Georgia
What we learned in Grand Canyon basketball losses to Georgia, Louisiana Tech
GCU President Brian Mueller on joining Mountain West, impact on NIL
Grand Canyon University President Brian Mueller talked to the media about the impact joining the Mountain West Conference will have on NIL growth.
Grand Canyon lost a chance to make a big statement during its trip through the South.
The Lopes (6-4) had won four straight with their full team, after getting center Duke Brennan back from an injury.
But in a 73-68 loss to Georgia (9-1) on Saturday, followed by a 74-66 loss to Louisiana Tech on Monday, their biggest star, WAC Preseason Player of the Year Tyon Grant-Foster, had his two worst games since joining the Lopes last year and leading them to an historic 30-win season.
He shot a combined 2 for 25 in the losses, missing all 13 3-pointers he took. This is baffling for last year’s WAC Player of the Year, who averaged 20 points in his first college season in two years, leading the Lopes to their first NCAA Tournament win last season.
To make matters worse Monday night at Louisiana Tech (10-2), guard Ray Harrison was only 1 of 10 shooting, making just 1 of 7 3-pointers, two days after he led GCU with 16 points, making 2 of 4 3s, against Georgia.
Here are takeaways from this two-game swing as the Lopes look to recover Thursday night at home against 0-12 Chicago State. That will be followed by a 2 p.m. home game Sunday against Saint Louis:
Shooting woes
It wasn’t just Grant-Foster who struggled. The Lopes made only 7 of 27 3-pointers against Georgia and 2 of 27 from behind the arc against Louisiana Tech.
This was supposed to be a roster built to make 3-pointers. JaKobe Coles came from TCU, where he was a 42% shooter from 3. Coles was 1 of 5 from 3-point range against Georgia and 1 of 3 against Louisiana Tech. He led the Lopes with 19 points on 7 of 13 field-goal shooting against Louisiana Tech.
Both Coles and Grant-Foster missed open 3s in the final minute of the Georgia game. If either of them knock down a 3, it could have been a different outcome.
In the 75-68 home loss to UC Davis, the Lopes made just 4 of 25 3-pointers. Even against NAIA Life Pacific, a team the Lopes beat 100-52 before hitting the road, they made only 8 of 28 3-pointers.
On the season, Harrison has made 11 of 40 3-pointers (27.5%) and Grant-Foster 6 of 39 (15%). Last season, Grant-Foster, who made his living at the free-throw line, drawing fouls on quick moves to the basket, made 33% of his 3s (50 of 151), the second-best shooting percentage from the arc on the team, behind Gabe McGlothan (39.8%).
Against Louisiana Tech, the Lopes were within two points with 2:13 left, but got outscored 6-0 in the end.
“Sometimes the ball just doesn’t go in for him,” coach Bryce Drew said in the postgame GCU radio interview about Grant-Foster, who missed the first two games this season. “It’s not going in right now. There’s other parts of his game that he can do. I thought at Georgia he did a great job getting six steals.
“He’s a much better player than he’s playing. My job as a coach is we’ve got to get it out of him. We’ve been trying different things in the last month, and we’re going to keep trying more things to get him back on track.”
Scheduling
Because the WAC and Conference USA were locked into a contract to have non-conference games against each other, GCU had to go to Louisiana Tech in this home-and-home series. Last year, GCU pulled out a 73-70 win over Louisiana Tech at home. This game happened to fall two days after facing Georgia against a pro-Bulldogs crowd at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
“The scheduling has been very difficult,” Drew said. “We would never ever played this game where we played it. It’s the Conference USA challenge with the WAC, so we had this game. We had a chance to play Georgia, a top-40 team, in Atlanta. We didn’t want to turn that game down.”
But Drew added he didn’t want to use the Georgia game as an excuse.
“I’ve got to do a better job in the future with scheduling,” he said. “It’s super hard to get games. Doing a back-to-back basically after a super physical Georgia game, and, for 40 minutes, I think you saw the legs come out a little bit on some of our 3-point shooting.”
Brennan not backing down
The overall play of 6-foot-10 Brennan has been a bright spot since his return from a shoulder injury that caused him to miss the first four games.
Brennan had 13 points on 5 of 6 shootings and pulled down seven rebounds against Louisiana Tech. He got big man Daniel Batcho to pick up two fouls and head to the bench after Louisiana Tech jumped out to a 13-2 lead.
GCU pulled ahead of Louisiana Tech late in the first half, but that couldn’t be sustained, as Batcho returned and finished with 19 points and seven rebounds without picking up another foul. Sean Newman Jr., had his season-average nine assists to go with 25 points.
Brennan had 10 points and eight rebounds against a big Georgia team that blocked nine GCU shots. Earlier this season, Brennan played well in the 78-71 Stanford win with 14 points and eight rebounds, going against Maxime Raynaud (29 points, 11 rebounds).
Georgia center Somto Cyril had 12 points, eight rebounds and five blocks against GCU.
“We’ve played three really good centers so far, and you look at those, and they’re as good as any center in the country,” Drew said. “Hopefully, we’re done playing that size and length for a while.
“Obviously, Saint Louis (Sunday’s home opponent) has a good center (Robbie Avila) but he’s a different kind of center. This stuff is going to make us better. It’s going to make our bigs better, our guards better, finishing, and also show what we need to work on in practice to get better.”
Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. He also covers Grand Canyon University athletics and the Arizona Rattlers. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
Georgia
Updated ACC Baseball Standings: Georgia Tech Stays at the top After Sweeping Wake Forest
The college baseball season is gearing up for the final stretch before the conference tournaments begin and then NCAA regionals. Heading into that final stretch, Georgia Tech remains the team to be beat in the ACC. The Yellow Jackets rebounded from their series loss to North Carolina by run ruling No. 5 Georgia and then sweeping Wake Forest.
Georgia Tech is on top but how does the rest of the conference look?
Updated ACC Standings (as of 4/26)
1. Georgia Tech (19-5 ACC, 36-7 Overall)
2. North Carolina (17-7, 36-8-1)
3. Boston College (33-14 overall, 16-8 ACC)
4. Miami (32-12, 12-9)
5. Florida State (12-9, 29-14)
6. Virginia (29-16, 12-12)
7. Pittsburgh (28-14, 10-11)
8. NC State (27-16, 10-11)
9. Louisville (26-18, 10-11)
10. Stanford (21-19, 10-11)
11. Wake Forest (28-17, 11-13)
12. Virginia Tech (22-20, 11-13)
13. Duke (23-23, 9-15)
14. California (22-20, 7-14)
15. Notre Dame (19-20, 8-16)
16, Clemson (26-19, 6-15)
Convincing sweep
It was not always pretty, as Georgia Tech trailed early in every game of this series, but they were able to overcome that and get the sweep at home agianst a Wake Forest team that had been playing well.
The Yellow Jackets have swept four ACC series this season for the first time since 2011 and three-straight home ACC series for the first time since 1997.
The Jackets secured their 7th overall series sweep of the season, the most since 2010, still with three more weekend series on the schedule.
GT has won 13 straight home games for the first time since 2010 (17 straight) and has won 14 straight games in the state of Georgia.
The Jackets are 25-2 at Mac Nease Baseball Park this season, the best 27-game home record since 2002.
Drew Burress recorded his fifth straight multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with a two-run HR, a single and a walk. His five-game streak with multiple hits matches the longest such streak of his career as he extends his hit streak to six games.
He hit his eighth HR of the season in the first inning, it was his 52nd career home run, tying him with Andy Bruce (1988-91) for the 4th most in program history. He is now three homers away from tying Tony Plagman (2007-10) for the third-most and five away from Jason Varitek’s record (57) set back in 1994.
He has scored 59 runs this season, the most on the team. Burress has scored 209 runs over his career, the 10th most in program history and four away from Tony Plagman (2007-10) for the ninth most.
Burress has now delivered 63 hits this season, the second most on the team behind only Advincula.
This was his 21st multi-hit game of the season, tied for the second most on the team, behind Advincula’s 26.
Up next for Georgia Tech is a midweek contest at Kennesaw State and then a home series against Xavier.
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Georgia
A fast-growing Georgia wildfire tops 31 square miles, with evacuations possible
NAHUNTA, Ga. (AP) — One of two large wildfires in southeastern Georgia continues to grow and now exceeds 31 square miles (80 square kilometers), officials reported Sunday.
The Highway 82 Fire has been burning since April 20 and as of Saturday had destroyed at least 87 homes. On Sunday morning, officials said it was only 7% contained.
Highway 82 in Brantley County is about 35 miles (56.3 kilometers) north of the state line with Florida.
“The fire basically doubled last night in size,” Brantley County Manager Joey Cason said Sunday in a Facebook post. “It is a dynamic fire event that will be impacted by the wind.”
Wind gusts of about 15 mph (24.1 kph) were expected Sunday.
Cason also said evacuation notices could be issued Sunday and that residents should heed them.
“We had folks that did not evacuate and they almost got caught by that fire,” he added. “It’s going to be another potential bad fire day as the winds pick up later in the day.”
A second fire about 70 miles (110 kilometers) to the southwest in Clinch and Echols counties, near the Florida state line, had burned more than 46 square miles (121 square kilometers), destroyed at least 35 homes and only was about 10% contained as of Saturday. That blaze was started by sparks from a welding operation.
The Highway 82 fire was started by a foil balloon hitting live power lines. That created an electrical arc that ignited combustible material on the ground.
More crews were expected to arrive Sunday and Monday to help battle it, Cason said.
“There’s a ton of assets that are being poured into this fire to, hopefully, get it under control or get it out,” he said. “This whole situation is heartbreaking.”
Updated figures on homes damaged or destroyed by the blaze were not immediately available Sunday afternoon, said Susie Heisey, spokeswoman with the Southern Area Incident Management Team.
“Our firefighters worked so hard and had so much success in protecting structures and private homes, but there also were losses,” Heisey said.
Due to the ongoing fire, investigators can’t be sent in yet to assess damages, she added.
Firefighters have been battling more than 150 other wildfires in Georgia and Florida that have sent smoky haze into places far from the flames, triggering air quality warnings for some cities.
An unusually large number of wildfires are burning this spring across the Southeast. Scientists say the threat of fire has been amplified by a combination of extreme drought, gusty winds, climate change and dead trees still littering some forests after being toppled by Hurricane Helene in 2024.
In northern Florida, Nassau County Sheriff’s Office volunteer firefighter James “Kevin” Crews died Thursday evening after he suffered an unspecified medical emergency while suppressing a brush fire. No fire deaths or injuries have been reported in Georgia.
Georgia
Carolina Panthers, Georgia Tech QB Haynes King agree to free-agent contract: Source
The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Carolina Panthers and Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King agreed to an undrafted free-agent contract at the conclusion of the 2026 NFL Draft. The deal includes $250,000 in guaranteed money, according to a league source.
King was known for being a human wrecking ball of a quarterback, putting his body at risk for the team’s sake, with the endorsement of his coaches. It worked great in college, turning Georgia Tech from a losing program to a Top-25 team. He passed for 2,951 yards and ran for 953 in his final season, finishing second among power-conference quarterbacks in rushing touchdowns with 15.
But it would be a very hard style to replicate in the NFL. King, at 6-foot-2 and 212 pounds, does have good throwing abilities, averaging 9.9 yards per attempt over his three seasons as Georgia Tech’s starter. So his overall passing numbers may have been higher if he didn’t run it so much (520 carries over those three years.)
King is also 25, after six years in college (three at Georgia Tech, three at Texas A&M), so he’s not much of a developmental guy. But his skill set is so unique, and his intangibles so good, that he offers intrigue on the pro level.
‘The Beast’ breakdown
King ranked No. 231 overall, and as the No. 9 quarterback, on Dane Brugler’s top 300 big board. Here’s what Brugler had to say about him in his annual NFL Draft guide:
“King needs to see things much clearer and faster to make it at the NFL level, but his competitive toughness, dual-threat skill set and diligence as a worker give him a chance to become an NFL backup.”
How he fits
Dan Morgan started the offseason by saying the Panthers would be open to bringing in backup quarterbacks who could make plays with their arms and their feet. Enter King, who in 2024 became the first player to finish with at least 2,000 passing yards and 10 or more TD passes, with a 70 completion percentage and two or fewer interceptions. King then topped it by winning the ACC Player of the Year in 2025, finishing as the only Power 4 quarterback with five games of 100-plus yards both passing and rushing.
Depth chart impact
King will start at the bottom of what is suddenly a crowded quarterback depth chart after the Panthers traded Andy Dalton and brought in Kenny Pickett, Will Grier and King. Pickett is the clear No. 2, while King will compete for the third spot with Grier, a third-round pick of the Panthers in 2019 who returned to his hometown team this week. Starting with the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, King will be fun to watch in preseason games, which often feature younger quarterbacks scrambling for big plays.
Fast evaluation
Because of King’s skill set and what Morgan said in January, I had him coming to Carolina in the sixth round in my last Panthers mock. Canales doesn’t like to use Young on quarterback sneaks. That could be a role for the 6-2, 211-pound King in a Taysom Hill-type package. The Panthers value versatile players across their roster. Now they have one at quarterback.
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