Thanks to our sponsor Inteleca for helping bring back Q's Take my weekly look at things around GT and college sports from my vantage.
The downside of hiring Damon Stoudamire out of the NBA was the learning curve for basketball in 2023-24 with the portal and open free agency ruling the sport. He was behind the eight-ball because the opportunity was a sudden almost fluke-like situation of timing falling just in line with J Batt and Stoudamire being able to spend time and bond when Stoudamire wasn't actively seeking a college job. The team showed signs of tremendous progress during Stoudamire's first season on the court, but also the flaws of trying to put together a roster late in the game and having to mix and match pieces including former players recruited for a significantly different offensive and defensive philosophy and also evaluating on the fly talent.
Stoudamire and his staff showed plenty of skill with the evaluation of HS targets adding Baye Ndongo a top 120 player flipping him from Rutgers and then plucking Naithan George out of obscurity and a possible reclassification to 2024. Tech beat out Seattle and a geographical college in Texas for George. Even Ibrahima Sacko showed some signs of life.
They missed on Ebenezer Dowuona the big man addition via NC State who just hasn't figured it out and then missed most of the final third of the season with a foot injury. They took a flyer on Kowacie Reeves who worked out pretty well and Amaree Abram who was a giant bust after showing tremendous flashes at Ole Miss. Tafara Gapare took almost two-thirds of the season, but he finally figured out his role and started playing like an ACC contributor.
Ibrahim Souare redshirted along with veteran Lance Terry who could've helped Tech win games because Stoudamire was trying to do the right thing for the young men instead of what may have helped pick up one or two more wins in his first season knowing they were not likely competing for ACC titles or NCAAT in year one.
The team was built around Miles Kelly and he buckled under the strain of being asked to elevate his all-around game and had a terrible shooting season that helped contribute to many of the losses this season and then his back gave out when he was finally turning the corner during the last stretch run of the season wiping him out.
Deebo Coleman was inconsistent in his seven-man role, while Kyle Sturdivant was really good in his sixth-man role despite his limited abilities.
So now Stoudamire has time to actually find the pieces he needs, time under his system to make evaluations and be real with players with where they stand and what is best for them.
That will mean some kids will depart and some will stay and be pieces of Tech's future.
If I were Damon Stoudamire I focus on a true center who can score in the paint, rebound and block shots as well as some type of shooter and some type of guard who can win off the dribble and get to the rim. I think those three things would make GT an NCAAT next year even if you just built around Baye, Nait, Kowacie and Lance plus the freshmen.
Getting a big man is hard work, but they can do better than Claude and Ebe, no offense to those guys, but Claude was a 5-10 mpg guy being stretched out in ACC play way past his physical abilities and Ebe is just not good around the rim and isn't a skilled rebounder or consistent shot blocker.
This will be an interesting time for Stoudamire to prove his proof of concept and do what needs to be done to turn GT around and get things rolling.
The downside of hiring Damon Stoudamire out of the NBA was the learning curve for basketball in 2023-24 with the portal and open free agency ruling the sport. He was behind the eight-ball because the opportunity was a sudden almost fluke-like situation of timing falling just in line with J Batt and Stoudamire being able to spend time and bond when Stoudamire wasn't actively seeking a college job. The team showed signs of tremendous progress during Stoudamire's first season on the court, but also the flaws of trying to put together a roster late in the game and having to mix and match pieces including former players recruited for a significantly different offensive and defensive philosophy and also evaluating on the fly talent.
Stoudamire and his staff showed plenty of skill with the evaluation of HS targets adding Baye Ndongo a top 120 player flipping him from Rutgers and then plucking Naithan George out of obscurity and a possible reclassification to 2024. Tech beat out Seattle and a geographical college in Texas for George. Even Ibrahima Sacko showed some signs of life.
They missed on Ebenezer Dowuona the big man addition via NC State who just hasn't figured it out and then missed most of the final third of the season with a foot injury. They took a flyer on Kowacie Reeves who worked out pretty well and Amaree Abram who was a giant bust after showing tremendous flashes at Ole Miss. Tafara Gapare took almost two-thirds of the season, but he finally figured out his role and started playing like an ACC contributor.
Ibrahim Souare redshirted along with veteran Lance Terry who could've helped Tech win games because Stoudamire was trying to do the right thing for the young men instead of what may have helped pick up one or two more wins in his first season knowing they were not likely competing for ACC titles or NCAAT in year one.
The team was built around Miles Kelly and he buckled under the strain of being asked to elevate his all-around game and had a terrible shooting season that helped contribute to many of the losses this season and then his back gave out when he was finally turning the corner during the last stretch run of the season wiping him out.
Deebo Coleman was inconsistent in his seven-man role, while Kyle Sturdivant was really good in his sixth-man role despite his limited abilities.
So now Stoudamire has time to actually find the pieces he needs, time under his system to make evaluations and be real with players with where they stand and what is best for them.
That will mean some kids will depart and some will stay and be pieces of Tech's future.
If I were Damon Stoudamire I focus on a true center who can score in the paint, rebound and block shots as well as some type of shooter and some type of guard who can win off the dribble and get to the rim. I think those three things would make GT an NCAAT next year even if you just built around Baye, Nait, Kowacie and Lance plus the freshmen.
Getting a big man is hard work, but they can do better than Claude and Ebe, no offense to those guys, but Claude was a 5-10 mpg guy being stretched out in ACC play way past his physical abilities and Ebe is just not good around the rim and isn't a skilled rebounder or consistent shot blocker.
This will be an interesting time for Stoudamire to prove his proof of concept and do what needs to be done to turn GT around and get things rolling.
