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Congratulations to Georgia Tech A-Backs coach Lamar Owens, who was recently selected for the NCAA/NFL Coaches Academy. The course, which offers new college coaches an inside opportunity to network with prominent members of both the NFL and NCAA, chose just 39 coaches from across the nation to participate. Owens in particular has been an invaluable member of Tech's coaching staff since his hiring back in 2010. Though his prowess as a coach is impressive, his outstanding recruiting ability is also something to marvel at; he is, after all, the primary recruiter for five-star athlete Demetris Robertson as well as a slew of talented players already on Tech's roster.
Speaking of Demetris Robertson, here is your daily speculator update: NOTRE DAME ALL THE WAY!
It's all over now, folks. At least until later when he posts a picture with someone else.
Sophomore slugger Kel Johnson recently became the latest in a long line of Tech players to be named to the Golden Spikes Award watchlist for the upcoming 2016 season. The Golden Spikes Award, one of the most prestigious in all of college baseball, is awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player in the nation. Tech's sole winner is Jason Varitek, a 1994 winner, but Mark Teixeria, Ty Griffin, and Varitek all finished as finalists at some point. The Jackets had no nominees last season, but starting pitcher Buck Farmer and catcher Zane Evans were both among the preseason nominees for the 2013 baseball season.
I'll leave you today with the remarkable journey of Pitt running back James Conner, a former ACC Player of the Year who was forced to miss all of last season after being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma. Conner just completed his sixth of twelve rounds of chemotherapy and is amazingly already back working out with the team in between treatments. That is quite frankly one of the more amazing things I've heard in a long time; the drive and passion it must take to get back to a sport like football in the midst of a battle with cancer is simply stunning. If you recall that misty aberration we now know as the 2014 season, you'll likely recollect that Conner was the man who went for 120 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Jackets up at Heinz Field. That was just one stellar performance of his 1700-yard rushing season.