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Georgia Amoore: the girl from Ballarat taking US college basketball by storm | Peter Mitchell

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Georgia Amoore: the girl from Ballarat taking US college basketball by storm | Peter Mitchell


Growing up in Ballarat, Georgia Amoore enjoyed terrorising boys on the football field. She was so quick and elusive with a Sherrin in her hands, the boys often only had one option to slow her down.

“They’d grab my ponytail,” Amoore says, laughing.

The helplessness those boys felt as Amoore left them in her dust is now being replicated in college basketball arenas across the US. If you’re not acquainted with the 22-year-old point guard’s exploits for Virginia Tech, you soon will be; Amoore is Australia’s next basketball star.

Later this month Amoore will lead the Hokies into March Madness. The 68-team NCAA knockout tournament is the grand finale of the college basketball season. Last year Virgina Tech, fuelled by a record 23 three-pointers in five games by Amoore, made it to the semi-finals before being knocked out by eventual champions LSU. It was the first time they had made the final four and it was when Amoore’s legend in the US was minted.

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Georgia Amoore puts up a three-point shot against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Photograph: Lance King/Getty Images

“Going into the tournament this year, we’ll carry the lessons that we learned from last year, but we also know it is not going to be easy,” she says.

Women’s NCAA basketball is in a golden era, often drawing higher TV ratings in the US than men’s games with Iowa’s Caitlin Clark smashing all-time men’s and women’s scoring records. Amoore stands alongside Clark, LSU’s Angel Reese, USC’s JuJu Watkins, Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers and South Carolina’s Te-Hina Paopao as A-listers in this year’s tournament. Amoore was also named alongside Clark and Paopao as finalists for the Nancy Lieberman award for top college point guard.

Contributing to Amoore’s cult status is her height. In a league of giants, the Australian stands just 168cm tall, but offsets any size disadvantage with a deadly step-back three-pointer. She is also an inspirational floor general and happy to get physical.

“I think Aussie basketball in general is harder headed and rougher than US basketball,” she says. “We’re not afraid to put our bodies on the line and we’re playing for our teammates which helps us take hits and then get up again.”

Amoore was introduced to basketball at five years old – watching her cousin Keeley Frawley play at Ballarat’s Minerdome. When Frawley’s team ran into foul trouble and had to sit players, they asked if Amoore could make up the numbers. On came a tiny Amoore in her thongs (flip-flops), and the rest is history.

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“I loved it and I’ve been playing ever since,” she says.

The key to Virgina Tech’s success this year’s NCAA Tournament likely rests with the fitness of the team’s other star, All-American centre Elizabeth Kitley, who went down with a knee injury last week. Together, Amoore and Kitley are a dynamic duo with the Australian bombing from outside and the American dominating the paint. They’re also best friends, with their bond forged when the pandemic hit in 2020. With their basketball season shut down, the Virginia Tech campus closed and Amoore unable to fly back to Australia, Kitley’s family invited her to stay at their home in North Carolina.

Basketball is not the only sport on Georgia Amoore’s radar – she won’t rule out a stint in the AFLW. Photograph: Ryan Hunt/Getty Images

Kitley said she thought Amoore was “crazy” when she first walked into the locker room.

“She was one of the first Australians I knew, and she was dancing all the time, wild, making jokes and abrupt in a good way,” Kitley told reporters.

American fans have also fallen in love with her Australian charm.

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“I just had to get my head out of my butt and be more aggressive,” Amoore told a US sideline reporter on live TV when describing her slow start in a win over the University of Miami last week.

Amoore is tipped to be a top 10 pick in April’s WNBA draft – one of the strongest drafts in the league’s history – if she elects not to return to Virginia Tech next season. She is also hoping to live a childhood dream to play for the Opals. Despite her high profile in the US and potent outside shot, Amoore has not been part of Sandy Brondello’s Australian team preparations ahead of the Paris Olympics.

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“It’s definitely something that I really desire but the Opals have a great core group of girls and the ones that will be going to the Olympics have spent way more time with each other,” she says. “I respect those girls and I respect the coaching staff and if the opportunity arises, I will happily take it, but I’m also in a situation where I am in America and I can’t really go if they have a training camp on the other side of the world. I’ll just keep working hard and hopefully one day it happens.”

Georgia Amoore will lead the Hokies into March Madness starting next week. Photograph: Matt Gentry/AP

The Opals are not the only team in Amoore’s sights though – she doesn’t rule out one day playing for her beloved Geelong Cats in the AFLW. On a recent trip back to Australia, she went to a training session with the Cats’ men’s team, who presented her with a jersey – now one of her prized possessions. She immediately wore it to the park to kick the footy around.

“I love basketball and right now that’s my focal point, but playing in the AFLW is definitely something that I’d like to do,” she said. “Every recess and lunchtime in primary school I was out there playing footy with the boys and when I was 14, I joined my best mate’s boys team. I played until I was 15 or 16 when they said that I couldn’t play any more. I was in the midfield or front pocket, and loved grabbing the ball, sprinting, and bombing it. I never really had much direction, but I could get it on my foot pretty quick.”

That’s no surprise. Amoore’s release shooting a basketball is lightning quick. Could she use her kicking skills for Virginia Tech’s football team if they ever needed a punter on short notice? A few years back, Sydney’s Oscar Bradburn punted for the Hokies and almost 300 other Australians have punted for US colleges in recent years, so why not Amoore?

“I would love to!” Amoore says quickly.

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So, if Virginia Tech suddenly needs a punter, they should call on Amoore. She could probably do it in thongs.



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HALFTIME: Georgia Bulldogs Lead Auburn in Low-Scoring Affair

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HALFTIME: Georgia Bulldogs Lead Auburn in Low-Scoring Affair


The Georgia Bulldogs are halfway through their annual meeting in “The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.” Here is how the game has played out so far.

The Georgia Bulldogs and Auburn Tigers have completed the first 30 minutes of their annual rendition of “The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry” with the Dawgs heading to the locker room with a 14-3 lead. As the second half approaches, here is a recap of everything that happened in the first half.

The Tigers began the game with the ball and marched for about 20 yards before the offense stalled out and was forced to punt. The Bulldogs offense then took the field and proceeded to march 75 yards for a touchdown on their first drive of the game. Auburn’s offense would respond with a field goal to cut the Dawgs lead to 7-3. The Bulldogs’ next offense drive would run out the remaining time in the quarter.

Georgia continued its second offensive drive of the game before stalling out around the 45-yard line and punting for the first time of the game. The Tigers were able to once again sustain a decent drive but were unable to produce any points and were once again forced to punt. Georgia took over inside its own 30 and pushed the ball down the field before an inopportune penalty forced the Bulldogs to punt just after the two-minute timeout. Auburn would be held to a three-in-out deep in their own territory and would give Georgia the ball back around the 50-yard line with just over a minute to work with. The Dawgs would cash in with a touchdown to give them a 14-3 lead.

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2026 Four Star Safety Cortez Redding Lists Georgia Tech As One of His Top 12 Schools

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2026 Four Star Safety Cortez Redding Lists Georgia Tech As One of His Top 12 Schools


It is never too early to look ahead to the 2026 class. Georgia Tech already has the interest and attention of a heavily coveted safety prospect Cortez Redding. The Yellow Jackets don’t have any commitments from the 2026 class yet, but it is a good sign they are in the running for a high-end prospect. 

Cortez Redding plays for the Jonesboro Cardinals in Jonesboro, Georgia. He is one of the best safety prospects in the country. According to 247Sports Composite, Redding is rated as the No. 16 safety, the No. 23 player in Georgia, and the No. 197 player nationally. Before narrowing down his list on Friday, Redding had 42 offers before cutting down his list of schools. His top 12 include Florida, Oregon, Kentucky, UNC, USC, Tennessee, LSU, Missouri, NC State, Florida State, Auburn, and Georgia Tech. 

Redding is a hard-hitter who loves to play in the box and make disruptive plays. He is known for making sticks and causing opposing ball carriers to fumble the football. He is also an excellent open-field tackler. Redding can also play centerfield, run from one side of the field to the other, and make a play on the ball. A rare trait you see from safeties, only the elite ones can do this at a high level consistently. Think Ed Reed potential here. I don’t say this lightly, I’ve seen Redding play a few times in person. 

One of them was during the spring. I was making a tour of different high school football teams in the peach state to see how teams looked. I interviewed Redding after a spring game win against rival Lovejoy. I asked him about his best attribute on the field. 

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“My best attribute is my IQ and physicality. I feel like I can tackle anybody and guard anybody,” said Redding. 

Redding is also a multisport athlete who is also a high-level basketball player and a great all-around player on the court. As a sophomore for the Cardinals, Redding averaged 11.4 points, 6.8 assists, and 5.3 rebounds. He nearly tripled his scoring numbers from the year before. 

The Yellow Jackets got on Redding early and was one of the first schools to offer him last September before he blew up in recruiting. Redding would be a great addition to the Yellow Jackets if they could keep him home. He has great instincts and would fit the defensive backfield seamlessly and make a big impact in that area. It is still early but a recruitment to continue to watch as teams jock for positioning in the late winter and early spring. 

I also got a chance to do an exclusive interview with Redding and some of his teammates back in the summer in a rare uncut and unfiltered interview. It was just Redding being his natural self in his element which was cool to see. One thing that is impressive about him is how hard he works and how much he wants to be great. He goes above and beyond and constantly challenges himself to be the best on the field every time he steps on it.



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Irish Fall To No. 19 Georgia Tech In Five Sets

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Irish Fall To No. 19 Georgia Tech In Five Sets


SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish fell in a tough five-set battle to the No. 19 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at home on Friday night (25-22, 21-25, 25-20, 17-25, 13-15).

Morgan Gaerte finished with a career-high 18 kills, followed by Sydney Palazzolo with 15 kills and 14 digs. Lucy Trump, Anna Bjork, and Phyona Schrader each tallied eight kills a piece and Grace Langer finished with a team-best five blocks.

The Irish had their strongest offensive production in set one to start things off, hitting .333 and recording 17 kills as a team led Notre Dame to a 25-22 win in the first set. Tied at 18-all, the Irish would take a 22-18 advantage to force a Yellow Jacket timeout. Georgia Tech responded with a 3-0 run to force a Notre Dame timeout in return, but kills from Schrader and Trump coupled with a block from the freshman duo of Gaerte and Bjork secured the win.

It was back and forth between the Irish and Yellow Jackets in set two as there were nine ties and three lead changes. With Georgia Tech in front 18-17, the Irish were working to close the gap, but the Yellow Jackets would even the playing field at 1-1 as they took the second set 25-21.

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Notre Dame recorded another strong offensive set in the third, tallying another 16 kills as a team and hitting at a clip of .325. Posting a lead of 17-10, the Irish forced a Georgia Tech timeout, but the Yellow Jackets responded as they closed the gap to three at 20-17 and forced an Irish timeout in return. Gaetre sent home another kill to seal the deal on set three as Notre Dame took a 2-1 advantage by winning the third 25-20.

It was another close start in the fourth as the Yellow Jackets led by just one at 10-9 before going on a 6-0 run to extend their lead 16-9. The Irish closed the gap to three at 17-14, but Georgia Tech would close it out with an 8-3 run to take it to a fifth set.

With Georgia Tech up 7-5 in the final set, the Irish called a timeout and responded with a 5-1 run to take the lead 10-8 and force the Yellow Jacket timeout. With Notre Dame leading 12-9, the Yellow Jackets strung together four straight points to make it 13-12 as the Irish called their second timeout. A kill from Trump tied it up at 13-all, but the ranked Georgia Tech squad would score the final two points to take the last set 15-13.

The Irish are back in action on Sunday as they host the Clemson Tigers at 1:00 pm at Purcell Pavilion.

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