Wreck Ramblin

Will Tech Frosh go pro?

DraftExpress spent the past few days at the Final Four in Atlanta and had the opportunity to pick the brains of dozens of players, coaches, scouts, agents and more to dig up the latest information available.

-Nearly everyone DraftExpress spoke to in Atlanta is hearing that Thaddeus Young will be leaving Georgia Tech for the NBA draft. Scouts, college coaches, and everyone else that has spoken with Young’s uncle (a judge, who will be running the process for his nephew Thaddeus) came away with the impression that the freshman combo forward has already made up his mind to leave Georgia Tech.

-On the other hand, Georgia Tech’s other highly regarded freshman, point guard Javaris Crittenton, is still 50/50 on his decision apparently.

[Draft Express]

GT is host of Final Four, but you'd never notice

Small print on the cover of the $10 Final Four program: "Georgia Institute of Technology, host."

"The host institution is kind of our local eyes and ears," said Greg Shaheen, the NCAA's senior vice president for basketball and business strategies.

The host operates at the direction of the NCAA and in conjunction with the local organizing committee and the venue.

About 40 Tech staffers will be serving in supporting roles for the championship game, as they did for Saturday's semifinals.

Tech will receive from the NCAA an "honorarium" of $200,000, which Paul Griffin said won't — and isn't intended to — repay all of its time.

[TT, AJC]

ACC basketball

David Glenn @ WRAL ranks the 2007-08 ACC basketball teams, in a 3-part series.

He sees GT as #2 if the Freshmen return (see continuation)

UNC plays UT in the NCAA Women's Final Four at 9PM Sunday.

Naming rights for AMC

The Georgia Tech Athletic Association announced today a tentative agreement with the French pharmaceutical firm Laboratoire Innotech International for naming rights to the Alexander Memorial Coliseum.

The naming deal will not affect the names Alexander Memorial Coliseum or Cremins Court but will instead involve facility or site naming rights. Citing the downtown Atlanta interstate front location, the reputation of Georgia Tech and the Georgia Tech basketball program, as well as the history and prominence of the structure, Innotech could not pass on the opportunity to display the name Innotech Sein-Somptueux Center in conjunction with its soon to be released new breast enhancement pharmaceutical product Sein-Somptueux .

The Sting (GT sports paper)

Crittenton and Durant work out together

Yellow Jackets freshman point guard Javaris Crittenton and Texas All-American Kevin Durant spent part of Friday on the court together.

"I went over to Georgia Tech to shoot around with Javaris," Durant said. "We know each other real well from the AAU circuit."

The two are facing a difficult decision about whether to forgo their college eligibility to enter the NBA draft.

[RLC, AJC]

Final Four is job fair for coaches

The Final Four is more than just three basketball games. For the 3,000 or so coaches head and assistant looking to move up and the athletic director in need of a coach or even a coach in need of a staff, the Final Four and the annual NABC convention is a giant job fair.

[St. Petersburg Times]

It worked for Paul Hewitt. See continuation

NCAA tournament format not perfect, just special

The NCAA tournament is often held up as the model for deciding a champion, especially compared to college football's Bowl Championship Series system.

Yet, even on the eve of a Final Four featuring four of the top eight seeds in the tournament - and the regular-season champs of four of the six major conferences - Donovan sees the NCAA tourney's three-week, six-game, win-or-go-home format as far from ideal.

"I think if you would start this tournament all over again, there would maybe be four different teams here right now," Donovan said. "The NCAA tournament is the greatest college, and maybe greatest sports event, period, in the county because of the uncertainty of what's going to happen. But I don't know if it crowns the best team."

It's flaws, after all, make it special.

[AVB, Morris]

GT's final four teams recognized at breakfast

A  breakfast was held at Phillips Arena Friday AM, at which Texas freshman Kevin Durant received the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Year Award

 

Georgia Tech's 1990 team, better known as Lethal Weapon 3, was represented by Coach Bobby Cremins, Dennis Scott, Kenny Anderson, Brian Domalik, Greg White, James Gaddy, James Munlyn, and Rod Balanis.

The Yellow Jackets lost to UNLV in the national semifinals in Denver.

Georgia Tech's 2004 team, which lost in the national championship game to UConn, was represented by Coach Paul Hewitt, Mo Moore, David Nelson, and Marvin Lewis.

"It is just great to be here and to see all of these guys again," said Cremins, now head coach at the College of Charleston. "It's great that people remember us after all these years."

ACC dominant in basketball this decade

... despite being down the past two years.

In this decade, the ACC leads all leagues in NCAA tournament game victories (72), winning percentage (.667) and championships (Duke in 2001, Maryland in 2002 and North Carolina in 2005).

And, it's not just a few good teams at the top. Nearly half of the schools in the ACC have made the NCAA field in those years (39 of 80, or 48.75 percent).

For the first time in recent memory, the ACC surpassed the SEC in total revenue distribution to its membership in the tax year ending June 30, 2006.

The only other league with a chance to exceed the ACC's $130 million in payouts is the Big Ten, for which a tax return is not yet available.

"It's never going to be really down," Miami coach Frank Haith said of the ACC. "

[RD, News-Record]

Videos of Mario West's dunks

The Ramblin Racket and GT Sports Blog have embedded videos of some of Mario West's dunks as he won the slam-dunk contest at Georgia State.

YouTube of Between-the-legs dunk.

GTSB also has more on Gani Lawal.

ACC tournament action

Frank Young and the West Virginia Mountaineers shot past Clemson to their first NIT title in 65 years.

Young scored 24 points, including six 3-pointers, and De'Sean Butler added 20 points to help West Virginia beat Clemson 78-73 in the NIT championship on Thursday night. Young was named the tournament's most outstanding player.

It was the Mountaineers' first NIT title since 1942 when Rudy Baric led West Virginia over Western Kentucky.

[theACC] [TigerNet]

The UNC women play Tennessee in the NCAA Final Four at 9PM Sunday. [WSOC]

West wins slam-dunk championship

If the 19th annual College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships at Georgia State was a precursor of what the games will be like, we're in for a rousing — and roaring — few days.

Mario West, with the support of coach Paul Hewitt, Jackets former assistant and Jacksonville coach Cliff Warren and all his Tech teammates, put on a nice show. The 6-foot-5 guard threw down power and windmill dunks off a high bounce to advance to the final round.

Then, in the final round, he elevated, put the ball between his legs in midair and slammed it through. He earned a perfect score of 60 to win the competition.

[CB, AJC]

 

Sponsored Links

Clemson can salvage some ACC pride

Clemson meets W. Va. at PM in the NIT title game in NYC.

Clemson also has won four straight since losing to Florida State in the ACC Tournament, beating East Tennessee State, Mississippi and Syracuse before hanging on against Air Force.

Both teams squeezed out 1-point wins Monday night to advance.

Clemson, which tied the 1986-87 Tigers for most wins in a season with its fourth straight victory, reached the NIT finals for the second time – and first since losing to California in 1999.

[W-S Journal] [AP] [Post-Gazette]

All ACC fans should be pulling for the Tigers.

Sporting Gnomes provides a table showing how Clemson basketball has done over the past 11 years, noting it's about as impressive as USCe football. The Gnome recommends Clemson fans enjoy this year, in which CU will win 25 or 26 games.

Crittenton to attend Final Four

"At first, I was going to go out of town because I was so upset we're not in it," Crittenton said. "Then Kevin Durant hit me up and said he was coming. That's the only reason I'm staying. We're going to chill at the Final Four together and do some stuff. I'm going to show him the city."

Crittenton and Durant, the Texas freshman phenom named national player of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, are rarities in that they will attend games. (Crittenton said an uncle got tickets; he doesn't know how.)

[AJC]

Gani Lawal in McDonald's AA game

GT recruit Gani Lawal of Norcross finished with 12 points (on 5 of 12 shooting and 2 of 5 from the free-throw line), and could have had close to 20 if he would have made some easy shots underneath he typically makes. He was disappointed his double-double was not enough to prevent a loss.

The 6-foot-9 star will be heading to Chicago next week to take part in the annual Roundball Classic.

[Gwinnett Daily Post] [CBS Sportsline]

A list of previous GT players who have played in the game is in the continuation.

ACC tournament action

K.C. Rivers scored 19 points as Clemson held on to beat Air Force and advance to the National Invitation Tournament championship with a 68-67 victory Tuesday night. [the ACC] [TigerNet]

Bracket

Latta limped off a few minutes before halftime, but returned to help Erlana Larkins lead a strong start to the second half that top-seeded North Carolina rode to a 84-72 victory over Purdue in the finals of the Dallas Regional on Tuesday night, clinching a spot in the Final Four for the second year in a row. [the ACC] [Tar Heel Fan]

Gani Lawal at McDonald's AA practice

Gani Lawal, 6’9, 220 lbs, PF, Signed with Georgia Tech

Lawal will be the next in the line of long, athletic big men that Paul Hewitt has been able to bring into Georgia Tech. His offensive game has improved mightily over the last year, although he is still not a finished product by any means. The athletic big showed how much he is able to change the game in a short period of time on one stretch where he pinned a Nolan Smith breakaway dunk attempt on one end, only to run the floor down to the other and posterize Patrick Patterson with a vicious dunk. While Gani may not contribute a double-double at GT from day one, the potential and work ethic is certainly there for him to do so down the line.

[DraftExpress]

ACC basketball

MEN

UNC, the ACC's last representative in the NCAA, lost to Georgetown in OT.

Georgetown overcame an 11-point deficit in the second half, then ripped off 14 straight points in overtime to stun the top-seeded Tar Heels 96-84 in the East Regional final Sunday for their first trip to the Final Four since 1985, when the coach was John Thompson Jr. and the star player was Patrick Ewing. [theACC] [Tar Heel Fan]

Its Georgetown, UCLA, Florida, and Ohio State in the Final Four in ATL. [ESPN]

Clemson plays Air Force in the Final Four of the NIT on Tuesday.

WOMEN

UNC beat George Washington to become the ACC's only representative in the Elite 8. [theACC] [Bracket] [ESPN]

The Virginia Cavaliers, the ACC's last hope in the Women's NIT, ended their season with an 84-78 loss at Wisconsin in the Women's NIT quarterfinal at the Kohl Center on Sunday afternoon. [theACC] [Bracket]

ACC basketball

Only the UNC men and women remain in the NCAAs. The UNC men face Georgetown at 5PM on CBS.  The UNC women face George Washington at 9:30PM on ESPN2.

Clemson is in the Final Four in the NIT. It plays Air Force Tuesday. details in the continuation.

AJC also names Gani Lawal "Mr. Georgia Basketball"

For the season, the McDonald's All-American averaged 18.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots per game.

He carries a 3.7 grade point average while taking Advanced Placement and honors courses. Not even basketball or fun stands in his way of academic obligations. [DM, AJC]

He was named Mr. Basketball by the Atlanta Tipoff Club earlier in the week. See the video of he and his girlfriend, who happens to be Miss Georgia Basketball, at the link.

With Gani  and Lance Storrs coming in, if neither Thad Young or Javaris Crittenton goes pro, CPH will be almost overloaded with talent next year.

J Jack wins again in ATL, vs. Hawks

The Hawks and the Portland Trail Blazers offered up the NBA version Friday night at Philips Arena, trading big baskets in a wild affair won by Portland 102-100 in overtime.

Former Georgia Tech star Jarrett Jack was huge down the stretch, finishing with 18 points, seven assists and four rebounds as the Blazers won on a back-to-back set.

The loss also overshadowed a breakout night for Hawks reserve guard Salim Stoudamire, who finished with a career-high 37 points on 14-for-20 shooting, including 6-for-9 on 3-pointers.

[AJC] [AP]

"Luuuuuke" S was also on the bench for the Trailblazers. His 10-day contract just expired. We'll see if he's signed for the rest of the season.

Is the ACC still king in basketball?

"Outside of UNC's national crown in 2005 and a runner-up appearance by Georgia Tech a year earlier, the ACC hasn't seen the consistent "glory days" since Maryland's 2002 title and Duke's back-to-back crowns in 1991-92. To say the ACC has been and is the best conference in America is almost laughable.

My advice to the ACC: Focus on winning the games on the court and stop centralizing their energies on what experts and opinion columns say on the court. Then and only then will breed success and championships for more than just three teams in the conference."

[L.A. Batchelor @ Black Athlete] [HBCU Central]

Retort in the continuation

Mr. Basketballs to attend GT

Gani Lawal of Norcross High School, fresh off leading his team to the Georgia class AAAAA state championship, has named Mr. Georgia Basketball by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, while Maurice Miller of Raleigh-Egypt High School in Memphis, Tenn., was named Mr. Basketball for the class AAA level in Tennessee.

Both players have signed basketball letters-of-intent to attend Georgia Tech, and will enroll in August.

[GT AA]

Clemson lone survivor in NIT

FSU and NC State went down last night.

Clemson plays Syracuse at 7PM on ESPN2.

[Brackets] [Scalp'em]

Tar Heel Fan talks about UNC's representation of the ACC in the NCAA.

Sports writers are already dissing the ACC. We need these teams to go far!

What was the problem with GT basketball?

Was it just the old case of nice players who couldn’t complement each other to form a nice team?

“No, I think it was more an issue of paying attention to details,” said Hewitt, who isn’t at fault here. He is as intense and as precise and as adamant as they come regarding practice and game preparation. Unlike most of his peers, for instance, Hewitt carries what he calls “skill building” and “individual instructions” from the preseason through the entire season.

What’s the problem then? Hewitt paused, before adding, “It’s not that they were uncoachable. It’s just simple things they didn’t do, like remembering to box out every single time. The concentration level just comes and goes at times.”

[TM, AJC]

Coach Hewitt's teflon coating, earned by getting GT to the NC game, is wearing off. Some fans are starting to question him, like they question Chan. But most still think he can get this program back in the top third of the ACC, and keep it there most years.

Will one or both GT freshmen jump to NBA?

Word around the Georgia Tech locker room is both are staying. They enjoy the college experience, and both are fierce enough competitors they won't want to leave the program after what they consider a season of underachievement.\

Young has said he's coming back. Crittenton is the child of a single parent, and he learned over the weekend his grandmother is ill. He might need the money of an NBA contract now.

... with all but one regular coming back, the expected return of starting shooting guard Lewis Clinch from his academic suspension, and the addition of the next freshman phenom, Gani Lawal, the Jackets should contend for an Atlantic Coast Conference title, if not more, next winter.

[AVB, M-T]

The "stock" of both TY and JC has been falling in the minds of those who predict the NBA draft, most of whom don't expect them to go that highly, if they try.

Hewitt's biggest problem, if they both return, is keeping all the players he'll have, as he has a number of great recruits coming in.

Purdue ends season for GT women

Katie Gearlds led second-seeded Purdue with 26 points in a 76-63 win over seventh-seeded Georgia Tech in the second round of the NCAA women's tournament Monday night. [AVB, M-T]

The seventh-seeded Lady Jackets fell — and fell hard — to No. 2-seed Purdue 76-63 in front of 4,050 fans Monday night at Williams Arena. [CS, AJC]

Stephanie Higgs finishes with a game-high 27 points to lead the Yellow Jackets. [GT AA] Stats and photos

Had GT won, it would have faced UGA in the Sweet 16. Georgia won easily. [AJC]

Congratulations to the Ladies and Coach on going further than any GT ever has. May the trend upward continue.

GT AA image of team in Costa Rica earlier in the year

Women's basketball plays Purdue Monday night

The Georgia Tech women's basketball team (21-11) earned its most wins in a season and first NCAA Tournament win with their thrilling first-round victory over DePaul on Saturday night and advance to face second-seeded Purdue at 9:30 p.m. ET Monday at the Williams Arena on the Campus of the University of Minnesota.

Monday night's second-round match up will be regionally televised by ESPN2 with Bob Picozzi and Brenda VanLengen calling all the action. Radio coverage for Monday's game is provided by the Georgia Tech-ISP Sports Network and heard locally on WREK-FM (91.1 FM) and online at www.WREK.org with Richard Musterer calling the game and Kurt Hoyt offering color analysis.

The Purdue site says tip-off is 9:35PM.

[GT AA] [Purdue AA]

The AJC's Carter Strickland looks at what it will take to win.

AJC Interactive Bracket

Two more ACC teams fall

Virginia and Virginia Tech were eliminated in the NCAA second round. [theACC]

Duke and Georgia Tech were eliminated after the first round, while Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Boston College bit the dust after two rounds. Only UNC remains. Tom Suitor @ WRAL is not surprised the ACC "bombed."

One ACC team and three SEC teams are in the Sweet Sixteen [WTOC]

UNLV upset #2 Wisconsin, the team GT probably could have also beat (on a good day).

Overveiw of the tournament. [AC]

In the NIT, Clemson faces Ole Miss at 7PM EST on ESPN. [NIT]

Four ACC women's teams won over the weekend. [theACC] [Bracket]

Women's basketball wins 1st NCAA tournament game

Jacqua Williams sent Georgia Tech to the school's first women's NCAA tournament victory, swishing a running one-handed shot in the lane with 2 1/2 seconds left to lift the seventh-seeded Yellow Jackets past 10th-seeded DePaul 55-54 on Saturday in a Dallas Regional first-round game. [GT AA]

Interactive Bracket from AJC

The Lady Dawgs also won. [AJC] If GT beats Purdue and UGA beats Iowa St, they will collide.

Four ACC teams left (3 in NIT)

Maryland and BC fell as UNC advanced Saturday.

[theACC.com]

Three ACC teams are still in the NIT.

[NIT.org] [Bracket]

Men's basketball reflections and possibilites

A win was there for Georgia Tech. Forget UNLV's eight 3-pointers. Forget the Runnin' Rebels' Wendell White's 14 second-half points. Forget the mystifying five-second call on Georgia Tech's Javaris Crittenton with a minute to go. All the Yellow Jackets needed was a defensive rebound to advance in the NCAA tournament. That the Jackets failed to get one - despite five chances - in the final minute 94 seconds doomed them to a 67-63 loss at Chicago's United Center.

[AVB, M-T]

Paul Hewitt hopes to have five returning starters at Georgia Tech in 2007-08.

The Yellow Jackets' coach must wait, however, until he meets with Javaris Crittenton, Thaddeus Young and members of each freshman's family.

[AP]

Crittenton might go pro to help an ill grandmother (see continuation).

Basketball loses to UNLV, 67-63

UNLV won its first NCAA tournament game in 16 years, beating Georgia Tech 67-63 today behind 19 points each from Michael Umeh and Wendell White.

[AP]

[AJC photos]

GT faces UNLV 12:25 Friday

Freshmen got Georgia Tech to the NCAA tournament. Javaris Crittenton and Thaddeus Young dragged the Yellow Jackets into the 65-team field, leading them to seven wins in their final nine regular season games.

As Georgia Tech opens NCAA play today against UNLV at 12:25 p.m. at the United Center [in Chicago], Hewitt wonders if his freshmen can spark the same success in the postseason.

[AVB, M-T]

Covers predicts GT 84, UNLV 80.

Tournament predictions

The ACC SEC blog sees GT making it to the Sweet 16 and UNC beating UF for it all.

Tar Heel Fan has Wisconsin beating GT in the second round and going all the way to Atlanta, to be beat by (you guessed it) UNC in the title game.

Tech prof looks at margin of victory

Joel Sokol enlisted colleague Paul Kvam, a statistician.

The factor they found most meaningful — and which means nothing in RPI rankings — was victory margin. Strength of schedule and road wins count for something in their "Logistic Regression/Markov Chain Model" (acronym: LRMC). But like Las Vegas bookies, these Atlanta techies are primarily into point spreads. "

Word gets around campus. Come the Ides of March, the developers of LRMC are now the oracles of hoops. These distinguished professors of bracketology are swarmed by students and faculty looking for the edge in their respective pools. In response, Sokol now posts LRMC rankings on his personal Web site.

[ESPN] [MK, AJC]

Update: Jeff @ Ramblin Racket knows the man.

GT vs UNLV preview, 15MAR07

Returning to the NCAA tournament for the third time four years, the Yellow Jackets (20-11) left Wednesday night for Chicago, where they will play UNLV (28-6) on Friday.

The Runnin' Rebels, led by former Atlanta Hawks coach Lon Kruger, aren't afraid to shoot. UNLV has won 14 of its 18 games when taking more 3-pointers than opponents, including a 3-0 run last week in which the team combined for 29 to win the Mountain West Conference tournament.

[GH, AP]

Georgia Tech's Jeremis Smith wants to take some of the madness out of his team's March.

He would rather not be involved in the last-second nail-biters that make the NCAA Tournament a viewer's delight. With the Yellow Jackets' history, avoiding close games is their best chance to advance, he admits.

Georgia Tech's only wins in games decided by six points or less came against Penn State and Florida State, and they were in control of both those games before the Nittany Lions and Seminoles made late runs.

[Athens Online]

MW @ AJC has random comments.

West glad he returned

Mario West couldn't bear the notion that his college basketball career would end with an 11-17 record.

Now that Georgia Tech fulfilled his hopes of returning to the NCAA tournament for the third time in four years, West knows he would've regretted watching from afar.

[AP]

Shades of 1990 Final Four

Friday's game is a much-belated rematch between the Yellow Jackets and the Runnin' Rebels. Anderson was the Jackets' point guard the last time the teams met, at the 1990 Final Four in Denver.

UNLV won that game, 90-81, in a showdown between two of the most flamboyant teams in college basketball history. Georgia Tech, featuring the "Lethal Weapon 3" backcourt trio of Anderson, Dennis Scott and Brian Oliver, versus the Larry Johnson-led Rebels, arguably the greatest college team of all-time.

[AVB, Morris]

GT vs UNLV, 14MAR07 preview

Georgia Tech earned a bid to the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship on Sunday, drawing a No. 10 seed in the Midwest Region and a first-round date Friday, Mar. 16, at 12:25 p.m. Eastern time against seventh-seeded UNLV in the United Center in Chicago, Ill.

If Tech wins the opener, it will play its second-round game on Sunday at 2:35 p.m. against the winner of Wisconsin's game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Meet the Midwest Teams [AJC interactive]

Coach Hewitt's interview on Cold Pizza

What they're saying:

• ESPN (video)
• Yahoo Sports (video)
• Barstool Sports
• Sportsline

Mario West

West is the ultimate underdog, his story the kind turned into a movie. Hollywood is still waiting for an ending, however, with it set to commence later this week when West, a fifth-year senior, and the Yellow Jackets open NCAA tournament play at Chicago's United Center.

[AVB, M-T]

GT vs UNLV

UNLV (7) vs. GEORGIA TECH (10): The Yellow Jackets beat Boston College and North Carolina before a double-overtime loss to Wake Forest in the ACC tournament, and freshmen Javaris Crittenton and Thaddeus Young have lived up to their preseason billing and lead the team with 14.6 averages. The Runnin' Rebels will have trouble keeping up on the boards.

[AP]

The Rebels (28-6) might offer some looks Tech (20-11) hasn't seen, but don't expect the Jackets to stray from what they've been doing.

[MW, AJC]

One of the reasons GT was selected over FSU

Help on picking brackets

Lindsey Wilhite @ the Daily Herald gives some good advice for picking your brackets.

GT fans hope he's right in saying go with Sagarin, not RPI:

In the Midwest regional, seventh-seeded UNLV boasts a 10 RPI and 52 Sagarin number, while first-round opponent Georgia Tech checks in with a 52 RPI but a 13 in Sagarin’s “Predictor” column.

Go with Sagarin — and go with Georgia Tech.

Women's basketball 7th seed

Georgia Tech earned a bid to the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship on Monday, drawing a No. 7 seed in the Dallas Region and a first-round match-up, Saturday March 17 against 10th-seeded DePaul in the Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minn.

The Yellow Jackets are in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history and the first time under head coach MaChelle Joseph. The winner of the Tech-DePaul game will meet the winner of No. 2 Purdue and No. 15 Oral Roberts on Monday March 19, and the survivor of that game advances to the Dallas regional.

Game times will be announced by the NCAA on Tuesday. The NCAA women's tournament will be televised on the ESPN family of networks.

[GT AA] [NCAA] [Bracket] [UofMN AA]

MaChelle Joseph wanted to make one thing clear: Her Georgia Tech team is not just happy to be in the NCAA tournament — and it won't be satisfied with one-and-done.

[CS, AJC]

Scouting UNLV

Head coach Lon Kruger's kid, Kevin, runs UNLV's show. The former Walton High star transferred from Arizona State after his father, a one-time Hawks coach, got the Rebels job. In a three-guard offense, Kevin leads UNLV with an average of five assists per game and is the Rebels' top 3-point threat. He hit 74 of 203 (36.5 percent), averaging 13.6 points per game.

[MW, AJC]

Atlanta Hawks fans are familiar with Coach Lon Kruger.

Kruger on GT (from the UNLV AA preview):

"The two times I've caught clips of them they seemed to be very athletic," he said. "It sounds like they're playing their best basketball here in the last couple of weeks. I think they've gotten healthier as well. They're a very tough ACC program. Coach (Paul) Hewitt does a great job so we expect it to be an extremely tough game."

GT is ESPN's Jimmy Dyke's sleeper:

Georgia Tech is the sleeper team I think can make a run. Remember George Mason was getting no votes last year, and no chance, well no one is talking about Tech. They have the talent to make this run and those 2 freshman have been carrying that team and are no longer freshman. Georgia Tech is playing very well right now and is only 4 games away from going home to play in the Final Four. Watch out."

GT is favored by 1.5 in opening betting.

GT 10th seed in Midwest, facing #10 UNLV

Tech (20-11) received a tough draw against the 7th seed Runnin' Rebels, No. 10 in the latest RPI.

They will play No. 7 seed UNLV (28-6), the Mountain West Conference tournament champions coached by former Atlanta Hawks head coach Lon Kruger, at 12:25 p.m in Chicago.

UNLV (28-6) is coming off a victory over No. 23 BYU in the Mountain West Conference championship game in Las Vegas on Saturday night. UNLV, coached by Lon Kruger, earned its first NCAA tournament bid since 2000. 

Scott @ GTSB takes a look at UNLV.

More imposing news for the Yellow Jackets: The probable second-round opponent for the Georgia Tech-UNLV winner is No. 3 Wisconsin, the second seed in the regional. Wisconsin faces Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first round.

   Overall, this will be Tech's 15th NCAA tournament appearance. The No. 10 seed is the lowest in the school's history.

[WSB] [MW, AJC] [AVB, M-T] [Midwest Bracket]

Older GT fans remember GT's loss to UNLV in '90-91. UNLV went on to blow out Duke for the NC.

If GT makes it to the elite eight, it will probably run into hot Florida.

GT should be going dancing

Almost all the bracketologists see GT getting in (as a 9 to 11 seed), even if NCSU and/or Arkansas win automatic bids.

SI's Mike DeCourcy puts GT in the "Safe, not Sorry" category in the top 60 teams, above the fray for the remaining five slots.

At least two "experts" see the ACC and SEC championships as the only remaining games which could impact the NCAA field. Neither sees GT in jeopardy. (see continuation).

The BracketProject compiles the projections. [h/t GTSB]

Most "experts" are expecting UNC to beat NCSU and the ACC to have 7 teams, including GT.

The AJC's Matt Winkeljohn considers the probability of GT getting in, and notes both CPH and DRad get nice bonuses if we do.

GT's RPI has dropped a notch to 51, below FSU and CU, but well above NCSU. However, Mike Greenfield ranks GT 33rd, above CU, FSU, and NCSU and Sagarin has GT ranked #20.

You can study all the projected brackets and articles til the cows come home, using the links in the top post, or just wait some hours for this evening's 6PM selection show.

This might be the only chance to see both Young and Crittenton in the NCAAs:

ACC Tournament championship game

UNC and NCSU meet at 1PM for the ACC championship game.

NCSU, which otherwise would have been NIT-bound, has a chance to win an automatic bid to the NCAAs. If it does, it will be the first team to win four games in a row to win the ACC, and it will be NCSU's first ACC championship since '87. The AJC's Tony Barnhart note the importance of Engin Atsure, who is playing with a hamstring inury.

ESPN's Pat Forde has a great article on the "Redcoat Revival."

Most experts think this would be as an 8th ACC team, and would not knock GT out. We'll know for sure this evening.

[ACC Tournament Page]

Caulton Tudor & N& O says the ACC will make a big splash at the Selection Show, but only UNC has a chance to last long in the NCAAs.

James Forrest honored as ACC Legend

James Forrest was on of the "ACC Legends" at the tournament.

Is the ACC better deeper, or weaker at top?

"The ACC may not be 12 deep, after all. It might just be 12 shallow."

The Nos. 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8 tournament seeds did not win a game.

A lot of people want to call that parity. In a season when everybody beat everybody and no one looked genuinely special, that's being very generous.

[Mike Wise, WaPo]

The upsets might lead the Selection Committee to decide (rightly or wrongly) the ACC doesn't deserve even 7 slots, much less the 8 some are surmising. The seeding could also be impacted.

Jackets ponder loss to WF

GT failed to  lock up an NCAA bid against an ACC bottom-feeder Thursday night, and now must monitor events beyond its control  which will determine whether  it plays in the NCAA.

It's hard to honor the 24-hour rule on this one.

Left to ponder what had just happened and what might, Paul Hewitt sat forlornly among his staff in the wee hours of Friday morning with perhaps as many questions as you regarding Georgia Tech's basketball team.

Unable to explain the disappearance of Tech's defense in a 114-112 double-overtime loss to Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC tournament, he was no better equipped to predict what that might mean when the NCAA tournament selection committee gathers to do its business Sunday.

[MW, AJC]

For most of Thursday’s game against 11th-seeded Wake Forest, the Jackets returned to the often sloppy and defensively lax bunch that drifted to a 2-6 start in the ACC. By the time they woke up, it was too late to discourage an inferior opponent.

[JS, AJC]

Harvey Hale scored 22 points in just more than 10 minutes to keep the Deacons' season alive, but only after Anthony Morrow's clean jumper at the buzzer rolled off the rim at five minutes until 1 o'clock.

[DC, WSJ]

Hale hit consecutive 3-pointers in the second overtime, one to tie the game at 111 and another to give the Demon Deacons (15-15) a 114-111 advantage with 26.5 seconds remaining.

[AP]

As expected, a tired (and sloppy) WF team easily fell to VPI Friday, 71-52.  The Demon Deacons came up short on jumpers, committed silly turnovers and failed to get back on defense. Virginia Tech made them pay. Hale, who seemingly couldn't miss from 3-pt. range in OT vs. GT, missed several in this game.

In fairness, GT would probably have problems playing 20 hours later also. Late-night marathon games in 4-day tournaments are killers.

[ML, Times-Union] [ML, WRAL] [Fay. Obs.] [MW, AJC]

Tech's NCAA chances hinge on other games

Georgia Tech players, coaches and fans face a stressful couple of days leading up to Sunday night's announcement of the NCAA tournament field. Every underdog team that wins a game or two in its conference tourney will be scrutinized by the Tech faithful, especially with the Yellow Jackets slipping from 34th to 50th in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) rankings following Thursday's loss. [AVB, M-T]

The wise thing to do is to just think about something else until the Sunday Selection Show, but no basketball fanatic can do that.

ESPN's Joe Lunardi shows 8 ACC teams (including GT) in his 09MAR07 bracket. This article says Lunardi's bracket is "the gospel." We'll see if GT is still "in" on the next update.

David Mihm @ Bracketology.com still has GT in, with FSU out.

Draft Express showed 7 (including GT) following the Thursday games, but before Friday's results. It also says NCSU would have to win the ACCT to get in.

SI's Stewart Mandel still has GT in on Saturday morming (but bubbles out FSU). Is this a make-up call for the cheap jabs he's taken at Chan, or did he enjoy the Varsity that much?

Jeff Borzello @ College Hoops Now had GT in yesterday.

Gary Parish @ CBS has GT in and FSU on the bubble.

NCSU can throw a monkey wrench by winning the ACCT and getting an automatic bid, which is not out of the question with a healthy Engin Atsur. Barring that, it's NIT bound.

If NCSU doesn't win out and the ACC only gets 7 teams, will the 7th be GT or FSU?  Before Tech's loss to WF, the answer seemed obvious. But that loss dropped Tech's RPI to 50, below FSU's 38. In Tech's favor, it is 8-8 in the ACC, while FSU is 7-9. Tech's biggest negative is its very poor road win record.

Some other results that may impact the chances for a 7th or 8th ACC team are in the continuation. Some results have helped GT's chances, but more have hurt them.

ACC Tournament, 10MAR07

It's UNC vs BC and VPI vs. NCSU Saturday. Tar Heel Fan gives brief reviews of the four Friday games.

FSU and WF no longer threaten GT's NCAA bid, but NCSU could, if it wins out.

Details at the official ACC Tournament site and theACC.

Mike Graff of the Fayetteville Observer makes some interesting venue observations.