Fox Must Capture Gwinnett For the Hounds

I have many times already mentioned that there is a ton of talent in the Gwinnett County area of Atlanta, GA. Unfortunately, with the exception of a few talented Gwinnetian players, Georgia has lost several big time basketball recruits from this county: Jody Meeks, Tony Naismith, Chris Allen, Kevin Anderson, Avery Jukes and a few more.

These players mentioned above have gone to places like Kentucky, Michigan St., Butler, Richmond and Auburn. Yes, Georgia was able to get guys like Ricky McPhee, Billy Humphry, Mike Mercer and Trey Tompkins. I know UGA cant sign all the Gwinnett starts, but what will it take to get more in. There is so much talent in Gwinnett County, as well as the rest of the Atlanta metro area and the state of Georgia. Georgia Head Coach Mark Fox doesn't have to even recruit out of state.

Is it the out dated "Stegasorous" as one talk show host calls Stegmen Colosseum, Georgia's basketball arena? Is it the lack of tradition? Georgia Basketball doesn't have much of it. The Dawgs made it to the 1983 Final Four, but none of these high school phenoms were even born then. Georgia has had some "blips on the screen" if you will. The most recent one came two years ago when the Dawgs, in last place in the SEC East, made a miraculous run to win the SEC Tournament in Atlanta. A terrible tornado ripped through the city that weekend making the Georgia Dome unsafe for further competition. The Dawgs beat Kentucky and Mississippi St. on the same day, and beat Arkansas to win the tourney and a ticket to the Big Dance. All of this took place at Georgia Tech's Alexander Colosseum.

Georgia does have the talent to do the same this year. They have beaten Tennessee, Vandy, South Carolina and Florida. The problem is they won all those games, along with the rest of their wins, at home. Incredibly, they went winless on the road for the entire season. If they had won even half of their games on the road, they would be at least "on the bubble". Instead, they are 13-16 going into the tourney next Thursday.

But back to my original subject, Georgia is losing top Gwinnett talent left and right. Hopefully, Fox has the salesmanship of a Zig Ziggler. He's got to find a way (other than cheating) to get the best local talent into Athens. Perhaps they should blow up Stegman and play in the Gwinnett Arena for the next two years until they get a state of the art on-campus arena. Does Georgia want to be more than just a football school. A new arena might be the answer. there is already talent in Athens, fortunately. Fox needs to find a way to keep it there and get more local, preferably Gwinnett talent, on campus. Howard Schnellenberger, the former Univ. of Miami Football Coach back in the early 80s, brought in the best talent from the Miami area into Coral Gables. The rest is history: Four national titles in a decade. Mark Fox should try the same strategy.