Gulfport (Miss,) DT Kai McClendon added an offer from Georgia Tech late last week.
Login to view embedded media Login to view embedded media Since then, he and coach Marco Coleman have remained in steady contact, all while his offer list has continued to grow.

McClendon is making the trip over from Mississippi to Atlanta on Saturday night for the Syracuse game, and depending on how that visit goes, next steps could be taken quickly on both sides.

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech’s highly anticipated new Student-Athlete Performance Center will be named the Thomas A. Fanning Student-Athlete Performance Center in honor of Tech alumnus and longtime benefactor Dr. Thomas A. Fanning. The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved the naming on Tuesday.



Fanning holds three degrees from Georgia Tech (B.S industrial management, M.S. industrial management, honorary Ph.D.) and was a visionary leader in the energy industry during his 43-year career with the Southern Company, which included serving as president and chief executive officer from 2010-23.



He has demonstrated deep appreciation and commitment to Georgia Tech through more than a decade of service on high-level advisory boards at the Institute, including the Georgia Tech Foundation, the Georgia Tech Advisory Board, two campaign steering committees, the Georgia Tech Athletic Association Board of Trustees and Tech athletics’ Alexander-Tharpe Fund Board. He has also provided philanthropic support for an endowed scholarship in Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business and for student-athlete scholarships and program support within Tech athletics.



“We are proud and honored to name Georgia Tech’s new Student-Athlete Performance Center after Dr. Tom Fanning,” Georgia Tech director of athletics J Batt said. “We couldn’t be more grateful for the positive impact that Tom has made on the lives of generations of Georgia Tech student-athletes, so it’s most deserving that his name will be on this building, which will impact the lives of Tech student-athletes for generations to come.”



In his 43 years with the Southern Company, Fanning held 15 different positions in eight different business units, including nearly 13 years as president/CEO. He also served on national energy boards, including the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council, the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations and the international advisory boards of the Atlantic Council and the American Energy Council.



Approved by the Board of Regents of USG in April 2022, the Thomas A. Fanning Student-Athlete Performance Center will be constructed on the footprint of the Edge/Rice Center in the northeast corner of Bobby Dodd Stadium. The facility will directly impact student-athlete performance on a day-to-day basis, with areas dedicated to strength and conditioning, sports medicine (including mental health services), sports science and data analytics. The building will also include expanded and enhanced meeting, office and lounge space exclusive to Georgia Tech’s football program.



Construction is scheduled to begin on the Thomas A. Fanning Student-Athlete Performance Center following the conclusion of the 2023 football season and is expected to be completed following the 2025 football season.

Philo was at the game yesterday afternoon, and spent time with several of the commits and priority 2025 targets.

Coming off his first loss of the season against Mary Persons on Friday night, Philo went into the game on Saturday with a feeling he was unfamiliar with.

He left with a stronger sense of that feeling, but he's locked in and believes that the rest of the class is as well.

"One game does not define a team, or any players. It is all about how you handle adversity," said Philo. "I've got full belief of the staff, the program, and the coaches. I trust them."

Philo added that he does not believe that anyone is thinking about decommitting.

Fill it up

Complete 2023-24 schedule | Purchase Single-Game Tickets | Purchase Mini-Packs | Media Notes (PDF)

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GEORGIA TECH vs. UMASS LOWELL​

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | 7:30 p.m. ET | Atlanta, Ga. | McCamish Pavilion

Live Stream: ACC Network Extra / ESPN+ (Announcers: Wiley Ballard, Jon Babul)

Radio: Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports (In Atlanta: 680 AM/93.7 The Fan) | SiriusXM channel 388

Other ways to listen: SiriusXM app | Listen Online | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets App | TuneIn

Announcers: Andy Demetra, Randy Waters

Live Stats: Statbroadcast.com

Promotion: Good basketball



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THE FLATS – Looking to start a season with three straight wins for the second straight year, Georgia Tech plays host to UMass Lowell in a 7:30 p.m. tip Tuesday night at McCamish Pavilion.

Tech entertains the River Hawks to close out a three-game homestand to open its first season under new head coach Damon Stoudamire. The Yellow Jackets opened the campaign with an 84-62 victory over Georgia Southern on Nov. 6, then rallied past Howard, 88-85, last Thursday.

Winners of 26 games a year ago, UMass Lowell has opened its 2023-24 season defeating Rivier and Dartmouth by an average of 39 points. The River Hawks are in Atlanta for the second game in a stretch of six consecutive road games.

Tuesday’s game will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra and ESPN+, and is also available on the ESPN app. Radio coverage is on the Georgia Tech Sports Network by Legends Sports and flagship station 680 the Fan (680 AM/93.7 FM). The Tech broadcast is also available on the SiriusXM app and SiriusXM channel 388.

THE TIP-OFF

• Georgia Tech started last season with three straight wins, but the Yellow Jackets have been 3-0 only once in the last seven seasons.

• Tech has its first three games of the 2023-24 season in the friendly confines of McCamish Pavilion, where the Yellow Jackets are 125-68 in 11-plus seasons. Tech’s first road trip comes Nov. 22 at Cincinnati.

• UMass Lowell is one of five guaranteed non-conference opponents for Tech that won 20 or more games in the 2022-23 season, including four that played in the post-season. Mississippi State (21-13), Penn State (23-14) and Howard (22-13) all played in the NCAA Tournament last season, while Cincinnati (23-13), a new member of the Big 12, reached the quarterfinals of the NIT. UMass Lowell (26-8) finished second in the America East Conference. The Yellow Jackets potentially could play two more 20-win teams in the Diamond Head Classic, with a possible game against Hawai’i (21-11) in the second round and TCU (22-13) in the final round.

• Tech has played its first two games without two plyers expected to be significant contributors this season, senior guard Lance Terry who averaged 10.1 points per game a year ago, and 6-9 freshman forward Baye Ndongo, a four-star prospect from Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut.

• Tech’s four returning scholarship players - Miles Kelly, Lance Terry, Dallan “Deebo” Coleman and Kyle Sturdivant - accounted for 59.4 percent of the Yellow Jackets’ points and 56.5 percent of the minutes during the 2022-23 season. They collectively shot 35.6 percent from three-point range.

• Tech has a total of nine scholarship newcomers on its roster, five transfers who were judged the 17th best transfer class in the country by 247Sports, and four freshmen.

• Tech’s five transfers combined to average 37 points and 17.2 rebounds per game last season at their previous schools. They have combined to play in 263 games in their careers, and have made 116 starts.

• Miles Kelly is looking to become the first Tech player to open a season scoring 20 or more points in three straight games since Moses Wright in 2020-21. He also is looking to start a season with 25 or more points in three steaight games since Dennis Scott in 1989-90.

• Kyle Sturdivant, a transfer himself from USC prior to the 2020-21 season, is the elder statesman on the Tech roster, beginning his fourth season. He is the lone player remaining from Tech’s 2021 ACC Championship team and has played 91 games (49 starts) in a Tech uniform.

SERIES VS. UMASS LOWELL

• Georgia Tech and UMass Lowell are meeting for the first time.

• The River Hawks are just the third team from the current America East Conference Tech has ever met. The Yellow Jackets faced Maine in 1971 and Albany in 2010, both Tech victories.

JACKETS AT-A-GLANCE

Looking to return Tech to national prominence, Damon Stoudamire brings the experience of 13 years as a successful NBA player, 10 years of coaching experience on the collegiate level and four years on the NBA level. He has added a five-player transfer class that has been ranked No. 17 in the nation by 247Sports and four talented freshmen to the roster for 2023-24.

Leading the way for the Yellow Jackets is 6-6 junior guard Miles Kelly (Stone Mountain, Ga.), who led Tech in scoring (14.4 ppg) and three-point shooting (.379) and set a team record for free throw percentage (.898). Also back is 6-3 senior guard Lance Terry (College Park, Ga.), who averaged 10.1 points and connected on 38.8 percent of his three-point attempts, 6-6 junior guard Dallan “Deebo” Coleman (Memphis, Tenn.), who averaged 9.5 points and 2.9 rebounds, and 6-3 senior point guard Kyle Sturdivant (Norcross, Ga.), who is back for his fourth season on the Flats after averaging 8.6 points and leading the Jackets in assist average (3.3 per game).

The transfer class includes 6-4 sophomore guard Amaree Abram (Port Arthur, Texas) from Ole Miss, 6-7 senior forward Tyzhaun Claude (Goldsboro, N.C.) from Western Carolina, 6-11 senior center Ebenezer Dowuona (Accra, Ghana) from NC State, 6-9 sophomore forward Tafara Gapare (Wellington, New Zealand) from Massachusetts and 6-7 junior guard Kowacie Reeves, Jr. (Macon, Ga.) from Florida. All the transfers except Gapare have significant starting experience at the previous schools, and Gapare played in 30 games as a freshman.

The freshman class is led by 6-9 forward Baye Ndongo (Mboro, Senegal) and includes 6-3 point guard Naithan George (Toronto, Ontario), 6-6 forward Ibrahima Sacko (Conakry, Guinea) and 6-9 forward Ibrahim Souare (Conakry, Guinea).

Loss on Saturday was a painful loss and it sucks to lose. We only have 12 opportunities guaranteed. Like I talked about early in the year the response from the team is going to give us the response we want. How we respond to things and how we prepare ourselves will determine the Syracuse game. We’ve responded well this year and Coach Saban used to talk about not wasting a failure and looking it in the eye. New mission this week and competing against Syracuse. They pose some different challenges offensively and defensively. Offensively they’ve changed the last two games. Defensively they’ve improved and are top 20 in several categories. They’ve had 4 guys at QB from wildcat to big wildcat, they pose a threat. On Sunday we said we are back at home playing at 8 o’clock in BDS and that broke the ice and got them excited and how it was in the stadium in the last home game. That got them excited to get ready to prepare for this week. The crowd was huge last week and it will be huge this week. We need the crowd to be loud and it was an outstanding environment.

The 1998 Gator Bowl ACC Championship Team will be in town with GOL, I won’t be able to celebrate with them, but it is exciting for those guys to be back and share memories of playing the game. I told our guys they will have the same memories to share when it is their time.

ON CUSE OFFENSIVE CHANGES IMPACTING DEFENSE, there are only so many things we can change, we have to get set, they do a lot of tempo, they don’t eat the clock, they mix tempo and we have to set our cleats in the ground and cover guys in the back end and we’ve got to get an edge.

ON THE PASSING GAME ISSUES we played a good and talented football team and we have to execute and we go out to win the game. After every game I reevaluated it and we had 3rd and 2 and we took a play-action shot to win the game, the pocket was tight and little further back. We have to grow and have precision in it. It is all 11 guys, one receiver runs a route the wrong way or a OL gives up a twist or a RB misses a protect and that blows up the play. Some of it was protection, some wasn’t crisp.

ON TAKING ZEEK OFF THE FIELD ON THIRD DOWNS AND THE INEFFECTIVE SUB PACKAGES
(Brent got a kick out of this in a not good way) He said he isn’t going to get into schematic changes and he isn’t going to act like he doesn’t see those things either. They have to win some one-on-ones on 3rd downs and guys have to get the call and get lined up too. They also can’t cover well and have the QB run for 14-15 yards by losing contain. They have to be better on third down and have the right people on the field and the right scheme in place and that was a challenge for them this year and they are working on it every week and that might be the biggest challenge on defense this year. They have to get set with their cleats in the ground and defeat blocks and get into the backfield.

ON HAYNES KING’S RESILIENCE Haynes is a competitor and we sat down and when you talk to him, his knowledge and competitiveness is what makes people great. When you get down a little bit and things aren’t right he tries to make it right and sometimes he doesn’t make the right decision and sometimes it is a route or a decision and the spotlight is on him. He is hard on himself and most competitors are. Talking to him the other day, he is a little like Brett Farve, he would throw a pick and then rip it the next one. As he got older he would rip into tight windows and make plays. He is going to be like that and there is still a lot of coaching whether you win or lose and there are things that go blindly in wins and things you have to correct in losses too. He is hard on himself and he is going to continue to grow and work on him.

ON TRYING TO GET BOWL ELIGIBLE AND DISCUSSION Up until Sunday I have not said the word, it is the same mentality each week, it is a one-game week. On Sunday I brought it up, this is playoff football and NFL Championship chances, it is win and you are in. That is the way it works. We brought it up and talked about and it is a big deal for the kids and as a alumni here it is a big deal for me and Georgia Tech and the GTAA. Heck yeah we talked about it and these guys know there is something special in front of them and they have to work to get it.

ON DEFENDING THE FAKE PUNT There were some zeros or some minuses on that play and some guys didn’t do what they were supposed to do, we were able to sniff it out and see and we were in the right call to do it. They had a mishap on their side to help us.

ON BOWL ELIGIBILITY AND WHY HE SAID IT we have a chance to do it and it is a one-game mentality and play the next game and next game. I told them there are 13 days left and win next week gives us bragging rights and it is Syracuse and it's time.
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ON CUSE WITH PRESNAP PENALTIES AND CROWD IMPACTING IT that is huge, they’ve had some struggles and as an OL coach I get those issues, several guys with different cadences and different sounds and noises and that is tough on the center and you have to be keyed into the snap count or the cadence or their mechanism and the louder it gets the harder it is to do. The student body and the fans and the way they were for the UNC game, supporting the fellow students, we have an opportunity to make it a great home-field advantage and make it a 12th man on the field to help the defense

ON AHMARI HARVEY he traveled but wasn’t able to go but he was running better today and hopefully, he will be good to go on Saturday. Other guys are just normal bumps and bruises this time of year.

ON THE UNKNOWNS OF PLAYING A CUSE TEAM THAT PUT IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT OFFENSE LAST WEEK we have to be ready to adjust because they put in a new offense in basically six days and who is to say they won’t do it again this week and throw it 60x. There is a lot of communication that goes into as well and moving parts and that is where our crowd can have a big impact on the game this week.

First Career Rec Touchdown. Congratulations

LFG

Due to Thanksgiving next week and a scheduling conflict this week there will be no media avail on Thursday with Key for the last two regular season games. Just giving folks a heads up now in case I’m out of pocket on Thursday.

Oregon St favored over Washington.
Louisville only a 1 point favorite over Miami.
Pitt favored over BC.
VT favored over NC St.

Thanks to our new sponsor Inteleca for helping bring back Q's Take my weekly look at things around GT and college sports from my vantage.




Georgia Tech took a 7-0 lead at Clemson and then gave up an 18-play touchdown drive and the wheels came off the bus. Eric Singleton Jr. dropped an open touchdown pass, Haynes King threw a pick in the first half and they were down 21-7 at the break.

King started forcing the ball after four drops in the first half by his receivers and threw three more picks and he put extra pressure on Tech's defense. The Jackets had forced a punt and had a Jaylon King interception prior to two of the picks and he threw interceptions on three straight drives including one to a random space on the field where there was no offensive player and he had 10 yards of open grass in front of him.

The defense gave up 35 points to a not-great Clemson offense and let Cade Klubnik have the time to make some good throws and they could not stop Will Shipley or Phil Mafah.

That's the crux of the game. Neither side took advantage of momentum plays and the offense had a big letdown against a very physical defense and King reverted to what I like to call A&M King forcing throws and trying to make too much happen instead of playing within the offense. That is the same thing that happened in the BC game.

King's line in those two ACC losses.

27/63 passing 333 yards, 3 TDs and 7 INTs.

King has to play within the system. He is the leader of the offense appointed by the staff and he has to be better than that at this point.

The defense is not good, there is not a lot you can do about it right now as it is a Jimmies and Joes issue more than scheme or coaching at this point. There was a limited amount of changes Kevin Sherrer could put in midseason and the personnel is what it is along with the coaches coaching it up. I expect significant changes on that side of the ball after the season both in personnel and staff to address what needs to be done, but they can keep GT in games and they made enough plays at Clemson to give GT a shot if the offense was functioning a little better. The offense was the big letdown though and that killed the defense and the game snowballed. Now they have to fix it fast.

Now the Jackets are in must-win territory with Syracuse coming up. The Orange are playing for their head coach's job at the moment as there is a lot of unhappiness in upstate New York with how things have gone since Dino Babers won 10 games in 2018. He is 23-35 since that season with one winning season last year.

The Orange have a little less pressure with a now dreadful Wake Forest team at home next week so the pressure is really amped up on the Jackets.

This week we get to see the worst rushing defense in the P5, Georgia Tech face a team that ran 65 times for 392 yards last week against a Pitt team that has given up on the season. Syracuse is only 38th in the country in rushing after that outburst still behind teams like Georgia Tech in that category.

It is a must-win situation for the Jackets and a bowl bid would do a lot to help Brent Key and his young program show some real progress without turning the Georgia game into something that would be unfair to the players into a game where they need to upset a top 2 team to go to a bowl game.

Tech has played well in night games this season going 3-2 with the two losses coming to top 25 teams Louisville and Ole Miss with both of those games behind close in the 4th quarter. It is time to see them finish off a not-great Cuse team and break the bowl curse that GC3 created.

Don’t know where to begin. Not much good, lots of bad and ugly.

Flush it and move on. Get win 6 vs Cuse

whoever deer hunts.. get out in the woods soon. they are rutting

Same old problems and when King reverts to A&M King they are in deep shit. Drops and the poor pass protection shook King IMO and the rest is history.

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Mods can delete this I didn’t see the other thread.

UVA/Louisville 14-14 in the 3rd 👀

Do we get good Tech?

fire away

Today is my mother’s birthday and the first since the loss of my stepdad obviously so I’m taking my family up there to spend the day with her. I’m shooting for 8:30pm for the video tonight and a few of my content things might be a little delayed.

Drop your questions below.

Welp about to try and forget about that debacle for the next few hours. Anybody else going to the Morgan Wallen concert tonight?

Haynes King and Jamal Haynes

Jaylon King and Eddie Kelly

I'm waiting for a better copy of Key's audio, he was very difficult to hear and you can hear how much ambient noise there was in the media setup today in the tunnel of the stadium.