Category: UGA Sports

UGA Football: Kirby Smart Releases Statement on Scott Cochran

“Coach Cochran is currently dealing with health issues and is taking time to prioritize his mental health and well-being,” Bulldog head coach Kirby Smart said in a statement released via UGA Sports Information. “We fully support him as he takes this time to focus on his well-being.”

UGA Football: Smart, Bulldogs Preview Fall Camp

University of Georgia head football coach Kirby Smart, along with several student-athletes, offered the following comments to open up the 2021 fall camp.

Head Coach Kirby Smart
On if he struggles remembering names…
“We have really stressed and emphasized connection. From spring ball, we had 16 midyears. There are not a lot of new additions, when you add in three or four scholarship guys and some new preferred walk-on guys, it is probably the smallest new group that we have ever had. Even though it is new, we have had them all summer. We get a lot of time with them in the summer, so we get to spend more time with them now than we ever have.”

On JT Daniel’s confidence and how he has evolved…
“I have really not seen a lot of difference in his confidence. I think, to play the quarterback position, you have to be a confident person, in and of itself. He probably has more confidence, for good reason, from actual experience in the SEC, having played, than he had prior. He did not lack confidence in his arm, his mind or any of that when he first got here. If anything, he probably lacked some confidence in his knee and trusting that. Confidence has not been something that he lacks in. I think his mental growth and maybe his confidence in his relationships with receivers and tight ends has improved. His relationships with the players, just sheer connection, has improved, which has improved confidence. He feels much more confident that he can demand excellence when he knows somebody personally, rather than having been on zoom with the team for three months this time last year. He did not have that relationship. He is in a much better position to be confident.”

On how ‘back-to-normal’ the team is…
“We are above 90% [vaccinations]. Ron [Courson] and his staff have done a tremendous job making sure that guys feel comfortable getting the vaccination. We feel really comfortable with where we are. My goal is always to be 100%, because I think that it is the safest thing for our players. In terms of ‘back-to-normal,’ I would not say it is back-to-normal, because it is not exactly normal. There are spikes going on across the country, in our state, in our hospitals systems across the Southeastern Conference. It is scary. We are being extremely smart, making good decisions with our players. Where we can adopt things that carry over from last year, we do that. With the vaccination rates that we have, we feel confident that we are able to get a little closer at times in some meeting rooms, but we are trying to be smart about that. I think Ron and the updates that he gives us daily in staff meetings has helped us navigate that, but you are only as good as your last COVID test. For us, we are trying to maintain a healthy status.”

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UGA Recruiting: Check Out All These Dawgs on Preseason Lists

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UGA Sports: Athletics Board Convenes for Spring Meetings

LAKE OCONEE, Ga. —— Reports by University of Georgia President Jere W. Morehead, J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Josh Brooks, and an update on current and future facilities projects highlighted the first day of the UGA Athletic Association Board of Directors annual spring meeting.

In his report, Brooks touched on a wide range of topics and led with his most prominent observations since taking over the athletic directorship in January.
• He thanked the loyalty and generosity of the Georgia fans, especially through the past 15 months of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
• He praised the performances of the UGA student-athletes amid the many challenges presented by the pandemic.
• He stressed the importance of retaining coaches, specifically women’s basketball coach Joni Taylor, equestrian coach Meghan Boenig and baseball coach Scott Stricklin, all of whom signed contract extensions in the past two months.
• Brooks also announced initiatives aimed at improving the fan experience at all Georgia athletic venues.  Prices of five core concession items — bottled water, bottled soda, candy, hot dogs and popcorn — will be reduced by nearly 50 percent.  The price reductions came about thanks to savings created by the mobile ticketing system implemented this year, which will be continued in 2022.

Additional highlights of Brooks’ report:

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UGA Baseball: Georgia Opens SEC Tournament Tuesday Against LSU

ATHENS ——The Georgia Bulldogs open the SEC Tournament Tuesday against LSU at the Hoover Met in Hoover, Ala. First pitch is set for 5:32 p.m. ET and be available on the SEC Network and the Georgia Bulldog Sports Network.

Georgia (30-23, 13-17 SEC) enters the SEC Tournament as the No. 8 seed and will face the No. 9 seed LSU Tigers (34-21, 13-17 SEC). They did not play each other during the regular season. The last meeting came in Athens  in 2019 when Georgia claimed a series two games to one. LSU leads the all-time series 68-23-2 including 9-2 in the SEC Tournament. They last squared off in Hoover in 2009 as LSU won a pair of seven-inning affairs. The winner of the Georgia-LSU game advances to the double-elimination part of the event and will face No. 1 Arkansas, who is the top seed and SEC Champion, on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. ET.

Georgia is 30-46 all-time at the SEC Tournament in 25 appearances, and its best finish is second three times (1985, 1986 and 1989). The Bulldogs are making their fifth consecutive SEC Tournament appearance, their longest stretch since making six in a row from 1985-90. Georgia finished tied for third at the 2019 event. The 2020 SEC Tournament was canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

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UGA Women’s Softball: NCAA Gainesville Super Regional Schedule Set

ATHENS, Ga. – The 2021 NCAA Gainesville Super Regional featuring the University of Georgia and nationally-seeded No. 4 Florida, has been set.

First pitch of the best-of-three Super Regional is slated for Friday, May 28 at 5 p.m., ET, at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium and will air on ESPNU. Game two is set for noon on Saturday on ESPN. Sunday’s if necessary game is slated for noon and will also air on ESPN.

Georgia and Florida met in Athens in the regular season. The Bulldogs won the series opener 4-2 behind a one-hitter by graduate Mary Wilson Avant. Then-No. 5 Florida bounced back to win the next two games to capture the regular-season series.

The Bulldogs and Gators have met three total times in the postseason. In 2016, then-No.16 Georgia traveled to Gainesville for a matchup with top-seeded Florida in the Super Regional round. Georgia stunned the Gators, first shutting them out in game one then walking it off with a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh of game two off the bat of senior Kaylee Puailoa.

Georgia and Florida matched up in Oklahoma City in 2018. Florida was victorious in the opening-round game. Georgia leads the postseason series 2-1.

The Bulldogs enter the weekend 32-21. Georgia swept the Athens Regional, beating Western Kentucky and nationally-seeded Duke to punch its ticket to this weekend’s Super Regional.

2021 Gainesville Super Regional
Friday, May 28 – 5 p.m. (ESPNU)
Saturday, May 29 – 12 p.m. (ESPN)
Sunday, May 30 – 12 p.m. (ESPN) (if necessary)

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