The ABH is reporting that promising linebacker Akeem Hebron will indeed be suspended for the fall semester due to his second alcohol-related arrest. The suspension means that he is ineligible for the 2007 football season.

He would be eligible to return for the spring 2008 semester and would remain on probation through December 2009.

The trick about him returning is academic eligibility. His progress will be affected by the suspension, so he might have a lot to do in order to be eligible for a 2008 return to the football field.

Steve Patterson of UGASports.com mentioned today that the Georgia program has been in contact with Georgia Military College about the possibility of Hebron spending the 2007 season there. That scenario would be best-case I think: Hebron would be able to continue academic work while playing JUCO-level football. There are several potential sticking points to this plan, though. Hebron also has an automatic football suspension to go along with his University suspension. By missing the fall semester, he would serve that football suspension. If he transfers for a year and plays at GMC, there’s a question whether that football suspension would still be waiting for him upon his return in 2008.

Wyatt gets it done in the 2004 Super Regional Photo: AP

With two losses to #1 Vandy last weekend and series left against postseason-bound Mississippi State and South Carolina, Georgia’s hopes for a late-season surge into the SEC Tournament are about shot. They are assured of a sub-.500 conference record.

So for me, the season comes down to tomorrow night’s game in Athens against Tech. The two teams have split the season series so far. If the Dawgs aren’t heading for the postseason, let’s salvage what we can and claim another season series from the enemy.

I mean it…treat the game like a super-regional. Throw Dodson and/or Moreau and whatever it takes to win the game. If that means weakening the team for the Mississippi State series, so be it. Would I trade a slim chance at an early exit in Hoover for the season series with Tech? Damn right.

If you could script it, famous Tech-slayer Jonathan Wyatt will make a big play in this game.

Then again, all this is predicated on Tech actually making the trip this time.

Chip Towers had some nice off-season red meat a few days ago. Several of the players ran for some NFL scouts recently, and Coach Van Halanger shared some of the impressive results.

I should add that neither Towers nor Coach Van made any claims or predictions based on these speed trials. Still, it’s easy to get excited about guys running sub-4.4s. Can’t coach speed, right? Accuracy of the times aside though, that speed still has to translate somehow into results on the football field. Speed is only one attribute of a good football player. The most successful players usually aren’t the fastest. The pure speed track-star types often don’t do well. But speed is a good place to start.

Let me pick on two guys from Towers’ report, Mikey Henderson and A.J. Bryant. Bryant arrived several years ago rated #1 in the nation at the "athlete" position by Rivals.com. Henderson, a converted defensive back, finally got a chance to make an impact last year returning punts when Thomas Flowers was lost for the season. He came through with 367 punt return yards on 25 returns (219 of those yards coming on three returns). Bryant and Henderson were juniors in 2006, so they’ve paid their dues. Yet as receivers they had just 21 receptions between them in 2006. But they’re "athletes", so maybe we got them involved in the offense in other ways. Nope. Two carries total for a net of one yard.

Richt continues to talk up Henderson in particular this spring, and Mikey won "best all-around offensive player" honors for spring. Bryant himself isn’t a slouch. Still, I can’t help but be skeptical about their senior seasons. Will they be used more? Used differently? Are there deficiencies in their skills that keep them from more productivity? Is there a creativity problem in the playbook? Injuries have been a factor, but they haven’t been long-term obstacles. Will they as seniors get more than a reception each per game and the very rare carry?

Just a second, you say. We have other, more productive, receivers and a fleet – a many-headed monster, even – of tailbacks. We can’t get all of these guys 50 receptions and 1,000 yards a season. That’s true, but no one is getting 50 receptions a year lately or coming anywhere close to 1,000 yards. Having so many supposedly talented skill players jumbled up doesn’t mean that you’re blessed with an abundance of options. It more likely means that few have done much to separate themselves. A tight end has led Georgia in receiving yardage and receptions for two seasons now. Forgive me if I question how much we’re getting out of this speed.

On the other side of the ball, Towers said that cornerbacks Ramarcus Brown and Bryan Evans were neck-and-neck as the fastest guys in the time trials. Yet as last year went on, Evans won that other cornerback spot from Brown and looked to claim it as his own in the bowl game. That’s a player doing something positive to sort out a close positional battle. I doubt that Ramarcus will give up, and we’ll see him fighting to get on the field. I wonder if we’ll see more of that with Moreno at tailback this year (here I go buying into hype). Great players stand out even from other talented guys. Felix Jones is a tremendous tailback, but McFadden still shines through for Arkansas. Richt had no problem handing the ball to Musa Smith to the tune of 1,300+ yards.

Rashad Jones and Brandon Wood were two others that Chip mentioned. These two young guys have speed to burn. Jones showed his abilities at G-Day, and Coach Van raved over Wood’s combination of speed and strength. Does that automatically make them destined for success? Of course not. As freshmen, there’s still a lot to learn and work on fundamentally. They’ll be two to watch over the next couple of seasons to see how much the defense can get from them. It’s possible in 2008 to have Brown, Evans, and Jones as part of one fast-as-hell defensive backfield.

Georgia quarterbacks Matt Stafford and Joe Cox demonstrate the proper way to take in the big spring race at Talladega. Damn, I miss college.

The good news from the latest APR numbers is that none of Georgia’s programs are facing penalties right now. In fact, the key sports of football and men’s and women’s basketball made "appreciable increases." The football team has the second-best rating in the SEC behind Auburn. Given Auburn’s suspect academic practices, their presence at the top of the conference rankings does nothing but mock the APR.

At any rate, kudos to Evans, Richt, and Felton for taking care of the school’s highest-profile programs. We’ve focused on and debated Felton’s progress on the court, but he’s also made big strides in restoring a culture of academic success for Georgia basketball. Bulldog basketball increased its APR score by 106 points in one year.

Two Georgia programs, baseball and men’s track, face possible penalties next year if their APR does not improve, but they were close enough to the threshold of 925 points to avoid jeopardy this year.

It makes sense to me that baseball is one of the marginal sports, and that has little to do with Georgia’s management of the program and more to do with how college baseball works. As the ABH says, "Baseball coach David Perno said he was shocked his team’s APR score wasn’t lower because the NCAA limits the sport to 11.7 scholarships and has a culture of transfers." Me too.

That’s not a misprint: basketball teams get more scholarships than baseball teams. Baseball teams must divide up those 11.7 scholarships among 30+ players, and the portions aren’t equal. Where a full scholarship in another sport over four or five years lends itself to academic progress and a degree, these partial scholarships in baseball can lead student-athletes to seek out better deals and hop from school to school. Because of the scholarship issue, starting off at a junior college is a popular option for baseball players even for those who qualify academically and have Division 1 offers.

Unlike student-athletes in other sports, baseball players currently don’t have to sit out a year as they play this transfer game. But big changes are coming to college baseball. According to the ABH,

• Baseball transfers must sit out a year starting in 2008-2009.
• A maximum of 27 people can share in the 11.7 available scholarships, and the minimum share is 33% of a scholarship.
• A baseball team can carry no more than 35 players.
• "Baseball teams with four-year APRs of less than 900 will be required to cut their season by 10 percent."
• Academic eligibility will be determined at the start of the fall semester rather than at the start of the season. A tactic used now is to take a heavy load during fall semester in order to become eligible for the season. No more.

My uneducated guess is that an effect of these rules will be to make junior college ball an even more popular option. D-1 scholarships will become more scarce. Teams will only be able to carry a small amount of walk-ons. Transfer rules won’t apply to JUCO baseball players just as they don’t apply to football or basketball players. The changes will possibly make college teams a bit more stable and lead to better academic progress, and coaches won’t have the "sign as many as you can and see who sticks" method available to them in recruiting.

Remember Tony Cole? Sure you do. You thought we were rid of him. But in a case going back five years, former UGA student Tiffany Williams has only just now settled a $25 million lawsuit against the University related to a 2002 assault claim against Cole, basketball player Steve Thomas, and football player Brandon Williams. According to the Red and Black, “Williams argued school officials endangered her by recruiting Cole, despite knowledge of his history of sexual misconduct.”

The settlement is reported to be six-figures.

Unless I’m mistaken, this settlement is the last bit of unfinished business involving the stain of Cole upon the University. Good riddance. Thanks Jim & Jim.

First, congratulations to the drafted Dawgs and those signing free agent deals. Their work and dedication to this point has paid off with a great opportunity. This is just the beginning, though. Making the most of this chance, earning their way on to a roster, and starting a successful pro career is the next step.

With four players drafted, it’s hard to say that this was a sub-par draft class from Georgia. But relative to the competition, it was. It’s actually the second straight so-so group. For the first time since 1997, Georgia will go at least two seasons without a first-round pick. In fact, Tim Jennings was the only Bulldog taken in the first or second rounds in the past two years. The 2006 draft marked the first time since the 2000 draft that no Bulldog was taken in the first round.

Will Georgia return to the first round next year? It’s possible but not a certainty. Paul Oliver jumps out as the star, and we certainly hope he has a first-round kind of senior season. Kicker Brandon Coutu might get some interest, but kickers are almost never taken early. Kregg Lumpkin and Thomas Brown are pro-quality talents but don’t yet have the numbers to justify a first or second round selection. At this point, I don’t even see someone who I would consider to be a serious threat to enter the draft as a junior next year. Massaquoi? Southerland? Maybe. They’d have to have a pretty tremendous 2007.

In retrospect, it’s pretty incredible that Georgia won the SEC in 2005 without much first or second round talent on that team. Of course that doesn’t mean that Georgia had or has lousy players. We’re talking about guys like Pope, Jean-Gilles, Shockley, Taylor, Moses, Johnson, Golston, and so on. They were very quality college players – just not the prototypes that stand out to pro teams. Having tons of players drafted high doesn’t necessarily mean that you had a good team (right, Miami?), but as with highly-rated recruits you’d rather take your chances having more of them than fewer.

Coaches like Willie Martinez have taken some lumps in the past couple of years because of letdowns that didn’t happen as frequently earlier in the decade. Georgia’s cupboard might not be empty, but the draft could be telling us that it wasn’t as full as it once was. The SEC title in 2005 and the strong finish last year might suggest that there’s some pretty good coaching going on with the talent that is there.

The coaches don’t get a pass though – talent and recruiting is also their department, and there are signs that deficiencies are being addressed. If you hope to have a strong team and don’t see many players projected as high draft picks, you’d better have some young talent, and Georgia does. Stafford is the obvious. A slew of young players at linebacker and defensive back are coming into their own. Georgia had one of their best offensive line hauls this year. Tailbacks like Moreno and King have promising futures. Now even receiver recruiting is taking a step up with AJ Green and hopefully a few others.

With Florida back in form, Tennessee and Auburn holding on, a stronger Alabama on the horizon, and a wild card over in South Carolina, Georgia has no choice but to increase its talent level. A return to producing top draft picks won’t necessarily mean that the Dawgs will dominate the SEC, it will just mean that Georgia will have the players it needs to compete and hold ground in this conference.

Draft day to me is much more about the greatness of college football than it is about the NFL. Only a fraction of those who follow the draft pay attention to the various free agent moves and trades that were made prior to the draft. The fates of those who don’t make the final rosters will barely be noticed. Draft day is graduation day for college football, and that’s why people pay attention. (Well, that and watching insane Jets fans.) For fans of individual schools, draft day is yet another way to keep score and claim bragging rights. It’s about pride as your star takes the stage as a top pick. Football is our national game now, and this is the one day when the college and pro fan bases converge.

I’m not a Brady Quinn fan, but ESPN did him no favors with that ridiculous game of "when will he be drafted?" on Saturday. The result was one of the most embarrassing and awkward green room displays since Jumaine Jones. As team after team passed on Quinn, the ESPN obsession with the Notre Dame quarterback became more and more apologetic until the commissioner, acting out of mercy, moved Quinn to a private area. Even worse was the disservice done to Jamarcus Russell and the other 20 or so guys picked ahead of Quinn. On a day where the focus should have been on Russell or Calvin Johnson, the story became Quinn, and each pick couldn’t pass without a shot back to Quinn, his vest, his untucked collar, and his mom and girlfriend.

It’s become an annual draft ritual for Georgia fans to complain that the Falcons don’t draft enough Dawgs. The Falcons’ job is to put an interesting and competitive team on the field, and they will fill seats if they do. Even if the Birds dressed the entire 2002 Bulldog team, a 4-12 season would still empty out the Dome and get the coach sent on his way.

The complaining got even more pathetic this year. Somehow the decision to take a first-team All-SEC defensive end not named Charles Johnson was the wrong move. Then because the Falcons drafted Martrez Milner, they didn’t draft the right Dawg. Then after the draft, the Falcons signed linebacker Tony Taylor and punter Gordon Ely-Kelso to free-agent deals. Add them to D.J. Shockley and the signing in recent years of Josh Mallard, Terrence Edwards, and Steve Herndon, and it sure does start to look like a big ol’ anti-Georgia conspiracy, doesn’t it? The Dawgs have some great fans, but they’re the most paranoid in the SEC outside of the state of Alabama.

Come to think of it, I’m getting a bit fed up with the Dawgs ignoring guys from my high school.

It has to be asked now whether Danny Ware and Charles Johnson made wise decisions to come out early. I’ve already said that I think Ware’s decision was correct, even if he was undrafted. I just didn’t see his situation or playing time improving this season. Johnson’s case is a bit different. Someone who believes himself to be a possible first-round selection and slides into the third round either 1) got snowed by an awful lot of NFL teams or 2) chose to listen to the wrong people in his camp. Many observers seem to think that the Panthers got a great deal with Johnson in the third round, and he’ll probably make the roster. It’s still an uphill climb though to get himself into the position, both in terms of a contract and the job security, of a first-round pick.

On the flip side, there’s Quentin Moses. Moses was probably drafted lower than he would have been as a junior. He didn’t slide as far as some thought, but I think the consensus is that he would have fared better in last year’s draft. Part of the deal when you come back for your senior season to improve your draft position is to actually show improvement. It’s a risk, and we can’t blame Johnson for taking it. He’s certainly not going to be hurting as a third-round pick, and Moses still did fine for himself as well.

It’s interesting to see the draft results from some of the nation’s most talked-about college offenses. Florida in particular was worth noting. Urban Meyer’s offense was a favorite punching bag among cynics because Florida failed to break 30 points in an SEC game until the SEC championship game. I guess you could say they still had a pretty decent season. Now fans of other schools are trying to convince themselves that the Gators will be vulnerable because of losses on defense. It’s true – the Gators had seven defensive players drafted. But another way to look at it is that Florida had only two late-round draft picks from their offense. Key members of that offense like Caldwell and even Leak went undrafted. It kind of makes you wonder what Meyer can do on offense with better talent, and recruiting rankings tell us that better talent is supposedly in place among the underclassmen.

Another team worth noting is Notre Dame. Charlie Weis got some good results out of his offense over the past two seasons, and the draft tells us that his talent wasn’t the best either. Clearly Quinn was a fine quarterback, and Weis got plenty out of him. But Notre Dame’s only other draft picks from offense were a pair of tackles. Key skill position players Darius Walker and Jeff Samardzija were undrafted. Notre Dame has added some high-profile newcomers like Jimmy Claussen, and we’ll watch what Weis can do with that talent.

With Ohio State’s loss of three receivers, Antonio Pittman, and Troy Smith to the draft, the best concentration of talent on offense in the Big 10 next year seems to be in Ann Arbor. Schools like Michigan, Louisville, Southern Cal, and West Virginia didn’t lose many of their key offensive playmakers to the draft, so it’s no accident that a lot of the preseason attention is on those programs.