Technical Tidbits 4/30

Brace yourselves, the tests are coming...

With the graduation of former Jacket TJ Barnes this weekend, the 2008 recruiting class now has a perfect graduation rate among players who stayed for all four years at Tech-- a perfect 15 of 15. He joins former QB Tevin Washington, G Omoregie Uzzi, and a number of others from Paul Johnson's first recruiting class as a man with a degree from The Institute, but don't think Barnes had given up his football career for a business career-- he will spend the summer working out with the New York Jets as he tries to earn a spot on the team by the time this coming season rolls around. Hats off to Barnes for, presumably, getting the job done on his final math test as a student. Maybe he can send me some tips before next Friday...

See here for a list of all graduating athletes this weekend.

New Georgia Tech assistant coach Mamadou N'Diaye should help bring a fresh perspective and a tradition of excellence in rebounding and defense to the Tech squad this season. N'Diaye, whose hire was announced just a week or so ago, was born in Dakar, Senegal and has experience at both the collegiate and professional level, playing at Auburn and then for the Denver Nuggets before continuing his professional career overseas in Israel, China, and Lithuania among other countries. The story of how he got into basketball is worth reading about in the article above, but his defensive philosophy is perhaps the most exciting thing he brings to the table at Tech; the Jackets will need to take a step up defensively if their offense stagnates as badly as it did at times last year when it became commonplace for Tech to go 8-10 minutes with minimal offensive production.

Georgia Tech is making their case to be the first team to play any sort of regular season game in the new Falcons stadium; the athletic department is making a pitch to start off the 2017 season in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game at the Georgia Dome/[Insert Company Name Here] Stadium. The Chick-fil-A Kickoff, which featured a very entertaining game between the Hokies and the Alabama Crimson Tide last season, would get Tech plenty of national exposure and depending on who the opponent would be, it could even be considered a home game if the fan-base shows up in full force. It is interesting to point out that Paul Johnson's lucrative contract would have expired at the end of the previous season, so there could feasibly be quite a few major questions surrounding the future of the program when the game is set to be played.

Yesterday I reminded you how dominant Georgia Tech's student golf team has been, but don't count out the fearsome tandem of Paul Johnson and Jon Barry, which won yet another tournament yesterday. Their win at the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge brought the lifetime earnings for the two golfing studs to just under $600,000 worth of scholarships for the Georgia Tech sports teams, and the couple has now won the tournament three of the last four years. Some of the other participants in the contest who I think would be funny to watch with a club in their hand include (former) Saints RB Mark Ingram for Alabama, Bo Jackson for Auburn, and Roy Williams for UNC, none of them really strike me as golfers, but who cares? Paul Johnson is the master of football and gold and deserves to be worshiped as such.

Former Hurricane and Cleveland Brown Bernie Kosar is claiming that his slurred speech, a result of multiple concussions he sustained while playing in the NFL, cost him a job as a color analyst for the Browns. Based upon some of the comments he apparently made while calling a preseason game last season, including "These Rams receivers are horrible", would indicate that the way he spoke was the least of the concerns felt by the Browns. While Kosar doesn't seem to have much of a case in this case, he might have a case regarding his multiple concussions suffered while playing in the NFL, and that brings us to the...

Daily Debate: Who is responsible for injuries suffered by student athletes in the NCAA? If student athletes were paid to play, would that change who is responsible for on the field injuries? Would a former student athlete who experienced multiple concussions while in college have any case against the NCAA? Answer any or all of these questions in the comments below.

Have a great Wednesday and Go Jackets!