April 7, 2011
TO: Fans, Friends, and Supporters of Georgia Tech Athletics
FROM: Dan Radakovich, Georgia Tech Director of Athletics
Welcome Coach Brian Gregory
What a thrill it has been to welcome Brian Gregory to Georgia Tech as our new head basketball coach. We promised energy, enthusiasm and a track record of success, and Brian has proven to be the perfect fit. He won 97 games over his last four seasons at the University of Dayton, learned the business under the tutelage of the great Tom Izzo at Michigan State, and graduated every senior who ever played for him at Dayton – a perfect 23 out of 23.
Coach Gregory has been tireless since he arrived in Atlanta early last week, meeting and conducting workouts with our players, working to finalize his coaching staff, handling countless media requests and spending time with many Georgia Tech folks in and around the community. Brian’s first major fan appearance will come on May 3rd when we conclude this year’s GT Caravan with an evening at the Georgia Tech Hotel (6-8 p.m.). This will be a great opportunity to come out and meet Coach Gregory firsthand and hear his vision for the future of Georgia Tech basketball. He’ll join me on the dais, as well as Coach Paul Johnson and our sensational women’s basketball coach MaChelle Joseph. Wes Durham hosts the event. Click here for a look at the entire Caravan schedule and to RSVP to attend the Midtown event on May 3rd.
We had an outstanding turnout at our Caravan stop in Macon Tuesday night and have a date tonight with our friends in Tampa Bay for round two. We always look forward to our visit to Dalton and an evening at The Farm Golf Club on April 19th.
Huge Series for Baseball Jackets This Weekend
With spring weather bearing down on us for the weekend, the place to be is on the Georgia Tech campus for what should prove to be the most entertaining baseball series of the year. The No. 1-ranked (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper) Virginia Cavaliers visit Russ Chandler Stadium, bringing in a gaudy 29-2 record. Our Jackets are tied with UVA for first place in the Coastal Division with identical 11-1 marks. This will be a high-caliber weekend of college baseball with games at 7 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and noon on Sunday. Click here to purchase your tickets for any or all of the weekend series.
Men’s Tennis at Home, Moving Up in National Rankings
If you are into multi-sporting this weekend, you could also catch outstanding tennis action as our nationally-ranked men’s team faces No. 11 Duke Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. and 17th-ranked North Carolina at noon on Sunday. Both matches are at the Bill Moore Tennis Center on campus. Tech is 15-2 overall and has won five straight matches to continue to move up to 18th in the national rankings.
Spring Practice Continues, T-Day is April 23rd
Coach Paul Johnson’s football Jackets continue their hard work this spring as they look down the road to our annual T-Day Spring Game on Saturday, April 23rd. Kickoff is set for noon with a full slate of promotions and activities surrounding the day. Be sure to mark this date on your calendar since you can not only get a preview of what’s ahead for football, but also catch Yellow Jacket baseball in action that afternoon at 3 p.m. vs. Boston College.
Can’t wait until the spring game? Saturday morning’s practice (9 a.m.) is open to the public. Check out the notebook from spring practice.
Season Football Ticket Renewals
We appreciate all of you folks renewing or purchasing new season football tickets for the 2011 season. Don’t forget the renewal deadline is approaching on April 15th. We are running about 1,900 season tickets ahead of where we were last year at this point. Our outbound ticket sales group, Aspire, has tallied more than 800 new ticket sales for the 2011 season and that number continues to mount. Don’t miss the boat…2011 stacks up as one of the most exciting home schedules in recent memory with Georgia, Clemson, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Kansas visiting Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Get on Board with Coach Gregory and the Jackets
If you want to join the many fans that are getting on board with new men’s basketball coach Brian Gregory right now, we are accepting deposits for a 10-game season ticket package to be played at Philips Arena in the 2011-12 season. Our eight ACC games, a home game with Alabama and our ACC-Big Ten Challenge game will comprise the 10-game package. If you are not currently a season ticket holder and are interested in new season tickets click here to place a $100 deposit that will hold your seats for Coach Gregory’s inaugural season. Current season ticket holders need only go through the normal renewal process when information is distributed this summer.
Gregory will be doing a live video chat with fans Monday morning at 10:30 a.m. We are working out the details today. Make sure to check our social media sites (Facebook.com/gtathletics and Twitter.com/gtathletics) in the next day or two for more information.
Jackets Host Dawgs Tuesday; Softball Helping Japan Relief Efforts
The Yellow Jacket baseball team will host arch-rival Georgia Tuesday night (7 p.m.) at Russ Chandler Stadium. Members of the softball team will be on hand to promote their upcoming fundraiser for earthquake and tsunami relief in Japan. The team has partnered with the American Red Cross and will take donations at their homes games vs. Georgia (April 13) and North Carolina (April 16-17).
Women’s Tennis On Tobacco Road
Georgia Tech’s 12th-ranked women’s tennis team will be in North Carolina this weekend, playing at No. 3 North Carolina Saturday and at No. 4 Duke on Sunday. The Yellow Jackets are 11-6 overall, 4-3 in the ACC, and have won five of their last six matches.
Golf Has April 16-17 Tune-Up Before ACCs
The nationally-ranked Yellow Jacket golf team has just one regular season event remaining – the April 16-17 Yellow Jacket Invitational in Alpharetta – before defending their title at the ACC Championship.
Softball Continues To Roll
Coach Sharon Perkins’ softball team, which has won 25 of its last 27 games including a win over Kennesaw State Wednesday night, hits the road this weekend for a three-game ACC series at Virginia Tech. The 23rd-ranked Yellow Jackets return home for a big week next week as they host No.2 Georgia Wednesday night and then North Carolina over the weekend. The Tar Heels are currently two games behind Tech in the standings for first place.
Track At FSU This Weekend
The track and field teams are in Tallahassee (Fla.) this weekend for the Seminole Invitational. This will be the Yellow Jackets’ final tune-up before the April 21-23 ACC Championships in Durham (N.C.).
Getting Their Hands Dirty
Make sure to read about how our student-athletes took time out of their weekend last Saturday to clean up one of Atlanta’s roughest neighborhoods.
