Score Atlanta Vol 11 Issue 5

Time to look great!

VOLUME 11 ISSUE 5 | FEBRUARY 13-19, 2015

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YOUR SOURCE FOR SPORTS IN GEORGIA

Long & Winding Road | Pg. 8 The state’s top wrestlers meet in Macon to crown newest class of champs.

Leaders of the Pack | Pg. 11 Glazier Clinics continue improving and influencing area coaches.

BIG APPLE DREAMIN’ The Hawks take center stage in New York for NBA All-Star Weekend | Pg. 5

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SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

Vol. 11 Iss. 5 | February 13-19, 2015

STARTING LINEUP PUBLISHER/EDITOR I.J. Rosenberg

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COLUMNISTS

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ON THE COVER

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PREP COVER

ART/CREATIVE DIRECTOR DJ Galbiati Blalock

MANAGING EDITOR Craig Sager II

MARKETING/ Lauren Goldstein PARTNERSHIP DIRECTOR

BUSINESS MANAGER Marvin Botnick BEAT WRITERS Ricky Dimon (Braves, Tech)

Brian Jones (KSU) Dan Mathews (UGA)

Craig Sager II (Falcons)

Kyle Sandy (Hawks, GSU,

Gladiators)

STAFF WRITERS Jalisa Smith

Matthew Cason

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Copyright 2015 Score Atlanta Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Score Atlanta is published in print every other week on Fridays and a digital version is posted to ScoreAtl.com in-between print issues. Views expressed in Score Atlanta are not necessarily the opinion of Score Atlanta, its staff or advertisers. Score Atlanta does not knowingly accept false or misleading editorial content or advertising nor is Score Atlanta responsible for the content or claims of any advertising or editorial in this publication. No content (articles, photographs, graphics) in Score Atlanta may be used for reproduction without written permission from the publisher.

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DAN’S DOCKETT

FALCONS STAFF IS SET AND READY TO MOVE FORWARD

BY DAN MATHEWS | DMATHEWS@SCOREATL.COM

he Falcons coaching staff has been assembled and will spend the next seven months T preparing for the 2015 NFL season. On Tuesday, their newest coordinator’s met with the media.

The team announced some of the new coach hiring’s last week, when Dan Quinn was introduced as their newest head coach. Of those hired on were new offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and defensive coordinator Richard Smith.

The Falcons had decided to keep Keith Armstrong as their special teams coordinator.

He’s glad to be staying here with the team, but admits that things are different.

“You’re tied in to special teams and you’re going to get into how we’re going to share the personnel,” Armstrong said. “I treat it like I didn’t have to move, but it’s a new job. You

have to take that approach.”

Armstrong had a chance to work with Quinn, when both coaches were on Nick Saban’s staff with the Miami Dolphins. He says he could see back during those days in South Florida that Quinn someday could be leading up his own group of coaches.

“Very detailed guy,” Armstrong said. “(He is) very good with the players, always positive, always more interested in what the guy could do, and actually adjusting with what that guy could do individually.”

Those details it seems will be all across the board with the team this season and beyond. In fact, Quinn is already getting involved and had a good story about their interaction during a Tuesday morning meeting.

“He wrote speed, underlined it, and hand-

SANDY’S SPIEL

SILENT BUT DEADLY

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

ake no joke about it; the SEC is wide open M outside of Kentucky. With just two teams ranked in the Top 25, no one has been able to

stand out as the clear cut second best team in the conference. The top of the conference is muddled with teams a win away from claiming second place, or falling all the way into a multiway tie in the middle of the pack. Three teams are tied for second at 7-3 in the SEC, while two more are tied for third place at 6-4.

One team to keep an eye on is Mark Fox’s Georgia Bulldogs. Now in his sixth season at UGA, Fox has compiled a respectable 100-84 record. Predecessor Dennis Felton managed just an 84-91 mark in his five-plus seasons before getting fired in 2009. Fox has brought with

him a tough-nosed mentality that helped him go 123-43 at Nevada before accepting the position at Georgia. The Dawgs haven’t made a trip to the NCAA Tournament since the 2010-11 season, Fox’s second season, but Georgia is off to a strong start and has a chance to sneak back into the big dance.

The season started inauspiciously when the Bulldogs were stung at Georgia Tech, 8073 to open up the 2014-15 campaign. Georgia managed to respond well though, finishing 9-3 in non-conference play. Along the way, they were able to pick up nice wins over Colorado, Kansas State, and the emerging Seton Hall Pirates. Losses included a four-point defeat to Minnesota and a hard fought 88-76 loss to top

ed me the piece of paper,” Armstrong said.

“He’s in tune with it and he knows it. His philosophy whether you’re a starter or backup, is if you can run you’re going to play on special teams.”

Offensively, coordinator Kyle Shanahan comes with experience and pedigree. His father Mike, was Denver’s two-time Super Bowl winning coach and the two worked together in Washington D.C. with the Redskins.

Shanahan will be working with his third different groups of quarterbacks in the least three years with Matt Ryan and backup T.J. Yates. However, this time, he’s working with a Pro Bowl quarterback that is no doubt the Falcons franchise quarterback with Ryan.

“There’s a lot of good quarterbacks on this planet, but there’s probably only about five and maybe eight on a given year that people aren’t trying to replace,” Shanahan said. “So it’s an extremely tough position. Everybody wants that franchise guy and to already be in a situation where they have that is very enjoyable.

Because, you can focus on other things, focus on other positions, and it makes things easier.”

IN THE ZONE…

One of the other things to focus on, is the offensive line. Shanahan has been in “zoneblocking” schemes over his career with the Texans and Redskins. These years were spent

with his father and Gary Kubiak.

The man who is credited with making this offensive line blocking scheme a success, is former Falcons offensive line coach Alex Gibbs.

Through his time in the league, Shanahan has become a huge fan of this approach.

“I think it’s similar to what Dan Quinn has preached on defense,” Shanahan said. “As coaches, we’re not trying to make ourselves smarter than we really are. This is just football.

We need something sound, that we believe in, that puts the defense in a bind, and we need to be very good at it.”

On the defensive side of the ball, Richard Smith is taking over. He comes to the Falcons after spending the last three years with the Broncos as their linebackers coach.

Smith coached with Quinn back in San Francisco and like Armstrong says that he noticed good qualities in him as a coach. In fact, Smith says it almost became kind of a joke in the building that they would tell Quinn that Steve Mariucci (49ers head coach at the time) called and said it was time for him to go home.

The next step in the offseason, is for the Falcons coaches, scouts, and front office personnel to head up to Indianapolis for the annual scouting combine. Soon enough, they’ll be able to focus on the players that have inside the facility already.

Photo courtesy of the Atlanta Falcons.

ten Gonzaga.

In conference play, Georgia has also proven to be a tough out. The Dawgs (15-7, 6-4) have already beaten Florida, Ole Miss, and Tennessee. Their losses came to current No. 24 Arkansas by four, LSU in double-overtime by three, and most recently No. 1 Kentucky by 11 at Rupp Arena. The major blemish on Georgia’s record was a 67-50 loss to South Carolina who is just 11-11 overall and 2-8 in the SEC. Leading scorer and rebounder Marcus Thornton missed the Kentucky and South Carolina games due to an injury. The senior forward has progressed each season and is averaging 13.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He leads a Bulldog team that has five players score in double figures. Kenny Gaines, Charles Mann, and Nemanja Djurisic all average 11 points while J.J. Frazier comes in at 10.8. Frazier, only a sophomore, had the most eye opening game of maybe any SEC player this year when the Dawgs traveled to The Hump to face Mississippi State.

The 5-foot-10 guard exploded for 37 points on 12 of 14 shooting and 7 of 7 from beyond the three-point line.

The strength of this Georgia team besides its coaching has been its balanced scoring attack and strong rebounding. With five players averaging double figures, opposing defenses

cannot key on just one man. Frazier, Gaines, and Thornton can all get hot on any given night. The Bulldogs also do a good job on the glass averaging nearly 38 rebounds per game. Being able to limit second chance points has been a boon for Coach Fox.

Though they currently sit in fifth place in the standings, Georgia is just a game out of second place. Key matchups loom with Texas A&M, Ole Miss, and Kentucky all on the horizon. If Georgia is able to take care of business and win the games they are supposed to, they should enter the conference tournament flirting with 20 wins. In ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s most recent Bracketology, he places Georgia as a number eight seed in the West Region. He also has a whopping six teams out of the SEC making the tournament.

The Dawgs look poised to make a run in the SEC tournament and clinch their first March Madness bid in five seasons and if Coach Fox can reach the 22 win plateau, it would be the school’s best record since 2001-02 with Jim Harrick. Coach Fox has methodically built Georgia into a respectable program and has the Dawgs hungry as a silent but deadly dark horse entering March.

Photo courtesy of Sonny Kennedy.

Vol. 11 Iss. 5 | February 13-19, 2015

ON THE COVER

ATLANTA HAWKS

HAWKS MIGRATE NORTH FOR ALL-STAR WEEKEND

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

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o doubt it has been a magical season for the Atlanta Hawks (43-10). A 19-game winning streak shattered the former franchise record and will ever hold this year’s team in Atlanta lure no matter how the season ends up.

The Hawks have been a team-oriented group all season long; each player buying into their role and doing whatever it takes to win. Atlanta has shared the ball exceptionally well and ranks second in the NBA in assists per game, proving that defenses can’t just key in on one player because they are more than willing to swing the ball to hit the open man. All five starters average double figures and the accolades have been rolling in. Atlanta completed January a perfect 17-0, and in return the NBA rewarded all five starters as the Eastern Conference Players of the Month, the first time in NBA history.

Though the team award was nice, every player and Coach Mike Budenholzer will tell

you that as long as the team wins, receiving accolades and awards isn’t important.

“We appreciate the recognition of our starters’ play during this past month. It is reflective of all the work our entire team and organization has put in,” said coach Mike Budenholzer. “We place a strong emphasis on having the right approach every day and making daily improvement. Collectively, we know that we have a lot more work to do this season and look forward to continue growing as a team.”

FANTASTIC FOUR…

This Tuesday marked Atlanta’s biggest accomplishment thus far this season. Kyle Korver will be replacing Dwyane Wade as Atlanta’s fourth player to be joining the Eastern Conference as an All-Star. It is the first time in franchise history that the Hawks will be sending four players and it is also just the eighth time in NBA history that four teammates will be play-

ing together. The last team to feature four allstars was the 2011 Boston Celtics. Along with the four players, Mike Budenholzer will also be roaming the sidelines.

“We would like to thank Commissioner Silver for selecting Kyle as an All-Star. He is an integral part of our team and we are extremely proud that Kyle will be able to join his teammates Al, Paul and Jeff in being recognized this weekend,” said Coach Bud. “This is a positive reflection on all of the work the entire team, coaching staff and organization has put in this season.”

Korver, an 11-year veteran, will be attending his first All-Star game. The Creighton Blue Jay was selected 51st overall by the New Jersey Nets back in 2003 but was subsequently traded to the Sixers. He played sparingly his first season and then his next two seasons he started 100 games. After those two seasons, he was relegated to a bench role as his coaches primarily viewed him as just a three-point specialist. It was not until the 2012-13 season, his first in Atlanta, when he was pegged as a full-time starter, the first time in over six seasons. He continued to shoot extremely well, but this season the entire league has taken notice. Korver is shooting a blistering 51.6 percent from the field, 52.8 from three, and 92 percent from the foul line. If he is able to keep this up he would be the first player in NBA history to slash a line of 50/50/90, giving him the greatest shooting season ever. Korver will have a chance to show his three-point prowess to the entire nation as he headlines the 2015 Foot Locker Three-Point Contest.

Another first time All-Star is Jeff Teague.

The Wake Forest-product has continued progressing into the type of player Atlanta envisioned back when they selected him 19th overall in 2009. Teague is averaging career highs in points (17.2), assists (7.5), and steals (1.7). Now in his fourth full year starting, his decision making has improved and he has been a leader on the floor at the point guard position. Teague will showcase his ball handling skills as he returns to participate in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge which he previously

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competed in back in 2013.

Atlanta’s third All-Star is Paul Millsap. The workhorse out of Louisiana Tech led the NCAA in rebounding all three of his seasons in college, but still slipped to the 47th pick. Millsap began starting full time in Utah in 2011, where he teamed up with Al Jefferson. Though the Jazz had one of the most skilled front courts in the league, they were unable to make noise in the Western Conference. Millsap played strong as a starter for three seasons in Utah, but eventually the Jazz decided they wanted to move forward with Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors.

That decision was a blessing for Atlanta. The Hawks pounced at the opportunity to sign the versatile big man to a two-year, $19 million dollar deal which Atlanta has gotten every penny’s worth. Millsap has been an All-Star in his two seasons with Atlanta and was a main reason why the team stayed afloat after Al Horford’s season-ending pectoral injury last year. His versatility on both offense (35% three-point shooting) and on defense (1.8 steals per game) makes him one of the most valuable players in the league.

BACK TO FORM…

The veteran of the group, Al Horford, will be making his third All-Star game appearance. His seven years in Atlanta make him the longest tenured Hawk. After a season-ending injury a year ago, Horford has performed admirably while healthy and gives Atlanta one of the most reliable big men in the game. The former Florida Gator has been a rock on the interior and provides 15.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per night. With such a balanced scoring team, Horford no longer has to shoulder the load offensively.

All four Hawks including Coach Mike Budenholzer will be migrating to New York for this weekend’s festivities. It is a great honor for four players to be named All-Stars as Atlanta looks to keep their mojo going and finish strong heading into the playoffs.

Photos courtesy of Kevin Cox/Getty Images and the Atlanta Hawks.

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Dominique Wilkins

The Hawks have not grabbed headlines heading into NBA All-Star Weekend since Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins were set for a headto-head battle in the dunk contest nearly 30 years ago.

However, this year’s installment will have plenty Atlanta flavor as coach Bud and four Hawks dot the East roster.

The Atlanta Hawks will honor

By Kyle Sandy

WHO’S HOT

All-Star Weekend

the Human Highlight Reel with a statue outside of Phillips Arena that will be unveiled March 5.

The statue will be a symbol of Wilkins success on and off the court and will celebrate Phillip Arena’s 15th birthday.

SCORE LIST

By Brian Jones

Roquan Smith

The Macon County defensive back made national news when he did not sign his Letter of Intent on National Signing Day and he continues grabbing headlines. Smith’s decision looms but even once he picks his school, he will not sign a LOI and will keep his options open. This is monumental in the recruiting world.

WHO’S NOT

SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

Gordon Lee

Little League Champs

Coaching Legends

The Gordon Lee wrestling program has been a force each season in Macon, but after joining Class AA for the first time this year, the school will only send three wrestlers to state. This is a rare sight for a school that usually brings double-digit state qualifiers.

Little League Baseball was forced to strip the U.S. championship from Chicago-based Jackie Robinson West after the team violated a rule prohibiting the use of players who live outside the geographic area that the team represents. Now, the players on the team that did follow the rules will also now have a cherished memory tarnished.

Two of basketball’s greatest coaches past away within a week of each other. Former North Carolina head coach of 36 years Dean Smith passed away Saturday and Jerry Tarkanian passed away on Wednesday. Tarkanian built UNLV’s basketball dynasty.

NUMBERS

OUR TWO CENTS

By Kyle Sandy

AT THE BREAK

Our email newsletter is something we take a lot of pride in at Score. If you aren’t familiar with it, it is a high school sportsheavy publication that we produce each day to fill in our readers on the latest happenings in Georgia prep sports. We send it out Monday through Friday throughout the year and Monday through Saturday during the fall.

ALL-STAR WEEKEND

Not only do we cover popular sports like football, basketball and baseball, we also cover every other varsity sport the GHSA fields. If you like Georgia high school sports at all, sign up for our email newsletter by visiting www.tinyurl.com/scorenewsletter and enter your email address(es) that you’d like added to the distribution list.

The Hawks have made their way to the All-Star break with flying colors. They are in first place in the Easter Conference, and they show no signs of slowing down.

The Hawks have done it with good ball movement as well as great defense. It’s going to be fun to see these guys turn things up after the break.

But before the Hawks do that, they will be part of All-Star Weekend. Kyle Korver will take part in the three-point contest while Jeff Teague, Paul Milsap , Al Horford and Korver will play in the all-star game. It’s rare you see four Hawks in the heart of the all-star festivities, but all four players earned the right to be there.

TRADED HAWK

Despite being a first round pick in 2014, the Hawks decided to move Adrian Payne to Minnesota in exchange for a future first round pick. Payne only appeared in three games this season, and he also played a little bit in the NBADL. This is good move for the Hawks because it opens a roster spot.

NO FLEX, ZONE

Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan held his first press conference on Tuesday and he said the Falcons will run a zone blocking scheme. The last time the Falcons used this was in 2004 when they went to the NFC title game under Jim Mora. It will be interesting because the scheme requires offensive linemen that can run.

PLAYOFF TIME

It’s February, and that means high school basketball is getting into the thick of postseason action. This weekend, all the teams across the state will be taking part in region tournaments, and the top four teams in each region will move on to the state tournament. Be sure to log on to scoreatl.com for the latest scores and recaps from the top games.

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TRIVIA QUESTION

HOW MANY TIMES IN NBA HISTORY HAVE FOUR TEAMMATES BEEN NAMED ALL-STARS THE SAME SEASON? ANSWER ON PAGE 14

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SANITY AT LAST

“This is a positive reflection on all of the work the entire team, coaching staff and organization has put in this season.”

- Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer on Kyle Korver’s All-Star bid.

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Individual state champion wrestlers will be crowned in Georgia’s six classifications this weekend.

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Tech’s Preseason ranking according to computer calculations made by ESPN Stats and Information

2011

The last time an NBA team had four players make the All-Star record (Boston Celtics)

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Times in NBA history that one team has had four All-Stars.

52.8

Kyle Korver’s NBAleading 3-point percentage

2.78

Braves’ pitcher Alex Wood’s ERA last season in his 35 games

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Consecutive state championships won by the Lambert Swim & Dive team.

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Weeks until the 2015 NFL Draft (April 30-May 2)

Vol. 11 Iss. 5 | February 13-19, 2015

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three runner-up finishers at the West Sectionals last weekend despite a shuffled lineup from a year ago. Last year’s Class AAA traditional state champion Buford jumped to Class AAAA this year and returns to Macon after seeing three champions, one runner-up, one top 3 and two top 5 finishes at sectionals. Cass will send four wrestlers to state after placing second in state last year behind Gilmer.

WRESLTING PREVIEW

DUAL STATE CHAMPS RETURN TO MACON AS HEAVY FAVORITES

BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM

T

wo-time defending Class AAAAAA champion Archer has once again loaded the field.

Archer’s Grant Aycox (138), Thomas Bullard (160), Daniel Bullard (170) captured individual state titles last year and placed first in the Class AAAAAA West Sectionals this weekend.

Chris Diaz (132) and Quinn Miller (220) were Archer’s other two first-place finishers at sectionals and return to Macon after runner-up finishes a year ago.

Out of the East Sectionals, Gwinnett County was once again dominant with five schools crowning champions. Overall, 35 Gwinnett wrestlers finished in the top eight of the East Sectionals and will make the trip to Macon. Archer’s Elliott Lee won state at 195 pounds last year, but sophomore Isaiah Pryor took over the weight class and Lee moved up to 285 to replace last year’s state champion M.J. Couzan.

Pope’s Jake Adcock (152 pounds) will

seek perfection and his first Class AAAAAA state title after winning 138 pounds in Class AAAAA last year. Adcock was the only Cobb County wrestler to win his weight class at sectionals last weekend and improved to 49-0 on the season with a pin of South Forsyth’s Felipe Hayes in the finals.

Camden County was overshadowed by Archer in Class AAAAAA last season and fell 249-183.5 in last year’s traditional state tournament, but reclassification bumped the Wildcats down to Class AAAAA this year and their prowess over their competition has been evident throughout the year. Camden County dominated the Class AAAAA East Sectionals, reaching the finals in every weight class.

Nine Camden County wrestlers were crowned champions, while the other five classes finished second.

In Class AAAA, two-time defending champion Gilmer crowned six champions and

DRAGON DYNASTY…

In Class AAA, history will unfold as the Jefferson Dragons aim for a 15th straight traditional state wrestling title this weekend. Jefferson crowned six individual state champions last year and is on pace to match that level of success once again after qualifying 13 wrestlers for state and seeing seven first-place finishes at the 3A- East Sectionals last weekend. Dawson Bates (106), Mitchell McGhee (113) and Ben Kelly (120) swept the lowest three weight classes at sectionals, and last year’s Class AA 113 state champ Price Joiner finished second at sectionals in the 126 weight class. Jefferson’s Caleb Little won the state title at 160 pounds last year and is transitioning well to 182, where he cruised for a first place finish at sectionals.

SEEKING SWEEPS…

In Class AA, Social Circle defeated Bremen 34-31 for the dual state championship last month (the school’s first-ever wrestling state title) and will be battling with a deep Class AA

field as the team to beat in Macon.

While Bremen looks to avenge its loss to the Redskins, Greater Atlanta Christian placed fifth in state last year behind Jefferson, Bremen, Social Circle and Toombs County, but has emerged as a contender entering the state tournament following an impressive showing at sectionals that sent 10 wrestlers to state.

Social Circle saw five first-place finishes at sectionals and will send a dozen top 3 finishers from sectionals to Macon to compete for the state title.

TIGER TOWN…

In Class A, Commerce successfully defended its first and only dual state championship with a 54-24 win over Mt. Zion-Carroll last month and will look to defend its first traditional state won last year in Macon with a full-lineup of state qualifiers. Commerce outscored Treutlen (59-15) and Trion (66-4) by a combined 106 points en route to its dual state title and the dominance has continued through area action and sectionals.

The Tigers placed all 14 wrestlers that qualified for sectionals into the state tournament and like Archer, Camden County and Gilmer, will have a wrestler in each weight class this weekend. Commerce left the Class A-West Sectionals with nine individual champions and four second-place finishers.

Photos courtesy of The Athletic Image.

Vol. 11 Iss. 5 | February 13-19, 2015

A young athlete’s brain is still developing, so don’t take chances with a head injury. Bring him to Children’s, where doctors have the expertise to diagnose and treat concussions. And with ImPACT testing, we can compare a patient’s progress to a normal baseline score to help determine when he’s ready to play again. To schedule a baseline ImPACT test for your athlete or team, visit choa.org/baselinetesting.

TM

©2014 Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Vol. 11 Iss. 5 | February 13-19, 2015 GLAZIER CLINICS

GLAZIER CLINICS HELPING COACHES IMPROVE

BY FLETCHER PROCTOR

W

hile so much attention is paid to high school football players attending camps during the offseason to improve their routerunning, kicking or tackling, why is so little attention paid to the men who coach the players during the season? Many coaches also use the offseason to get better with their schemes, formations and coaching techniques by attending coaching clinics.

One of the top companies that offers the best clinics across the country is Glazier Clinics. Founded by Frank Glazier in 1976, the Glazier Clinics are all about football, focusing on the X’s and O’s and the concepts of coaching.

Glazier is a former coach who invented the clinics in order help other coaches better hone their craft. He invited some of the best coaches

to share their particular area of expertise on a topic, and Glazier Clinics is still doing that to this day.

Allen Means of Glazier Clinics admits that no other company can offer the same amount of content that a Glazier Clinic coaching clinic weekend can offer.

“Not many companies can match our sessions,” said Means. “We offer 100-150 topics at each clinch and the sessions range from basic to advanced.”

Glazier Clinics achieves its success through the content gathered. Means noted that the company picks the best coaches in a particular area of the country and then asks them to share what they excel at on the sidelines.

“We study pretty hard to find the right coaches and big influencers,” said Means. “The biggest thing is that they are successful.”

Glazier Clinics has chosen top high school coaches, smaller college coaches and assistant coaches from bigger schools. They will then gather all of the content these coaches have to offer by collecting notes from the speakers in order to make that available through webinars and online clinics.

Perhaps the best part of Glazier Clinics is that the company wants to help as many coaches as possible. A head coach can sign up for a season pass which gives him and his entire staff, including feeder programs, unlimited online access to coaching clinics and webinars as well as a pass to all of the coaching clinics across the country for only $397. There is also a program through Sportdecals and Hudl, which allows youth coaches to attend the coaching clinics for just $10.

Glazier Clinics has added two special teams clinics to the schedule this year, which will give them 36 clinics in 31 cities with over 40,000 football coaches in attendance. The Renaissance Atlanta Waverly hosted the first

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Atlanta Clinic from Feb. 6-8 and the Westin Buckhead will host the Atlanta 150 Clinic on Feb. 27 – Mar 1. The 150 Clinic will include 150 speaking sessions with topics covering 12 different subject areas with unprecedented depth, including schemes and fundamentals.

The 150 clinic will have high school and small college speakers and will be focused on getting the most content covered over the weekend.

The first clinic will be the larger of the two and will have more big name speakers

It is also hard to argue with the results of

the Glazier Clinics. Nine of the 2013 Georgia top-ten teams attend Glazier Clinics. Six of the seven 2013 Georgia State Champions attend Glazier Clinics.

In 1976, Frank Glazier decided he wanted

share his passion for football with coaches from all across the country. Today, his passion lives on and the Glazier way is helping programs across the country coach young men the right way.

Photos courtesy of Sonny Kennedy.

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SCORE ATLANTA | www.ScoreAtl.com

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

GEORGIA FINISHES WITH TOP 10 CLASS FOR FOOTBALL RECRUITING

BY DAN MATHEWS | DMATHEWS@SCOREATL.COM

two straight years, Georgia pulled in a Fallorsigning class that ranks within the top 10 of schools. According to 247sports.com, the

Bulldogs are currently at number 10.

The reason for the “currently” after the February 4 signing date is because Georgia is still waiting on the decision of Macon County linebacker Roquan Smith. He had originally announced that he was heading to UCLA. However, reports came out later Wednesday afternoon that Bruins defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was leaving Westwood to join Dan Quinn and the Falcons as the linebackers coach.

If Georgia adds Smith to this class, they could propel themselves into the top five for this year’s recruiting rankings.

As it stands right now, Georgia has added 28 players in this class. It includes the state’s top prospect in Trent Thompson out of Albany, Georgia. His new head coach Mark Richt is excited to add him to the team.

“Trent is a big, massive man who has got great ability,” Richt said at his Wednesday Signing Day press conference. “If you meet him, he’s

GEORGIA STATE

STATE AND SOUTHERN SPLIT IN NEW RIVALRY

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

I

n the showdown between the Sun Belt’s two top teams at the time, Georgia State fell at Georgia Southern last Thursday, 58-54. In what some Georgia Southern fans deemed the battle between the “Real GSU” vs Georgia State, Jelani Hewitt was able to fill up the stat sheet to lead the upstart Eagles. Though he had a poor shooting night (2-12), Hewitt finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and four steals. It was a tough loss for the Panthers to swallow especially after holding the Eagles to 28 percent shooting while connecting on 41 percent of their own shots. A 29 to 9 free throw disparity proved to be the difference maker as Georgia Southern was able to cash in on 19 of its attempts from the stripe. Ryan Harrow led all scorers with 17 in the losing effort while R.J. Hunter managed just 12 points.

GETTING BACK ON TRACK…

Since the loss to Georgia Southern (165, 9-3), the Panthers (16-8, 9-4) were able to

just the nicest guy you ever want to meet, but when he’s playing ball, he gets after it.”

There really were never any worries that Thompson would have a last second change of heart. However, that wasn’t the case with Hogansville athlete Terry Godwin. There was some thought that he could flip to Auburn or possibly even Alabama.

Godwin made his final decision late Wednesday evening and decided to stick with his original commitment. He made the news official on Fox Sports South and Richt was happy to hear the news.

“I was very pleased with the decision Terry Godwin made this evening,” Richt said in a statement released by UGA. “He’s an exceptionally talented young man, a good student, and a good person. His future is bright at UGA. It has been a great day to be a Dawg.”

All total, Georgia added these two five-star signee’s, 11 four-star, and 15 three-star players.

Other notable signees include Grayson defensive end Justin Young, Tri-Cities safety Kirby Coates, Marist offensive lineman Sage Hardin, Creekside wide receiver Jayson Stanley, Lakeside defensive back Rashad Roundtree, and Stephenson defensive end Chauncey Rivers to name a few Atlanta-area signees.

The Bulldogs also bring back offensive tackle DeVondre Seymour, after he went to Hinds community college in Mississippi. The former North Gwinnett Bulldog had initially come to Georgia a couple of years ago. Yes, he is the son of former Patriots/Raiders defensive tackle Richard Seymour.

pick up a 65-54 road win at South Alabama (717, 5-8). The win moves GSU into third place in the conference trailing Southern by half a game and league leading UL Monroe (16-8, 10-3) by a full game. Hunter scored a gamehigh 19 to lead the Panthers. Harrow missed the game due to concussion-like symptoms.

Kevin Ware and Markus Crider were able to pick up the slack and combined for 29 points.

On the women’s side, the Panthers (10-12, 5-7) defeated Georgia Southern 82-54, and beat South Alabama on Saturday, 84-78. Makeba Ponder returned from injury on Thursday to pour in 20 points and remained hot on Saturday scoring a team-high 19.

TENNIS…

The men’s team fell on the road on Sunday to No. 53 Tulane 4-1. The Green Wave now move to 7-1 while the Panthers drop to 3-4.

Freshman Andrei Andrukhou’s second straight win would be the lone point for the Panthers.

The top doubles pairing of Sofiane Chevallier and Zack Kennedy were unable to finish their match with Tulane and were trailing 5-4 before play was halted. In women’s play, No. 67 GSU (4-3) dropped to North Carolina State 4-3. Chaimaa Roudami remained a bright spot as she moved to 5-0 at No. 5 singles after her fourth straight win. Top duo No. 40 Linn Timmermann and Tarani Kamoe won their fourth straight to improve to 4-1 on the year.

GEORGIA TECH

HOOPS TEAM STILL LOSING, BUT PLAYING ITS BEST BALL OF SEASON

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

O

n the heels of a 20-point road blowout of heavily-favored Miami (FL), the Georgia Tech men’s basketball team suffered two losses in the span of five days between last Saturday and this Wednesday. But it was not without a fight.

At home against N.C. State, the Yellow Jackets had chances to win at the end of both regulation and overtime. First, Marcus Georges-Hunt was hit with a disastrous charging call before N.C. State’s Trevor Lacey saw a desperation last-second heave clang off the rim.

Shortly thereafter, Lacey’s next buzzer-beating attempt was right on the mark. With 4.7 seconds remaining in the extra frame, Tech’s Quinton Stephens missed two free-throws with his team already leading by two points.

Lacey received an outlet pass, charged up the court and drained a game-winning three as the Wolfpack prevailed 81-80.

The Jackets’ turned in commendable effort at Duke in their attempt to bounce back.

They trailed the fourth-ranked Blue Devils by

KENNESAW STATE

MEN’S BB FALLS TO USC UPSTATE, FOOTBALL ANNOUNCES INFO FOR SPRING GAME

BY BRIAN JONES | BJONES@SCOREATL.COM

A

fter earning a hard-fought win against Paine College last Tuesday, the men’s basketball team was back in conference action this past Saturday when they took on USC Upstate.

And the Owls could never get things going as Upstate came away with the 74-46 win.

“They weren’t going to look past us after we lost a tough one up there,” head coach Jimmy Lallathin told KSUOwls.com. “We had a good crowd and you sit there and go this is a game we want to get, a little competition, a little competitive chip. We knew we were going to get their best shot because they were saying the same thing, and they were ready to play.

The game was tied at 15 with eight minutest left in the first half. However, that was when Upstate made its move as they went on 16-0 run. And when the second half began, Upstate went on another run, this time it was 14-0, to put the game out of reach.

The Owls will finish their homestand on

as many as nine points in the first half but twice got within one point in the second. The visitors, however, could never quite even the score or take a second-half lead and Duke held on for a 72-66 victory. Chris Bolden went 4 for 6 from beyond the arc to lead Tech with 16 points. “(I’m) proud of our guys in terms of their fight and the intensity they played with,” coach Brian Gregory said in his postgame press conference. “I remember…three years ago we had a bunch of guys taking pictures and stuff like that of [Cameron Indoor Stadium]. Our guys came today in there and fought and there’s a big difference there. I think it bodes well for what we’re doing. Unfortunately, they made a couple crucial plays down the stretch.”

SIGNING DAY ...

Georgia Tech brought in its largest recruiting class of the Paul Johnson era by the time the dust had settled on Wednesday’s National Signing Day. The Yellow Jackets will welcome 27 student-athletes in their 2015 recruiting haul, including 17 players from the state of Georgia. They added five defensive lineman and four prep quarterbacks, including Washington County’s A.J. Gray—who will play safety.

“It went the way we had hoped,” Johnson told ramblinwreck.com. “We’re looking forward to these guys being a part of the Georgia Tech family. I like the balance of this class.

We’ve gotten to a point where we have positions with the right numbers.”

Saturday when they take on Florida Gulf Coast at 2 p.m.

FOOTBALL FRENZY…

With spring football on the horizon, there is a lot of things going on in the KSU football world. Last Wednesday, the Owls announced their second ever signing class, getting 16 new players to joining the program. And of those 16 players, nine of them are transfers from other colleges.

“We set out for 14 transfers and the big part of that was to get some age in our program, to get some juniors and sophomores who have played some college football,” Bohannon said. “Right now we have six mid-year guys, we have four junior college and two fouryear transfers that are on campus today and are working out and are a part of our culture.”

Bohannon and his staff will look to have 22 players signed before fall camp.

But before fall camp arrives, the Owls have to get ready for spring football which will start in the beginning of March. And at the conclusion of spring football brings a spring game, and the team will hold a Black and Gold game which is scheduled on Mar. 28 at 1 p.m. The game will be played at Fifth Third Bank Stadium and the parking lots will open at 10 a.m. while the gates to the stadium will open at noon.

Vol. 11 Iss. 5 | February 13-19, 2015 ATLANTA HAWKS

HAWKS OUTSHOOT WARRIORS; FOUR FLY NORTH TO NY

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

S

ince dropping to the Pelicans and snapping their 19-game win streak, the Hawks have cooled off a bit but have still gone 3-1. Last Friday featured what many thought as the game of the year: The Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks, the two best teams in the NBA. Atlanta pulled out a back-and-forth victory in a shootout, 124-116. With all the stars on the court, it was Atlanta’s three-point bomber from off the bench that stole the show. Mike Scott was unconscious in his 17 minutes of action canning three 3-pointers and finishing with 17 points. The cold-blooded Wahoo drained big three after big three to help extend the lead.

In total, seven Hawks finished in double figures with Jeff Teague leading the charge with 23 points and seven assists. Atlanta outmatched the Splash Brothers, hitting 15 threes to Golden State’s 12. Curry and Thompson finished with 55 combined points.

WALTZING TO A WIN… Atlanta’s latest W came in Minnesota

ATLANTA BRAVES

BRIDGE DESIGN AND BONDS DOMINATE NEW STADIUM HEADLINES

BY RICKY DIMON | RDIMON@SCOREATL.COM

S

unTrust Park, the Atlanta Braves’ new stadium that is scheduled to open in 2017, continues to find its way into the headlines. That makes sense, of course, given that the dog days off the Major League Baseball offseason are in full force.

Bridge design is one of the key issues at the moment. The potential structure for a bridge spanning the interstate, Galleria Drive and Circle 75 Parkway took a turn earlier this week when Cobb County officials asked engineering firms to design a double-decker bridge allowing for bus transportation on top and a pedestrian walkway on the bottom. Cost estimates currently surface around $9 million, although that number could climb higher.

“As part of the ongoing project development, and in looking at the surrounding development and the various funding alternatives, we think this is a viable and best option to pursue,” Cobb County department of transportation director Faye DiMassimo told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “From the very beginning

against the Timberwolves (11-41), 117-105.

Before the game, the Wolves’ PR department made a music playlist for the Hawks (43-10) and tweeted it out. It was a creative way to let Atlanta know that the Wolves were ready for battle. DeMarre Carroll, Al Horford and the rest of the Hawks were un-phased by the fun trash talk. Horford scored a season-high 28 points and Carroll finished with a career-high 26 as Atlanta blew past the Wolves in the second half. Paul Millsap scored 19 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out seven assists in the win. “Al and Paul are both high-level players that have been very, very consistent. I think that’s been one of their trademarks,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “I think they both wanted to come out and have a good start and help our group, and (they) found a way for all of us to play better.”

THE CORE FOUR…

On Tuesday it was announced that Kyle Korver would be replacing Dwyane Wade as an Eastern Conference All-Star. Korver now joins Teague, Horford, and Millsap as Atlanta’s big four will travel to New York for the All-Star game. Korver, an 11-year veteran, will make the All-Star team for the first time. He is on pace to have the greatest shooting season in NBA history, slashing 51/52/92. Korver would be the first player ever to shoot above 50 percent from the field and three-point lined coupled with over 90 percent from the line.

of this project we have supported a bridge spanning I-285 for the safety of visitors coming to the ballpark and development and support the plan Cobb County believes is best.”

Meanwhile, the best way to fund the stadium’s construction is still being debated.

On Tuesday, the Georgia Supreme Court justices listened to arguments on both sides as to whether or not Cobb County’s government can assume approximately $400 million in debt without a public vote. The key question centers on the revenue that will be used to pay off the bonds for the project and it may not be answered for several months.

YOUTH MOVEMENT ...

It is no secret that the Braves are planning to peak for 2017 when they head over to their new ballpark. This busy—tumultuous, fans would probably call it—offseason has featured nine trades, resulting in a mass exodus of well-established players in exchange for future prospects. The front office, however, has mapped out a clear path to the future and is encouraged by it.

“There’s a special bond, I think, among the front office now about what the direction is, that we’re building for the long term,” Braves’ chairman and CEO Terry McGuirk told the AJC. “The goal is not to be good; it’s to be good for a long time. And we have such great faith in (general manager) John Hart’s view and vision.

We’re all in on the whole program.”

ATLANTA FALCONS

QUINN INTRODUCED, COACHING STAFF TAKES SHAPE

BY CRAIG SAGER II | CSAGER@SCOREATL.COM

he Falcons introduced Dan Quinn, the franT chise’s 16th head coach, in a press conference at Flowery Branch on Tuesday. During the

media meet and greet, Quinn touched on his goals for the organization and explained his coaching philosophies.

“The brand of football that we’re going to play is going to be fast and physical,” Quinn said. “We’re going to attack in every phase that we can do it. Most importantly, I would like you to know that the energy and enthusiasm you bring to the Atlanta Falcons can be unmatched in terms of the energy I will try to bring you as your head football coach.”

With the headpiece in place, the Falcons began finalizing the rest of the coaching staff.

FRESH FACES…

The Falcons hired Richard Smith as defensive coordinator, Kyle Shanahan as offensive coordinator, Raheem Morris assistant head coach/defensive passing game coordinator, Bobby Turner as running backs coach, and Mike LaFleur as offensive assistant on Tues-

GWINNETT GLADIATORS

GLADIATORS FREEZE ICEMEN

BY KYLE SANDY | KSANDY@SCOREATL.COM

T

he Gladiators (15-23-2-1) powered past the Evansville IceMen (12-26-4-2) on Saturday, 5-3. Five different Gwinnett players managed to find the net in the victory. Geoff Paukovich got the Gladiators one the board first with his first goal of the season with five minutes remaining in the first period. It was his first goal since December 21st, his 49th career professional goal and 99th ECHL point.

Gwinnett’s lead was short-lived however as the IceMen answered back 40 seconds later on a Daniel Johnston shot. Robin Soudek added an early goal in the second period to make it 2-1, but from that point on it was all Gwinnett.

Will MacDonald would beat goalkeeper Chris Driedger on a power play goal and later in the period Casey Pierro-Zabotel would tack on his 19th goal of the season to give Gwinnett a 3-2 lead heading into the third. The Glads would keep the pedal on the medal as Brendan Walker found the net 15 seconds into the final frame and then a minute later Nathan Burns would

13

day while retaining Special Teams Coordinator Keith Armstrong, Defensive Line coach Bryan Cox, Tight Ends Coach Wade Harman, Wide Receivers Coach Terry Robiskie, and Assistant Special Teams Coach Eric Sutulovich.

Shanahan brings seven years of NFL experience as an offensive coordinator to Atlanta, including serving as the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns in 2014. His offense averaged 324.6 yards per game, including 108.0 yards per game on the ground, last season. Under Shanahan, RB Terrance West and RB Isaiah Crowell combined for 1,280 yards on 319 carries, good for an average of four yards per carry. Under Shanahan, Washington Redskins RB Alfred Morris rushed for more than 1,200 yards in each of his first two seasons, including a franchise record 1,613 yards as a rookie in 2012. Morris posted 2,888 rushing yards in two seasons in Shanahan’s offense, which was the second highest total in the NFL during that span behind RB Adrian Peterson (3,363).

DEFENSIVE DUTY…

Smith spent the last four seasons as the linebackers coach for the Denver Broncos.

During that span, the Broncos ranked third in rushing defense (99.7), fourth in thirddown defense (34.7), seventh in total defense (327.4), eleventh in passing defense (227.7), and fourth in scoring defense (22.4). He previously coached for the Broncos, Panthers, Texans, Dolphins, Lions, and Oilers. Smith has coached nine different players to 12 Pro Bowls during his coaching career, including three appearances by LB Von Miller.

make it a 5-2 game. Evansville would score a goal at the 14:23 mark, but would not threaten after. Kent Patterson made 40 saves on the 43 shots he faced.

MOVIN’ ON UP ...

Goaltender Louis Domingue was recalled to the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday. The 22-year old is now the second Gladiator goalie to be called up in January. Louis Domingue is also the sixth Gladiator in team history to receive an assignment to the NHL in the same season as his time with Gwinnett. The last player to be called up was Mike Lee a few weeks back. The Glads now turn to Adam Brown and Kent Patterson as their main options in goal.

They like me, they really like me

The ECHL announced that Gladiators defensemen Eric Springer and Joe Stejskal were named the league’s AMI Graphics Plus Performers of the Month for January on Monday.

Stejskal and Springer were both +13 in January, leading the ECHL. Both players are 26-years old and have stepped their play up in January helping the Glads post multiple games of seven goals scored. Springer came over from a trade with the Ontario Reign on Jan. 29 of last year and has played in 57 games. Stejskal, appeared in 62 games with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL before settling in Gwinnett.

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Vol. 11 Iss. 5 | February 13-19, 2015

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