Buzz magazine 2016 spring by GTAthletics

THE SWIM WORLD HEADS TO GEORGIA TECH

Holding

Court Several former Tech basketball greats excelling as broadcasters

SPRING 2016

STAGING NCAA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS A TEAM EFFORT

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spring SPRING 2016 • VOLUME 9, NUMBER 3

2016

EDITOR Mike Stamus ASSOCIATE EDITOR Lauren Rupert WRITERS Jon Cooper Simit Shah Adam Van Brimmer Matt Winkeljohn PHOTOGRAPHERS Laura Bernard Clyde Click Danny Karnik DESIGN & LAYOUT Summit Athletic Media www.summitathletics.com ADVERTISING – IMG COLLEGE General Manager – Dave Bouteiller For information on advertising, please call (404) 733-1330

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In This Issue 4

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Several former Tech basketball greats excelling as broadcasters

Georgia Tech-produced broadcasts and coverage giving Jackets’ teams exposure on ESPN3

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BIGGER THAN BASKETBALL

THE SWIM WORLD HEADS TO GEORGIA TECH

ACC expansion to the North has led to corresponding expansion of Tech’s recruiting territory in women’s basketball

Staging NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships a team effort

THE RELUCTANT COACH

THE AMAZING KIRILLOVS

FOOTBALL RECRUITING WRAP

AT-FUND

COMPLIANCE CORNER

Roger Kaiser, Tech’s first basketball All-American, has spent nearly 50 years teaching the game he played so well

Coach Viktor and son Nikita Kirillov continue to raise the bar in Georgia Tech pole vaulting

Georgia Tech’s 2016 signing class consists of 18 prospects, 11 from Georgia

Update on Campaign Georgia Tech and Tech athletics’ Scholarship Endowment Dinner

Behind the Bylaws – Publicity and Recruiting WWW.RAMBLINWRECK.COM

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HOLDING COURT

SEVERAL FORMER GEORGIA TECH BASKETBALL GREATS EXCELLING AS BROADCASTERS

BY ADAM VAN BRIMMER

Most days, Dennis Scott finds himself driving down 10th Street on his way to work at Turner Studios. And at the end of his commute, he looks to the south and shakes his head. “If you had told me in 1987 I’d be working my second career across the street from where

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I basically learned my first career, I wouldn’t have believed it,” said Scott, the former Georgia Tech basketball great who today is a media star with NBA TV. “I look over there at the Thrillerdome and laugh.” Scott, the cornerstone of the Lethal Weapon 3 combination that led the Yellow Jackets to the 1990 Final Four, has made a name for

himself in broadcasting since his retirement in 2000. He’s a staple of NBA TV’s NBA GameTime studio show, building on a career that started with a weekly highlight show he began while playing for the NBA’s Orlando Magic. And Scott is far from the only former Yellow Jacket great to make his mark with a microphone after hanging up his high-top

Jon Barry (facing page), who played at Tech from 1990-92, has risen to be the lead analyst on ESPN’s NBA broadcasts, while Lethal Weapon 3 member Dennis Scott is a fixture on NBA TV.

sneakers. Fellow sharpshooter Jon Barry is the lead game analyst for ESPN Radio’s NBA broadcasts and has worked on the network’s studio show alongside Magic Johnson and Michael Wilbon. And Matt Harpring is the color analyst for the Utah Jazz television network. Several more Georgia Tech alums work college games, most of them in part-time roles. Scott’s Lethal Weapon 3 teammate Brian Oliver, Barry’s brother Drew Barry and fan favorite Jon Babul work as color analysts as do former Georgia Tech coaches Bobby Cremins, Paul Hewitt and Dean Keener. Georgia Tech basketball is as much a feeder program for the broadcasting industry as it is the NBA. It’s a trend that parallels the postplaying career broadcast success of Yellow Jacket golfers Charlie Rymer, Tripp Isenhour and David Duval, who all work for The Golf Channel.

“IF YOU HAD TOLD ME IN 1987 I’D BE WORKING MY SECOND CAREER ACROSS THE STREET FROM WHERE I BASICALLY LEARNED MY FIRST CAREER, I WOULDN’T HAVE BELIEVED IT”

The broadcasting achievements are a “great source of pride” for the school and the athletic department, said Athletic Director Mike Bobinski. “It’s no secret Georgia Tech prepares students to excel in whatever endeavors they choose to pursue and it’s rewarding to see that come to life so visibly,” Bobinski said. “From an athletic program perspective, it’s great to point out the high-profile successes of our alumni as tangible evidence of the opportunities available to those who choose Georgia Tech.”

—DENNIS SCOTT

CHASING SECOND CAREERS Most Yellow Jacket alums now working in broadcasting profess to be “naturals” behind the microphone and camera. They must be, as Georgia Tech does not offer a communications program as part of its academic offerings. WWW.RAMBLINWRECK.COM

Jon Babul (left)) is a regular analyst on Tech’s own ESPN3 productions and has taken a turn on Fox Sports South’s “Hawks Live” program.

“THE MORE AND MORE I DO IT, THE MORE I LIKE IT. AND FORTUNATELY, THERE’S A GOOD NETWORK AROUND HERE.” —JON BABUL “The management majors take several public speaking courses, and those help you get comfortable speaking in front of a camera or a crowd,” Babul said. “But for the most part, it’s on-the-job training.” Some moonlighted as broadcasters while still making their livings as players. Scott launched the “Dennis Scott Highlight Factory” with the Orlando CBS affiliate during his second year with the Magic. Jon Barry was out of the lineup with an injury late in his career with the Denver Nuggets when he debuted on the team’s pregame show and later as a fill-in game analyst. Harpring got into broadcasting after he got tired of legendary play-by-play man “Hot” Rod Hundley pestering him about trying his skills as an analyst and did an NBA Summer League game. “I realized pretty quickly that my NBA career had gotten in the way of my real career,” Barry said, only half kidding. “My last four or five years as a player, whenever we played on national television, I made a point of talking to the announcers and the directors milling around the court before the game. I made it known I was interested in broadcasting.” Barry and the others call the transition from playing—or coaching—into analysis an easy one. They mentally prepare the same way for both, studying the players, coaching strategies and tendencies. And most are personable, if not downright charismatic, coming into the new role.

“The toughest part is understanding they want you to talk,” Hewitt said. “The fear is in you overwhelming the broadcast, talking over the play-by-play guy and annoying your partner, the producers, the viewers. But they want you to give your expertise. It’s really fun.”

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HOOPS LIFERS

Broadcasting’s biggest draw for the player closing in on retirement or the coach between jobs is the opportunity to stay connected to the game. “You can’t play forever, and that’s why we learn another trade in school,” Scott said. “When basketball has been your life forever, you’re not cut out to get into coaching, but you have the skills to be involved in another capacity, why not seize it?” Babul is the poster boy for sticking with your passion. He went into coaching following the end of his college playing career. He was part of a staff let go after a poor season and moved into an academic advisor’s role at Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets’ radio voice at the time, Wes Durham, recruited Babul as a fill-in for games where Durham had conflicts with Georgia Tech or Atlanta Falcons football. Soon after, Babul went to work for the Atlanta Hawks as the franchise’s external affairs and community relations director. His experience at Georgia Tech prompted Dominique Wilkins to press him into fill-in duties for the

Hawks Live studio show on Fox Sports South. Now, Babul serves as color analyst for Georgia Tech’s basketball broadcasts on ESPN3 and is an occasional contributor on Hawks Live. “The more and more I do it, the more I like it,” he said. “And fortunately, there’s a good network around here.”

Jon and Drew Barry have teamed up to call college games for ESPN.

The Georgia Tech players-turned-broadcasters talk shop at most Yellow Jacket home basketball games. Current coach Brian Gregory has made a concerted effort to get former players involved with the program again, and the “reconnections” are proving valuable. “Georgia Tech basketball has always had a family feel to it dating back to coach Cremins,” Drew Barry said. “We help each other out, whether it’s giving advice or a job reference. You’ll see and hear more Yellow Jackets on TV and radio in the future.”

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GEORGIA TECH-PRODUCED GAMES AND COVERAGE GIVING TEAMS EXPOSURE ON ESPN3

BY ADAM VAN BRIMMER

Visit ESPN3 on your laptop, tablet or Internetenabled television and you’ll find plenty of Georgia Tech coverage, from basketball, volleyball, softball and baseball games to football signing day interviews, pro day workouts and weekly press conferences.

From this control room at McCamish Pavilion, Andy Blanton (second from right), Tech’s director of video operations, can run the in-house production for the Yellow Jackets’ football, basketball, baseball, volleyball and softball competitions. WWW.RAMBLINWRECK.COM

It’s almost as if ESPN is operating a Yellow Jacket network. In reality, Georgia Tech is operating a Yellow Jacket network and content-hungry ESPN is paying the athletic department to do it. The Georgia Tech Athletic Association’s video operations staff is in its fifth year producing content for the preeminent sports network and was one of the test labs for in-house-sourced broadcasts of live college events. A team of Georgia Tech staffers and freelance TV production crew members perform the telecast, which is transmitted to ESPN headquarters in Connecticut through dedicated fiber-optic communication lines, eliminating the need for satellite trucks and other sophisticated equipment. “The exposure is tremendously valuable,” said Michelle Collier, Georgia Tech’s volleyball head coach. “You are always looking for opportunities to promote your program, and the public is just as likely to watch your games on the Internet today as they are on cable or network TV. It’s a winwin for us.” More like a “win-win-win” said Andy Blanton, Georgia Tech’s director of video operations. The telecasts are a “nice infomercial for the Yellow Jacket programs and Georgia Tech,” add to the local economy by employing camera operators, technicians and on-air talent, and provide added-value revenue for the athletic department. Blanton and his staff would be working the games anyway to provide video for scoreboard highlights and the Ramblinwreck.com website.

“Watching at home, you can’t tell the difference between broadcasts done out of our control room and what is produced in a multimillion-dollar tractor trailer truck,” Blanton said. And Blanton prefers the cozy confines of the McCamish Pavilion control room to the trailer he worked out of during his early years at Georgia Tech. “We can have our cameras anywhere on campus and control it all from one room, one where there’s always a bathroom close by,” Blanton said. “And ESPN loves it.”

ADAPTING TO CHANGE

ANCILLARY BENEFITS

The arrangement with ESPN has required a mentality shift for Blanton and company. For ESPN3 games—and there are at least 40 being produced this academic year—the production team must follow the same standards an outside crew would. “We have to remove the home team bias,” Blanton said. “We’ve shifted from entertaining fans in the stands, our fans, to producing content for the masses, regardless of which team they are rooting for. ESPN still has ultimate control over the broadcast.” Georgia Tech’s team is so proficient and professional ESPN does little more than take Blanton’s transmission and link it to the Web. Georgia Tech built a state-of-the-art control room into McCamish Pavilion during the building’s construction in 2011 and 2012, complete with graphics and video switching equipment that mimics what ESPN production teams create.

What ESPN loves, so do Georgia Tech’s coaches. Initially, the program leaders pushed back against the idea of extensive, unbiased coverage of their teams. They were “protective of their environment,” said Blanton, and unconvinced that anybody other than their opponents and Georgia Tech’s die-hard fans—ticket buyers—would watch their games on the Internet. Those coaches soon realized they were misreading media trends. Most TVs sold today can easily be linked to the Internet, and many homes have high-speed broadband connectivity. “When you are the coach of a sport that traditionally doesn’t get on TV very often or at all, and can sit down in mama’s living room and say, ‘If your child comes to school here, you’ll be able to watch 18 of his games on ESPN3,’ that’s a huge recruiting tool,” Blanton said. “Coaches now see ESPN3 coverage the same

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way they do ESPNU or regional sports network coverage. They love it.” Another side benefit is the potential to groom local on-air talent. Former football star Roddy Jones, now a sideline reporter with the ACC Network on Raycom Sports, started out doing color for Georgia Tech’s ESPN3 broadcast. Jon Babul, a former Tech basketball star, is the current analyst for men’s basketball games. “It’s been an amazing opportunity for me to break into the industry in what is more of a controlled environment,” Babul said. “I’m looking forward to seeing where it leads.” The future is something Blanton and his boss, athletic director Mike Bobinski, are eyeing eagerly as well. Speculation never ceases about the creation of a 24-hour ACC television network along the lines of those operated by the Big Ten and the SEC, and the explosive interest in Internet streaming could easily lead to something “we’ve never even thought of yet,” Blanton said. Flexibility is the key, he added, and Georgia Tech has the technical infrastructure to support the next big thing in televised college sports. “As the sports media world becomes increasingly video driven, the technical skill of our staff allows us to have great exposure and makes engagement with Georgia Tech athletics possible on a broader scale than ever before,” Bobinski said. “It’s our intention to continue to enhance and broaden our production capabilities in the years ahead to allow us to capture emerging opportunities.”

wb WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Zaire O’Neil

Ciani Cryor

BIGGER THAN BASKETBALL THE BUZZ

Imani Tilford Freshman forward Martine Fortune (left) and freshman guard Ciani Cryor both hail from Philadelphia.

ACC EXPANSION TO THE NORTH HAS LED TO CORRESPONDING EXPANSION OF TECH’S RECRUITING TERRITORY IN WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

BY MATT WINKELJOHN

Glance quickly at the roster of Georgia Tech’s women’s basketball team, and the hometowns of some of the Yellow Jackets might stand out, especially with sophomores Zaire O’Neil and Imani Tilford. Yet there’s a method to the Yellow Jackets’ addition of Northeasterners. How did Tech come to have four young women from one region of the nation that’s not exactly Atlanta’s neighbor? O’Neil and Tilford grew up with New York states of mind, just outside of the Big Apple, and Georgia was not on their minds. While freshmen Ciani Cryor and Martine Fortune were cutting their hoops teeth just down the road with the Philly Belles AAU team in the City of Brotherly Love, the Jackets were barely a thought. WWW.RAMBLINWRECK.COM

Then MaChelle Joseph came calling, and they learned what Tech is all about. Pair a little wanderlust with the recruiting pitches of Georgia Tech’s head coach and Joseph’s assistant coaches, and a Nor’easter has blown in. “I just wanted to get out of New York; it’s all I know,” said Tilford, who grew up in Greenburgh, N.Y., about 45 minutes from Madison Square Garden and just north of the New York City borough of Yonkers. “Academics played a big part in my decision. Coming here was bigger than basketball. “That’s one of the first things Coach Jo told me; coming here will make you a better person. Getting a degree from Tech is a big deal.” This pipeline opened with O’Neil, who’s long been a dominant hoopster. Just across the Hudson River and a sliver southwest of Manhattan, in Newark, N.J., “Coach Jo has been recruiting me since seventh grade,” she said. It’s no wonder that Joseph kept going back to check up on O’Neil. Basketball runs in her blood. Her mother, Toinette, played at Montclair State and Norfolk State. Her father, the late Joseph, played at St. Francis before a pro spell overseas. Brother Zakee

“ACADEMICS PLAYED A BIG PART IN MY DECISION. COMING HERE WAS BIGGER THAN BASKETBALL. THAT’S ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS COACH JO TOLD ME; COMING HERE WILL MAKE YOU A BETTER PERSON. GETTING A DEGREE FROM TECH IS A BIG DEAL.” —IMANI TILFORD 14

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Boyd played for Wright State, brother Calvin played at Middle Tennessee State, and brother Carl played at Berkley College (N.J.). O’Neil was first in this line. Over time, Tech’s head coach sought to expand her program’s reach into a region that was destined to become a bigger part of the ACC with not only Boston College a few years back, but Syracuse and Pittsburgh among others more recently. “I think is started with the fact that we were adding so many teams from the Northeast [to the ACC]; it expanded our recruiting base,” Joseph said. “One of the things I felt really strongly about is that my team represent the student body of Georgia Tech, the diversity that we have. President [Bud] Peterson is very strong on women and diversity.” In a second wave, Cryor and Fortune came south. The 6-foot-3 Fortune, rated among the top 65 recruits in the nation by several services, is developing. She has played sparingly. Cryor has started more than half of Tech’s games, as the 5-5 point guard splits time with the 5-5 Tilford. Cryor’s forte is more defense; Tilford is more of a passer. They both fancy Tech. “My entire life was in Philadelphia. Just the city ... Atlanta by itself is so great,” Cryor said. “I talked to Zaire a lot during my decision. She was always talking about the positives.” O’Neil’s brother, Boyd, lives in Atlanta, and Calvin isn’t far away, in Tennessee. O’Neil and Tilford both major in literature, media and communications. A stellar student, Tech appealed to her for multiple reasons. She majored first in biomedical engineering, and even though she’s changed she’s still taking several science and math classes with the idea of branching out. Her playing time has been metered as she works her way back from a fine freshman season shortened by a knee injury. Last season, O’Neil recorded the fourth-most blocked shots by a freshman in Tech history (36), the fifth-most rebounds (180) and the seventh-most points (350) while starting 21 of 31 games. The 5-11 forward has not scaled back in the class room, which is the place where she fits the best. “I always knew I wanted to get away from the city . . . just kind of start over and get a feel for another part of the country,” she said. “It seemed like every other place I went

“WE’RE LOOKING FOR PLAYERS THAT ACADEMICALLY FIT GEORGIA TECH, AND HAVE WON CHAMPIONSHIPS OR PLAYED FOR WINNING AAU TEAMS.” —COACH MaCHELLE JOSEPH wasn’t like this, the family atmosphere. And my brother comes to all my home games. “In high school, I had a 3.9 (GPA), did real well on the SAT, and was No. 5 in my graduating class. I’m a low-key nerd. I like playing computer games and stuff like that. When I took a visit here and looked at the academics, I actually felt like I would fit in.” Tilford came a little late. “Coach Jo didn’t start recruiting me until like my junior or senior year,” she said. “I started seeing her more at AAU games and things like that; you can see that bright yellow anywhere. “When I came down here on a visit I fell in love with it. You can’t go wrong with the city. I chose what was the best fit for me. With how they treated me, it was like I was already on the team. And if you graduate, you can’t go wrong.” O’Neil’s first visit to Atlanta came years ago, when her brother had a house-warming party after moving up from an apartment. “We came down, and I did an unofficial visit at that time. That had to be my freshman or sophomore year,” she said. “I went to watch practice, and it seemed like every other place I went it wasn’t like this, the family atmosphere.” Joseph feels the same way, like everything fits. “We’re looking for players that academically fit Georgia Tech, and have won championships or played for winning AAU teams,” she said. “During AAU games, Ciani had a team full of Division I players, and she stood out. She got people in the right spots. Beyond numbers, she had the intangibles to be a leader on the floor. “I think we’ve done a pretty good job.”

Win or lose, we always have

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sd SWIMMING & DIVING

THE SWIM WORLD HEADS TO GEORGIA TECH

STAGING NCAA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS A TEAM EFFORT

THE BUZZ

BY ADAM VAN BRIMMER

Twenty years ago this July, Amy Van Dyken christened what is today known as the McAuley Aquatic Center by becoming the first American woman to win four gold medals in a single Olympic games.

The McAuley Aquatic Center is arguably the most championshipworthy collegiate swimming and diving facility in America.

Ten years ago this March, Ryan Lochte added to the facility’s lore by setting two national records and three collegiate marks at the 2006 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, a performance that foretold of his coming Olympic brilliance. This March, another superstar-inthe-making is likely to emerge from the waters of the Georgia Tech pool. The identity—or identities—of said idols will be determined over an 11-day span as the aquatic center hosts the men’s and women’s NCAA meets. “It’s cool to go to the record books and see the names of the swimmers who have set records in this pool, like Lochte, Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin, and know that some of those records will probably fall in a few weeks,” said Cheryl LaFoy, Georgia Tech’s director of event operations and the school’s point person for the NCAA Championships. “It’s exciting to host an event like this in our pool on our campus.” The McAuley Aquatic Center is arguably the most championship-worthy collegiate swimming and diving facility in America. One of only two collegiate pools built for an Olympics—the University of Southern California’s is the other, constructed for the 1984 Summer Games—the McAuley Aquatic Center was designed to be worldclass, with an adjustable depth floor, movable bulkheads to accommodate different distances, a spacious pool deck, a Jacuzzi and a bubbling system in the diving pool, two jumbotron video screens and seating for 1,950 spectators. A team of Georgia Tech athletic administrators, volunteers and NCAA staff will coordinate the logistics to make sure the organization of the event matches the excellence of the studentathletes and the facility. They have been working for more than a year to prepare for the meets, starting with the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, an “early dress rehearsal,” according to LaFoy. That most of the personnel from the ACCs, including 75 percent of the WWW.RAMBLINWRECK.COM

Tech hosted the NCAA Championships in 2006.

volunteers who will staff the individual meet sessions, are committed to work the NCAAs removes much of the pre-championship organizational angst. Plus, LaFoy and her lieutenants regularly team with the NCAA on national events, such as basketball regionals and Final Fours, and the 2013 NCAA Golf Championships. “We basically stage or host championships on some level every year,” LaFoy said. “This is a different kind of beast because of the attention from the national and international swim community in an Olympic year. But events like this are why I love my job.”

PUTTING ON A SHOW The championships will be a swimming Shangri-La. The Atlanta Sports Council, the sports event recruiting arm of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, is assisting in the awayfrom-the-pool festivities, such as a fan festival that will feature autograph sessions with former Olympians and other interactive activities. Organizers are also putting a premium on the welcome, concessions and merchandise areas at the aquatic center to enhance the fan experience, particularly given the pace of ticket sales. Both the men’s and women’s championships are projected as sellouts. The backing of the volunteers—50 to 70 for each of the 14 sessions scheduled for the men’s and women’s championships—keeps the event running. Georgia Tech draws from Atlanta’s large swimming community, even

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pulling on the expertise of one local who regularly manages large meets and another who is an expert on timing systems. “We could not do it without those folks,” LaFoy said. “You just can’t pull off events like this without experienced people, and lots of them.” Beyond the fans, taking care of the coaches is another focal point for LaFoy and her leadership team. The event will include coaches’ hospitality areas, and the Georgia Tech coaching staff, led by head coach Courtney Shealy Hart, will be “worrying about the team, not the championships.” Shealy Hart is on the event’s planning committee but will not play an active role in organizing the championships once they begin. “We’re very, very excited not just to have the championships here but because we know as a coaching staff it will come off well without us having to run it,” Shealy Hart said. “That’s a big burden that’s been lifted and allows us to focus on our student-athletes.”

ADVANTAGE TO THE HOME TEAM Expect the Yellow Jacket swimmers to make waves in their home pool. Several are in position to claim qualifying spots and can improve their chances with strong showings at the ACC Championships. Men’s swimmers Yuval Safra, Ben Southern and Moises Loschi, as well as freshman phenom Iris Wang should contend for NCAA inclusion. And in the diving pool, Shannon Lumbra is a favorite to return to nationals after

competing last year. She broke school records in the 1-meter springboard and 3-meter springboard in the regular season finale and can qualify for the NCAA Championships with a strong showing at NCAA Zone Qualifying, the diving equivalent of a regional qualifier. On the men’s side, Brad Homza is a contender in the 1-meter springboard after setting a new school mark in that event earlier this year. “I think we’re going to be well represented and having the meet at our pool means you won’t be able to beat the atmosphere,” Lumbra said. “I’ve been to meets where other teams have had such huge fan contingents its unsettling, even intimidating. That shouldn’t be an issue this time.” Georgia Tech’s home pool advantage may extend beyond the meet weeks. Shealy Hart is optimistic the exposure will contribute to a recruiting bump for the program. She already leverages the McAuley Aquatic Center’s amenities and Olympic heritage to woo student-athletes from around the world. With the attention of the swim world trained on Georgia Tech, including through television broadcasts, the NCAA Championships are a potential boon for the Yellow Jackets. “Georgia Tech is an up-and-coming program, so there are still some top swimmers out there who don’t know much about us,” Safra said. “This is an awesome opportunity we’ve been given to show off our team and our facility. We’re going to take advantage of it.”

In A Sport So Rough That Even The Ball Has Stitches,

You Need a Great Health Care Partner.

MB MEN’S BASKETBALL

THE RELUCTANT COACH

ROGER KAISER, TECH’S FIRST BASKETBALL ALL-AMERICAN, HAS SPENT NEARLY 50 YEARS TEACHING THE GAME HE PLAYED SO WELL BY MATT WINKELJOHN

THE BUZZ

Nearing the end of a half-century path unpredicted, one recent day found Roger Kaiser just about as much at home as one could possibly be – especially for a man who nearly swore he wouldn’t choose to be a basketball coach as his lot in life. Georgia Tech’s most natural hoopster ever was the slickest shooter, the Yellow Jackets’ first All-American, and perhaps the top twosport athlete ever on The Flats. But after seeing so many high school coaches fired back home in Dale, Ind., this was one guy who didn’t want to helm a team. That thought changed with providential intervention from others, and with 49 years of coaching -- and four NAIA national titles – to his credit, the coach is a natural. The other day, though, the phone rumbled (his ringtone is the Jackets’ fight song) in his office, and he had to swap hats to play athletic director at Marietta’s Mt. Bethel Christian Academy. His job as middle school boys coach comes second. There was fuss regarding player cuts in soccer. The call ended, and soon the essence of Roger Kaiser, sniper of snipers, came to light. It’s not simply basketball that moved him to four years as the main man at Decatur High, 20 years at West Georgia, 12 at Life College/University and 13 at Mt. Bethel. People matter, too. “Everybody’s heard the story about David and Goliath ... a guy at church one day, he said that stone was David’s gift from God, and ... everyone gets a gift from God, and what are you going to do with your gift?” Kaiser said. “I said if I have a gift, maybe it’s working with people. I believe that. I’ve worked with college people, high school kids before that, and now I’m working with eighth graders.” Kaiser speaks in run-on sentences, the words coming as points did and do – avalanche style. Even with his 77th birthday on Feb. 23, he still plays, bum shoulder and all. Twice he’s beaten cancer, and he’s knocked down a heart problem as well. He’s thrown his stone to NAIA championships at West Georgia (1974) and Life College (1997, 1999 and 2000), and now at Mt. Bethel, where the man’s at home. “I don’t like this part of it,” he said of the intrusion of parental worry at Mt. Bethel. “But ... they know that I care about them, and I want the best for them. It’s getting harder because parents are trying to tell me how good their kids are.”

Kaiser coaches basketball and serves as the director of athletics at Mt. Bethel Christian Academy in Marietta.

Kaiser didn’t mean to be a coach. He was a fabulous college player, and moved from Tech to the fledgling American Basketball League after graduating, playing for the itinerant New York/Washington Tapers. Having been all kinds of good while growing up in the deep south of Indiana, where basketball qualified as crazy, Kaiser loved the game but not its politics. He played for three head coaches for the Dale Golden Aces. “I wasn’t going to be a coach. That’s what I told my girlfriend (Beverly), who is my wife now: I’m not going to Georgia Tech, and I will not be a coach. She says I lied twice,” Kaiser said. “They were firing them, and we were winning. I said that’s not a very good job to have. We didn’t win our last game, so they’d fire him.” Winding up at Tech led Kaiser to coaching, albeit in a roundabout way. “I came down here because I’d never been on an airplane before, I’d never been to the state of Georgia, and I knew a person who

played on the basketball and baseball teams,” Kaiser said. “He grew up nine miles from me, Buddy Blemker. He was a very good baseball player, and a fine basketball player. “I came down to see him, and then I met the two coaches. I was going to go to Indiana, I was considering Louisville, Vanderbilt and Western Kentucky because they were all in that little area. None of those schools mentioned baseball, but the basketball coach [Whack Hyder] introduced me to the baseball coach, Joe Pittard. They convinced me that they needed me, not that they wanted me, that they needed me. I’d never been told that before.” The 6-foot-1 guard didn’t need anyone telling him to shoot. He averaged 14.7 points as a sophomore in 1958-59, then 22.8 and finally 23.4 on the way to consensus first-team All-America honors in 1961. Had there been a 3-point line back then, the numbers would’ve been higher. WWW.RAMBLINWRECK.COM

Kaiser coached West Georgia College and Life College to four NAIA national titles.

Now in his 70s, Kaiser (second from left) still finds time to lace up his sneakers and play.

Kaiser had options coming out of school. He had a management degree, that stroke, and a stick and a mitt, too. He was an All-SEC outfielder, helping the Jackets to their firstever NCAA baseball tournament in 1959.

THE BUZZ

He stuck with the stroke. The NBA’s Chicago Packers drafted him in the fourth round, but he opted for the ABL’s Washington/New York Tapers. A better paycheck – and the long ball -- lured

him to the short-lived league. “I was playing in the American Basketball League because I was making more money, and they had the 3-point shot,” Kaiser said. “And then it folded.” Having passed on job offers from General Electric and Proctor & Gamble out of school, partly because he didn’t want to move to farflung places for training, Kaiser’s pro run was just about as short as the ABL’s. With his team moving to Philadelphia for its second and final season, in 1962-63, he balked. His boss offered another opportunity. Paul Cohen owned the Tapers, named after his company, Technical Tape. “I wanted a no-cut contract, and I said I’m not going to [Philadelphia] to have you people decide I don’t fit. I’m not going to uproot my family again. I’ve got two young girls now, and I can’t just move around like I’m a vagabond. “I said I don’t want to live in New York. He looked up Indiana, and said, ‘We don’t have anything in Indiana,’’’ Kaiser recalled. “He did industrial tapes, duct tapes, masking tape, packaging tape ... would you go to Atlanta? I said, ‘Sure, I’ll go to Atlanta. I’ve been there.’” Just like that, Kaiser landed. Hyder soon asked him to coach Tech’s freshman team. He did that for a year on the side, and when hometown buddy Bob Reinhart called from Indiana, Kaiser – who also was working in Decatur’s recreation department -- was moved to de-camp while trying to get his friend a job. “Bob said, ‘I want to come south and coach and run a camp.’ We found a summer sports camp that [former Tech track coach] Norris Dean was running that had shut down. I needed a job that had summers off,” Kaiser said. “The superintendent of the Decatur schools, Dr. [Carl] Renfroe, I knew him and called and said, ‘I’ve got a basketball coach for you.’ He said, ‘Yeah, it’s you.’ “ That was a twist. Kaiser had little inclination to coach for a living. “I said you don’t have enough money, and I can’t teach anything. I don’t have that kind of degree,” he recalled. “He said, ‘You let me decide that.’ He called back and said, ‘You’re a math teacher and a basketball coach.’ I said, ‘I called for a friend, and I can’t take the job that I called to recommend him for.’ “He said, ‘What does he teach?’ I said, ‘Biology.’ He went to Indiana on a baseball scholarship. Dr. Renfroe said, ‘He’s the baseball coach and you’re his assistant, and

you’re the basketball coach and he’s your assistant. Come in and sign the contracts.’ “ Kaiser was a coach, and still is, nearly a half century later. After four years at Decatur, more connections came into play. West Georgia’s basketball team was foundering. Kaiser became the coach there after one of his softball teammates, Ken Ringer, recommended him, and Dr. James Boyd, the president at West Georgia and a Tech professor when Kaiser played for the Jackets, hired him. Kaiser still has a home in Carrollton, where he plans to retire ... if he retires. He left West Georgia only because of another siren’s call from Atlanta. “A Georgia Tech guy called me, Dr. Sid Williams,” he said, invoking another Tech graduate and the founder of Life College. “That’s how I ended up at Life. I was there 12 years, and I’ve been here 13.” There’s no telling how long Kaiser will remain at Mt. Bethel. He and Beverly have two children and eight grandchildren. The proceeds from his book, “If It Feels Like Leather, Shoot It,” benefit his 13-year-

Kaiser attends most of Tech’s home games and always coaches in the annual Tech Letterwinners Game.

old granddaughter, Alexis Kaiser. She has cerebral palsy. Roger’s ever-present smile lights wider when he talks about Lexi. “I do it year-to-year,” Kaiser said of his lot in life. “I’m sure I’m more relaxed than I was to start with. I finally realized that a coach can only do so much.

“It’s been a while ... a lot of players, a lot of fans, even a lot of cheerleaders. I am having fun. I’m enjoying myself. If I can solve a problem, I have a good feeling about that ... Maybe I’m supposed to work with other people’s kids.” To purchase Kaiser’s book, contact him at roger.kaiser@mtbethelchristian.org

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THE AMAZING KIRILLOVS

It’s not surprising that Georgia Tech’s Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering ranks among the top five in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report. What might be surprising is that one of the Institute’s foremost experts on flight, isn’t even listed as one of its professors. He’s Viktor Kirillov and can be found holding court every day on the George C. Griffin Track and Field Facility. It’s there that the 61-year-old native of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, plies his craft, teaching members of the Georgia Tech track and field team, including his youngest son, Nikita, the art of pole vault, where they’ll combine various principles of physics and, using a fiberglass pole, defy gravity. He may not have a wall full of degrees, but in highly respected among his athletes and fellow coaches. “He has a very strong background in vaulting in the Ukraine, but the other thing, I believe, is just his love of the event, in the science, in the physiology of the event,” said Georgia Tech track and field head coach

THE BUZZ

Grover Hinsdale. “It just shows in all he does and all he says. He just loves the event and loves teaching and coaching the event.” Viktor was good enough to compete for a spot on the Soviet Olympic teams but was not chosen by the Soviet Olympic Committee -- a subject he chooses not to discuss -- prior to suffering a career-ending elbow injury. He stayed involved in the sport, helping train athletes in Kiev before coming to the United States when Nikita was five -- the family came over a year later -- and landing a job at St. Pius High School in Atlanta. He was hired at Georgia Tech in 2011 after coach Allen Bradd left to pursue private business opportunities. He has always trained Nikita (his eldest son, Alex, took the basketball route, playing collegiately at Oglethorpe University), although it wasn’t necessarily an easy sell. “Actually, I swam before I vaulted,” said Nikita, whose mother, Olga, was a world-class swimmer. “I quit because we didn’t really have a good place to train. Then I got into vault. I actually had a family friend that came to jump with us. The little kid mentality was, ‘You can’t let a girl be better than you.’ So that’s kind of how I started. I didn’t like it, I

COACH VIKTOR AND SON NIKITA KIRILLOV CONTINUE TO RAISE THE BAR IN GEORGIA TECH POLE VAULTING BY JON COOPER

would say, for about a year. I didn’t feel like I was good at it. After my first competition, that’s when I fell in love with the sport.” That first meet he exceeded his own expectations, clearing nine feet (two higher than he’d expected). “I know I didn’t win, but I was also the only middle school kid in the meet,” he said. Nikita continued to excel at St. Pius, winning the Georgia State title in 2011 then followed his father to Georgia Tech -- the only college to which he applied. In his first season at Tech he broke the school outdoor record three different times, the last one coming at the 2012 U.S. Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships, with the winning vault of 5.54 meters (18 feet, 2 inches), still the school record. He finished fourth in the ACC Championships, and 27th in the NCAA East Regionals. At that year’s IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain, he finished eighth and qualified for the

U.S. Olympic team trials in Eugene, Ore. “That competition is like no other,” he said. “They have a huge stadium they actually built more temporary seats because it gets so packed.” Competing in a sideways rain, he wouldn’t make the team, but he learned about dealing with adversity. He’d suffer greater adversity in 2013, battling a back injury. Kirillov bounced back in 2014, placing in the top three in five indoor meets, winning three of them, and earning All-ACC third-team honors. He followed that up with seven top-five finishes, again earning thirdteam All-ACC honors outdoors and making the USTFCCCA All-America second team. Nikita added the Georgia Tech indoor record last year, clearing 5.47 meters (1711.25) at the ACC Championships, earning first-team All-ACC honors, but disaster struck on his final jump, when he landed badly and suffered a severe injury to his foot. “Usually we land on our backs but I messed up in my jump, and I ended up landing with my foot sideways from about 18 feet in the air,” he said. “The doctor told me after my injury that on a scale of 1 to 10, this injury is about a nine.” The injury, what Nikita called “an open dislocation of my ankle, the most severe being the talus bone,” shook Viktor as much as it hurt Nikita. “This is hard, because if he feels pain, I feel pain, too,” he said. “This is a situation that is very hard.” The road back has been one they’ve taken together for more than a year as Nikita required two surgeries and didn’t start running until December. In a sport Nikita feels is 60 to 70 percent mental and has so many intricately moving parts, rebuilding mental toughness has been harder than re-perfecting his technique. “One thing I’ve always been confident in was my take-off. Now with my ankle injury, that kind of confidence has gone away,” he said. “But as far as technique goes, I try to keep it the same. I focus a lot more on my take-off now than I ever did before because it used to be more automatic. Now I have to really think about it. The doctor told me it may not ever be 100 percent, but it will probably be like 90, 95 and that’s plenty.” Viktor has no doubt that his son’s confidence will return. “He has huge experience. For technique, he just needs a little bit of confidence after the injury,” he said. “We do body exercise, weights and gymnastics all the time. He’s working so hard, and I really, really, really

respect him. For this situation I’m so happy that he’s started vaulting again.” While Viktor kept a close eye on Nikita’s rehabilitation, he’s continued to coach the entire team and continue the Yellow Jackets’ long line of success. It’s a long and growing line, which, in addition to Nikita, includes Joanna Clasen (formerly Joanna Wright), who set the school indoor (4.30 meters, 14-1.25) and outdoor (4.31 meters, 14-1.75) records in her one year with him -- records that are still standing -- and Aaron Unterberger, who met Nikita in ninth grade, teamed with him at Tech and currently is attempting to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics with the Canadian National Team. Both credit Viktor’s ability to break down their techniques and make constructive changes. “He pretty much changed everything,” Clasen said, with a laugh. “Working with Coach Bradd, I got to be a much better athlete as far as my strength and speed, but I improved my technique a lot more working with Coach Kirillov. “We did all kinds of hurdle drills and different stuff that most pole vault coaches wouldn’t expect to do, because he really thought outside the box and knew that you had to be a good all-around athlete to be able to pole vault well,” she added. “He’s the most dedicated coach I’ve ever met. Pole vault is his life, and you can tell that the second that you meet him. He’s definitely very intense.” Unterberger recalled that Viktor began changing things at his first practice with him. “I shook his hand, then we started vaulting. Immediately he dismantled all of my running form and pole vault technique,” Unterberger remembered. “He was very technical. Pretty much all the movement patterns that I’d developed, kind of on my own, they were pretty inefficient. He revised every large movement pattern, the way I ran, how I carried the pole, then even into mixing in the vault itself. It was a pretty big change. I think I practiced for a good six months before he let me even vault. Once he came to Tech, I immediately started to see results in my performance.” Improving pole vaulting technique by doing things other than just vaulting was how Viktor had grown up, although then it was more by necessity. “This is every event, throwing, hurdles, high jump, everything is connected,” said Viktor. “We did throwers’ exercises because it helps for pole vaulting as far as power and explosion. We did a lot of gymnastic stuff, acrobatic stuff. Sometimes it was very hard to work in a group because we didn’t have

poles, we didn’t have pits. When [Nikita] goes into competition, he has a minimum of eight poles. I went into competition, I had one, two. Not only me, but maybe for five kids.” Viktor has found his Georgia Tech studentathletes to be open-minded in handling his coaching style. Having Nikita as a liaison and sometimes a buffer has helped. “It’s kind of interesting to watch, because their conversations in practice are a mix between their native language and English,” said Hinsdale. “It seems like when the intensity ramps up and the seriousness of whatever they’re doing ramps up, then it’s almost all native language. In more casual settings it’s English. So it’s been pretty interesting to watch. Very fascinating.” “Nikita and Coach kind of feed off each other,” said Unterberger. “There’s always high energy with Nikita on the track and with Coach being high-energy and really intense. It kept the track lively. Sometimes you’d have arguments in Russian -- not really sure what was going on between the two of them -- but it’s always been a very intense scenario for all of us. With Nikita, sometimes you’d see the father and son, the willful son not wanting to listen to his father, so it was a little bit of both, where it was the athlete and coach dynamic and the father and son dynamic.” Nikita may be blood, but to Viktor, every student-athlete is family. “There’s a very close relationship there,” said Hinsdale. “He really gets to know his kids -- what they can, what they can’t do, what their limitations are -- and he works with them, with the level of talent they have. A personal best for one of his kids is something to celebrate and we all celebrate with him.” “When I cleared my P.R., it was an indoor meet, and he jumped up into the air. He was so excited. He was yelling things in WWW.RAMBLINWRECK.COM

Russian,” Clasen recalled. “But then the first thing he said to me was, ‘Okay, next bar. You can clear it. Let’s go.’ He was always pushing me up to the next height.” The caring doesn’t end with the meet. “He’ll have us over to his house every year for what he calls ‘Pole Vaultgiving,’” said Unterberger. “It’s in November. It’s for his birthday and kind of around Thanksgiving, so we all kind of celebrate his birthday and the year together. It’s a very close kind of familystyle coaching style. “So much of my life has been shaped by pole vault that it’s easier to say what DOESN’T remind me of him,” he added. “I didn’t really take sports that seriously until he was serious for me. His intensity is kind of infectious. I also took a lot of those lessons into the rest of my life -- into academics, into my professional life now. So almost every day my behavior is influenced by his influence, by his coaching.” Nikita and Viktor respect the line they’ve drawn between coach-athlete and father-son. “I’ve always been coached by him, but it’s hard to separate sometimes between the father and the coach, and I’m sure he feels the same way between the student and the son,” said Nikita. “Most of the time it’s pretty good.

THE BUZZ

We work well as a team. He knows what he’s talking about, so I trust him.” “Me and [Nikita], we are a very good team,” said Viktor. “We’re friendly. Sometimes we have a discussion, sometimes it’s very hard, but the final form is a discussion. It’s good.” Life continues to be good for the Kirillovs, as Nikita keeps a hopeful eye on Rio athletically and a sure eye on graduation academically -- he’ll graduate in May with a degree in business and a concentration in accounting. But his main concentration, postgraduation, is on staying competitive. “Obviously, I want to keep pursuing my track career. I want to compete on the professional level,” he said. “As far as this year, Rio’s always the goal but I’m also realistic in the sense that I know what kind of injury I went through this past year, and I actually have no idea how it’s going to work out in a few months.” There is great pride about what has been accomplished by the Kirillovs at Georgia Tech, but they’re not finished. “When we first came here the record was 15-6 for outdoor. Now it’s 18-2,” Nikita said. “I have pride in that. We’ve definitely accomplished a lot and I don’t think that I’m

done. I want to keep breaking those records.” Then there’s Rio. While Nikita insists there’s a long road ahead before he can talk about the Olympics and a return to Eugene, he certainly is thinking about it. “Oh, man. It means everything, really,” he said. “For the world of track and field that is the pinnacle. The Olympic Games come around once every four years. That would be a dream come true. That would be something that I’ve worked for literally for a decade of my life. That’s what I’ve been working towards. That would mean the world, really.” “If he qualified and he goes to the Olympic Games, I would be flying,” said Viktor. “This is my dream, obviously, for all my athletes, but this is my dream for my son. As a student to have potential to qualify, I would be so happy. It would be the highlight of my career.” More than Nikita’s graduating? “It’s a good question. Of course, it’s not like setting a world record or getting to the Olympic Games,” Viktor said, with a laugh. “But I am happy because this is my goal as daddy. My son finishing college, I would be happy as a parent. In my position as daddy/ coach, I’d be happy with both.”

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FOOTBALL

RECRUITING WRAP

Georgia Tech’s 2016 signing class consists of 18 prospects, 11 from Georgia. Georgia Tech football head coach Paul Johnson unveiled the Yellow Jackets’ 2016 signing class Feb. 3 on National Signing Day. Tech’s class is 18 deep, including 11 from the state of Georgia. Members of the newest swarm of #FutureJackets hail from eight states: Georgia (11), Alabama (1), California (1), Florida (1), Louisiana (1), New Mexico (1), Tennessee (1) and Texas (1). Three members of the class - Dedrick Mills (Waycross, Ga.), Emanuel Bridges (Newnan, Ga.) and transfer Desmond Branch (Rio Rancho, N.M.) - enrolled at Georgia Tech in January and will be able to participate in spring practice, which begins in March. “This time of year, this day, everyone is excited,” said Johnson. “We did a good job of addressing the needs on our football team. We are excited about this group and feel like it fits some needs. We hit our target number. When we started when wanted to get 18 and that’s where we ended up.” For complete information on Georgia Tech’s 2016 signing class, visit our Signing Day Central at RamblinWreck.com. Georgia Tech’s two-hour Signing Day show aired live this morning on ESPN3 and can be watched anytime on-demand at ESPN3.com and via the WatchESPN app. On the heels of a 27-member class in 2015 that included 18 from Georgia, Tech stayed close to home again in 2016 with 11 from the Peach State, including eight in the greater Atlanta area. Jakob Brashear (Dacula HS), Bridges, Jalen Camp (Cumming/South Forsyth HS), Jarett Cole (Norcross HS), Xavier Gantt (Buford HS), Jair HawkinsAnderson (Suwanee/Northview HS), Ajani Kerr (Powder Springs/ McEachern HS) and Chris Martin (Loganville/Grayson HS) all played high school football in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Yellow Jackets added depth in the trenches with a total of seven on either the offensive or defensive lines, including four-star DL Jordan Woods (6-4, 255 pounds) from Citra, Fla., and three-star OL Parker Braun (6-3, 275) from Hallsville, Texas, the brother of former Yellow Jacket All-ACC offensive lineman Trey Braun. “This year was a pretty good year for defensive lineman,” said Johnson. “We were able to get some really good guys. Chris Martin wanted to come to Tech and he recruited us, like we recruited him. He had a lot of good offers -- some SEC offers, but he wanted to come to Georgia Tech. We were able to find Desmond Branch as a transfer, who’s a little older, and then to pick up Jordan Woods and Brandon Adams, who were two really soughtafter players. We helped ourself there with some really good players.” Two prep quarterbacks - Lucas Johnson (San Diego, Calif.) and Jay Jones (McCalla, Ala.) - are part of the 2016 class. Jones joins a long list of recent Tech signal-callers under Johnson from Alabama, which includes current starter Justin Thomas(Prattville), his backup Matthew Jordan (Jackson) and current graduate assistant coach Tevin Washington (Wetumpka). Branch, who enrolled at Tech as a transfer from Trinity Valley CC after redshirting his rookie season at New Mexico, hails from Rio Rancho, N.M., and is believed to be the first-ever Yellow Jacket from the state of New Mexico. Johnson, a San Diego product, is Tech’s first Golden State signee since Coach Johnson’s first season in 2008.

THE BUZZ

BRANDON ADAMS, DT, 6-3, 315, BRENTWOOD, TENN. (BRENTWOOD ACADEMY)

Rated three stars by Scout and Rivals.com … Scout tabbed him the No. 1 defensive tackle in the state of Tennessee and the No. 83 defensive tackle in the nation … Named to the Division II--AA All-State Team by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association as both a junior and a senior … As a senior, recorded 72 tackles, including 14.5 tackles for loss and four sacks, and forced one fumble while helping Brentwood to a 12-1 overall record and a state championship title … Prior to his senior season was named to the Star Physical Therapy DII Preseason All-State team … As a junior, helped lead Brentwood Academy to an 8-3 record and to the Division II—AA quarterfinals.

DESMOND BRANCH, DE, 6-3, 270, RIO RANCHO, N.M. (TRINITY VALLEY CC)

Early enrollee … Signed a National Letter Intent with Georgia Tech in December after transferring from Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas … Is immediately eligible to play and has three years of eligibility remaining and enrolled in January… Redshirted at the University of New Mexico in 2014 before transferring to Trinity Valley CC to play last season … At TVCC, logged 32 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and a team-leading seven sacks … Was a first-team All-State and AllDistrict defensive end his final two seasons at Cleveland High School … Has three brothers, and his older brother Alan is a starting defensive lineman for the New England Patriots … Is believed to be the first Yellow Jacket in the modern era to hail from the state of New Mexico.

JAKOB BRASHEAR, LB, 6-0, 205, DACULA, GA. (DACULA HS)

Played for Tommy Jones and Dacula High School … Played both linebacker and running back in high school … Ranked the No. 87 outside linebacker and the No. 7 outside linebacker in the state of Georgia by Scout.com … 2015 second-team Gwinnett Daily Post All-County … Named Offensive Player of the Week by Gwinnett Daily Post after posting five tackles and carrying 19 times for 170 yards and three touchdowns against Brookwood … As a junior, ran for a team-high eight touchdowns and racked up 535 yards on 82 carries while recording 74 tackles, including six sacks and six tackles for loss on defense … In 2014, helped lead Dacula to its best regular season record (9-1) since 2006 … Was named the Gwinnett County Player of the Month and Player of the Week as a junior.

PARKER BRAUN, OL, 6-3, 275, HALLSVILLE, TEXAS (HALLSVILLE HS)

Played varsity football at Kissimmee Osceola for Doug Nichols the first three years of high school before moving to Texas … Played his senior year at Hallsville High School for Dave Plunk … Ranked as the No. 33 offensive tackle by Rivals … Rated a four-star recruit and the No. 17 offensive guard nationally by ESPN … Named to the 2015 Texas 15-5A All-District Team and to the Longview News All-Prep Team … Tabbed the No. 5-ranked player in the Orlando Sentinel’s 2016 Central Florida Super60 … As a junior, blocked for an offense that rushed for more than 3,000 yards and finished as the Class 7-A state runner-up … Younger brother of former Georgia Tech offensive lineman Trey Braun.

EMANUEL BRIDGES, LB, 6-2, 215, NEWNAN, GA. (NEWNAN)

Early enrollee … Lettered four years under Mike McDonald at Newnan High School … Was a team captain for two seasons … Ranked three stars by Rivals.com and the No. 24 inside linebacker … Honored as the Newnan Times Herald’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year … Named to the Class 6A All-State Second Team by the GSWA … Played in the Rising Senior Bowl and was named the West team’s defensive MVP … Helped Newnan to a 10-3 record his senior season while recording a team-high 91 tackles, including nine tackles for loss and seven sacks.

JALEN CAMP, WR, 6-2, 210, CUMMING, GA. (SOUTH FORSYTH HS)

Recorded 47 receptions for 819 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior for South Forsyth High School … In final game, caught five passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns, including TD receptions of 84 and 63 yards in the Class 6A state quarterfinas … Also recorded 30 tackles and two interceptions while leading South Forsyth to 11-2 record and best finish in school history … Earned Class 6A All-State honorable mention from GSWA, along with first-team All-Region and All-County honors … Reeled in 84 catches and 25 touchdowns over his final two high school seasons.

JARETT COLE, S, 5-10, 180, NORCROSS, GA. (NORCROSS HS)

Played football at Norcross High School … A first-team All-Region pick, Gwinnett Daily Post All-County, and second-team All-Gwinnett selection as senior … Totaled 50 tackles, 15 pass breakups, six tackles for loss, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries as a senior … His team’s Defensive MVP in 2015 … Played in the 2015 North-South All-Star Game … As a junior, played in the Elite Junior Bowl All-Star Game.

KENNY COOPER, OL, 6-3, 288, CALHOUN, GA. (SONORAVILLE HS)

Played football for head coach Jim Kremer at Sonoraville High School … Was also a member of basketball, track and wrestling teams … As a senior, earned first-team Class 3A All-State honors (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GSWA) as defensive lineman with 78 tackles, 22 tackles for loss and 12 sacks to help the Phoenix go 8-4 and win a state playoff game for first time in program history … Named 2015 Calhoun Times All-County defensive co-player of the year … Also named first-team 6-3A All-Region and first-team Class 3A All-State by GSWA … Had 69 solo tackles, 83 assisted tackles and six sacks as a junior … Finished as the state heavyweight runner-up in wrestling as a senior – his first year ever wrestling … Also threw shot put and discus for track team.

STEVE DOLPHUS, WR, 6-5, 200, MACON, GA. (WESTSIDE HS)

Lettered in football for two years and basketball for three years at Westside High School … Had 52 catches for 832 yards and nine touchdowns as senior for the Seminoles … Earned first-team 2-AAA All-Region, firstteam Class AAA All-State (Atlanta JournalConstitution), second-team All-Middle Georgia, and honorable mention Class AAA All-State (GSWA) honors in 2015 … As a junior, caught 47 passes for 819 yards and 15 touchdowns … Garnered second-team 2-AAA All-Region and honorable mention All-Middle Georgia honors in 2014.

XAVIER GANTT, AB, 5-9, 170, BUFORD, GA. (BUFORD HS)

Rated by 247sports.com as the No. 8-ranked running back in the state of Georgia … Rated as a three-star recruit … An injury cut his senior year short … Had an impressive junior season rushing for 699 yards and 10 touchdowns … Played in the Rising Senior Game All-Star Game.

JAIR HAWKINS-ANDERSON, WR, 6-1, 185, SUWANEE, GA. NORTHVIEW HS)

Lettered in football for two years and basketball his senior year at Northview High School … Led all Titan wide receivers with 19 catches for 288 yards and three touchdowns as a senior … Also saw time at running back, accumulating nine touchdowns and 111 yards on 26 carries … Was the primary kick and punt returner in 2015, leading the team with 446 total return yards … First-team All-Region selection in 2015 … Earned his school’s Special Teams Player of the Year award in 2015 … Elected to participate in the 2016 Offense-Defense AllAmerican Bowl and the Chamber Bowl Senior All-Star game … As a junior, caught 11 passes for 294 yards … Son of former Cincinnati Bengals’ All-Pro tackle Willie Anderson.

LUCAS JOHNSON, QB, 6-3, 195, SAN DIEGO, CALIF. (MOUNT CARMEL HS)

Committing to Georgia Tech as a dualthreat quarterback after lettering in football for four years at Mt. Carmel High School in San Diego, Calif. … Powered the Sun Devils to a 9-4 record his senior year, leading the team to the Division II State Championship Game against Rancho Bernardo – the school’s first CIF Championship Game appearance in 30 years … Threw for 2,571 yards with 26 touchdowns and ran for 1,166 yards and 14 touchdowns his senior year, leading the team in each category … Was the starting quarterback in the EastWest Shrine All-Star Game … Earned first-team All-CIF and All-Region honors in 2015 and was the Palomar League Most Valuable Player … As a junior, passed for 1,456 yards with 13 touchdowns and rushed for 648 yards and 12 touchdowns … Also lettered in basketball for three years.

JAY JONES, QB, 6-1, 190, MCCALLA, ALA. (MCADORY HS)

Earned four varsity football letters at McAdory High School … Rated a three-star athlete by Rivals … Ranked as the No. 18 recruit in Alabama and the No. 40 athlete in the nation by Rivals … Scout.com ranked him as the No. 4 athlete out of Alabama … Named to the 2015 All-Birmingham Region Second Team … Passed for 1,781 yards and 21 touchdowns and rushed for 956 yards and 14 touchdowns as a senior … Birmingham Monday Morning QB Club, “Outstanding Player of the Year” in 2015 … Other senior year honors included honorable mention All-State and secondteam All-Metro … Was a Nike Elite 11 Regional participant and MVP of the National Football Association QB Invitational … As a junior, completed 57-of-97 passes for 1,098 yards and six touchdowns … A four-time AL.com Player of the Week honoree while in high school.

AJANI KERR, CB, 6-0, 183, POWDER SPRINGS, GA. (MCEACHERN HS)

Played cornerback his senior year at McEachern High school in Powder Springs, Ga … Earned second-team All-State honors as a senior ... Played his first three prep seasons at Whitfield Academy before tranferring to McEachern.

JAHAZIEL LEE, OL, 6-3, 245, PONCHATOULA, LA. (PONCHATOULA HS)

Was a three-year letterwinner at Ponchatoula High School in Ponchatoula, La. ... Recorded 78 tackles, 19 tackles for loss and five sacks ... Earned first-team All-District honors ... Was the MVP of the 2016 Max Emfinger All-American Game … Also lettered in basketball during his senior year for the Green Wave … Listed as a three-star recruit by ESPN.

CHRIS MARTIN, DL, 6-2, 260, LOGANVILLE, GA. (GRAYSON HS)

Lettered all four years at Grayson High School … Rated three stars by Scout and the No. 86 defensive tackle in the nation … Helped Grayson to a 13-1 overall record his senior year and a No. 4 ranking in the state … 2015 first-team Gwinnett Daily Post All-County and first-team Gwinnett Touchdown All-County selection as a senior … Named to the secondteam All-Georgia by USA Today … A member of the Gwinnett County All-Star team, Georgia North-South All-Star team and the Georgia-Florida All-Star team … As a senior, recorded 39 tackles, including 11 tackles for loss and five sacks, had one pass break up, three fumble recoveries and returned one fumble for a touchdown … As a junior, tallied 35 tackles, including 23 solo tackles, four tackles for loss and three sacks, forced one fumble and had one pass break up.

DEDRICK MILLS, BB, 5-11, 200, WAYCROSS, GA. (WARE COUNTY HS)

Early enrollee … Lettered in football for four years at Ware County High School for coach Franklin Stephens … Started every game in his high school career … Rushed for 1,211 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior to help Ware County reach the Class 5A state semifinals … Two-way player made 96 tackles and 11.0 tackles for loss with one interception and three forced fumbles as linebacker … Earned first-team Class 5A All-State honors at linebacker from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution … Honorable mention Class 5A All-State by GSWA … 2015 All-Region 3-5A offensive player of the year … Rushed for 584 yards as a junior … Named second-team All-Region as a junior in 2014.

JORDAN WOODS, DL, 6-4, 255, CITRA, FLA. (NORTH MARION HS)

Lettered three years at Trinity Catholic High School for head coach John Brantley III and one year at North Marion High School for head coach Stephen Field … Rated four stars by Rivals and No. 14 at position nationally … Scout lists him as three-star prospect and No. 9 defensive end in Florida … Recorded 65 tackles, 9.5 sacks, 26 tackles for loss, one forced fumble, two fumble returns and two touchdowns as senior for North Marion … Named first-team all-state in 2015 … As a junior at Trinity Catholic in 2014, earned second-team Class 3A all-state honors after recording 75 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and 16.5 sacks … Led North Marion Colts to regional semifinals appearance in 2015 Florida 5A playoffs. WWW.RAMBLINWRECK.COM

CAMPAIGN GEORGIA TECH RAISED

FACILITIES 25%

ENDOWMENT 28%

CURRENT OPERATIONS 47%

TECH FUND

$276 MILLION FOR INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS

A-T UNRESTRICTED SPORT SPECIFIC AD INITIATIVE

$250 MILLION GOAL NEARLY HALF OF THE GIFTS AND COMMITMENTS DURING THE CAMPAIGN WERE ALLOCATED FOR CURRENT OPERATIONS, WHICH INCLUDES TECH FUND, A-T UNRESTRICTED, SPORT-SPECIFIC PROGRAM SUPPORT, AND THE AD INITIATIVE FUND.

NEW OR RENOVATED FACILITIES

196 ATHLETIC SCHOLARSHIP

ENDOWMENTS 11 YEARS (2004-2015) AERIAL VIEWS OF CAMPUS PRE- AND POST-CAMPAIGN GEORGIA TECH 30

THE BUZZ

STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITIES BUILT OR SIGNIFICANTLY RENOVATED

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SE SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT

“THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING TO INVEST IN THIS GENERATION AND THE ONES TO FOLLOW US.” - CHASE ROBERTS

SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT DINNER THE ANNUAL EVENT GIVES ENDOWMENT DONORS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THEIR REAL-LIFE IMPACT ON CURRENT GEORGIA TECH STUDENT-ATHLETES, AND IT ALSO GIVES STUDENT-ATHLETES THE CHANCE TO EXPRESS THEIR GRATITUDE TO THE DONORS WHO ENDOW THEIR SCHOLARSHIPS. This year’s inspirational program included three impressive student-athletes with very different backgrounds and head golf coach Bruce Heppler sharing messages that couldn’t make those in the room more proud to be a Yellow Jacket.

CHASE ROBERTS

The class of 2016 football letterwinner and Alexander-Tharpe Fund intern explained how his dream of playing at Georgia Tech under head coach Paul Johnson was cut short due to concussion injuries. Citing chaplain Derrick Moore “you may have to lie down and bleed a while, but then you will get back up and fight some more,” Chase focused on his academics and supported his teammates in ways he never imagined. He said it is evident from both fellow student-athletes and donors that Georgia Tech truly is a special place.

KATARINA VUCKOVIC

The women’s basketball junior from Serbia told her story of having to choose between giving up her dream of collegiate basketball or moving away from her family as a young teen, attending different high schools. Katarina recollected that making that decision seemed like the hardest thing she would experience until she travelled over 5,000 miles away from home to attend Georgia Tech. She has realized that Tech has provided so much value to her life outside of basketball, and she thanked everyone for their contributions to allow her to have these experiences.

BRUCE HEPPLER

Georgia Tech’s golf coach explained that the schools he worked for prior to coming to Tech taught him the importance

of philanthropy and the need to endow scholarships. When he interviewed for the coaching position at Tech, Dr. Homer Rice (former athletic director) told him the number one reason he should take this job: the greatest fans and donors where you could ever work. After 21 years and raising close to $20 million for golf, Heppler says Dr. Rice told the truth, and he thanks donors from the bottom of his heart.

KESHUN FREEMAN

The sophomore football student-athlete opened up about his childhood and the neighborhood in which he was raised. KeShun was a rarity in his hometown with a drive to attend college. He shared that his family, despite limited resources, adopted an abandoned, prematurely-born baby. At 11 years old, KeShun became aware of his desire to protect his baby brother and expressed his gratitude for the generosity allowing him to earn a college degree and remain near his brother. Combining his experience with his brother’s medical complications and a degree from Georgia Tech, he aspires to become a pediatric anesthesiologist. For interest in making gifts or commitments to an endowment, please contact Mindy Hyde of the AlexanderTharpe Fund at 404-894-5435 or mhyde@ athletics.gatech.edu.

Endowment donors and student-athletes pictured (top to bottom): Shawn and Laura Fowler with Marcus Georges-Hunt, recipient of the Fowler Family Men’s Basketball Scholarship; Uwezu McReynolds and Kenya Collins, recipient of the Janeen Jones McReynolds Women’s Track Scholarship; Brent and Lynn Woodruff with Sydney Wilson, recipient of the Woodruff Family Volleyball Scholarship; Mark and Diane Griffin with Justin Thomas, recipient of the Diane & Marvin W. Griffin Football Scholarship

THE BUZZ

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COMPLIANCE CORNER

BY SHOSHANNA ENGEL, ASSOCIATE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR FOR COMPLIANCE

Behind the By-Laws - Publicity and Recruiting Shoshanna Engel Associate Athletic Director for Compliance

We just put a wrap on this year’s February signing period, but how do we get the word out? In the days and weeks leading up to the football signing period, Georgia Tech coaches work with various support staff to prepare and distribute NLIs to prospective Yellow Jackets. While our coaches may engage in telephone, email, and other methods of contact with these prospective student-athletes, publicity is fairly restricted. Visits to campus may not be publicized (e.g., social media, traditional media outlets, etc.) and coaches may not comment, other than to confirm or deny recruitment, about any specific prospects, their abilities, or the potential impact they may have on the team should they commit to and enroll at Georgia Tech. When signing day rolled around (February 3, 2016), prospects began signing NLIs at 7 a.m. local time. By this time, excitement has mounted and the Georgia Tech team assembled to process and validate NLIs as quickly as possible. The compliance office team worked in lockstep to

Shoshanna Engel Associate Director of Athletics for Compliance sengel@athletics.gatech.edu (404)894-8792

Marquita Armstead Director of Compliance marmstead@athletics.gtaa.edu (404)894-5507

review returned NLIs for completion and all necessary signatures. If everything checked out, the NLI was validated and notification was instantaneously sent to coaches, support staff, and the communications team. As has been standard the last few years, we had a live National Signing Day show that was broadcast on ESPN3. During this window, our coaches publicly announced our 2016 signing class. Once the announcement had been made, our communications team posted a graphic to announce the signing on our social media platforms. NOTE: Georgia Tech can only publicly announce information on incoming recruits when they’ve signed a validated NLI. Immediately upon validation, all restrictions on publicity, with the exception of campus visits, are lifted and it’s time to welcome future Jackets and publicize their many accolades and accomplishments to date. Press releases, including graphics, articles, and social media releases, are unlimited in content and frequency.

Bret Cowley Associate Director of Compliance bcowley@athletics.gtaa.edu (404)385-0611

Shardonay Blueford Assistant Director of Compliance sblueford@athletics.gatech.edu (404)894-0416

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CONNECTING

YELLOW JACKETS TO THE WORLD. OFFICIAL AIRLINE OF GEORGIA TECH 速 ATHLETICS ASSOCIATION

速