Fall from grace - Tech basketball is at where GT football was from 1967–94

[GTrob21]

It's an unpopular opinion, but we are not a good basketball school. There, I said it. We have had some years in which we were good, but historically, our program is not that good.

I hope and pray we can get a coach to build a consistent winner here. I think Tech is a sleeping giant in the Basketball world. We have so much talent in our own backyard but it looks like once again we are going to wade in the waters of mediocrity.

Paper bag time.

 

[Tom]

Firing Hewitt was needed. It was obvious that his success came from a group of good assistants and it seemed like he couldn’t replace those assistants once he left. It looked like the same was going to happen with Pastner too. What hurt the most after GT fired Hewitt was his contract hamstrung GT’s ability to hire a great coach and also maybe just a bad pick/search by the AD. Isn’t that correct? I was young so maybe misremembering. Don’t remember the options that were out there during the time of search.

 

[cpf2001]

The Hewitt buyout was purported to be crippingly expensive but in retrospect, seeing where salaries have gone since then, if 7M was a program-killer for us we were going to be quickly doomed anyway.

Just poor execution on both finding a good replacement and raising the money to do the buyout and get the replacement.

 

[Root4GT]

The Hewitt buyout was purported to be crippingly expensive but in retrospect, seeing where salaries have gone since then, if 7M was a program-killer for us we were going to be quickly doomed anyway.

Just poor execution on both finding a good replacement and raising the money to do the buyout and get the replacement.

Bingo. The contract was an excuse not a reason

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Tech has a wonderful history under Whack Hyder. He had twice as many wins against Adolph Rupp’s Kentucky teams as any other coach. In 1955, Hyder’s Tech team knocked off the then number one in the nation Kentucky team and snapped their 129 game home win streak. Under Hyder Tech also had several upsets of powerful UNC teams.

It’s not that Tech was a basketball blue blood, but they were competitive and never an embarrassment to the school. As a young child, I caught the tail end of Hyder’s tenure and followed Tech with great expectations all the way through Cremins and Hewett. The only coach that has given me glimpses of hope since then was Pastner.

For me what makes this a difficult time is that is doesn’t feel like what I remembered about Tech basketball growing up. I’m not ready to throw in the towel but I am anxious to get to the bottom of what ails this program now. I had hoped we had more talent than we are showing.

 

[Peacone36]

I am still of the opinion that we NEVER should’ve fired Hewitt.

Was he mediocre a bit the second half of his tenure? Yes. But that 2010-11 team had no big man bc Favors went pro. They had babyface Daniel Miller starting as a freshman.

Hewitt could recruit, he could coach well enough to put his players in a good position to win. His firing reminds me of Wake firing Dino. Neither program has been the same since.

whoa whoa whoa.

Dino Gaudio won 61 games in his three years at Wake Forest to go along with two NCAA tournament appearances after their beloved head coach passed away from a heart attack. In his second season he made the tournament, in his third they went to the second round.

In Hewitt's best three years he won 71 games and averaged fewer than 16 victories per season over his final six. Combine that with the fact that we were on the verge of NCAA sanctions due to academic performance and it was past time to part ways. Im assuming youre young and don't remember watching his teams play because once his staff from the NC team moved on, the on court product was...not good. The fact that we could have gotten out of his contract by letting him go to St. Johns but talked him out of it only to fire him a year later putting us on the hook for the buyout is incompetence on a whole different level.

I spoke with Dino about his time at Wake Forest years ago and he actually went into that meeting thinking he was receiving an extension and a raise. He was completely blindsided by the firing.

 

[slugboy]

In Hewitt's best three years he won 71 games and averaged fewer than 16 victories per season over his final six. …. Im assuming youre young and don't remember watching his teams play because once his staff from the NC team moved on, the on court product was...not good. The fact that we could have gotten out of his contract by letting him go to St. Johns but talked him out of it only to fire him a year later putting us on the hook for the buyout is incompetence on a whole different level.

Highlighted what I think is a key part. Hewitt had assistants go on to be head coaches, and the team wins declined after that. Reportedly, he also spent time on other activities, and possibly relaxed a bit when it might have been time to double down and build the program.

We put a lot of blame on Hewitt, but when a good AD sees a program slipping, they do something to fix it—ours didn’t.

We have apparently equipped Stoudamire with quality assistants. He has a great recruiting class coming in. I think he gets a shot with those guys.

 

[Ramble1885]

whoa whoa whoa.

Dino Gaudio won 61 games in his three years at Wake Forest to go along with two NCAA tournament appearances after their beloved head coach passed away from a heart attack. In his second season he made the tournament, in his third they went to the second round.

In Hewitt's best three years he won 71 games and averaged fewer than 16 victories per season over his final six. Combine that with the fact that we were on the verge of NCAA sanctions due to academic performance and it was past time to part ways. Im assuming youre young and don't remember watching his teams play because once his staff from the NC team moved on, the on court product was...not good. The fact that we could have gotten out of his contract by letting him go to St. Johns but talked him out of it only to fire him a year later putting us on the hook for the buyout is incompetence on a whole different level.

I spoke with Dino about his time at Wake Forest years ago and he actually went into that meeting thinking he was receiving an extension and a raise. He was completely blindsided by the firing.

I know that Hewitt's firing was more expected, but I'm saying that both coaches should have been kept. and both schools have been reeling since.

 

[Ramble1885]

Highlighted what I think is a key part. Hewitt had assistants go on to be head coaches, and the team wins declined after that. Reportedly, he also spent time on other activities, and possibly relaxed a bit when it might have been time to double down and build the program.

We put a lot of blame on Hewitt, but when a good AD sees a program slipping, they do something to fix it—ours didn’t.

We have apparently equipped Stoudamire with quality assistants. He has a great recruiting class coming in. I think he gets a shot with those guys.

that's the great thing about Cremins, he wasn't the greatest X's and O's guy but BOY did he equip himself with some people who were.

Perry Clark (the GOAT of Tulane basketball)
Kevin Cantwell
George Felton
Sherman Dillard

what a staff he had!

 

[Peacone36]

I know that Hewitt's firing was more expected, but I'm saying that both coaches should have been kept. and both schools have been reeling since.

Gaudio should have been kept. Hewitt stayed too long. Everyone knew it at the time, except the dip****s at Coaching Changes.

 

[Ramble1885]

Gaudio should have been kept. Hewitt stayed too long. Everyone knew it at the time, except the dip****s at Coaching Changes.

to each their own but I feel had we kept Hewitt he would've kept us in the top recruiting cycles and had us in March into at least the mid 2010's.

 

[Peacone36]

to each their own but I feel had we kept Hewitt he would've kept us in the top recruiting cycles and had us in March into at least the mid 2010's.

Would we? as i said, we were about to be hit with sanctions and the first thing they go after is available scholarships. I guess we could have hoped for making us ineligible for the tournament. That is just business as usual.

 

[wrmathis]

Would we? as i said, we were about to be hit with sanctions and the first thing they go after is available scholarships. I guess we could have hoped for making us ineligible for the tournament. That is just business as usual.

Hell, Tech couldn’t even in bound the ball during the end of Hewitt stint. I can’t imagine how much worse they would have been under sanctions.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Hell, Tech couldn’t even in bound the ball during the end of Hewitt stint. I can’t imagine how much worse they would have been under sanctions.

Whenever I see people comment on this I’m reminded of the last years of Cremins. I used to get nervous every time we had to inbound the ball in a close game. It often ended in disaster. Never could understand why in game after game they could never figure out how to do it.

 

[MacDaddy2]

Ag

that's the great thing about Cremins, he wasn't the greatest X's and O's guy but BOY did he equip himself with some people who were.

Perry Clark (the GOAT of Tulane basketball)
Kevin Cantwell
George Felton
Sherman Dillard

what a staff he had!

Agree, the current staff of assistants couldn't carry the water of that group

 

[g0lftime]

I will also always love CJP and wish no ill to him. 2019-2021 were two special seasons here. But when he didn’t have a good big man (Lammers, Banks, Wright) his systems never worked.

That said imagine him with Baye...

He was in love with the Princeton offense but when it wasn't working he changed to a dribble drive offense. Usually got improved play but early losses hurt his overall record. He at least was willing to change when things weren't working.

 

[Root4GT]

He was in love with the Princeton offense but when it wasn't working he changed to a dribble drive offense. Usually got improved play but early losses hurt his overall record. He at least was willing to change when things weren't working.

CJP was a likable guy buy 1 NCAAT 1st round loss in 7 years was more than plenty of time to show what he could do as a GT BB Coach.

CDS will be on a much shorter timeline.

 

[Peacone36]

you know things are going well when two 17 win seasons are "special"

 

[Tommy_Taylor_1972]

Tech has a wonderful history under Whack Hyder. He had twice as many wins against Adolph Rupp’s Kentucky teams as any other coach. In 1955, Hyder’s Tech team knocked off the then number one in the nation Kentucky team and snapped their 129 game home win streak. Under Hyder Tech also had several upsets of powerful UNC teams.

It’s not that Tech was a basketball blue blood, but they were competitive and never an embarrassment to the school. As a young child, I caught the tail end of Hyder’s tenure and followed Tech with great expectations all the way through Cremins and Hewett. The only coach that has given me glimpses of hope since then was Pastner.

For me what makes this a difficult time is that is doesn’t feel like what I remembered about Tech basketball growing up. I’m not ready to throw in the towel but I am anxious to get to the bottom of what ails this program now. I had hoped we had more talent than we are showing.

Thank you for the memory of Coach Hyder. At the time of his retirement in 1973, he was the last of a line of a line of Tech alumni or professors who were head basketball coach. The first was William Alexander, class of 1912, from 1920-24, math professor Roy Mundorf 1927-43, Roy McArthur, class of 1933, from 1946-51, the Whack Hyder, class of 1937, from 1951-73.

You may have seen some of these guys below at games or heard their names mentioned by Al Ciraldo on the radio. Every year from 1985 to 2020, about 30-40 letterwinners got together every year near the last ACC game to play full court against each other. That fun event was started by Bobby Cremins asking Coach Hyder in 1985 to bring the former players back in support. That was about the only way we distant fans could get tickets during the thriller dome years. 2003 was the third year of Coach Hewitt, finishing at 16-15, the previous two years being 15-16 and 17-15. His fourth year he went 28-10,losing to UConn in the NCAA finals. His 28 wins tied Bobby's 28 wins in the 1990 Final Four as Georgia Tech's most wins in 106 seasons. Been skiing too far over our skis since then, which causes one to fall.

Below from left to right, my teammate Tommy Hyder, Coach Hyder, me, and Mike Tomasovich, a couple of weeks before Coach Hyder passed away.

This ticket below was the last letterwinners basketball game before COVID in Jan 2020. After COVID, I am afraid that there will never be another "Letterwinners game", maybe just recognition at a game during the year if Legends, Inc, who control the in-game experience allows it. The past several coaches do not seem to put very much emphasis on athletic letters anymore. And most current players seem to not care either. Some would have letters from three or four schools, to which they have very little allegiance to the school or the coach. Oh well.. A sign of the times.

 

[Ramble1885]

Thank you for the memory of Coach Hyder. At the time of his retirement in 1973, he was the last of a line of a line of Tech alumni or professors who were head basketball coach. The first was William Alexander, class of 1912, from 1920-24, math professor Roy Mundorf 1927-43, Roy McArthur, class of 1933, from 1946-51, the Whack Hyder, class of 1937, from 1951-73.

You may have seen some of these guys below at games or heard their names mentioned by Al Ciraldo on the radio. Every year from 1985 to 2020, about 30-40 letterwinners got together every year near the last ACC game to play full court against each other. That fun event was started by Bobby Cremins asking Coach Hyder in 1985 to bring the former players back in support. That was about the only way we distant fans could get tickets during the thriller dome years. 2003 was the third year of Coach Hewitt, finishing at 16-15, the previous two years being 15-16 and 17-15. His fourth year he went 28-10,losing to UConn in the NCAA finals. His 28 wins tied Bobby's 28 wins in the 1990 Final Four as Georgia Tech's most wins in 106 seasons. Been skiing too far over our skis since then, which causes one to fall.
View attachment 17623
Below from left to right, my teammate Tommy Hyder, Coach Hyder, me, and Mike Tomasovich, a couple of weeks before Coach Hyder passed away.
View attachment 17624
This ticket below was the last letterwinners basketball game before COVID in Jan 2020. After COVID, I am afraid that there will never be another "Letterwinners game", maybe just recognition at a game during the year if Legends, Inc, who control the in-game experience allows it. The past several coaches do not seem to put very much emphasis on athletic letters anymore. And most current players seem to not care either. Some would have letters from three or four schools, to which they have very little allegiance to the school or the coach. Oh well.. A sign of the times.
View attachment 17626

That + physical game programs are the two biggest things about GT sports that I miss from pre-Covid.

Change is natural though, life goes on.