Georgia Tech Basketball: How Did That Robert Carter Jr. for Charles Mitchell Trade Work Out?

During the offseason of 2014, Robert Carter Jr. walked into the front office of Georgia Tech and demanded a trade.

Georgia Tech said to him that if he can find a team that would be willing to do business, they would accommodate him.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets /

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Carter’s agent made some calls and the University of Maryland said they would do a straight up swap, sending their power forward Charles Mitchell to Georgia Tech for Robert Carter Jr., knowing the condition that Carter would not be able to play upon arrival.

Georgia Tech said “we have a deal only if Mitchell would be able to play immediately”.

Maryland really is not in control of that, so the Yellow Jackets had to take it up with the league office and the NCAA said Mitchell could play immediately.

The trade was consummated and everyone went on their way.

Maryland post trade went on to finish second in the Big 10 and got an at-large-bid in the NCAA tournament while Georgia Tech finished 12-19 and was eliminated in the first round of the ACC Tournament.

Okay, it was not necessarily a trade that brought Charles Mitchell to The Flats, and Robert Carter Jr. did not demand a trade. I mean come on, it is college!

But with Robert Carter Jr. transferring to Maryland and not being eligible to play until the 2015-16 season, and Charles Mitchell transferring to Georgia Tech so he could be closer to his ailing grandmother, it looked like a trade on paper.

So how did this virtual trade work out for everyone?

Charles Mitchell brought his hard hat and lunch pail to the court every game. He was the second leading scorer and top rebounder for the Yellow Jackets in 2014-15 with averages of 9.8 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 52.1% from the field.

His game at the power forward spot was totally different from Robert Carter Jr.’s in that Mitchell did not have the ability to stretch out to the three-point land.

Mitchell was a banger in the block. His purpose was to get entry passes and use his 6-foot-8, 269 pound frame to bull his way to front of the rim, or attack the offensive glass and get put backs.

He finished the season with seven double-doubles, scored in double-figures 15 times, and grabbed double-digit boards eight times.

When linked up with Demarco Cox down in the block this year, there were a lot of pros, but also some cons.

While Georgia Tech was able to outrebound a lot of their opponents because of the Mitchell/Cox tandem, there were disadvantages as far as the lack of spacing the offense would have playing with them both on the floor.

Playing high/low with the two of them consistently was slightly difficult also because neither one was really consistent knocking down a mid-range shot and defenses could kind of sag back in the paint to take away a pass in the paint.

Regardless of the downside, no one can deny the production and the muscle they brought to the painted area.

Charles Mitchell will be back for the 2015-16 season to build on what he accomplished this past season.