Georgia Tech Basketball: Chris Bolden Not Returning To The Basketball Team Is No Surprise
If Georgia Tech hoop fans were completely honest, this is the shoe that everyone expected to drop at some point during the offseason.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Ken Sugiura reported in an ajc.com post that Yellow Jackets guard Chris Bolden will not return to the team for the 2015-16 season but will graduate.
Bolden is projected to graduate in December and should be eligible to transfer to any school he chooses from that point to play out his final year of eligibility on the basketball court as a graduate transfer.
He will finish his Georgia Tech career averaging 6.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists. He shot 35.4% from the field and 31.1% from three-point range over his three seasons at The Flats.
Everyone knows about Bolden’s suspension at the end of the 2014-15 hoop season where he was suspended for the final five games of conference play and the first ACC Tournament game against Boston College.
Turns out that if the Yellow Jackets had won their opening round game, Bolden’s suspension would have basically been extended and he would not have participated in the Jackets second round game.
This basically confirms what everyone thought when the suspension was first handed down; that Bolden was virtually kicked off the team.
Coach Brian Gregory said the decision to not have Bolden return next season was “in the best interest for the program and for Chris”, according to the Ken Sugiura piece.
No one can disagree with that explanation whatsoever.
Brian Gregory cannot afford to have the extra distractions surrounding his team going into 2015-16 anyway.
This upcoming season is going to have enough distractions and pressures as it is.
Between the disgruntled Tech fans wanting Gregory chopped from the head coaching spot, fans threatening to not show up to games because of the basketball teams’ failures, and the pressure of trying to right the wrongs of 2014-15, Bolden would have been extra baggage coming into this fall.
The Gregory/Bolden connection simply turned out to be a bad marriage.
At least Bolden will be able to get his degree which is the most important thing in this situation.