ACC Preview #6 - Georgia Tech
It’s still early but Damon Stoudamire has the Yellow Jackets on the road back to relevance.
- ACC Preview #1 - UNC
- ACC Preview #2 - NC State
- ACC Preview #3 - Wake Forest
- ACC Preview #4 - Virginia
- ACC Preview #5 - Clemson
So what did you think of Damon Stoudamire’s Georgia Tech debut last season? The Yellow Jackets finished at just 14-18. You might think, well, another former NBA player who thinks he can come into college and coach like Chris Mullins and Patrick Ewing.
That’s not the case with Stoudamire. Mighty Mouse has paid his dues.
Stoudamire, who played for Lute Olson at Arizona, started his coaching career at Rice as director of player development. He then took a job with the Memphis Grizzlies as an assistant under Lionel Hollins. Then he moved to the University of Memphis where he worked for Josh Pastner, whom he would later succeed at Tech.
He went back to Tucson for two years, then returned to Memphis for a year before taking the head coaching job at Pacific from 2016-2021. He then spent a couple of years working for Brad Stevens with the Boston Celtics before taking the Georgia Tech job.
His career winning (ok, losing) percentage is just .472, but keep that in context: he turned Pacific around right before Covid hit and that is not an easy job, and he’s just turned in one year with the Ramblin’ Wreck. But there are signs.
Last year, the Yellow Jackets memorably upset Duke and pulled off a double OT win over Clemson at Clemson. They also beat UNC. And hs team was notably more organized, aggressive and smarter than was Pastner’s.
He also has an interesting staff.
His lead assistant is Karl Hobbs, who had a solid decade at George Washington. He was also part of two national championship staffs at UConn, including the 1999 team that upset Duke.
Stoudamire also has two former NBA players on staff in Bonzi Wells and Tech legend James Forrest, and fellow former Yellow Jacket BJ Elder is on staff as well.
Nate Babcock has solid experience as a G-League assistant and Greg Gard has D-1 head coaching experience.
It’s a solid staff not least of all for players with NBA aspirations. And Tech has some of those now too, which we’ll get to in a moment. Let’s look at who’s gone first.
Kyle Sturdivant and Carter Murphy appear to be out of eligibility. Miles Kelly is at Auburn, which means he’s coming to Cameron this fall, Deebo Coleman is playing for Johnny Dawkins at UCF, Tafara Gape is at Maryland, Tyzhaun Claude recently announced for UNC, Ibrahama Sacko is off to New Mexico, Ebenezer Dowuona is at James Madison and Amare Abram hasn’t yet surfaced. He may be one of those guys who loses out in the portal game of musical chairs.
Those are almost all Pastner players and they’re replaceable and most coaches prefer to get their own guys in as soon as possible anyway. Wish granted!
Tech brings back five players and we believe the only Pastner holdover is Lance Terry. Otherwise, Tech returns Kowacie Reeves, Baye Ndongo, Naithan George and Ibrahim Souare, and that’s a pretty good base.
The 6-1 Terry is one of those guys who at times makes you check the roster - who is that guy? He’s a really smart point guard who will back up George again. Having a backup point that smart is a huge asset for anyone. He’s a senior now, which will also help.
Reeves transferred in from Florida and the 6-6 junior quickly became a key player for Tech, averaging 28.8 mpg and putting up 9.8 ppg.
Now the good stuff: Ndongo struggled at times as a freshman but his talent is very real. That guy has professional grade ability. He has to refine it, but he will get NBA interest. The 6-9 native of Senegal has a great motor and has the potential to be an All-ACC player. He was particularly devastating against Duke in Atlanta.
Ndongo put up 12.4 ppg and 8.2 rpg. Best case comparison: Maryland great Buck Williams, but he needs to get a bit more surly to get to that level.
George is a wonderful point guard. The 6-3 native of Canada showed a real flair for clutch play and had 4.7 assists to 2.1 turnovers as a freshman. He’s really good verging on special. His shooting isn’t that great yet but surely he’s been working on it. We love him and pairing him with Ndongo is perfect because he knows how to get the big guy the ball where he can use it.
Ibraham Souare is a 6-9 redshirt freshman. Nobody outside the program has seen him but Stoudamire says he’s a terrific rebounder.
Stoudamire brings in five transfers. The best of the lot is probably going to be Javian McCollum (6-2 senior) from Oklahoma. He’s likely to start and can play point too. He’s going to be good and pairing him with George gives Tech a backcourt with (wait for it) some sting.
Luke O’ Brien (6-8 senior) comes from Colorado and he’ll be in the mix and might start. He has a reputation as a smart player who probably won’t hurt you when he’s in and could excel. George knows how to get shooters the ball which will help O’Brien.
Duncan Powell (6-8/240) started at NC A&T before heading west to Sacramento State. He’s said to be a good passer and rebounder but not really a significant scorer.
This name should ring a bell - Ryan Mutombo, son of NBA great Dikembe. Ryan, who bears a strong resemblance to his famous father, followed his dad to Georgetown but he rarely played. Like his father, he’s 7-2 and he weighs 265. He could help Tech by locking down by lane. He’ll likely be Ndongo’s backup.
Jalen Forrest, son of James, plans to transfer from Presbyterian, but says his transcript got screwed up, so he’s off to South Plains JUCO for the fall semester to get the missing credits.
Tech also brings in four freshmen: 6-5 Jaeden Mustaf, 6-8 Darrion Sutton, 6-11 Doryan Onwuchekwa and Dyllan Thompson.
Mustaf is a Top 60 player from Maryland and he’s the son of former Maryland star Jerrod Mustaf. Turns out Mustaf and Stoudamire were teammates with the Grizzlies in 2005-06.
Duke had an unpleasant recruitment with the elder Mustaf, or rather his father, which turned out to be a blessing since Mustaf was a suspect in a Phoenix area murder. He was never charged but suspicions linger. The younger Mustaf could become a nice player and it should go without saying that whatever his father did or didn't do, he bears no responsibility.
Sutton (6-8/199) is athletic and promising but his shot is erratic. He’ll be an asset for Tech though because Stoudamire likes to run and he’ll be fun on the break.
Onwuchekwa (6-11/235) has reportedly lost 50 lbs. No matter how you cut it, that makes him a different player. He was a three-star in high school but now? We won’t know until we see him, but we know this: he won’t be dragging nearly 300 lbs. up and down the court. The guy must feel liberated. He’s from DeSoto Texas, by the way, the hometown of former Blue Devil Matt Jones.
Thompson is also from Texas, Sugar Land in his case. He’s still slender at 6-7 and 210, but he's got time to grow into his frame. He’s had coaching 24/7 his whole life: his mom, Tina, was a highly successful in the WNBA.
Cole Kirouac, a 6-11 center, committed to Tech but has opted for a year in prep school first.
This group will be interesting to watch as it develops. George and Ndongo are both terrific and now they should have help.
We got some sense of Stoudamire’s coaching strengths last season: he shows some Olson influences and while we didn’t notice any particular shine from Stevens, Stoudamire was with the Celtics for two years and surely picked up a lot.
Teams reflect their coaches and Tech did last season too, although with middling holdover talent. At its best, Stoudamire’s Yellow Jackets were tough, competitive and aggressive on both ends. As time goes on, he should start recruiting better talent from the region. Being in Atlanta is a huge advantage that Tech has for too long ignored.
For this season, Stoudamire has an intriguing blend of experience and youth. Our guess is that he’ll have them competitive again and will begin to push the better teams in the ACC.
We expect Georgia Tech to have a winning record and to hopefully push for an NCAA bid.
Transfers
- Javian McCollum - Oklahoma
- Luke O’Brien - Colorado
- Duncan Powell - Sacr. State
- Jalen Forrest - Presbyterian?
- Ryan Mutombo - GT
Gone:
- Miles Kelly - Auburn
- Kyle Sturdivant -
- Debo Coleman - UCF
- Tamara Gapare - Maryland
- Tyzhaun Claude - UNC
- Amare Abram - unknown
- Ibrahima Sacko - NM
- Carter Murphy -
- Ebenezer Dowuona - JMU
Back
Baye Ndongo
Lance Terry
Nathan George
Kowacie Reeves
Analyst Gives Realistic Expectations For Every Incoming Transfer for Georgia Tech Basketball