Thank You Seniors

4shotB

Helluva Engineer
Retired Staff
Messages
4,631
In another thread, someone said that they may be the current version of Price, Salley and Dalrymple....the guys who laid the foundation for a glorious era of GT hoops and have that as their legacy. Whoever said that....I sure hope he/she turns out to be prophetic. This has been the best group since Bynum/Jack/Elder/Schenser for sure.
 

Jacketman99

Ramblin' Wreck
Messages
944
Thank you for bringing back the joy and excitement for GT basketball. I went through many years where it really did not matter to me whether I watched the games or not because we were not that good and we were not a fun team to watch. I would record them all and did not go back and watch many of them. This group has changed all of that for me. I have thoroughly enjoyed the last 2 years of GT basketball and have not missed a game. I have watched many games more than once. These players are very well coached. I have enjoyed watching the players improve their games year after year and become some of the top players in the conference. I love the fact that we can beat any team we play and don't have to go into a game already knowing the outcome. For me, these guys have put GT basketball back on the map. It is must see TV in my household. I have not been this excited about GT basketball since 2004.
 

GTsports1819

Georgia Tech Fan
Messages
69
These guys really are a blast to watch. It's been a fun season, full of ups and downs, but I love how these guys have responded every time we face adversity (first two games, halftime of ND, last second buzzer beater loss to Clemson). We're seeing great leadership/coaching and a team that has really come together and bought into the system. These guys play with a ton of heart and effort every night. Pastner is doing a great job with this team.

I would love to see Jose and Moses come back for an encore next year, but they're playing so well that I imagine they'll probably pursue their opportunities to play pro ball. Either way I'm very happy for them and grateful for what they've done for this program. I just want to see us carry this momentum and make some noise in the tournament. This team can definitely make a run.
 

slugboy

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
10,800
This has been a tough road for our seniors, and they’ve gutted out the last few years to bring our program back around.
In 2017, Haywood, Alvarado, Moses Wright, and Evan Cole as our new recruits. Pastner was in his second year, and just had a better first season than expected, everything was looking like we were set for a faster turnaround than expected, and the assistant coaches were Reveno, Tavaras Hardy, and Darryl Labarrie. Lammers was our star that year. Alvarado stood out that year as a gritty young player.
2017 and 2018 were rough years for our basketball team. We’d favored transfers over recruiting (with our previous coach), but we did have Okogie for a little while. 2018 was the first year for Schwartz and Wilkins as assistant coaches. Pastner was under a lot of heat, and this set the stage for probation and recruiting restrictions that we’re pretty much past. Not only did Alvarado and Wright (and Cole) stick with us through this time, but Bubba Parham and Jordan Usher came over to join us last season after seeing the grinder we’d been put through and said “I want to play with those guys and those coaches”.
Finally last year, we pulled off a winning ACC season and should have had a shot at post-season, but between COVID and the NCAA our players had to end a season early when they were playing really well.
This doesn’t even count the injuries that these players have fought their way through over the past couple of years.
If you wanted to look at a group of players and see what “grit” is, you couldn’t find a better group of players. There are a lot of things that could have made the last four years easier, but almost none of them happened. Through all of that, they’ve fought hard, taken a ton of bad bounces, and squeezed their way towards the NCAAs.
Congrats to all of them. Let’s win at Wake and push our way into the NCAAs and cap this four years off in the right way!
 

OG-T

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
308
If I had to lean most likeliest Senior to return it would be Ush for these reasons.
1. I think he got the short end of his first (mid) year transfer at Tech. He hasn’t really had full time here.
2. By all accounts he seems to be closest to Devoe, so playing as “seniors” with him would be special.
3. He has mentioned desire to play with Sturdivant (former GA and USC connection).
4. Another year to be the #1 or #2 option on team to put up bigger numbers, and get more pro attention.

His “basketball skill” jump from last year to this year has been significant, another big jump could have him in 2nd round consideration in next year’s draft.
 

g0lftime

Helluva Engineer
Messages
5,420
If I had to lean most likeliest Senior to return it would be Ush for these reasons.
1. I think he got the short end of his first (mid) year transfer at Tech. He hasn’t really had full time here.
2. By all accounts he seems to be closest to Devoe, so playing as “seniors” with him would be special.
3. He has mentioned desire to play with Sturdivant (former GA and USC connection).
4. Another year to be the #1 or #2 option on team to put up bigger numbers, and get more pro attention.

His “basketball skill” jump from last year to this year has been significant, another big jump could have him in 2nd round consideration in next year’s draft.
Plus working on outside shooting to raise his NBA stock. He already plays good defense and is strong to the rim. He has a decent shot now but those pro's hardly miss open shots. He would be a featured player next year in the offense. Hope he comes back but if he doesn't he sure has made a huge difference this year.
 

Techster

Helluva Engineer
Messages
17,815
LOVE this group of seniors. We don't have any superstars on the level of Chris Bosh or Kenny Anderson, just a bunch of guys who put in the sweat and hard work to develop themselves during their time here.
This group is gonna leave as the group that brought GTMBB out of the desert and back to the one of the best teams in the ACC. Remember, we finished 5th last season, and now 4th this season. We're about to go to the NCAAT for the first time in over a decade. They've given GT something tangible to sell to recruits now...not just a vision of what a HC sees. Because GT does it without the "advantages" of other schools, people don't realize how difficult that is.

This group will be just as important as the Price/Salley group and the Elder/Jack/Schenser group...groups that re-established GTMBB for years to come.

The ride isn't over yet. We are heading into tournament play riding a lot of highs. Hopefully this group will lead us a to a special run like the other groups did.
 
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