In the wake of a disappointing 13-18 record last season, former Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt was shown the door, to be replaced by Brian Gregory, who joined the Yellow Jackets from Dayton.
Gregory’s primary hopes for improvement can be found in the backcourt.
Glen Rice, Jr., a 6-foot-5 guard who was second on the team in scoring last season will have to pick up much of the production vacated by Iman Shumpert, who led the team in points, assists, rebounds and steals last season before being drafted by the New York Knicks.
Junior Mfon Udofia, a Georgia native, will join Rice in the backcourt and assume the point guard duties this season. Although he is not a strong shooter, making only 29.7 percent of his long-range attempts last season, he possesses outstanding quickness and will be trusted to run the offense for Gregory.
Gregory, who led Dayton to two NCAA tournament berths and a victory in the NIT Championship in 2010 over North Carolina, inherits a team with only one freshman, 6-foot-7 forward Julian Royal, who is the No. 69 recruit in the nation according to ESPN.com. Royal is an inside and outside threat who should jump into the Georgia Tech rotation immediately, helping to create matchup problems with his height.
Rice, Udofia and Royal should form a strong core for Gregory, but there is little in the way of depth. Their easy early-season schedule includes no ranked opponents, but they will have their work cut out for them to accumulate many conference wins once January rolls around.
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