Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
University	Georgia Institute of Technology
Head coach	Brian Gregory (1st season)
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Arena	Alexander Memorial Coliseum ; (capacity: 9,191)
Nickname	Yellow Jackets
Colors	Old Gold and White;
Uniforms
NCAA tournament runner-up
	2004
NCAA tournament Final Four
	1990, 2004
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
	1960, 1985, 1990, 2004
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
	1960, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2004
NCAA tournament appearances
	1960, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010
Conference tournament champions
	1938 (SEC), ; 1985, 1990, 1993
Conference regular season champions
	1938, 1985, 1996

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball team represents the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in NCAA Division I basketball. The team plays its home games in Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Under the tenure of Bobby Cremins, Georgia Tech established itself as a national force in basketball. Bobby Cremins led his team to the first ACC tournament victory in school history in 1985 and in 1990 he took Georgia Tech to the school's first Final Four appearance ever.^[1] Cremins retired from Georgia Tech in 2000 with the school's best winning percentage as a head coach.^[1] Overall, the team has won 1,169 games and lost 1,026 games, a 53% win percentage.^[2]

History

Early years

Georgia Tech's first recorded official participation in basketball was in 1906,^[2] when a small club organized under Coach Chapman.^[3] They won two of the three games they played that season.^[3] The next time Tech had a basketball team, it was under the famous coach John Heisman, who also happened to be Tech's baseball and football coach. Heisman had a winning percentage of .142 that season and improved the team's percentage to .500 in 1912 and 1913.^[3]

Georgia Tech on the rise

Since that time, Georgia Tech has forged a solid basketball program on the strength of coaches like John Hyder and Bobby Cremins, and such players as Roger Kaiser, Rich Yunkus, Mark Price, Craig "Noodles" Neal, John Salley, Tom Hammonds, and Matt Harpring. Georgia Tech became a charter member of the Southeastern Conference in 1932 (the first season was in 1933) and won the conference title in 1938. Coach Hyder, whose teams won 292 games in twenty-two seasons, put the program on the national map when his 1955 team defeated Adolph Rupp's Kentucky team, ending the Wildcats' 129-game winning streak at home.

John Hyder era

The Yellow Jackets played their first NCAA tournament game in 1960. Coached by Hyder and led by all-American Kaiser, the team defeated Ohio University before losing in the second round to the eventual champion, Ohio State. Hyder continued to have strong teams in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1964, Georgia Tech's final season in the Southeastern Conference, the team went undefeated at home and was the conference runner-up. In 1971 the Yellow Jackets, led by Yunkus, reached the finals of the National Invitation Tournament but lost to the University of North Carolina.

Georgia Tech became a charter member of the Metro Conference in 1975 (the first season started in 1976), and then became the eighth member of the ACC in 1978 (the first season started in 1979). As of the 2007-08 season, the Yellow Jackets have won three ACC Men's Basketball Tournament championships and two regular season conference titles. Through 2007-08, Georgia Tech has received fifteen berths in the NCAA tournament, and seven of its teams have made it to the Sweet Sixteen.

Bobby Cremins era

The 1985 team, led by head coach Bobby Cremins and players Mark Price, Craig Neal, Bruce Dalrymple, and John Salley, won the school's first ACC championship and advanced to the final eight in the NCAA tournament. In the 1990 tournament, the trio of Kenny Anderson, Dennis Scott, & Brian Oliver (nicknamed "Lethal Weapon 3") carried the Yellow Jackets all the way to the Final Four, where they lost to eventual champion UNLV in the National Semifinals. In 1992, Cremins led an inexperienced Tech team to the Sweet 16, thanks in no small part to James Forrest's buzzer-beating game-winning 3-pointer in the second round against USC. The following year, the Yellow Jackets won the ACC Tournament.

Georgia Tech's nine consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament from the mid-1980s and the early 1990s accounted for the nation's fourth-longest active streak before it ended in 1994. In 1996, the team won the ACC regular-season championship and returned to the tournament behind future NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury. Cremins' nineteen-year tenure (1981–2000) stands as the team's most successful era. Cremins is Georgia Tech's all-time winningest coach and is third among all ACC coaches. Upon his retirement after the 1999-2000 season, his teams had won 354 games and lost 237 for a .599 winning percentage (Cremins would later come out of retirement to coach at the College of Charleston). The floor at Alexander Memorial Coliseum is named "Cremins Court" in his honor.

Paul Hewitt era

In 2000 head coach Paul Hewitt was hired away from Siena College and immediately helped to revitalize what had become a stagnant program in Cremins' final years. Georgia Tech experienced a Cinderella Season in 2004, earning the school's second Final Four appearance and first berth in the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship Game. The 2003-2004 team won the Preseason NIT, ended Duke's 41-game winning streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium, made it to the Final Four, and finished its season losing by only 9 points in the National Championship game to UConn. Notable players sent to the NBA under Hewitt include Chris Bosh, Jarrett Jack, Mario West, Luke Schenscher, Thaddeus Young, Javaris Crittenton, Will Bynum^[4] and Anthony Morrow. In back-to-back years (2008 & 2009), Hewitt also successfully recruited national top-10 high school prospects in Iman Shumpert and Derrick Favors. On March 12, 2011, Paul Hewitt was dismissed as the head coach of the Georgia Tech after 11 seasons, including three of the last four with losing records. Attendance and general fan interest was greatly diminished for the 2010-11 season, and as a result Georgia Tech failed to sell out a single home game in Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Georgia Tech finished 13-18 in Hewitt's final season, losing in the first round of the ACC Tournament.^[5]

Brian Gregory era

On March 28, 2011, it was announced that Gregory would become the 13th Georgia Tech head basketball coach, replacing Paul Hewitt. ^[6]

Coaches

Since the beginning of the Georgia Tech basketball program, it has had 12 head coaches. John Heisman and William Alexander were also head coaches for Georgia Tech's football and baseball teams.

Players

Many famous and talented players have played with the Yellow Jackets. Dennis Scott was the 1990 National Player of the Year and the 1990 ACC Player of the Year,^[7] Jarrett Jack was the 2005 Basketball Times All-South player,^[7] and Mark Price was the 1985 ACC Player of the Year.

The team has retired six numbers: Matt Harpring (15), Tom Hammonds (20), John Salley (22), Mark Price (25), Rich Yunkus (40), and Roger Kaiser (21).

Stadium

The Alexander Memorial Coliseum (also nicknamed "The Thrillerdome") is an indoor arena located in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the home of the Georgia Tech basketball teams and hosted the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association from 1968–1972 and again from 1997–1999. Tech's women's volleyball team occasionally uses the facility as well, primarily for NCAA tournament games and other matches that draw crowds that would overflow the O'Keefe Gymnasium.

References

^ ^a ^b "Bobby Cremins Retires as Tech Basketball Coach" (Press release). Georgia Institute of Technology. 2000-02-18. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
^ ^a ^b "Georgia Tech Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Georgia Tech Athletic Association. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
^ ^a ^b ^c Edwards, Pat (1998-02-06). "Ramblins - Tech has tradition of basketball excellence". The Technique. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
^ http://www.nba.com/playerfile/will_bynum/index.html
^ http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6209623
^ Doug Roberson at the Atlanta Journal Constitution http://blogs.ajc.com/georgia-tech-sports/2011/03/28/gregory-takes-tech-job/?cxntfid=blogs_georgia_tech_sports
^ ^a ^b "Georgia Tech Basketball History" (PDF). Georgia Tech Athletic Association. Retrieved 2007-05-19.

External links

Official website

[cremins-1] "Bobby Cremins Retires as Tech Basketball Coach" (Press release). Georgia Institute of Technology. 2000-02-18. Retrieved 2007-05-19.

[media-2] "Georgia Tech Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Georgia Tech Athletic Association. Retrieved 2007-05-19.

[bbtrad-3] Edwards, Pat (1998-02-06). "Ramblins - Tech has tradition of basketball excellence". The Technique. Retrieved 2007-05-20.

[4] ttp://www.nba.com/playerfile/will_bynum/index.html

[5] ttp://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6209623

[6] Doug Roberson at the Atlanta Journal Constitution http://blogs.ajc.com/georgia-tech-sports/2011/03/28/gregory-takes-tech-job/?cxntfid=blogs_georgia_tech_sports

[history-7] "Georgia Tech Basketball History" (PDF). Georgia Tech Athletic Association. Retrieved 2007-05-19.

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v t e Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball
Venues	Heisman Gym (1938–1956) Alexander Memorial Coliseum (1956–2011) Philips Arena & Gwinnett Center (2011–2012) McCamish Pavilion (2012–present)
Culture & lore	Buzz Ramblin' Wreck "Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech" Georgia Tech Pep Band
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1905–06 1906–08 1908–09 1909–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball
Current teams	Boston College Eagles California Golden Bears Clemson Tigers Duke Blue Devils Florida State Seminoles Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Louisville Cardinals Miami Hurricanes NC State Wolfpack North Carolina Tar Heels Notre Dame Fighting Irish Pittsburgh Panthers SMU Mustangs Stanford Cardinal Syracuse Orange Virginia Cavaliers Virginia Tech Hokies Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Championships & awards	Regular season champions ACC men's basketball tournament Coach of the Year Player of the Year Rookie of the Year All-ACC 50th Anniversary Team
Conference challenges	ACC–SEC Challenge (2023–present) ACC–Big Ten Challenge (1999–2022)
Seasons	1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24