Georgia coach Dennis Felton gained a hug from an old high school teammate. Then he saw a friend from college. Then another. The Bulldogs coach is the local favorite when the NCAA Tournament begins today at Verizon Center.
Felton played at Surrattsville High in Clinton with Rick Moreland, an All-Met center who’s now a vice president at Verizon. The two met on the court’s edge Wednesday as Moreland started the line of well-wishers. Felton played two years at Prince George’s Community College and two more at Howard University where teammate Mike Jones is now his assistant along with former Navy coach Pete Hermann, who developed David Robinson.
Verizon wasn’t built when Felton began a long coaching resume that includes Oxon Hill High, College of Southern Maryland, Delaware, Tulane, St. Joseph’s, Clemson and Western Kentucky. Yet, the building offered some familiarity of home.
“It makes it a little more special [to play in Washington] plus I love the city of D.C.,” Felton said. “I don’t deal with tickets. I never did. I’m smarter than that. But as I rise the coaching ranks I hear more and more from people I haven’t heard from in years. When things like this happen, people come out of the woodwork.”
Maybe Felton will become the next Tubby Smith, a Southern Marylander who coached Kentucky to the 1998 national crown. In a subregional with the sexiness of Nancy Pelosi, Felton’s Bulldogs are certainly ones to watch.
Georgia is a slight underdog to Xavier in the opening round. Big deal. No one thought the Bulldogs would even make the tournament. They won four games in the SEC tournament after going 4-12 in conference play. Two victories came in overtime. Two fell on the same day after a tornado postponed one game.
The Bulldogs rode that whirlwind all the way to Washington.
“We’re still riding the emotion of the last week,” said Georgia center Dave Bliss. “I just hope that fatigue of four games in three days doesn’t start catching up with us.”
Georgia’s season was nearly scuttled at the start when two players were dismissed over academics. The scramble lasted all season. The Bulldogs entered the conference tournament with a losing mark, bringing whispers of Felton’s possible ouster.
But, Georgia emerged the conference tournament champ over national title contenders Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Felton bought himself at least another year, maybe two, before the boo-birds return.
Who knows — a pair of wins at Verizon might even bring a welcome home parade to Athens, Ga.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
