Beyond the Hedges: Slowly awakens from the summer

Things really don't start getting in full swing for University of Georgia athletics until the end of the month.  But there's still some action against Auburn this weekend in Athens, and lots of stuff going on in several programs, so let's go Beyond the Hedges (patent pending)....

I'll start by cheating just a bit and looking at football, but not on the field.  A big congrats to Brandon Boykin, as well as Josh Mallard, current Bengals DB Shawn Williams, and several others for earning their degree.  Former NBA star Jarvis Hayes also finally finished his undergraduate work to graduate from the University of Georgia.  It's great to see these guys value their education and put in the work to finish that drill in Athens.  And before we leave football, check your local schedules as a lot of Georgia high schools start playing tonight with jamboree/exhibition gamesbefore their seasons get going completely next Friday or the week after.

Tennis

Jeff Wallace will have a pretty tough schedule for his 30th season in charge of women's tennis in Athens.  And the always awesome Manny Diaz gives you his thoughts directly, on why he's optimistic about his championship program going forward.

Basketball

Andy Landers' ladies are back from Italy, so see how things went here.  And on the men's side of things, it was announced this week that Mark Fox's squad will be featured twice on the big stage of ESPN's "Super Tuesday" games.  Both times will be in Athens (so a chance for us fans to show our support to the world), with Arkansas on January 6th and again when Kentucky comes to town March 3rd.

Swimming

The pool has seen a lot of work this summer.  The Phillips 66 National Championships were held last week, and several Dawgs did well.  Nicholas Fink finished second in the breaststroke, Chase Kalisz was second in the 400m individual medley, and more success just kept coming.  All said and done, 7 Georgia swimmers qualified to represent the US at the Pan Pacific games.

Golf

Georgia players did well in stroke play at the still on going US Amateur Championships at Atlanta Athletic Club this year.  But all 3 failed to advance out of their first match play pairing.

Baseball

Summer leagues are wrapped up, so you can see how Scott Stricklin's boys did in several leagues around the country here.

Soccer

And do you hate Auburn?  I know at least one person around here does.  So to get some preseason pre-gaming and warm up a little SEC hate, get to Athens Saturday night at 7, and you can watch our soccer ladies take on Auburn off Milledge Avenue. Admission to the first athletic contest of the UGA 2014-15 school year will be free.

Gooooooooooooo Dawgs!