Senior Night

Good group of guys. Tyler Whatley, Ricky McPhee, and Albert Jackson.

It's hard to believe how time flies. I remember writing about Jackson, hoping that he would be able to come in and help the team. Thinking about his transfer to Oak Hill, wondering whether that would work out for him. Being concerned that Jackson's Oak Hill teammate, Michael Beasley, seemed to be scoring all the points.

Jackson came to Athens and got to work. He battled through injuries, setbacks, and has now made it to the final stretch.

I will not soon forget his "parting of the Red Sea" dunk-- that play during the SEC Tournament when Jackson grabbed a rebound at about the foul line, took a couple of steps and rose up high toward the rim. Everyone in front of him leaned aside, as if moved by some invisible hand. Time had been running out and Georgia had a slight lead. I had wanted Jackson to throw the ball back out to one of the guards. "No, no--- Woo-Hoo!"

I never did know much about Tyler Whatley. However, you have to have contributions from all the players to make a team work. Even the guys who don't play much during the games do their part during the week. Practicing hard, going to class, making the starters better. From all I understand, Whatley was that kind of team player.

And where would Georgia's team be without Ricky McPhee? We didn't win a ton of games, but McPhee was in the thick of it in every contest. Making the long range jumpshot, defending, playing tons of minutes.

Wish we had our seniors for another year. Doubt any of them will continue playing basketball beyond college. And that's okay. I'm sure that they will all be key contributors during the week.

R&B Article

Tyler Whatley

Has apparently joined the UGA squad as a walk-on.

The walk-ons have some serious fire-power this year. Corey Butler, Tyler Whatley, and Ricky McPhee give the Dawgs some capability from the non-scholarship part of the roster. Should make practices more competitive.

Whatley is a big body. 6' 9", 220 lbs. He scored 1685 points in his high school career, to go with 976 rebounds and 351 blocked shots. He averaged 21 pts, 11 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots. His high school, Apalachee, retired his high school number.

Whatley had some good games at Wofford, including 11 points against the Stephen Curry-led Davidson team. His production dipped last year, from averaging 7 points and 5 boards down to 5 points and 3 boards.

Whatley