High expectations for Georgia were overshadowed by off-field troubles as the Bulldogs held their first practice yesterday.

Coach Mark Richt fielded questions from reporters for about 45 minutes, most of them about players being arrested, dismissed or suspended since Georgia finished last season with a dominant victory over Hawai'i in the Sugar Bowl.

"The reputation of this team has been damaged, no question," Richt said. "I don't think it's beyond repair and I don't think the reputation has been ruined, but certainly it has taken some hits."

Yesterday, Richt announced backup linebacker Darius Dewberry was suspended for the first two games of the season, making him the sixth player to be suspended or dismissed from the team in the offseason.

On Saturday night, Richt announced the indefinite suspensions of two players — snapper Jeff Henson, following his second alcohol-related arrest, and safety Donavon Baldwin, who needed stitches after he was injured in a fight in Athens early Saturday.

The 236-pound Dewberry went to St. Mary's Hospital to check on Baldwin and another teammate, linebacker Marcus Dowtin, after both suffered cuts when hit with beer bottles at a fight in an Athens bar.

Dewberry broke a barrier on a control arm at the parking lot — with his hands, not his car — and also broke four plant pots.

The Bulldogs have 19 returning starters from an 11-2 team which finished No. 2 in the final AP poll, and already has been picked as preseason No. 1 in the USA Today/ Coaches' poll.

Richt said former Georgia defensive end Michael Lemon, dismissed from the team last month following an arrest for misdemeanor battery and felony aggravated battery, also was charged with underage drinking at the hospital this weekend.

Baldwin was arrested and charged with driving under the influence in January and already had been suspended for one game.

BRIEFLY

Coach Pat Summitt will donate $600,000 to the University of Tennessee to be shared by the Knoxville and Martin campuses. The donation will go to support the women's basketball programs at both campuses and includes a $100,000 endowed scholarship for a Lady Vols basketball graduate assistant. ... Police detained NBA star Paul Pierce in handcuffs during a weekend traffic stop on the Las Vegas Strip, but released him without issuing a summons. Pierce was handcuffed briefly after emerging "a little agitated" from a vehicle he was driving around 3 a.m. Sunday. Pierce was given field sobriety tests and a Breathalyzer, which registered below the legal limit. ... The Detroit Pistons have signed free agent center Kwame Brown, the overall No. 1 pick in the 2001 draft. Brown will be paid $4 million next season.