Southern Sports Edition
New Sting Operation
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Recently, Georgia Tech fired men’s basketball head coach Damon Stoudamire
. When he was hired in 2023, I thought it was a great move. He’s a former NBA player and I thought that would lead to getting better recruits at Tech.
A 12-game losing streak to close the season left Georgia Tech with an 11-20 record and a last-place 2-16 mark in the ACC. Stoudamire went 42-55 over three seasons with the Yellow Jackets.
According to Stoudamire’s contract, Georgia Tech is set to owe him $2.6 million over the next two years, a number that is subject to offset if he takes another job.
Athletic director Ryan Alpert was hired in July from Tennessee. He’s in his first-year in Atlanta and he needs to make a move to save this program from becoming irrelevant. Tech has made just one NCAA tournament appearance since 2010.
“On behalf of Georgia Tech, I want to thank Damon for his commitment to the Institute, our men’s basketball program and, most importantly, our student-athletes,” Alpert said in a statement released by the school. “He is highly respected and admired throughout the Georgia Tech community and has been a strong representative of the Institute. We wish him the very best.”
Scott Cross was hired as the new head coach over the weekend. He was the head coach at Troy for seven seasons (2019-26) and he also served as the head coach at Texas-Arlington for 12 years (2006-2018).
Cross has won seven conference championships and 350 games in 19 seasons as a head coach – including five-straight 20-win seasons and back-to-back Sun Belt Conference regular-season and tournament titles at Troy.
“Coach Cross is a proven winner with 350 career victories and seven conference championships on his resume,” Alpert said in a statement. “His combination of experience, success and development of student-athletes, both on and off the court, makes him the perfect person to carry on the proud tradition of Georgia Tech men’s basketball. He is a great fit for our program, the Institute and the Georgia Tech and Atlanta communities.”
Tech deputy executive AD Brent Jones, who came to Tech from Troy, where he served as AD — made him the prime candidate for Alpert.
Cross has shown that he can take over a struggling program and turn them into winners. He has also excelled at developing players. He’s coached three conference players of the year (2025 – Troy’s Tayton Conerway, 2017 – UTA’s Kevin Hervey, 2010 – UTA’s Marquez Haynes) and 25 players that have earned all-conference honors in his 19 seasons as a head coach, including 12 first-team selections. The total includes four first-team all-Sun Belt honorees and six total all-conference selections in his seven seasons at Troy.
When he was hired at Troy, he took over a program that had finished with a losing record in eight of the previous nine seasons and had been to the NCAA Tournament twice since moving up to Division I in 1993.
Tech is currently the worst team in the ACC, so there’s nowhere to go but up.
Same Old Tricks
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the 2025-26 Georgia Men’s basketball season will be looked at with multiple conflicting feelings.
On one hand, this rendition of Bulldog’s Basketball was the winningest and highest scoring team in program history with a 22-11 record and averaging 89.4 points per game, but on the flip side, Georgia’s season ends with another embarrassing loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in the 8/9 matchup.
Georgia got off to a red hot start out of the gate and carried it thru the first half of the season with a 14-2 thru the first sixteen games of the season.
That said, the start of the questions began in late January when Georgia lost five of the next six games, with the only win in that four-week stretch came at LSU who finished in the cellar of the SEC standings.
So, what do you take away from Georgia hoops in 2025-26? Let’s break it down:
Positive: First and foremost, even with the tough four week stretch, 22 regular season wins are the most ever in the regular season in the 121 seasons on the hardwood in Athens.
With those 22 wins, it earned the Dawgs a second straight NCAA bid for just the fourth time in Georgia history and the first since the 2001 and 2002 postseasons.
The biggest change in the Dawgs program this season was the offensive prowess. Again, this Georgia team could almost score at will. 89.4 points per game were the most in the history of the Dawgs and shattered the old record of the 89-90 squad by 6.7 points per game.
The nickname of “Dunkyard Dawgs” spawned because of the proficiency for rim-rattling dunks. Georgia led the country in percentage of field goals that were dunks at nearly 20% of the buckets were dunks. Somto Cyril led the way of all Division 1 players with 83 regular season dunks.
The Negative: The negative boils down to 2 different portions of the season. From January 24th through the Feburary 14th matchup at Oklahoma, Georgia went 1-5.
At the beginning of the stretch, Georgia was flirting with the top of the SEC and looking to have turned a corner in the history of Georgia Basketball.
It began with three straight losses on the road at Texas and home against Tennessee and Texas A&M.
While disappointing for Georgia fans, its somewhat understandable with all of those teams making the NCAA tournament but compiled with losses at home against rival Florida (who did win the SEC regular season), but the big blow cane with a loss at Oklahoma 94-78 who was near the bottom of the SEC standings.
While you could chalk that stretch as just a tough portion of the schedule, the ending is tough in postseason play for the Dawgs.
In the SEC Championship, Georgia saw the opening matchup with the 15 seed Ole Miss and fell 76-72.
Ok..Ole Miss got hot and the matchup wasn’t the best… Then we get to March Madness.
Georgia was announced as an 8-seed in the tournament and drew a match-up with the 9-seed St. Louis Bilikins.
The Billikens out of the A10 Conference flat out dominated. SLU throttled the Dawgs 102-77 making back-to-back years that Georgia has been embarrassingly knocked out of a first round matchup in the NCAA Tournament. Last season ended with a #8 Gonzaga knocking off the #9 Georgia 89-68.
The last 5 NCAA Tournament appearances have seen the Dawgs bow out in the first round with the last NCAA Tournament win coming back in 2002 as a 3-seed in the West.
It would be ignorant to say that Head Coach Mike White hasn’t elevated the Georgia program back into prominence after missing the tournament altogether from 2015 until 2025, but the tough part to swallow for Georgia fans and supporters is the abysmal performances in the postseason.
In the day and age of the transfer portal, Mike White and company will be scouring the portal to find the next group of Dawgs to help get them over the hump.
Round Table Knight
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It is a common turn of phrase to say that someone that is ahead of others in their chosen field is “head and shoulders above the rest.”
Usually, this is a figurative statement. In the case of #88 for the Frederica Academy Knights football team, it is literal as well.
John Cannon Wessel – known as JC to everyone but his mother and his quarterback – is a rising junior that is drawing attention from sources local, regional, and national.
Entering his third year as a starter for the Frederica Knights, Wessel is building on a sophomore season that saw a significant statistical uptick from his freshman campaign.
After seeing action in 6 games his freshman year with 142 all-purpose yards, the 6’7” 225 lb. TE prospect more than doubled his stats with 338 yards on 18 receptions for 3 TDS over 12 games.
Not bad for someone sharing receiving time with Jaylen Baldwin, Jayden Gibson, and Braxton Sykes. Wessel puts a lot of that growth on the improved chemistry with Knights starting quarterback Stanton Beverly.
“Stanton and I are really good friends,” JC describes the relationship. “…The summer between freshman and sophomore year, we did a lot of work on just going to camps, and I learned a ton, just was trying to develop more and more.”
Add to that the fact that he hadn’t played football since Pop Warner, it’s no surprise that he’s noticeably working his way up the recruiting boards.
“I had played basketball the whole time,” says JC about his gap between time on the gridiron, “(but) I knew that I kinda wanted to try out football again just because my dad played football and see what I could do. I just started playing, and it was just super fun, and I loved the physicality of it.”
His family knows a thing or two about football. Not only did his uncle play for West Point after graduating from Colquitt County High School, his father Tadd Wessel won an Ivy League championship in 1995 with the Princeton Tigers. JC might just wind up following some of those footsteps.
As of mid-March, On3.com reports JC as having offers from Princeton as well as a dozen other D1 schools including 5 from the SEC, 4 from the ACC, and 2 from the Big 10.
With two seasons yet to play before graduation, JC hasn’t started narrowing down his choices yet, much less whether he actually wants to play past high school.
“I definitely have a lot interest in going that route, especially because my parents pushed me super hard towards that kind of path, but I have to take into account everything about the future and about my chances and about what I wanna actually do when I grow up,” says Wessel. “So as, as of right now, I have no idea, but hopefully as I go through high school, I’ll get a better understanding.”
The needle seems to be pointing in the collegiate ball route regardless. After earning all-region honors in his second season, words from his Head Coach Brandon Derrick are succinct and unmistakable; ”He’s only going to get better.”
With the schedule the Knights face in 2026, hopefully better happens sooner rather than later. Even though he understands that he’s not supposed to look past the next opponent, Wessel is making some exceptions to that rule.
“I’m looking forward to Charlton County because I haven’t played them…Stratford because we should have won that game last year…and Valwood because we hate them. Same for Bulloch.”
From a fan’s perspective, it’s hard to say he doesn’t have his priorities in order. The biggest payback he’s looking forward to is against the boys from the shores of Lake Sinclair.
”I don’t really remember that much of the (John Milledge) game. I was mad during the game. If we face them again in the playoffs, we’ve got a good chance this year.”
The Knights begin their 2026 March to Mercer with a home opener against Bethesda Academy on August 14th.
Jason Bishop Show March 19 2026
A Pirates’ Farewell
By: Teddy Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Former Brunswick High School standout Darius “Big Play” Slay has announced his retirement from the National Football League after 13 seasons.
Slay was a 2nd round draft pick by the Detroit Lions in 2013—the 36th player chosen overall. He played for the Lions for seven seasons before being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, where he played for five seasons and was instrumental in the Eagles victory in Super Bowl LIX, beating the Kansas City Chiefs, 40-22.
Slay was released by Philadelphia in March of 2025 and signed a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers but was released by the Steelers after 10 games of the 2025 season. He was claimed off waivers by the Buffalo Bills, but Slay elected not to join the Bills, hinting that retirement was eminent.
In 187 career games in the NFL, “Big Play” recorded 655 tackles, 163 pass breakups, 28 interceptions, and 5 defensive touchdowns, earning him six Pro Bowl selections.
At the height of Slay’s career, quarterbacks often opted not to challenge his prowess as a cornerback, instead throwing to receivers who were covered by other defensive players.
In his senior year of high school, Slay led the Brunswick High Pirates to a region championship (6-0, region record; 9-3, overall). In addition to playing cornerback for BHS, Slay also played running back, rushing for over 1300 yards and 15 touchdowns his senior season.
Even as a sophomore, Slay was ticketed for big plays, as he ran for 1100+ yards and scored 13 touchdowns.
After a playoff loss on the road during Slay’s sophomore season, I was descending the steps from the press box when an opposing fan stopped me. Even though BHS had lost, Slay had had a big game.
“That Slay kid,” the opposing fan said, “is only a sophomore?
“Yes, sir,” I confirmed, “only a sophomore.”
The opposing fan shook his head as he commented, “I hope we don’t play y’all the next two years!”
Slay was on pace his junior year for another 1000 yards rushing, but, unfortunately, his season was cut short after five games due to an injury.
Slay was also a multi-sport athlete at BHS, running track and lettering in basketball.
Following his stellar senior year in high school, Slay played two seasons as a defensive back at Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Mississippi, earning All-MACJC (Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges) honors both years.
After Itawamba, Slay went to Mississippi State for his final two years of college, where he recorded 64 tackles, six interceptions and two touchdowns. His defensive coordinator, Geoff Colllins, nicknamed him “Big Play Slay.” Slay was also chosen 2nd– team All-SEC following his senior season at MSU.
Slay has been married to the former Jennifer Williams since 2018. Jennifer is also an athlete, having played collegiate basketball at Southwestern Oklahoma State.
Slay announced his retirement on Instagram, saying, “Dear football, I wanna thank you for all you’ve done for me. I’ve been blessed to play the game I love since I was 5 yrs old. Football was my peace, my joy, everything.”
“It’s hard to say goodbye, but God has a new chapter for me and I’m ready to turn the page and start my new journey.
“To all my BigPlay fans, I will always appreciate the love and support y’all have given me. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Slay signed off by saying, “Just a kid from Brunswick, GA with BIG dreams.”
Thanks for all the memories, Big Play!
Gators Chomp Into Tournament
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Florida enters the 2025-26 NCAA tournament with +650 odds to cut down the nets come the national championship on April 6.
The Gators have the fourth-best odds to win the NCAA Tournament, and in their case repeat as national champions, behind Duke (+300), Michigan (+350) and Arizona (+400).
Florida was selected as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in the South Region, marking the program’s fourth No. 1 seed selection in program history.
The Gators will make their 24th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and third in a row under fourth-year head coach Todd Golden, who has led Florida to a 6-1 record in the NCAA Tournament, including last season’s national championship.
UF enters March Madness as victors of 12 of the program’s last 13 games, including an 11-game winning streak in conference play to conclude the regular season, and a 71-63 triumph over Kentucky in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament, before Florida fell to Vanderbilt in the SEC semifinals, 91-74. The Commodores join the Gators in the South region of the NCAA Tournament bracket.
Florida faced two fellow NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds during the non-conference stretch of its 2025-26 season, falling to then-No. 13-ranked Arizona, 93-87, in its season-opener, and losing to No. 4 Duke, 67-66, on Dec. 2. UF also faced No. 2-seed UConn on Dec. 9, falling to the No. 5-ranked Huskies 77-73.
The Gators ultimately went 9-4 during their arduous non-conference slate before finding their groove in SEC play, going 16-2 against league competition, with ranked wins over No. 18 Georgia (92-77), No. 21 Tennessee (91-67), No. 10 Vanderbilt (98-94), No. 23 Alabama (100-77), No. 25 Kentucky (92-83) and No. 20 Arkansas (111-77).
As Florida’s backcourt made strides during that stretch, its dominance was primarily established through its frontcourt, led by leading scorer Thomas Haugh, forward Alex Condon and center Rueben Chinyelu.
Haugh, Florida’s leading scorer at 17.1 points per game, has been instrumental to the Gators’ success in his first season as a starter. Among his handful of postseason awards, Haugh was named a Second-Team All-American by Sporting News, and a First-Team All-SEC selection by the conference’s coaches and the Associated Press.
Chinyelu, the SEC’s Defensive Player and the Scholar-Athlete of the Year, who also obtained First-Team All-SEC recognition from the AP and Second-Team honors from the league, concluded his second season in Gainesville and his third at the collegiate level averaging a double-double at 11.2 points and a conference-leading 11.5 rebounds, including 7.4 defensive boards, per game.
An All-SEC Second-Team pick by the AP and Third-Team honoree by coaches, Condon has averaged single-season career-highs of 15 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 blocks per game in his second campaign as a starter.
Tasked with replacing its stellar trio of guards from the 2024-25 season in Waltet Clayton Jr , Alijah Martin and Will Richard , Florida brought in Boogie Fland and Xauvian Lee via the NCAA transfer portal this past offseason. While it took time for UF’s backcourt to gel, each player finished the regular season averaging double figures per game, with Fland scoring 11.6 points and Lee 11.5 points per matchup.
Additionally, Florida saw junior guard Urban Klavzar grow into a significant role as the Gators’ sixth man. Klavžar knocked down a team-high 2.1 three-point shots per game, averaging 9.7 points per contest, resulting in him winning the SEC’s Sixth Man of the Year award.
Owl Madness
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Kennesaw State Owls men’s basketball team punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
They won the Conference USA championship on Saturday, March 14th. KSU (21-13) was the No. 6 seed and they beat No. 4 Louisiana Tech (20-14), 71-60 to claim their first-ever Conference USA title.
The Owls beat No. 3 Western Kentucky and No. 2 Sam Houston to advance to the championship game. They were 10-10 in conference play during the regular season, so this was very surprising.
KSU played their best defensive game of the season against LA Tech, holding them to under 27% from the floor.
The Bulldogs were held to 22-of-72 (26.3%) for the night from the field, and 9-of-37 in the second half for 24.3%. KSU’s defense was even better on the outside, as the Bulldogs made just 2-of-28 (7.1%) from three-point range.
Senior guard Jaden Harris finished with a game-high 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three-point range, double the number of made threes that LA Tech had as an entire team.
Freshman forward Amir Taylor had 17 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 block. Sophomore guard RJ Johnson scored 13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Johnson was named the Tournament MVP after his third-straight double-figure scoring game in the tournament
“We played a tough, gritty competitive team in LA Tech. Talvin Hester is one of the best coaches in this league. He does a tremendous job, and we talked before the tournament and said, hey, we hope we meet each other in the championship, and we knew if we met each other, it was going to be a battle, and today was it. I thought we guarded these dudes really well. Defense and rebounding is what carries you in March. We were able to hold their two guards, [DJ] Dudley and [AJ] Bates, to, I think, 0-15 from three. And we knew that was going to be a tremendous challenge, because they are really, really dynamic players, and they go as they go. Our guys stood up to the challenge, and we were able to win the game. A great, great victory for our university, for our community, for our students. And how about our fans? I mean, we painted this place black and gold, man. Kennesaw showed up in a major way,” KSU head coach Antoine Pettway said after the game.
“Truly blessed and truly thankful I get to live out a dream and coach young men like these two sitting up here every single day. We going to keep going, man. We got practice at home on Monday, and we’re getting ready to go play in the NCAA tournament. God is so good. God is so good. This is what we prayed for, this is what we dreamed about.”
This was Kennesaw State’s second-ever trip to March Madness in the school’s Division I era, and first since the 2023-24 season.
They were selected as the No. 14 seed in the West Region. They played the No. 3 Gonzaga Bulldogs (30-3) at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, about 350 miles away from Gonzaga’s campus in Spokane, Washington. This is Gonzaga’s 27th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 28th overall.
Kennesaw State built an early lead on the Bulldogs but Gonzaga ended the first half on a 10-0 run to head into the locker room with a six point advantage.
Gonzaga would build a double digit lead in the second half and stage off a late comeback attempt by the Owls to eliminate KSU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 73-64.
Diamond Buzz
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As we hit mid-March on the calendar, most sports fans are filling out a bracket for the March Madness college basketball tournament, but in Atlanta the focus is solely on the diamond.
Georgia Tech baseball is off to a historic start at 17-3 and winning each of their first two ACC Series against Virginia Tech at home then on the road against #8 Clemson. The 17-3 mark on the year is the best start to a season since 2013.
When folks think about Ramblin Wreck Baseball, offense is the first thing that comes to top of mind and that’s still the case in 2026. The “Buzz Bombers” have scored 254 runs thru the first 20 games (12.7/game) which are the most runs in the first 20 games in program history.
Every Yellow Jacket has an average over .300 with 4 Jackets boasting an average over .400. Vahn Lackey has been off to a hot start after entering 2026 projected as a top 15 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft.
Lackey (who played all 8 defensive positions in one game last week against West Georgia) has already launched a career high 9 homeruns and driven in 31 this season.
Reigning ACC Freshman of the Year, Alex Hernandez has also followed suit in his sophomore campaign. “Herny” is hitting .449 and driven in 18 with 4 long balls.
The question around Georgia Tech in recent history has been the pitching. Well guess what, they’ve answered that too in 2026. Georgia Tech finds the team ERA under 4.00 two weeks thru conference play and are striking out just shy of 10 per game.
The pitching staff is anchored by Friday night starter Tate McKee. McKee has made every single game 1 start for the Jackets each of the last 2 years including 6 scoreless innings against the #8 Clemson Tigers this past weekend. Tate (who pitched on both sides of a 2-hour first-inning rain delay against Virginia Tech to open ACC play) sits at a 2.82 ERA through 5 starts and a 3-0 record.
The numbers for this squad are impressive, but off the field, the 2026 Jackets are just special.
First-year Head Coach James Ramsey made it quite clear early on in his official tenure as the head man at Georgia Tech that two important pieces of his philosophy were consistency in the coaching staff, and emphasis on the high school recruiting while sprinkling in transfer pieces.
As far as the coaching staff goes, Ramsey did just that. Matt Taylor stays in Atlanta as the pitching coach, Jason Richman as the director of pitching, and Josh Schulman remains as an assistant on staff.
Coaching veteran Scott Stricklin moves from Director of Ops into the vacant assistant position (with Ramsey being promoted to head coach). The consistency with the staff is huge for this Jackets team that has used the high school recruiting approach to build a core that has been together 2 and 3 years.
That said, Georgia Tech was able to add a few transfer portal pieces, but they have had to be the right fits. James Ramsey has talked about the importance of fitting not only into the lineup or rotation, but also the fit in the clubhouse. This is as close-knit of a college baseball clubhouse as you’ll find in the game.
The additions of Jarren Advincula (Cal transfer) and Ryan Zuckerman (Pitt transfer) have been impressive in the heart of the dangerous Jackets order but have been a puzzle-piece fit into the clubhouse as well. Zuckerman has talked about it feeling like a “kid in a candy store” of the feeling being in Atlanta part of this team.
Another big addition has been Dylan Loy who bolsters the pitching rotation from Tennessee and has secured the Saturday starter role in the rotation.
Getting to travel and be around this team day in and day out is special. I know it’s an overused term, but there’s no other way to describe it.
Talented players, elite coaches, unbelievably great people make for a special season on the Flats with hopes for Omaha on the horizon.
Jason Bishop Show March 12 2026
The 5th Major
By: Brian Albertson
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2026 Players Championship is scheduled for March 10–15, 2026, at the TPC Stadium Sawgrass Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
As the PGA Tour’s flagship event, it features a $25 million purse and a competitive 120-player field. Many at PGA Tour headquarters and in the media often refer to this event as the “Fifth Major.” Although it is not officially a Major, it does boast the strongest field of players annually according to the World Golf Rankings.
Last year’s championship was the jump start of an historic season for Rory Mcllroy as he beat J.J. Spaun in a playoff.
Key Players to Watch for 2026
Rory McIlroy: The defending champion, having won the 2025 title in a Monday playoff. A victory in 2026 would make him only the second player to win three Players Championships.
Scottie Scheffler: The current World No. 1 and a two-time winner of the event (2023, 2024). He enters 2026 with significant momentum as the four-time PGA Tour Player of the Year.
Chris Gotterup: The current World No. 5 is leading the Fedex Points List with two early wins at The Sony Open in Hawaii and Waste Management in Phoenix.
J.J. Spaun: If I could buy a golf swing, this would be the one. The reigning US Open Champion and runner-up in this event last year arrives in good form and with fresh memories of playing this very strategic course very well.
Collin Morikawa: Collin is currently No. 3 in the FedEx Points list after winning at the ATT Pebble Beach. He finished in the top 10 last year at the Players Championship. Collin is currently the fifth ranked player in the World.
Brooks Koepka: Brooks will be making his first start at Sawgrass since joining LIV in 2022. If Brooks can get his putter cooperating, he is a threat to win anywhere. It is nice to see Brooks back on the PGA Tour.
Obviously, any of these top 120 players can win the Players Championship. As history has shown, there have been some unlikely winners and length is not always the determining factor around this “Target” golf course.
If you plan to attend this year’s Players Championship, check out the new Fan Experiences & On-Site Updates. The 2026 event introduces several venue enhancements and fan amenities:
Enhanced Connectivity: Introduction of upgraded Wi-Fi and a new tournament app.
Streamlined Entry: New facial recognition entry systems for faster access.
New Dining: The debut of the Iron & Wedge Steakhouse (for Clubhouse badge-holders), Pie95 woodfired pizza, and Island Wing Company.
Fan Shop: Features Sun Day Red, Tiger Woods’ new apparel line.
Course Updates: A new spectator mound has been added behind the 18th green.
Last year, I attended on Thursday’s opening round and plan to do so again this year. I always enjoy seeing all the players competing before the cut falls after round two. The TPC Stadium Course was built for gallery viewing. Every hole offers fantastic viewing points. I urge everyone to try to attend this event at some point. NBC will again carry the television coverage for those watching from home.
