Wow, maybe Damon Evans, the AD at Georgia, read our missive on SEC schools wising up after Mark Gottfried was let go on Monday.  From today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

“I was hoping that we’d build upon the success that we had in the SEC tournament,” said Evans, referring to the Bulldogs’ tornado-interrupted championship run last March in Atlanta. “That’s what all the Georgia fans wanted; that’s what we wanted; that’s what Dennis wanted. We thought it would be a momentum-builder for us. To be where we are today is disappointing.”

Better Times for Felton and Georgia

Obviously, the final straw was Georgia’s 83-57 rape at the hands of Florida in Gainesville last night, as it was the Dawgs’ seventh loss in a row.  A meeting was set up between Evans and Felton this morning, where the coach was given the news.  Pete Herrmann, an associate coach, will take over the reins on an interim basis through the rest of the season.  Georgia plays Alabama on Saturday, which sets up a once-in-a-lifetime scenario where two teams will play a midseason head-to-head game in the same week where both head coaches were canned.  Call it the Pink Slip Bowl. 

Is Gary Williams Next?

By way of a post-mortem for Felton, he showed a lot of promise at Western Kentucky, winning three consecutive Sun Belt titles from 2001-03, but at Georgia, he never could seem to get over the wanton destruction that previous coach Jim Harrick had left in his wake.  With Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee in the SEC East Division, Felton was usually guaranteed six losses per year, and there was a seemingly constant influx of players moving into and out of his program.  It just never appeared that things got settled there.  Felton’s record at Georgia – two NIT appearances, 1 incredibly unlikely NCAA appearance and SEC Tourney title (the “Tornado Tourney“), and five+ years of general malaise in Athens (84-91 overall, 26-59 SEC).

Soon VCU’s Anthony Grant will be able to name his price with all these SEC schools calling. 

You may have heard that Mike Jordan has a kid who is a sophomore guard at the University of Illinois.  You may have also heard that this son, Jeff, is a little smaller than his dad and not quite as gifted with the rock in his hands, but that he occasionally can wow folks with a highlight-reel dunk replete with tongue-wag after the flush. 

What you may not have known is that Jordan the Junior was a walk-on for the year-plus he’s been a member of the Illini program.  No longer.  Citing Jeff Jordan’s tenacity on defense and willingness to be a team player, Bruce Weber announced yesterday that he would receive a scholarship as a product of his hard work.  From the St Louis Post-Dispatch:

“He’s proven to us that he belongs,” Weber said. “He’s done a nice job of having a niche, a role. He’s a pest on defense. He pushes the ball on the break as well as anyone — better than Chester (Frazier) and Demetri (McCamey). He’s just a quality kid and a good team member.”

But wait, haven’t we heard this story before?  Young pup gets denied by coach only to come back stronger than ever the next year en route to taking over the marketing and basketball world for a generation?  Well… that story is true, but the parallel ends because it involved MJ’s high school tribulations, and JJ is already in college.  Even so, JJ’s numbers (1.4 ppg/1.3 apg on 53% shooting in 10 mpg) suggest that has risen to the level of contributor in his college career, and mayb he has another 5-inch growth spurt still in him. 

Well, even if he doesn’t grow any further, we figure his dad owes him a new one of these based on the $25k or so a year he saved the Company.