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AJC Sports

AJC Sports

Ten at 10: One person thinks Dogs have good shot at Valdosta’s Jay Rome

THE TEN AT 10:

1. Buck Belue writes in one of his recent blogs at BuckBelue.com that Georgia has a very good shot of landing Valdosta tight end Jay Rome. The popular 680 The Fan talk-radio personality and former UGA quarterback grew up in Valdosta and trained with Rome’s father Stan Rome and uncle Roger Rome and remains friends with them today. Belue comes to the conclusion that the Bulldogs are serious contenders after a recent conversation with his old friends. Rome, one of the top three or four prospects in the state, is assumed to be a strong Clemson lean since his father starred there in football and basketball in the 1970s.

2. I’m still trying to figure out the nuances of scoring in all these combine events. Jabari Hunt-Days, who I profiled earlier this week for his impressive performances in combines this spring, actually finished second in Atlanta’s Nike Combine to another linebacker, Troy Gray of Kennesaw. Gray, a 6-foot, 210-pound linebacker from North Cobb High, …

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AJC Sports

Hillgrove’s Jabari Hunt-Days earns notice on combine circuit

God blessed Jabari Hunt-Days with a nearly 6-foot-3 frame and exceptional strength and speed. But those natural gifts aren’t the only reason the Hillgrove High two-way player has been blowing up prospect combines in Georgia and Florida this year.

The two P’s — practice and preparation — have to be given more than a little credit here.

“I did probably a month or month and a half of training,” said Hunt-Days, an articulate but soft-spoken young man from Powder Springs. “I knew what I was goiong to be doing at the combines: the 40-yard dash, shuttle, vertical leap and power-ball toss. So I broke down the numbers and ran everything at home with my dad. We just tried to chop down the numbers and see how we could do each drill best. If we weren’t getting the right times we just kept trying to chop it down and chop it down until we got it down to where we thought it should be. Knowing what kind of steps to use and the mechanics made a difference.”

And how.

Hunt-Days (6-2 1/2, 226 …

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AJC Sports

Tech beats Georgia, 6-5

Jacob Esch took four consecutive pitches to walk in the winning run and give Georgia Tech a 6-5 victory over Georgia on Tuesday at Russ Chandler Stadium.

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AJC Sports

Hawks overwhelm downtrodden Nets

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Hawks played their first game of the season without All-Star guard Joe Johnson, who stayed behind in Atlanta with a sore Achilles tendon.

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AJC Sports

Thrashers rally for win after chasing Miller

Don’t count out the Thrashers just yet. They scored three first-period goals and chased the NHL’s top goaltender five minutes in, but they later had to rally for a 4-3 victory over Buffalo on Tuesday night at Philips Arena.

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AJC Sports

Tech gets first commitment from East Hall’s Chaz Cheeks

UPDATED THROUGHOUT . . .

Chaz Cheeks became Georgia Tech’s first verbal commitment for the 2011 class on Tuesday.

“I feel happy, excited, filled with joy,” said Cheeks, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound defensive end from East Hall High School in Gainesville.

Recruiting momentum was just really picking up for Cheeks, who also had offers from Ole Miss and N.C. State. But he didn’t see any reason to prolong the process.

“I just sat down with the family, my coaches and friends whose opinion I value and just really started thinking about Georgia Tech,” he said. “Number one school in the ACC; you graduate from Tech you’re going to have a good job. I didn’t see anything better so I was like, ‘Let’s go for it!’”

Cheeks is expected to play outside linebacker for the Yellow Jackets. At East Hall he has played his entire career with his hand on the ground.

“I did, but actually this year the coaches are going to work me a little bit at outside linebacker. So I’ll have a year under my belt before I …

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AJC Sports

Ten at 10: Tech moves in on Stephenson C Tarik Cook

THE TEN AT 10:

1. It looks like Georgia Tech may have identified a possible replacement for center Sean Bedford. Stephenson center Tarik Cook visited The Flats along with teammate Jared Boyd this past week and, while he did not land one, he feels like a scholarship offer is imminent. “I got to spend a lot of time with Coach [Todd] Spencer and Coach [Mike] Sewak and they were pretty cool,” Cook said of the Jackets’ co-offensive line coaches. “We sat down and talked about my highlight film and we talked about their situation at center. Their starter is about to graduate [after 2010 season], so I think I would have an opportunity to play early. [Head coach Paul] Johnson was out of town and he’s the only one that can offer but they said I had a good shot.” Cook (6-foot-2, 294 pounds) currently has offers from Ole Miss and Central Florida and plans to visit both schools. He said he has been to junior days at Alabama, Auburn and Georgia and hopes to get offers from them as well. …

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AJC Sports

GT women seeded sixth, eye rematch with OU

To make history, the Georgia Tech women’s basketball team will have to re-visit some history. Monday night, the Jackets learned they will be sent to Norman, Okla., as a No.

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AJC Sports

Have Bulldogs lost their footing in South Georgia?

Has Georgia lost its footing in South Georgia?

There are indications that could be the case, in Valdosta in particular. Tyler Hunter became the latest major-college prospect to go south rather than north out of Lowndes County. The defensive back from Lowndes High — and son of former Bulldog receiver Bryce Hunter — recently committed to Florida State.

Should Hunter’s commitment hold up — he says he’ll still take visits — it will continue a rich southward flow of talent from Valdosta to Tallahassee. The Seminoles beat Georgia head-to-head for Greg Reid in 2009 and Telvin Smith in 2010. FSU also signed Gerald Demps out of Lowndes in 2009.

Conversely, Georgia currently has just one player on its roster from Valdosta — sophomore linebacker Mike Gilliard — and none from Lowndes High. The Bulldogs currently have just 10 players on their roster from South Georgia. There was a time it seemed the Bulldogs got most any player they wanted out of that area.

“They’ve lost their stronghold,” …

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AJC Sports

Showfety leaves Northview for Dunwoody

Jim Showfety, who took Chamblee to the Class AAA semifinals in 2007, is returning to DeKalb County.

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AJC Sports

Berkmar football coach Thompson resigns

Berkmar coach John Thompson has resigned after two seasons to work toward a graduate degree. The former Valdosta High assistant was 3-7 and 1-9 in his two seasons at the Gwinnett County school.

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AJC Sports

Earwood to coach Our Lady of Mercy football

Faced with losing his job at Starr’s Mill over cuts in part-time teachers, Mike Earwood has accepted the position of head coach at Our Lady of Mercy, a Class A school in Fairburn.

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AJC Sports

NCAA tournament games, sites, times

Here’s the list of games for the NCAA Tournament, which will have its opening round game Tuesday and the first round beginning Thursday.

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AJC Sports

High school football assistants get top jobs

Hiring from within seems to be a popular trend among local high school football programs. Lithonia has elevated Marcus Jelks from interim head coach to a permanent position, while Collins Hill promoted assistant Kevin Reach to its top job.

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AJC Sports

Thrashers drop sixth straight

Thrashers defenseman Chris Chelios (right) battles the Coyotes’ Taylor Pyatt for the puck Sunday at Philips Arena. Atlanta lost in a shootout.

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AJC Sports

Hawks run out early, hold on against Detroit

The Hawks got off to the right kind of start. Their finish won’t win any prizes, but was sufficient.

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AJC Sports

Wesleyan girls win state title

At the end of Saturday’s Class A final, the chant from the Wesleyan supporters who made their familiar mid-March journey to Macon spoke volumes about the dominance of the Wolves’ program: “Sec-ond, three-peat.”

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AJC Sports

Georgia Tech advances to ACC final

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Awake at 5:30 a.m. Saturday, blurry-eyed from an action-packed ACC tournament, Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt watched videotape of his Yellow Jackets nearly spoil a 16-point lead to N.C.

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AJC Sports

GMs look to change rule on hits to head

NHL general managers last week recommended a rule change that would, in part, ban blindside hits to the head.

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AJC Sports

Fox says his first UGA team ‘made an impact’

NASHVILLE — Before his first Georgia team left Bridgestone Arena around midnight Friday, headed for the offseason, coach Mark Fox thanked the group for starting the process of rebuilding the UGA program.

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