Thursday, March 26, 2009

Another New Dawg Today

Junior college kicker Brandon Bogotay has signed a letter of intent with the University of Georgia football team according to an announcement Thursday by Bulldog head coach Mark Richt.

Bogotay, a native of San Diego, Calif., competed as a freshman at Grossmont College (El Cajon, Calif.) in 2008 and was named to the Southern Conference's All-Conference First Team. He finished 15-of-23 on field goals, including a long kick of 52 yards, and was listed at the No. 3 spot on the California Community College Athletic Association's list for most points scored kicking last season with 72.

"We're excited to have Brandon joining our 2009 signing class and look forward to him competing on our kickoff, field goal, and extra point teams,"said Richt. Bogotay, who did not play football while attending Patrick Henry High School, was named his junior college conference's Special Teams/All-Purpose Player of the Week on Oct. 13, 2008, after connecting on all four of his field goal attempts as well as all three extra points.

The addition of Bogotay gives the Bulldogs 20 signees who are already enrolled at Georgia or who will be arriving in the summer to join their teammates.

The University of Georgia football team has almost reached the halfway point of spring practice, and Bulldog head coach Mark Richt is encouraged by what he has seen.

“We ran well during practice, we pursued as a unit, I liked the way we looked today,” said Richt. (Brandon) Boykin had a couple of picks, and Joe Cox looked good.

I’d say the most dominating player to this point has been Geno (Atkins). He’s tough to handle. Geno has had his way with just about everybody.”Richt added that the offensive line picked up some tough blitzes on Thursday and said some of the highlights included a nice throw and catch from Joe Cox to Tavarres King and some runs by Caleb King during the inside drills and 11-on-11 sessions.

“We want to see how they put it all together Friday,” said Richt. “We’re going start finding out who is ready to play, who is ready to start, who is going to lead for Georgia. We’d like to see the offensive and defensive units have that continuity that you’re looking for. I see a group of guys who want to do it. I’ve seen a team so far that’s not just coach-driven. They want to do it themselves too, and that’s super important.”

Former Georgia coach Ron Polk is among 10 players and coaches named to the 2009 National College Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Class, it was announced Wednesday.

Polk spent two seasons as Georgia’s head coach from 2000-01 and led the Bulldogs to a 79-48 record, the 2001 SEC title—UGA’s first since 1954--and an appearance in the College World Series. He is one of only three coaches to lead three different schools to the College World Series—Georgia, Georgia Southern and Mississippi State. Polk concluded his 35-year career as head coach last year at Mississippi State and is now serving as a volunteer assistant at UAB.

After closing out a four-game homestand, the top-ranked Diamond Dawgs will travel to Tennessee for a three-game series beginning Friday at 7 p.m.

Georgia began its 122nd baseball season this year, and the Bulldogs are three wins shy of the 2,000th win in program history. Baseball at UGA dates back to 1886 and it is the oldest sport on campus. Georgia’s all-time record is 1,997-1,471-23, and throughout history the Bulldogs have six SEC championships, six College World Series appearances, three in the last five years, and one national title.

The second-ranked Georgia women's tennis team will be back in action Friday at #21 LSU before returning home Sunday against #23 Arkansas at 1 p.m.

The Bulldogs (13-2, 3-1 SEC) have faced 13 consecutive ranked teams including six in the top 10. The only blemishes for Georgia have been against top-ranked Northwestern in the finals of the ITA National Team Indoors (Feb. 16 in Madison, Wis.) and to No. 23 Florida (March 13 in Gainesville as the Gators have only lost one home SEC match ever -- to Georgia in 2002).

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