THE FLATS – Georgia Tech basketball will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its 1990 NCAA Final Four and Atlantic Coast Conference championship team Saturday night when the Yellow Jackets take on the defending NCAA champion Virginia Cavaliers at McCamish Pavilion.
The game will tip off at 8 p.m.
The entire 1989-90 team is expected to attend, with the exception of Dennis Scott and Brian Oliver, whose broadcasting duties will have them at other locations on Saturday. The members of the team will sign autographs before the game and be introduced on the court at halftime. Replica team posters for the 1990 team will be given away to fans attending the game while supplies last.
Led by the legendary “Lethal Weapon 3” group of Scott, Kenny Anderson and Brian Oliver, the 1990 Yellow Jackets won 28 games and were one of the nation’s highest scoring teams, setting Tech records for most points (3.096) and highest scoring average (88.5 points per game) in a season. Scott, a 6-8 junior forward, Oliver, a 6-4 senior guard, and Anderson, a 6-foot freshman point guard, each averaged more than 20 points per game.
Karl Brown (5) and Johnny McNeil (44) celebrate Georgia Tech winning the NCAA Southeast Regional in New Orleans to advance to the Yellow Jackets’ first Final Four. (photo by Mary Whaley)
Tech plowed through the ACC Tournament in Charlotte, N.C., beating NC State, Duke and Virginia to earn its second crown in six years.
In the NCAA Tournament, the Jackets downed East Tennessee State in the opening round before encountering an LSU team that featured Shaquille O’Neal. Tech got by the Tigers, 94-91, earning a spot in the Sweet 16 in New Orleans, La., where the Jackets outlasted Michigan State in overtime, 81-80, and Minnesota, 93-91, to reach the Final Four, where they fell to eventual champion UNLV, 90-81.
Bobby Cremins, the head coach of that team, won the Naismith Coach of the Year Award in 1990, and the Naismith coach of the Year trophy will be displayed on the concourse during the game as well.
Scott was named the Naismith National Player of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American. Anderson was a second-team All-American in 1990, but would become a first-team member the next season.
Oliver, Scott and Anderson all made the All-ACC team that season, while Anderson and Scott made the All-Southeast Regional team in New Orleans, and Scott made the All-Final Four team.
The rest of the starting lineup included 6-10 freshman forward Malcolm Mackey, who would go on to become the Yellow Jackets’ all-time leading rebounder and win another ACC title with the Jackets in 1993, and 6-9 center Johnny McNeil. Backup point guard Karl Brown from Leicester, England, 6-9 forward Darryl Barnes and 6-11 center James Munlyn were all key contributors off the bench.
Techs run to the 1990 Final Four
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the A-T Fund’s Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes, and Athletics Initiative 2020, Georgia Tech athletics’ ongoing $125 million initiative to allow Tech to recruit the nation’s most elite student-athletes, build a better student-athlete once they arrive on The Flats and, ultimately, win! To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is in its fourth year under head coach Josh Pastner. Tech has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won three ACC Championships (1985, 1990, 1993), played in the NCAA Tournament 16 times and played in two Final Fours (1990, 2004). Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball on social media by liking their Facebook Page, or following on Twitter (@GTMBB) and Instagram. For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
Tickets for men’s basketball can be purchased here.
