Spring is the time of the year for many sports to peak. Someday, and I feel sooner than later, UGA basketball coach Mike White will have us excited about his team making the playoffs. He will get us into March Madness.
Even with a disappointing second year, it was interesting to note that the fan base enjoyed seeing what this bright and indefatigable workhorse has in mind for developing a competitive program that can win championships. Even with losing close games, the fans continued to show up right to the bitter end. White will have the resources that he needs to be competitive, and he has the fire in the belly to build a consistent winner.
As basketball ends, along with swimming, which remains relevant under Neil Versfeld (men) and Stefanie Moreno (women), we see baseball, softball, track, tennis, golf, and equestrian teams already well into their seasons, and there is mostly good news.
Track under Caryl Smith Gilbert will always have the goal of winning national championships. She recruits great athletes to Athens, those with performances that will lead many of them to Olympic gold. With new facilities on the drawing board, we will someday see world-class competition on campus. And often, I predict.
Women’s tennis, with Drake Bernstein taking over, is in the fast lane like it was under Jeff Wallace for years. And while Manuel Diaz is exiting after this season, his successor, Jamie Hunt, has high ambition to keep winning championships just like his predecessor and mentor.
Men’s golf under Chris Haack remains a contender for the SEC title, as it has for many years. On the women’s side, Josh Brewer will try to maneuver his team to finish in the top 20 in the NCAA championship for the fourth straight season.
Equestrian under 23-year head coach Meghan Boenig is off to another fast start as she seeks her 8th national championship.
That brings us to baseball and what a resounding start coach Wes Johnson has brought about for the Bulldogs since arriving last summer. UGA hitters have been knocking the cover off the ball this year, giving the team a 16-1 record to start the season. Johnson’s expertise is as a pitching guru, so if his pitching holds up in SEC competition, his serendipitous start could end with a serendipitous finish.
While all this has been going on, football spring practice is getting underway, which will end on April 13 with the annual spring game. Spring practice has always brought about more than a passing interest and that interest has peaked considerably with fans having an opportunity to see the freshman who will see action in the spring game.
Interest has ratcheted up ever since Kirby Smart arrived on the scene as he advanced the notion that fans should show their support by showing up for the G-Day game. In his first year, it was pretty much a sellout and huge crowds have become commonplace on spring game Saturday.
That should come as no surprise for a program that lost only two games in three years and will be in the hunt this fall for another national title.
In the space of seven years, Smart has become the greatest football coach in the history of the state of Georgia with two national titles and a runner-up.
There is plenty of exciting action around campus right now and then there is the Masters scene the first full week in April, which is a global backdrop offering to the world the best in golf competition – the first major championship of the spring.
All we need now is good weather.