Just wanted to keep everyone updated on some of the shenanigans going on right now with the recruiting situation:

CB Malik Simmons -- The UNC commit who was expected to visit this weekend did not end up making the trip. Apparently it was supposed to be a secret, but then he posted something on his Facebook, his coaches got suspicious, did some digging, found out, and the visit was called off. They probably pulled a CPJ-esque "go there and you won't be welcome here any more" deal with him, and unlike Antonio Crawford, he was not willing to take any risks along those lines.

WR/CB Anthony Autry -- Been committed to us for a month or so now, and when asked today, he announced that he was "rock solid" on his commitment to Tech. No worries with him.

DT Dalvin Tomlinson -- In case you didn't hear the news today, he's made his decision, though the situation appears as follows: if offered by Alabama between now and Wednesday, he'll take it. If not, he's coming to the Flats. So the entire decision will rest on that. I don't get the whole "willing to be Nick Satan's (Saban's...I have to stop doing that) sloppy seconds" deal, but it is what it is. Hopefully he puts on the Tech hat Wednesday morning, but we'll just have to see.

LB Beau Hankins -- Kid is leaning hard towards Arkansas, and although you haven't heard much about him here, he's looking to be Gnonkonde's replacement in the class. He's visiting this weekend, and will announce his decision Wednesday at 11am. No real time to do research on him at the moment, but it'd be great stealing a guy who's wanted by a top-10 team in the country.

C Kyle Stallard -- Another guy you haven't heard of, this one was offered a PWO (preferred walk on) spot by Coach Johnson today, and accepted. Hopefully this kid can work hard and contribute enough to earn a scholarship with us, just as Sean Bedford did.

OL Will Adams -- For those who didn't see earlier, he turned down the visit to Auburn and is set on his commitment to Georgia Tech! Except for the part where then he did actually decide to go to Auburn this evening, after discussing it with Johnson and trying to decide all afternoon. He wants somewhere to compare to Tech and wants to avoid any regrets he could have. Hopefully he sees us as the better school.

A couple offers were given out to guys who are in the 2013 class today, but that's a story for another time. Stay tuned, expect more to come in the morning as things continue to develop...

Info credit to Kelly Quinlan and Eric Thompson of JacketsOnline.com. Those two do a fantastic job keeping everyone up-to-date on the goings on of the team!

via jgtwo.files.wordpress.com

Now before anyone goes and starts getting angry how this involves religion, let me explain myself. I named it this on a reference to South Park, as it seems as though pretty much any question related to our recruiting situation right now must be answered with either "I'm not really sure" or "I have no idea". Seriously, everything is FUBAR, so let me try making some sense of this.

CB Antonio Crawford -- Word is that he's pretty set on taking his visit to Miami. Parents are supposedly not happy about it, but willing to support their son. He reportedly is claiming that, "Miami is like my dream school. I've always wanted to go there. I watched them on TV growing up, know a lot about their tradition, what their football program is always about. I always wanted to play for the University of Miami." I guess CPJ's ultimatum didn't really scare him off. I still refuse to understand this, where Miami already has 31 commitments, 6 of whom are CBs. Why on Earth would you let yourself into a situation like that? Time will tell.

OL Will Adams -- This kid really has no idea what to do. Grew up a Dwags fan, gave them the finger after they paid him no attention until recently, and then was offered a visit by Gene Chizik for this weekend. He's been trying to decide whether or not to go, and was given the same ultimatum by CPJ as others -- go to Auburn, and his scholarship at Tech is not guaranteed. Now it seems that every hour things are changing for him. He spoke with Coach Johnson last night and was scheduled to speak with him again this morning. No idea how this one will turn out.

UPDATE, 10:40am -- After sleeping on it and talking to his folks, he called CPJ to let him know that he will not be visiting Auburn and that he will be signing a LOI for us on Wednesday!

CB Malik Simmons -- Wait, who? Last night word came out that we had a pretty highly-ranked surprise visitor for this weekend. Here it is, UNC Commitment Malik Simmons. Committed to UNC on Halloween and is a 3-star prospect across the board, but is said to have an awful lot of upside. Remember that thing about Crawford apparently not being scared of losing his spot at Tech? Well, looks like he has reason to be. No way of knowing whether Simmons will commit to us or not given an offer, but usually it says a lot that a guy is willing to visit the weekend before National Signing Day.

DT Dalvin Tomlinson -- Still no idea how Saban's visit with the other guy went last night, updates to come when I hear.

As you can see, this situation is a complete and total mess (and really, it is nationally....it's not just happening to us right now). And it could be interpreted a few ways. Other teams are coming in trying to get guys to finish out their recruiting class now that some of their targets have committed elsewhere. I think it means we have really good scouting, and are good at evaluating talent. We've gotten a number of commitments early in the process that later get offers from half of the SEC and Big Ten. That we end up with a lot of guys that other teams want is very encouraging. Hopefully things work out in Tech's favor, but we'll have to see how this weekend goes.

(Updated)

WR Travin Henry -- Visiting us this weekend from Cook County, kid played WR and LB in high school....yes, you read that right. Kid is awfully athletic and can do a lot for us on the outside at WR. Would be a bit of a nightmare to cover for opposing CBs with his 6'3", 213lb frame that will likely only grow here. He may not outrun many corners, but he'll beat them in a few other ways. Also, the hope is that if we get him, Anthony Autry can play CB instead of WR for us (Charles Kelly is much higher on him as a corner than as a receiver). And before you start making fun of his other offers (Georgia State, Jacksonville State and UAB), remember LB Tyler Stargel. When we signed him, he didn't have offers from any other BCS programs. Since signing him, he's been approached by Auburn, among others (luckily for us, he's refused to give them the time of day). I really believe in this staff when it comes to evaluating talent.

(all info credited to Kelly Quinlan and Eric Thompson of JacketsOnline.com)

Rumors are flying around right now concerning GT Recruitment, so I thought I'd keep you fine folks up to date.

DT Dalvin Tomlinson: We thought we had a real good shot at him (that Alabama wouldn't have room and we were second in line), and then Alabama's prospects started dropping like flies and it looked like he was going to Alabama. Word is now that Nick Saban is on the way to a recruit's house, and if the kid commits, Dalvin's spot at Alabama is gone and it's between us and georgie. (Read: us.)

CB Antonio Crawford: This one's getting real messy. Kid committed to us last summer and has been solid ever since, saying things like "100%. I'm a Yellow Jacket!" Now he's been invited to visit Miami over the weekend. Johnson has told him that if he goes and visits Miami, he'll lose his scholarship at Tech (as per Johnson's style of recruiting). His mother has been very adamant about wanting him to go to Tech, saying she wouldn't sign his LOI to go anywhere else (not sure how much this means....guess it only matters since he'll be under 18?). However, Crawford has told Johnson that a) we have a CB visiting Tech this weekend, and if he commits, Crawford is gone, and b) that Crawford will be visiting Miami. Looks like he's through with his time at Tech. Sucks, but what can you do?

Side note for Miami: Crawford would be their 32nd commit. Yes, you read that right. Also, they currently have 6 other DBs signed to the class, and another athlete with the body to play that or WR. I really, really have no idea what this kid is thinking even giving Miami a shot. It makes no sense to me why he would go join in that group with so much chance of never seeing the field beyond special teams.

DE Francis Kallon: There were rumors starting to go around that he was getting cold feet with GT. Notre Dame had been contacting him looking to recruit him, and things were heating up and it looked as though it could have been total meltdown on our side for him. However, the parents never liked it, and have been pushing on him hard to stay closer to home. News is now coming out that the whole Kallon-to-ND thing is not happening. We're solid with Kallon.

It's been quite the frantic day for our recruiting department, to the point that my sources (Eric Thompson and Kelly Quinlan of JacketsOnline.com) have not been able to post their weekly Thursday state-of-the-situation "War Room" post. They're saying it'll come out once everything cools, meaning later this evening or tomorrow. Also, according to those guys, we have another couple OVs this weekend, including a very highly-ranked surprise. Stay tuned....

Per the AJC

Georgia Tech will open the season at Virginia Tech on Labor Day night, according to a person familiar with the ACC’s scheduling.

The schools and the league had been in discussions trying to organize the game, which will have a national ESPN platform at a time slot with little competition.

It will be a nice break from the typical FBS scheduling that we have seen over the past few years.

What do you think of this? I like it. I think Georgia Tech plays its best football at the beginning of the year, regardless of the opponent level.

In every other endeavor of life, when you agree to terms in a contract, you sign a piece of paper and the deal is done. Not so with the NCAA, which I am beginning to believe is totally dysfunctional on many levels. With the NCAA, if you agree to sign a National Letter of Intent, the commitment is really no commitment at all. It's a promise to make a commitment at some time in the future. What does this accomplish?

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This year it's easy to put the basketball season out of our minds because it's out of sight. And you know how the old saying goes...Nevertheless we still need to be educated in our athletics programs and knowledge is power.

Here is a summary of the 2011-2012 basketball season. There is probably minimal cohesion to it so think of it as stream of consciousness.

The Yellow Jackets are sitting in the basement, dead last in the ACC. Tech sits at 8-12 overall with a 1-5 record. Ironically, the one win was a road win against the NC State Wolfpack. The only other ACC team with an overall losing record is the Boston College Golden Eagles who are 7-12.

I've been to four games this year and in all the games, we've seen flashes of brilliance, but just like any flash in a pan, it's gone in an instant. There is an odd funk that hangs over the team and it's made up of the combination of no home, small crowd, new coach, no star team leader.

Two players are averaging double-digits this year in Glen Rice Jr and Mfon Udofia. They are both averaging well over 20 minutes per game (29.9 and 30.5 respectively). Defensively, Daniel Miller continues to work on establishing his presence and has recorded 49 blocks this season, enough for about 24th in the nation.

It's a rough year for sure, but I end up coming back for more games at Phillips to watch Georgia Tech play. What makes you keep coming back?