Yellow Jackets and Panthers tip off at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at McCamish Pavilion
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GEORGIA TECH VS. CLARK ATLANTA
Wednesday, November 1, 2023 | 7:30 p.m. ET | Atlanta, Ga. | McCamish PavilionTelevision/Radio: none
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THE FLATS – Georgia Tech prepares for its first season of men’s basketball under head coach Damon Stoudamire, hosting Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, for a 7:30 p.m. exhibition game Wednesday night at McCamish Pavilion.
The Yellow Jackets welcome back four starters, representing four of its top five scorers from the 2022-23 squad that went 15-18. The Panthers are coming off an 8-20 campaign. There is no television or radio coverage for Wednesday night’s game.
Looking to return Tech to national prominence, 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).
Wednesday’s game marks the second meeting between the two schools in men’s basketball. The Jackets escaped with a 71-68 overtime decision over the Panthers in an exhibition game on Nov. 5, 2010 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.
PRE-SEASON STORYLINES
· Well-known throughout the basketball world for his success as a player and coach at the collegiate and professional levels, Damon Stoudamire was named the 15th head coach in Georgia Tech men’s basketball history on March 13.
· Stoudamire has assembled a coaching staff that includes three assistant coaches with college backgrounds (Karl Hobbs from Rutgers, Terry Parker, Jr., from UAB, Pershin Williams from Kennesaw State, whose teams all played in the post-season in 2023), one from the G League Grand Rapids team (Nate Babcock) and a former longtime NBA player who was the head coach at Lemoyne-Owen the last two seasons (Bonzi Wells).
· Georgia Tech (15-18, 6-14 ACC) won six of its last eight regular-season conference games and its first-round game against Florida State in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, a remarkable turnaround after the Yellow Jackets stood 8-15 overall and 1-12 in the ACC on Feb. 4.
· Five of Tech’s newcomers are guards and wings, including 6-4 sophomore Amaree Abram (8.0 ppg at Ole Miss), 6-9 sophomore Tafara Gapare (3.4 ppg at Massachusetts), 6-3 freshman Naithan George (Toronto, Canada), 6-7 junior Kowacie Reeves (8.5 ppg at Florida) and 6-6 freshman Ibrahima Sacko (Conakry, Guinea). The Jackets lost just one guard who played significant minutes (Deivon Smith transferred to Utah).
· Stoudamire totally rebuilt the frontcourt, which lost undersized, but productive 6-7 center Ja’von Franklin, by signing 6-7 graduate senior Tyzhaun Claude (15.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg at Western Carolina) and 6-11 Ebenezer Dowuona (1.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg at NC State) out of the transfer portal and adding a pair of freshmen in 6-9 Baye Ndongo (Mboro, Senegal) and 6-9 Ibrahim Souare (Conakry, Guinea).
· 109th season - Georgia Tech will play its 109th season of basketball in 2023-24, having compiled an all-time on-court record of 1,437-1,305 (22 wins and one loss from the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons were vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions).
· Tech in the ACC - Tech will play its 45th season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, having won the conference championship in 1985, 1990, 1993 and 2021. Prior to that, Tech competed in the Metro Conference for three seasons from 1975-78, was an independent from 1964-75, and was a member of the Southeastern Conference for 32 years from 1932-64, winning one title in 1938.
· Tech has finished higher than its pre-season media projection six times in the last seven years, and have been projected to finish 13th in 2023-24.
· Tech’s four returning scholarship players - Miles Kelly, Lance Terry, 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’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.
