good. They grew up in<br />
this state, and it means a lot to them.”<br />
The Georgia lineup doesn’t just see<br />
success from these two though. It is<br />
top to bottom, all nine raking home<br />
runs, all nine batting in runners, all nine<br />
contributing to the early wins of the Wes<br />
Johnson era. Johnson believes this lineup<br />
is unique, unlike any other he’s coached<br />
in his seasoned career.<br />
“2016, we won the league while I was at<br />
Mississippi State. I’m trying to count the<br />
big leaguers on that team, but that lineup<br />
was good. 2018, I was at Arkansas, and<br />
we lost the national title on a dropped fly<br />
ball. That team has a lot of big leaguers<br />
on it as well. This one ranks up there with<br />
those two probably. This offense will rival<br />
those, but this offense has some dynamic<br />
pieces. I haven’t ever had a lineup with as<br />
much flexibility and is as deep. You look<br />
at what we’re doing: we’ve got four guys<br />
who are playing everyday, and then we<br />
run matchups the rest of the way.”<br />
This early success has earned Johnson<br />
the support of the Athens community,<br />
but the humble leader doesn’t just want<br />
to be adopted into the Classic City, he<br />
wants his players to be adopted into the<br />
history of Georgia lore.<br />
“I can’t thank our fans enough for the<br />
support we are getting, but I’ve said this<br />
many times, ‘Coaches are only as good as<br />
the players they have.’ Yes, it’s awesome<br />
they are adopting me, but I really hope<br />
they are adopting our players. Those guys<br />
are the ones out there doing it. My days<br />
in the sun are long gone.”<br />
The diamond, the smell of fresh cut<br />
grass, perfectly groomed dirt, the sights<br />
and sounds of the ballpark, Johnson loves<br />
baseball, lives and breathes it. It’s his<br />
livelihood and so much more. It’s a sport<br />
he fell in love with at a young age and<br />
grows more in that devotion each day.<br />
Like it’s said in Moneyball, “How can you<br />
not be romantic about baseball?”<br />
“My priorities are the Lord, my<br />
immediate family, then baseball,” Johnson<br />
said. “It’s everything, it’s all I know. I joke,<br />
‘I don’t know where I bank, and my wife<br />
dresses me.’ I hate losing more than I like<br />
winning. There’s a lot of truth to that. You<br />
work so hard, but you have to ride those<br />
highs and lows just like romance.”<br />
It’s safe to say, the performance on the<br />
field has brought support far and wide<br />
for the Diamond Dawgs. Furthermore,<br />
what Wes Johnson is doing beneath the<br />
surface, behind the curtain, not seeking<br />
recognition, Georgia baseball is in<br />
humble hands that will take this program<br />
to an everlasting YEA!<br />
A final quick message from Coach:<br />
“Please continue to support. I can’t tell<br />
you how excited our players were at the<br />
Alabama series, the Iowa game and the<br />
Georgia State game. I wish the fans could<br />
see how much our guys fed off of your<br />
energy, so please, continue to support<br />
our guys! Then, even to the casual fan:<br />
if you haven’t seen Charlie Condon play,<br />
you need to find your way to Foley Field<br />
because these guys don’t come around<br />
but every 10-12 years, if that!”<br />
To hear the full interview, check out “The<br />
Hammy Show” on Spotify as he discusses<br />
much more with Coach Wes Johnson!<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 46 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
WINTER/SPRING SPORTS UPDATE<br />
BY: MATTHEW HERREN<br />
As the winter season has ended, and springtime is roaring through Georgia,<br />
there is plenty of optimism around the many athletic programs in Athens. From<br />
weekend series at Foley Field to postseason hoops in Stegeman Coliseum, the past<br />
few months have created many proud moments for the Bulldog Nation.<br />
HOOP DAWGS<br />
The Georgia Bulldogs men’s basketball team finished the regular season with a<br />
record of 16-15, along with a lone victory in the first round of the SEC Tournament<br />
over Missouri. Coach White’s team was given the opportunity to accept a spot in<br />
the NIT, giving the program its first postseason berth since 2017. The Hoop Dawgs<br />
knocked off Xavier in the first round at home, and then pulled off improbable<br />
victories on the road against Wake Forest and Ohio State to advance to the Final<br />
Four in Indianapolis. For a team that endured a six game losing streak during the<br />
heart of SEC play, Coach White and his relentless Bulldog squad have a lot to be<br />
proud of. Senior guard Noah Thomasson led the team in scoring with 13.1 points<br />
per game, followed by Jabri-Abdur Rahim with 12.2. Freshman guard Blue Cain<br />
emerged as one of the top three-point shooters on the roster with a 35% average<br />
from behind the arc. Seven-foot center Russel Tchewa led the team in rebounds,<br />
averaging 6.3 rebounds per game. Looking ahead to next season, Bulldog Nation<br />
will be saying goodbye to key seniors such as Noah Thomasson, Justin Hill, Russel<br />
Tchewa, and Jabri Abdur-Rahim. However, plenty of buzz surrounds five star<br />
incoming freshman forward Asa Newell, who White and his staff hopes to be a<br />
big factor in the program’s future. In terms of the transfer portal, question marks<br />
surround freshman guard Silas Demary Jr., who following the Bulldogs’ final game<br />
against Seton Hall said he was “going to decompress” before deciding on his future.<br />
DIAMOND DAWGS<br />
The Diamond Dawgs currently sit at 23-6 and in prime position for a possible run<br />
to Omaha this summer. Out of the 23 wins include a two game sweep over Georgia<br />
Tech, a three game sweep over Alabama, and a 16-2 victory over No. 4 Tennessee<br />
in Knoxville. The team’s new skipper Wes Johnson has his team swinging the bat<br />
as good as anyone in the country with a team average over.300 and 84 home runs,<br />
the most in the nation. Baseball’s next top prospect Charlie Condon has been<br />
on a tear for the Bulldogs, leading the team in batting average (.481), on base<br />
percentage (.593), hits (52), and home runs (19). Corey Collins has been another key<br />
piece to the offense, batting.396 with 12 home runs and 31 RBIs. However, pitching<br />
has been the weakness of the team, as the staff has an ERA of 5.33. Looking ahead<br />
to the rest of the season, the Bulldogs will continue to face stout SEC competition,<br />
as six of their final seven series are against teams inside the top 25, along with a<br />
lone matchup against Clemson, the No. 2 team in the nation. Matchups at Foley<br />
Field include series against Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, and Florida. If Johnson can figure<br />
out a way to lower the runs given up, these Diamond Dawgs can match up with<br />
anyone in the country.<br />
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S GOLF<br />
The men’s golf team recently won The Goodwin at TPC Harding Park with a total<br />
score of 839 (-1), giving the group their second team tournament win alongside<br />
the Puerto Rico Classic this February. Ben van Wyk was the low man for the<br />
Bulldogs after a 207 (-3) finish, good enough for a third-place finish overall. The<br />
team will have a few weeks of preparation before traveling to St. Simons for the<br />
SEC Championship at Sea Island April 24-28. As for the women’s golf team, they<br />
recently competed in the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic at the UGA Golf Course in<br />
Athens, placing third overall with a score of 879 (+15) over three rounds. Fifth-year<br />
senior Caterina Don had a solid weekend, shooting 213 (-3) with an impressive<br />
second-round 67. The Lady Dawgs will keep working on their game ahead of the<br />
SEC Championship April 12-16 at The Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, as well as the<br />
NCAA Regionals at Auburn University Club May 6-8.<br />
GYM DAWGS<br />
The Georgia gymnastics team finished the regular season with<br />
a record of 6-10 and one conference win. The Gym Dawgs won<br />
their season opener against NC State, but did not win again<br />
until March 1st against Auburn. However, they won the Kidney<br />
Care Women’s Gymnastics Championship in Nashville in March.<br />
Unfortunately, the team’s season ended with a third place finish<br />
in the NCAA Regionals. On a high note, gymnast Lily Smith<br />
earned the all-round title at the regional.<br />
SOFTBALL<br />
The Lady Diamond Dawgs are rolling right along, sitting at 29-6<br />
with a top-five ranking in the nation. In the early months of<br />
the season, Tony Baldwin’s group was able to participate and<br />
be successful in tournaments across the country where they<br />
could match up against some of the top competition in the<br />
country. Offensively, the Dawgs are batting.314 with 58 home<br />
runs and 239 total runs scored. Jayda Kearney has led the way<br />
offensively, batting.391 with 14 home runs and 34 RBIs. Lilli<br />
Backes has been the solid arm in the rotation with a 2.44 ERA<br />
and 75 strikeouts, along with four saves and 12 games won.<br />
This team has a real shot at not just qualifying for the College<br />
World Series in Oklahoma City this summer, but bringing home<br />
the program’s first national title.<br />
MEN’S TENNIS<br />
The Georgia men’s tennis team is 10-11 on the year with a 3-6<br />
record in SEC competition. Long-time head coach Manuel Diaz<br />
announced this will be his last season before retirement, ending<br />
a 36-year run which included four NCAA titles and 29 SEC<br />
Championships. The highlights of the season so far include wins<br />
over Georgia Tech, Alabama, LSU, and Arkansas. However, the<br />
Bulldogs have struggled away from Dan Magill Tennis Complex,<br />
going 0-5 in away matches. Diaz and his players will have a few<br />
more weeks to get their game in shape before heading to Baton<br />
Rouge at the end of April for the SEC Championships.<br />
WOMEN’S TENNIS<br />
The Georgia women’s tennis team owns a record of 13-4 (8-1 in<br />
the SEC) and sit at seventh in the ITA rankings. They lost their<br />
first conference game on March 31 on the road against #16<br />
Auburn. Their season so far has featured wins over Florida, Texas<br />
A&M, and Alabama, all who are ranked inside the top 25. The<br />
Lady Dawgs will have four more home matches before they host<br />
the SEC Tournament April 17-21 at Magill Tennis Complex.<br />
DAWGS IN THE MASTERS<br />
Beside the G-<strong>Day</strong> game, one of the best parts of Spring in<br />
Georgia is watching the greatest golfers in the world compete<br />
in the Masters tournament at arguably the world’s finest venue:<br />
Augusta National Golf Club. Once again, UGA golf will be well<br />
represented with Harris English, Brian Harman, Russell Henley,<br />
Chris Kirk, Sepp Straka and Bubba Watson participating. Go low<br />
Dawgs … Woof, Woof, Woof!<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED 47 ISSUE ONE • SPRING/G-DAY
PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY.<br />
Crown Royal Blended Canadian Whisky. 40%Alc/Vol. The Crown Royal Company, Norwark, CT.