Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Overall Rank: #80
Conference Rank: #9 ACC
2010-11: 13-18, 5-11
2010-11 postseason: none
Coach: Brian Gregory (First year at Georgia Tech, 172-94 overall)
Georgia Tech did a pretty good job of bringing in talent during the Paul Hewitt era, but rarely did that talent stick around very long or perform up to their expectations. Coach Brian Gregory steps into a pretty tough situation, but this is a program that can win games. It may take a little time to get the Yellow Jackets back to the NCAA Tournament, but Coach Gregory can get the most out of his players. And he will need to get a lot out of Kammeon Holsey and Daniel Miller. This is a team that is lacking in size in a big way and those two will have to step up their game. Holsey, a 6-8 sophomore, showed some potential during his freshman campaign, but averaged less than 15 minutes per contest. Miller started all 31 games at center and he is a big bodied player who can eat up space in the paint, but he is not much of a scorer. At least he can block some shots, but his all-around game needs to improve with a year of experience under his belt. Sophomore Nate Hicks could work his way into the regular rotation as well after seeing limited action as a freshman.
Who’s Out:
The backcourt loses its star player in Iman Shumpert. He led the team with 17.3 points, 3.5 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 2.7 steals. While his scoring will certainly be missed, it is the fact that he led the team in rebounding that is the biggest concern. Maurice Miller, a fellow starting guard, and Lance Storrs add to the questions in the backcourt, but there are plenty of guards to go around on this team. The transfer of Brian Oliver will hurt more. After averaging 10.5 points and 4.5 rebounds, Oliver would have likely been relied upon heavily at the power forward position. He was more of a shooter, although not a particularly good one, than a bruiser under the basket, but he was a player who could score and had enough size to play the four spot.
Who’s In:
With Oliver gone, freshman Julian Royal will be asked to play a big role on this team and that should not be a problem. The 6-7 Alpharetta, Georgia product plays a lot bigger than 6-7. He has a huge wingspan and should team up nicely with Daniel Miller under the basket on the defensive end. Royal can score inside and out, but he will have trouble against stronger ACC opponents on both ends of the floor until he gains some strength. Brandon Reed led Arkansas State in scoring two years ago with 15.1 points per game and opted to try his luck in the ACC. Reed will be the best shooter on the team right away, which is not saying too much, but he should be able to provide a nice scoring punch off of the bench.
Who to Watch:
Mfon Udofia, Glen Rice Jr. and Jason Morris should form a solid starting backcourt. With Reed in the mix, the backcourt has the potential to be better than they were last year with Shumpert. Udofia will take over the point guard duties and that is what he needs to concentrate on this year. He is not a great scorer and he does not need to be on this team. Rice Jr. is the scorer of the group. While he actually shot over 30 percent from beyond the arc, Rice Jr. still needs to use his size to attack the basket more often and leave the outside shooting to Reed and Morris. Morris had a fine freshman campaign last year and turned into the shooter off the bench. Yet, unlike some of the other players on this team, Morris mixed up his game and was a consistent shooter and a dynamic scorer. Granted he did not play too much, but he is oozing potential.
Final Projection:
With Coach Gregory on board, there is no way the shooting should be as bad as it was last season. Shumpert, Oliver, Udofia and Storrs all shot under 30 percent from beyond the arc. And in most of those cases they took a lot of shots. Shumpert took 4.9 three-pointers per game and connected on an abysmal 27.8 percent of those attempts. Oliver took 5.7 three’s and failed to reach the 29 percent mark. Nobody should take five three-pointers per game and shoot below 30 percent. There is just no reason to jack up bad shots like that on such a consistent basis. Coach Gregory knows this and this team could be surprisingly good with some guidance and better decision making.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NIT
Projected Starting Five:
Mfon Udofia, Junior, Guard, 6.7 points per game
Glen Rice Jr., Junior, Guard, 12.8 points per game
Jason Morris, Sophomore, Guard, 6.0 points per game
Julian Royal, Freshman, Forward, DNP last season
Daniel Miller, Sophomore, Center, 4.4 points per game
Madness 2011 Recruit Ranking:
#55 Julian Royal
#142 Bobby Parks, Jr.
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