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LOCATION: Atlanta, GA
CONFERENCE: Atlantic Coast (ACC)
LAST SEASON: 15-16 (.483)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 6-10 (5th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 0/5
NICKNAME: Yellow Jackets
COLORS: White & Gold
HOMECOURT: Alexander Memorial Coliseum (10,000)
COACH: Bobby Cremins (South Carolina '70)
record at school 341-220 (18 years)
career record 441-290 (24 years)
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ASSISTANTS: Kevin Cantwell (UNC Asheville '73)
Willie Reese (Georgia Tech '89)
Mark Price (Georgia Tech '86)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 18-24-9-19-15
RPI (last 5 years) 52-11-101-57-65
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in NIT first round.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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With five returning starters and five newcomers, Bobby Cremins might seem to have reason to be optimistic for his team to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years. But, like last year, the story for the Yellow Jackets could be the sad tale of what might have been. For the second year in a row, the Jackets will be without shooting guard Dion Glover, who missed all of last season after tearing up his knee in the first practice of the year, then decided to head to the NBA. Glover seemed to have second thoughts about his decision, but when he was picked No. 20 in the draft by the Atlanta Hawks, he eagerly signed a three-year, $2.3 million contract. Cremins was happy for Glover, whose family will get a financial boost because of his decision, but he was miffed about the recruiting ramifications of Glover's pre-draft flip-flop. The Jackets lost out on at least one guard recruit because he thought Glover's return would create a crowded backcourt. That leaves the Yellow Jackets with a strong inside presence of senior forward Jason Collier and junior center Alvin Jones, but little in the way of perimeter scoring, which was their downfall last year. Of the five newcomers, two are lightly regarded transfers who sat out last year and three are freshmen, none of whom were ranked among the top 100 high school recruits from last year. Hanging in the balance, of course, is Cremins' career at Georgia Tech.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C BENCH/DEPTH C
FRONTCOURT B+ INTANGIBLES B
If Glover had come back, the Yellow Jackets might have been a lock for the ACC's upper division. But his absence, plus Cremins' failure to land a big-name recruit, means the Yellow Jackets may struggle to get there this year. Still, only North Carolina can match Tech's frontcourt size, and the middle of the ACC is very much up for grabs. The Yellow Jackets have enough talent to make the NCAA Tournament. Next year, however, the cupboard will be bare, especially if Jones decides to leave early for the NBA. With few prospects waiting in the wings, Cremins needs to have one of his best recruiting efforts ever to restock. The addition of Price, the long-time NBA all-star, should help on that front. Otherwise, Cremins' future at Tech could be limited. |
There have been rumblings about the recent lack of success and a rift between Cremins and second-year athletic director Dave Braine. Cremins, disappointed by his team's absence from the Big Dance, understands those rumblings. "In our business, there is always going to be talk," said Cremins, Georgia Tech's all-time winningest coach who has led his team to three ACC Championships. "My focus is on getting this team back together. I am not going to be focusing on that other stuff. That's the nature of the business and I totally understand it." At the same time, he feels comfortable about his future. "I can stay at Georgia Tech for the rest of my life," Cremins said. "It has been difficult lately, but I love Georgia Tech and I am up for the challenge." Nevertheless, Cremins did make some changes to his program, revamping his coaching staff immediately after last season ended. His director of basketball operations, Frank Beall, left the team to go into private business, opening the door for Cremins to move Gary Leiner into that position. He then hired former Tech star Mark Price, who retired from his All-Star NBA career in February, to be an assistant coach. When Dereck Whittenburg, who had been with Cremins for five years, became head coach at Wagner College, Cremins found another former Tech player, Willie Reese, to fill that opening. "I am really excited about having two of my former players coach for me," Cremins said. He should also be excited about the return of one of the ACC's best frontcourts, with Collier and Jones. After becoming eligible in December, 7-0, 250-pound Indiana transfer Collier (17.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 36 assists, 34 blocked shots) was a scoring machine inside. The power forward tied Duke's Elton Brand for the highest scoring average in conference games at 18.8, which helped earn him a spot on the All-ACC second team. He was still a little soft, even by ACC standards, to be a dominant inside player, but there was little doubt that he could score, even from the wing. Twice he hit four three-pointers in games and he shot .366 percent from beyond the arc. The 6-11, 265-pound Jones (12.7 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 53 assists, 107 blocked shots) is a masterful shot blocker who improved his rebounding by 50 percent last year. Jones is already Tech's career leader in blocked shots and No. 8 on the all-time ACC list after only two years. He averaged 3.5 blocks last season, tops in the league and sixth in the country. One foundation crack in the Towers is the stability of Jones' left ankle. He sprained it late in the season and it hampered him through the summer. He did not accept an invitation to try out for the USA Basketball trials in the spring because of it. At the other forward the weakest spot on Tech's roster 6-7, 226-pound junior Jon Babul (5.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg) returns in the starting lineup, but Cremins is hoping he will be pushed by freshman Clarence Moore. Newcomer Michael Isenhour, a transfer from Air Force who sat out last season, returns home to provide depth for the Jackets. The 6-8, 235-pound sophomore (1.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg at Air Force) is from nearby Lawrenceville, Ga. In the backcourt, the Yellow Jackets still don't have anybody with the explosive scoring potential of Glover. Sophomore point guard Tony Akins (11.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 148 assists, 44 steals) had a decent debut after winning the starting position, leading all ACC freshmen in assists, but that's mainly because the Yellow Jackets had few other options at the point. The 6-0 Akins was fourth in the ACC in minutes. Junior T.J. Vines, aptly nicknamed "The Midget," gives defensive help off the bench, but he seems to be a better shooting guard than point, where he started the first 10 games of the season. As the season wore on, the 5-10, 194-pounder was smoking from the perimeter. In his last nine games, he hit 14 of 23 three-point shots and finished first in three-point field goal shooting in ACC games only at 49 percent. For the second year in a row, 6-6 senior Jason Floyd (13.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg) will start at shooting guard. He became a starter when Glover went down and was one of three Tech players who were in the ACC's top seven in minutes played. Floyd is obviously not the scorer Glover was, though he did score 31 points twice last year. But he only scored in double figures in six of Tech's last 10 regular-season games. He got some relief from 6-3 senior Darryl LaBarrie (3.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg), who came off the bench in his first year with the team after transferring from Florida A&M. Also at shooting guard is 6-3 junior Shaun Fein (19.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 4.8 apg at Stonehill College), whom Cremins called "a sleeper." But Fein transferred in from Division II Stonehill College in Easton, Mass., and those who have seen him play are not kind in their comparisons to current ACC players. The Yellow Jacket recruiting class is admittedly weak; Tech was one of only two ACC schools shut out in the early signing period. Cremins went scrambling to find one great impact player, but never found what he was looking for. The strongest addition will likely be Moore, a 6-6, 210-pound freshman (28.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.1 bpg at South LaFourche High School/Galliano, La.). He's a lefty who mostly played inside as a high school player, but he's a little small to play there in the ACC. Moore is athletic enough and has enough skills to play on the wing, where the Yellow Jackets need the most help. Moore played out of position in high school, but was still a three-time all-state selection and the state's most valuable player in high school. South LaFourche won the state 5-A title in 1998 and was a finalist in 1999. "He is the best looking freshman we have," Cremins said. "He is a very good athlete." The rest of the recruiting class, including Moore's high school teammate Ross Chouest, is suspect at best. The 6-2 Chouest (16.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.7 apg as a senior) is a shooting guard who plays smart, but recruiting analysts believe he doesn't have the athletic ability or skills on the level of an ACC player. But Moore and Chouest have a special bond that made their arrival in Atlanta look like a package deal. The two became especially close during their junior year, when Moore's mother died and he became an adoptive member of the Chouest family. The two looked at different schools and often made separate visits. Cremins, however, reportedly liked what he saw in Chouest during the state playoffs. South LaFourche won the 5-A state title when the two players were juniors and was runnerup during their senior season. Finally, the Jackets' other new face is 6-8, 225-pound freshman Alex Luyk (10.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.0 bpg at McGill-Tollen HS/Mobile, Ala.), whose father, Clifford, was a standout at Florida and a member of his native Spanish National Team. Alex was also born in Spain, but he spent the final two and a half years of high school in Alabama. Luyk never scored more than 14 points in a game, though he was hampered during his senior season with a dislocated knee in the preseason. His most obvious contributions to a 25-7 team that reached the final eight of Alabama's highest classification was that he set good screens. Even Cremins admits that Luyk is a project who will likely be redshirted. The coach figures he will benefit from a year of banging around with Collier and Jones.
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