If going from worst to first is known as a "Cinderella" season, last year's Georgia Tech first-to-worst debacle must have been the "Revenge of the Evil Stepmother."
Two years ago, a cocky freshman named Stephon Marbury drove the lane and dished out assists like Halloween candy to the neighborhood kids, guiding the Yellow Jackets to the Sweet 16 and an unexpected first-place Atlantic Coast Conference finish.
But then Marbury bolted for the NBA, where he drives fast cars and dishes out autographs. And everyone asked the same question: Could Tech survive without its playmaker?
If a dead-last ACC finish (3-13) is any indication, the answer was no.
With only one proven scorer, Matt Harpring, Tech bumbled its way to a 9-18 overall record, its worst since Bobby Cremins arrived in Atlanta 16 years ago.
Marbury's backcourt replacements, fellow New Yorkers Kevin Morris and Gary Saunders, proved a lot of skeptics right when they failed to pick up the slack. They couldn't get the ball to Harpring or even hold on to it themselves. Saunders showed a penchant for forcing bad shots, and, try as he might, Morris just couldn't be the one thing Tech fans wanted most-Stephon Marbury.
Yellow Jacket fans weren't the only ones who took the losses hard last year. Harpring, often battling double- and triple-teams, suffered a nightmare of a junior season. The Atlanta native who had gone from unheralded freshman to hometown hero in just two seasons watched his team go down the tubes, along with perhaps his stock as an NBA lottery pick, as well. He yelled at teammates, referees, opponents-anyone who would listen.
"It was huge," Harpring said. "Everyone was frustrated, everyone was like, 'What's going on here?' We just didn't know. We were coming off a sophomore season where we went to the Sweet 16, and everything seemed so good. It's like, what happened?"
What happened was a volatile case of poor chemistry. Harpring clearly didn't get along with Morris and Saunders, and communication among the Yellow Jackets was nonexistent. Most experts had Harpring pegged to join Marbury in the NBA a year early.
"After last year, I thought there were a couple of crucial things that we needed to do," Cremins said. "Number one was I thought we needed to have an excellent recruiting class. And number two, we hoped that Matt Harpring would stay in school."
For the smooth-talking Cremins, recruiting was always the easy part; convincing Harpring to stick around was another story. Harpring made it clear that if certain teammates returned this year, he wouldn't.
So Cremins cleaned house. Gone are Morris and Saunders, both of whom found it in their best interests to transfer after private meetings with the coach. Filling the gaps left by the transfers and the graduation of center Eddie Elisma are freshmen-lots of freshmen.
Prized recruits Dion Glover and Travis Spivey are the latest bodies in Cremins' revolving-door backcourt. The high-scoring Glover should challenge for ACC Rookie of the Year honors, while Spivey becomes Tech's fourth point guard in four years.
The hyper-fast Spivey can run the floor as well as any guard in the ACC, but his shooting skills are not up to par with Marbury's. Nonetheless, everyone knows Spivey has one job: Get the ball to Harpring.
A two-time All-ACC selection, Harpring was the only player among the ACC leaders in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and three-point field goals. But he also led the league at 37.6 minutes per game. That number disturbs Cremins.
Harpring needs help, Cremins repeated over and over at this year's ACC preseason media day. One player alone cannot win in the ACC.
But the key may not be whether the freshmen on the perimeter can give Harpring enough help. The biggest hurdle for Tech to overcome in an increasingly physical conference may be replacing Elisma's inside presence.
The onus of that task falls squarely on the broad shoulders of talented but inconsistent senior Michael Maddox. Despite his intimidating build and soft shooting touch, Maddox has never averaged over 10 points per game in his Yellow Jacket career. If Tech stands a chance of turning around its worst ACC showing ever, Maddox needs to assert himself offensively and ease the offensive burden on Harpring.
Maddox's support in the paint is questionable at best. Sophomore Pablo Machado, at a skinny 6-foot-10, 224 lbs., and equally thin freshman Alvin Jones (6-foot-11, 220) give Tech a "Twin Toothpicks" front line that may get shoved around by the ACC's big boys. But either Machado or Jones will have to fill the fifth starting slot in Cremins' brand new lineup.
"This is the challenge for me," Cremins said. "I've made up my mind that this is what I want. I want to see Georgia Tech back and making [noise]. I'm going to do everything in my power to make it happen. If it does, wonderful. If it doesn't, then I'll go practice golf."
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