This team preview is part of the RTC ACC microsite’s preseason coverage.
Burning Question: Can Georgia Tech build off of the momentum of the surprising success of Josh Pastner’s initial campaign in Atlanta?
It is not commonplace for an ACC team to consider an NIT appearance a radical overachievement, but given where we sat just one year ago today, a 21-16 overall record featuring eight ACC scalps and a trip to the NIT championship game made Georgia Tech the conference’s most pleasant surprise last year. With the stench of the disappointment of the five-year tenure of Brian Gregory still wafting about and a roster that on paper seemed bereft of ACC talent, Josh Pastner came to Atlanta facing a challenging rebuild. He entered the ACC after seven up-and-down seasons at Memphis with little expected in the maiden voyage, but his six-year contract upon arrival was indicative of Georgia Tech’s commitment to patience in the process.
Josh Okogie led the upstart Yellow Jackets to a surprisingly stellar season last year. (Georgia Tech Athletics)
After winning eight of its 12 games against the 304th-rated non-conference slate, the Yellow Jackets stunned the college basketball universe by opening league play with a 12-point drubbing of eventual National Champion North Carolina. Home wins over Florida State and Notre Dame soon followed, acting as a prelude to a postseason run in the NIT and allowing folks in Atlanta to reconsider just how patient they need to be with their new head coach. Versatile wing Josh Okogie was in many ways a microcosm of Pastner’s entire squad — an under-recruited three-star prospect who finished his freshman season with the third-most points in school history (behind only Kenny Anderson and Stephon Marbury). The long and athletic Okogie turned his first-year success into a roster spot on last summer’s USA U-19 squad, but the word is out on the sophomore — the key question now is whether he can make the necessary adjustment as the focal point of every opponent’s defensive game plan.
There to take on the responsibility of keeping the opposition honest are the broad shoulders of 6’10” senior Ben Lammers, who vaulted from a nice rotational piece as a sophomore to the league’s Defensive Player of the Year a season ago. Ranking third in the ACC in rebounding, fourth in field goal percentage, and 21st nationally in block percentage, Lammers’ campaign was as productive and complete as it was stunning. After scoring a total of 153 points during his first two years in Atlanta, Lammers exploded for a 14.2 PPG average as a junior. Southpaw Tadric Jackson — the runner-up for ACC Sixth Man of the Year — should also move into the starting lineup to support Okogie and Lammers this season. A gifted and multi-dimensional scorer, Jackson will need to improve on his career-best 32.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc to give his teammates more space to work in the lane.
The Yellow Jackets’ newcomers are highlighted by a pair of three-star recruits, Curtis Haywood II, a 6’5” wing who helped lead Brewster Academy to a national title in 2017, and 6’0″ New York City trigger man Jose Alvarado, who Tech fans hope can channel some of the point guard magic of Bobby Cremins’ wunderkinds a generation ago. Speaking of the legendary head coach, Pastner is certainly aware that success at Georgia Tech is still viewed through the high-water mark of Cremins from 1985 to 1993 — a nine-year window in which the Yellow Jackets went to the NCAA Tournament every season and advanced to four Sweet Sixteens and a Final Four. In the 24 years since, Tech has been back to the Big Dance a mere six times, with its 2004 trip to the National Championship Game under Paul Hewitt as an extreme outlier in what has otherwise been a disappointing stretch. So while patience was preached initially, Pastner has already re-energized the program to where the expectation in his second season and beyond is to play meaningful March basketball sooner than later.