NOTES: Georgia holds winter athletics association board meeting

ATHENS, Ga. — The University of Georgia Athletics Association Board of Directors hosted its annual winter meeting on Tuesday at the UGA Center for Continuing Education & Hotel. There issues of athletic association business were discussed and updates were provided on various matters by the involved parties.

University of Georgia president Jere Morehead shared a brief report followed shortly after by an academics report from Davis Shipley of the UGA School of Law. Shipley said that the Bulldogs averaged a 3.22 GPA for the Fall 2022 semester, the highest-ever for a fall semester. Men’s tennis moved past cross country for the top team average for the men while the women’s cross country team kept their No. 1 overall ranking at 3.70.

On the financial side, Ryan Nesbit, Vice President for Finance and Administration, noted that as of December 2022, the overall total revenues for the fiscal year were higher when compared to the same period last year. Director of Athletics Josh Brooks added that fundraising is also on pace to finish better than last year’s record $86.4 million.

Possibly the biggest news of the meeting came during Brooks’ athletic directors report, specifically pertaining to facilities, as he shared details for a seating re-arrangement at Stegeman Coliseum starting next season. Students will pick up an additional section and move closer to the court in hopes of creating an even better home-court atmosphere and advantage for the Bulldogs. Georgia and its opponent will also switch benches meaning that opponents will shoot towards the student section in the second half.

As a result of the changes, season ticket holders affected will have an opportunity to pick new seats, prioritized based on points. Ticket prices will not change, and in the case of 80% of tickets, the required point total to purchase will either stay the same or decrease.

Notes and Quotes

• Josh Brooks shared that the planning phase for renovations to Foley Field and Jack Turner Stadium is almost complete. The previously-announced renovations are focused on the student-athlete experience and include indoor hitting and pitching labs, additional weight rooms and overall upgrades to the facilities.
  
  “When I first took the job two years ago I met with Coach Stricklin, and we knew that improvements to Foley Field were important not just for recruiting but also for student-athlete development, right? Because right now our pitchers are practicing their bullpen outdoors, right? So having an indoor pitching lab is important, not to mention the technology that goes along with it, right? And we’ve seen the impact facilities can have on recruiting. And obviously when you look across the league in the SEC, the facilities arms race has gotten pretty competitive across the board. So really, for Coach Stricklin and his staff to really keep growing this program, we thought it was important. And additionally, it’s going to give us an opportunity to create some more premium seatings, some more seating in general to really keep improving Foley. We all feel and know that Foley’s got that Wrigley Field, that it’s really set in a great setting and to take that and to add onto it in with first-class player amenities, I think it can elevate Foley to an even better experience.”
  
  The renovation for Foley is expected to take two phases, the first of which will be focused primarily on laying the groundwork (i.e. electrical) for the greater renovations to occur.

• Sanford Stadium south side renovations are underway and going well according to Brooks and company. They are to be complete in August, however, due to the renovations attendance for G-Day will be limited this year with the south side closed as it was for the National Championship celebration in January.

• Brooks on the Oklahoma, Texas move to the SEC and what the next steps there are with the report that the schools are not expected in the league until 2025: “That is an issue that i being handled between Texas, OU and the big 12. Our commissioner keeps us abreast of those developments. Once we know for sure what that is, then we would have to decide on our scheduling format. We’ve been able to really get there on a lot of the sports, football is one we’re still through.”
  
  Morehead added that if the two Big 12 members were to work out an arrangement with their current league to leave early, the SEC presidents would have to modify a resolution but that could be done quickly if necessary.

• Brooks noted that a request had been made by State of Georgia legislation for the football team to visit the White House but that Georgia was in a “wait and see what happens from there” mode.
  
  “You know, I don’t know. I did see the request made, and we’re going to kind of just sit and see what happens from there. I don’t think I’ve seen a response yet, but we’ll kind of take it day by day and see how that goes.”

• Both Brooks and Morehead addressed the events of January 15th that proceeded the crash involving Devin Willock, Chandler LeCroy and other members of the UGA football program. The investigation into the events are ongoing and neither could comment much more than what had previously been said.
  
  “We’re going through everything in the processes and procedures of that, and that’s still ongoing right now. So I don’t what to get into the specifics of that right now.”