Far removed from the days of Chris Bosh, and even Jose Alvarado, the state of Yellow Jacket basketball is not quite at the level it once was. Coming off of a 14-18 season, the expectations are once again fairly low for Damon Stoudamire’s team. They are losing two starters in Miles Kelly and Kyle Sturdivant, but are returning some promising young players, who will be key in Stoudamire’s ability to turn the program around in the upcoming seasons.

Returners:

Georgia Tech is returning 3 starters from last season, senior Kowacie Reeves Jr. and the sophomores Naithan George and Baye Ndongo. For a team that doesn’t have much hope to be an above average team in the ACC, they have some players I really like. George and Ndongo both came in as virtually unknown prospects last season, but burst onto the college basketball scene. Ndongo had his breakout game in the Yellow Jacket’s upset over Duke, where Baye had 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 blocks. George had his real breakout in a mid-January double overtime upset over Clemson, where he had 20 points and 6 assists, including the three pointer to send it to overtime with 2.6 seconds remaining. I expect these two to lead the team this year, and create a few more upsets. Reeves is an elite level shooter, at 38.3% from three last year, with over 4 attempts per game. He also provides a strong athletic presence from a wing on defense.

Those three are joined by somewhat of a wild card in Lance Terry. Terry redshirted last season with a calf injury, but showed signs of being a valuable offensive asset in the 22-23 season. Terry was a great shooter, at 38% on the year, and averaged 15.2 points per game in his last 5 games of the season. If he is back to his former self in his senior season, he could be a difference maker for the Yellow Jackets.

Transfers:

To pair with their young and upcoming stars, Stoudamire is bringing in a few veterans in the transfer portal. The most prominent of these are Javian McCollum and Luke O’Brien. McCollum is a volume scorer from Oklahoma who averaged 13.3 points and 3.4 assists last season. He has a 1.66 assist/turnover ratio, which will make him a strong secondary ball handler to pair with Naithan George. O’Brien is a grad transfer from Colorado who isn’t exceptional at anything, but is a solid all around player. He is a good rebounder and defender, who will be more of a minutes filler than anything else.

The other three incoming transfers are Duncan Powell, Ryan Mutombo, and Jalen Forrest. Forrest was unable to play last season due to a credits issue, but averaged 11.1 points per game at Presbyterian in the 22-23 campaign. The 6’4 guard is a physical player who draws a lot of fouls. He is in the 95th percentile of free throw attempts per game! He will be valuable guard depth for the Yellow Jackets in this season. Powell is a physical and athletic player who averaged 12.1 points and 7 rebounds per game at Sacramento St. last year. He is also a good interior passer, but at 6’8 without much ability to stretch the floor, he won’t be playing significant minutes this year. Finally, the son of NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo, Ryan. He has yet to play significant minutes at Georgetown, and in the time he has played, he has not looked good. He will probably not play any significant minutes for Georgia Tech.

Recruits:

The Yellow Jackets are also bringing in a very strong recruiting class, led by two top 100 commits from Overtime Elite (which is staged in Atlanta), Jaeden Mustaf and Darrion Sutton. Mustaf is a 6’4 guard who will play some solid minutes this year depending on the two players coming off of years without playing, Terry and Forrest. Sutton is a 6’8 lefty wing who can be an effective slasher and lengthy athlete off the bench. They are joined by two big men, Doryan Onwuchekwa and Cole Kirouac. Doryan has strong established inside skill, and could play as the backup big for GT. Kirouac is a 6’11 big but is less polished, and will likely play less in his freshman year.

Season Outlook

While I will be rooting for Georgia Tech this season, and I think they will provide some fun upsets or close games with top teams, I do not think that they will be much better, if better at all, than they were last season. I predict a bottom 5 finish in the ACC for the Yellow Jackets, and anything above that would be a definite step in the right direction. To be honest, Coach Stoudamire has to hope that Ndongo and George aren’t too good so that they come back next season, because with freshman developing, they could be in a much better situation.