THE FLATS – Georgia Tech was well represented in this year’s ACC honors with head coach James Ramsey earning ACC Coach of the Year and Vahn Lackey garnering ACC Defensive Player of the Year honors, the conference office announced on Monday.
In total, Georgia Tech led the conference with five first-team All-ACC honorees, with six players named to all-conference teams: Drew Burress (1st Team), Vahn Lackey (1st Team), Jarren Advincula (1st Team), Carson Kerce (1st Team), Ryan Zuckerman (1st Team) and Tate McKee (2nd Team).
The five first-team selections are tied for the most in program history (tied with 2000) while McKee becomes the first starting pitcher from Tech to be named to one of the first two all-conference teams since Brant Hurter in 2021.
James Ramsey becomes the first ACC head coach to win Coach of the Year as a first-year had coach in conference history. He is only the second to earn the award in his first season in the ACC, along with Jack Leggett (Clemson – 1994). Georgia Tech has now won back-to-back ACC coach of the year honors, becoming the first team in conference history to do so with two different head coaches (Danny Hall in 2025 and James Ramsey in 2026).
He earned the award by leading the Yellow Jackets to a 25-5 record in conference play, tying 2015 Louisville for the most wins in conference history over a 30-game season. Georgia Tech outscored their ACC opponents 289-136, the largest run differential in ACC history (+153) and more than double the differential put up by Louisville in 2015 (+74).
Lackey becomes the second Yellow Jacket, along with Joey Bart in 2018, to earn the ACC Defensive Player of the Year Award, first given out in 2017. He posted an 8.97 defensive runs saved this season with six caught stealings and five back-pick outs recorded. He was the backbone of a pitching staff that led the ACC with a 4.36 ERA and 136 runs allowed in conference play, while also leading the most potent offense in BBCOR era history in both on-base percentage (.518) and slugging percentage (.747) over the 54 game season. His .747 slugging percentage is currently the ninth highest in program history for a single season and the second highest recorded in the 21st century, behind only Burress’ .821 slug season in 2024.
Lackey also earned his first-career 1st team all-conference honor, officially being named the best catcher in the ACC this season. He set career highs in every offensive category: batting average (.402), OPS (1.265), runs (72), hits (78), doubles (16), triples (3), home runs (15), RBI (69), slugging (.747), on-base (.518) and walks (43). He leads all Power 4 catchers in batting average and on-base and is one RBI shy of becoming the fourth catcher in program history to record a 70 run/70 RBI season, joining Kevin Parada (2022), Matt Wieters (2006) and Jason Varitek (1993 & ’94), all first-round picks.
Drew Burress produced his third 1st team all-conference season, slashing .363 avg / .473 on-base / .650 slug over 54 games while also playing his typical plus defense in center field. He leads the ACC with 75 runs scored, becoming the first Yellow Jacket in program history to record three-consecutive 70 run seasons. He has also hit 13 home runs this season, tying the Georgia Tech record for career home runs (57) a record set over four seasons by 1994 Golden Spikes Award winner Jason Varitek.
He is a staple on nearly all of the active career leaderboards for offense in Division I, coming into the postseason with the most runs scored of any active Division I player (225), the fourth highest slugging percentage (.720), the third most home runs (57), and the fifth highest on-base percentage (.488). His home run total is the most among non-seniors in Division I and his on-base percentage is the highest among active Power 4 players. Burress has landed himself on the program leaderboard in HRs (T-1st – 57), slugging % (2nd – .731), doubles (8th – 56), runs (6th – 221), total bases (7th – 479), batting average (17th – .362) and RBI (14th – 182).
Jarren Advincula became the most consistently dangerous hitter in college baseball in his first season on The Flats. He leads the nation with 100 hits, averaging 1.85 per game. He holds the GT BBCOR era record for hits in a season owns Tech’s first 100 hit season since Wes Hodges (106) and Tyler Green (100) back in 2005. He has gotten a hit in 37 of his last 38 games dating back to March 10 and 50 of 54 games this season. He leads the Yellow Jackets with 16 stolen bases this year while all Division I 2nd basemen with a 4.55 WAR. He has recorded multiple hits in 35 games and reached base in all 54 games this season.
He is batting .441 for the season, the highest in Power 4, No. 2 in the nation and the 4th highest in program history. Should the season end today, he would have the highest batting average of any Yellow Jacket with at least 200 ABs – a record currently held by Jay Payton (.434) from back in 1994 and the highest batting average overall since 1979.
This is his third all-conference honor and his second 1st team nod after earning 1st team All-Pac 12 in his freshman season at California.
Carson Kerce put his name in the Georgia Tech history books by hitting a Georgia Tech single season record 28 doubles this season and slashing .380 avg / .463 OBP / .659 slug (all career bests). He led the most potent offense in BBCOR era history with 39 extra base hits (program record 28 doubles, career high three triples and career high eight home runs). His 28 doubles led the ACC and all of Power 4 while his 3.75 WAR ranked fifth in the nation among registered shortstops. Since moving to the leadoff spot in the lineup, he has led Georgia Tech to a 14-2 record, including three ACC sweeps in all three series in which he has been the leadoff hitter.
This is Kerce’s first career all-conference honor after setting career highs in every offensive category: runs (60), hits (79), doubles (28), triples (3), home runs (8) and RBI (43).
Ryan Zuckerman secured his first-career all-conference honor when he was named as the first-team third baseman. Zuckerman led the most potent offense in BBCOR era history in home runs this season, posting 20, the 17th 20-homer season in program history. He led the team with 21-multi RBI games while setting career highs in average (.335), runs (60), home runs (20), slugging % (.720) and on-base % (.436). He was excellent on the defensive side of the ball as well, posting a 14.77 defensive runs saved for the season, the 10th best mark in college baseball. He leads the team in RBI (70) just two away from cracking into the all-time Top 20 for Georgia Tech.
Tate McKee becomes the first GT pitcher to deliver back-to-back eight-win seasons since Buck Farmer in 2012 & ’13. He finishes his third regular season on The Flats with an 8-1 record in 14 starts with a career-best 4.10 ERA and a career-best 84 strikeouts. He is 16 strikeouts shy of becoming Tech’s first pitcher with 100 Ks in a single season since Connor Thomas in 2019.
McKee has set the tone in all 14 series this season, starting the opening game. This is the second year in a row he has started the series opener of every series, the only pitcher in Division I to have done so over each of the last two years. Tech is 24-6 in series openers started by McKee (.800 win %) and have won 15 of the last 17 series openers dating back to last season. He becomes the first Tech pitcher to be named to one of the first two teams of the ACC’s yearly awards since Brant Hurter in 2021.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
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