Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Overall Rank: #18
Conference Rank: #3 ACC
Georgia Tech Team Page
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, under the guidance of Head Coach MaChelle Joseph, have quietly built up a very strong, powerful program right in the heart of the city of Atlanta and have started to cement their spot among the elite in the rugged Atlantic Coast Conference. The Yellow Jackets head into this season with very high expectations of making another trip back to the Sweet 16 and beyond in 2012-13.
2011-12 Record: 26-9, 12-4
2011-12 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: MaChelle Joseph
Coach Record: 179-106 at Georgia Tech, 179-106 overall
Strengths:
The backcourt is led by junior Tyuanna Marshall, who was selected as a preseason first team all-ACC player by the league’s coaches. Marshall has a very dynamic balance of being difficult to stop offensively and defensively. She shot almost 45 percent from the floor in 2011-12 and also caused plenty of havoc defensively as she had 61 steals. Junior Dawnn Maye complements Marshall nicely with her experience and ability to cause turnovers. Maye had 80 steals last season to jumpstart the offense. The overall ability of the Yellow Jackets to force turnovers and defend the perimeter, as opponents only shot 26 percent from the three point arc in 2012, are absolutely huge keys to this team’s success. If they can push tempo regularly the opponent, no matter who, is in trouble.
Weaknesses:
The void left by Sasha Goodlet down in the low post is going to be very critical question for this Yellow Jacket team coming into the 2012-13 season. Goodlet was big athletic shot blocking presence that helped ignite the Georgia Tech transition game so successfully last season. Top candidates to try and fill that void include freshman Je Zhe Newton, who was one of the top ten rated post players nationally by ESPN HoopGurlz. Newton will need to come in and compete right away to get into the starting lineup and make her presence felt down in the low blocks to keep the perimeter game open for Marshall.
Final Projection:
The Yellow Jackets bring a very talented, driven squad into the 2012-13 season and they are looking for more than just the Sweet 16. The run last season was a great foundation setter for this team as they bowed out to a Baylor squad which was a team of destiny, running the table en-route to a national championship. The ACC is going to be very difficult this season with Final Four caliber teams Duke and Maryland loaded for a run to dethrone Baylor. However, Georgia Tech is ready for this as they arguably will have their best team in the Coach Joseph tenure to coincide with the opening of the McCamish Pavilion, the new state of the art home of both the Yellow Jacket men’s and women’s basketball programs. If the Yellow Jackets can get some scoring from either Maye or others to support Marshall, this team should easily average 70 plus points a contest and be a very difficult squad to deal with all season long. An early non-conference home game against Georgia will set the tone in positioning this team on the national landscape. At the end of the day, this Yellow Jacket team should be another second weekend team in the NCAA Tournament.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA
Projected Starting Five:
Tyuanna Marshall, Junior, Guard, 14.4 points per game
Dawnn Maye, Junior, Guard, 6.5 points per game
Aaliyah Whiteside, Freshman, Forward, DNP last season
Danielle Hamilton-Carter, Senior, Forward, 2.4 points per game
Je Zhe Newton, Freshman, Center, DNP last season
Madness 2012 Women’s Basketball Recruit Rankings:
#35 Aaliyah Whiteside
#48 Breanna McDonald
#73 Brittany Jackson
