Think they might be the least sleeping giant in the ACC. If you told me to rank the likelihood of ACC programs to make a Final Four in the next 20 years Iād have them 14th or 15th (maybe ahead of BC) . They just donāt have enough non-STEM majors. UVA fans like to talk about not having any easy majors for football players but thatās really the case at Georgia Tech. They donāt even have things like sociology. Just going to get harder and harder to win there in this era
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GT would be a killer A-10 school.
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Just scanned their list of undergrad majors, and thereās a few in there that are probably āless challengingā than others. Maybe not UNC in the 90ās/early 2000ās easy, but stuff tutoring could get an athlete who wouldnāt normally go to GT through.
That said, couldnāt a kid just go undeclared if he knew heād only be in school a year or two anyway?
Do most A-10 starters play professionally? TBH I think they would be best at the highest level where kids donāt expect to play professional basketball
Probably but I donāt think undeclared at Georgia Tech is the same as undeclared at even other good ACC schools like UVA and Wake. Believe you are still going to be taking more math classes at the very least. Thereās a reason you donāt see many (any?) of Georgia Techās peer institutions in major conference sports. Pretty remarkable theyāve had any football or basketball success at all from the late 80ās on (or whenever you want to pinpoint the big money machine started churning in football and basketball). Probably only happened because their history cancelled out some of their huge disadvantages
I think in the A-10, you still have some chance of making it pro, or at a minimum doing well enough as an underclassman that you can transfer up to a power conference fairly seamlessly. VCU, Richmond, Daytonā¦ I think GT fits with those schools in terms of hoops potential and cachet. Obviously talking hoops only (football and other sports aside).
If the ACC gets gobbled up by the SEC, B1G and Big XII, GT may end up lumped with Duke and Wake having to head to the Big East and figuring out some sort of football alternative.
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Crazy how fast things change and possibly a lesson for the ACC fans, the A-10 used to put out pros just 15 yrs ago and now itās a stepping stone conference.
GT is absolutely a sleeping giant. They have had multiple runs in football and basketball in the last 30 years. yes the school is challenging but they have a long history of making exceptions to bring in athletes when the boosters are ready to lean in. It also helps they are in fertile recruiting grounds that they can poach the 2nd or 3rd tier instate guys in basketball or football and they are better than a lot of 1st tier instate guys in other states.
They have a fairly new AD (3ish years in) and heās hellbent on rebuilding the schools athletic programs. Iāve chatted with the assistant AD multiple times over the last couple years (our kids go to school together) and they have plans and want to make moves.
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Tbh Iām not talking about making admissions exceptions the way places like Michigan or Duke do. They donāt have humanities or social sciences. Or anything else along those lines. An exception for GT is extra tudors and maybe extensions for something like civil engineering but the kids still have to do the engineering courses
Iām sure everyone around the university and AD has great motivation to turn things around but unless they are going to create whole new schools (or at least departments) I donāt see them competing at the top (as in challenging for ACC or Big 12 or wherever they end up titles) of power conference football or basketball moving forward. Iām sure they can make bowl games and make 2-3 tournament appearances every 5 years. But not actually get to āgiantā status. Like I said in a previous reply, there is a reason you donāt see other schools like GT in major conference sports. GTās history allowed them to hold on longer than was otherwise feasible but I see no reason to forecast big success in the future unless they add some sort of new schools/departments
That being said, I think Stoudamire is a home run of a coach for them. Whatever their ceiling is weāll find out over the next 2-3 years because Damon is going to reach it
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It does look like most of their team majors in Business Administration or History, Technology, and Society (which is like their History/Sociology degree).
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Exactly they have plenty of business related and sociologyoptions (which is where GT is focusing on ad a whole)
Lets also be clear they only need to keep guys wligible and basically rent the top end guys for a year or 2. Any school that wants to do that can manage it with little effort.
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At the end of the day, if Scott Drew can do what heās done at Baylor then there is potential at every power conference school. I just donāt think GT is anywhere close to the most likely ACC school to be the next to become a top 15 program for a 5 year stretch. Or win the ACC. Or make a Final Four (guess having a definition of giant is also a point of contention). If you are looking for an ACC sleeping giant, the beyond obvious answer is Louisville. Unless they donāt count because they havenāt been down long enough (wouldāve been a protected seed the Covid year). IMO if you donāt count Louisville then the next obvious place is NC State. Have every thing they need if they can ever get the right coach in place
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Great point about the definition of giant. Part of why I lean in on GT is Iāve seen them top the mountain in football and basketball in my lifetime that Chris Bosh run doesnāt feel that long ago. Iād say Louisville hasnāt been down long enough although the last 2 yrs were horrible. You are right that they are a hire away from being competitive. Your logic on NC State makes sense but I canāt jump onboard given their history in my lifetime. I just dont see it coming together. Wake with their billionaire funder and alfred could be a boom bust candidate
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I think State had the right ideas with Keatts. Guy who had a different style from UNC and Duke plus ties to the region. Right idea. Just didnāt work out. It happens. But I think they need to stick with the āguy who can do more with less and has a distinctive styleā approach for their next hire. Donāt get caught up chasing after someone who will land 5 stars. Theyāll never match Carolina or Duke at that game
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If you gave TB this Virginia Tech team, they would have finished in 3rd placeā¦
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VT is so frustrating because they just rely on flopping and drawing charges so much despite little contact.
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Letās go Noles!!! Finish them!
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Some great bonehead mistakes back to back there with Baba stepping on the line while in-bounding and then Pedulla just throwing the ball right to FSU on the next inbound.
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Kinda torn on Mike Young because on the one hand he has owned us in Cassell but on the other hand heās the exact type of low upside coach you want your rival stuck with for years on end
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Iām sort of tired of these guys. Itās in our best interest for our rivals to be competitive. Conference needs guys who can win.
Saw a lot of people going āoh no I wish Kenny Payne was around for another yearāā¦ā¦ canāt feel that way and then bitch about our conference being disrespected.
Want the conference metrics to be better? Then root for fellow conference teams to figure it out. Thatās why Iām thrilled that GT and ND have likely found the guys for them.
(This isnāt directed at you, just a general rant)
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Thatās fine for literally any team except Virginia Tech. They can never win another game and it would be too much for me lol
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