Georgia Tech men’s basketball: Looking to the future

John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Head coach Brian Gregory has been at the helm of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets basketball program for three seasons now, and has compiled an overall record of 43-52 (.453), with a 16-36 (.308) record in the ACC. Not the worst numbers ever, but probably not what Tech was hoping for when the brought Gregory on board in 2011.

Since taking the program over after former coach Paul Hewitt‘s ouster, Gregory has yet to reach a postseason tournament. In fact, the Jackets have not even been in contention for an NCAA Tournament bid since Hewitt’s last season in 2010.

With his third season coming to a close, Gregory is reaching the point in his tenure on the Flats where he will have to start showing some results and progress. He is going to have to show that he is worthy of staying in charge of the Yellow Jackets basketball future.

Now granted, the injury bug totally plagued his team in this 2013-14 season. Any prospects of the Jackets making a postseason push on the simple merit of wins and losses were kind of left scattered in emergency rooms and operating tables across the greater Metro Atlanta Area. Losing Travis Jorgensen, Robert, Carter Jr, Jason Morris and Trae Golden for large blocks of time (or a season) definitely put a damper on things.

However, when you look at the Jackets squad going forward, does Gregory have any players or talent in the cupboard that make an fans feel like things are on the rise at Tech?

Trae Golden, Kammeon Holsey, and Daniel Miller will all be graduating, and will leave some big holes. This leaves Quinton Stephens, Chris Bolden, Marques Georges-Hunt, Robert Carter Jr., and Travis Jorgensen as your most experienced players for the 2014-15 season, and possibly as your starting five. Corey Heyward will still be in the fold as well. That is pretty much going to be your core going forward into next season.

You then have to factor that Gregory is going to have to recruit a big man to replace Daniel Miller, with one prospect already coming to the Yellow Jackets, in 6-foot-10, 220 pound Center, Ben Lammers out of San Antonio, TX. Lammers is a 3-star recruit according to ESPN, Scout 247, and Rivals, and some publications have him coming in to be a starter in the middle right away.

Gregory also has another guard coming to Tech in 6-foot-2, 200 pound, Tadric Jackson from Tifton, Georgia. He is a 4-star recruit according to ESPN, Scout 247, and Rivals. Scouts feel that Jackson is a dynamic player and could give Jorgensen a run at his projected starting position as soon as he hits the campus. If there is one thing that Tech needs, it is a dynamic player, particularly at the 1-guard spot.

Coming into his fourth season, Gregory will be surrounded by only players he has recruited. There can be no excuses of trying to build a house with scraps left by someone else.

Gregory is a solid coach that really has shown that he can get great effort out of marginal players. If he could build with the returning pieces that he has and get his new players acclimated quickly, it is going to be interesting to see if there will be some improvement made. Tech fans are starving to see improvement in the program at this point, it needs to happen soon.

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