Oct. 26, 2017
Charlotte, N.C. – Georgia Tech’s Ben Lammers and Josh Okogie have been named to the pre-season All-Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball team announced Thursday by the conference following its annual Operation Basketball media day. Lammers was selected to the five-man first team, while Okogie made the five-man second team.
Lammers, a 6-10 center from San Antonio, Texas, enters his senior year as the reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year and a second-team All-ACC choice a year ago, while Okogie, a 6-4 guard from Snellville, Ga., advanced from unheralded to recruit to one of the ACC’s top freshmen a year ago and led the Yellow Jackets in scoring.
ACC OPERATION BASKETBALL COVERAGE
Coach Pastner transcript | Okogie/Lammers transcript | @GTMBB Twitter timeline
Head coach Josh Pastner was named the ACC Coach of the Year last season after guiding the Jackets to the finals of the NIT and a 21-16 overall record, 8-10 in the ACC (11th). In polling of the attending media Wednesday, Tech was projected to finish ninth in the ACC in 2017-18, matching a projection earlier this fall from Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook. Duke received 57 of 69 first-place votes and was picked to finish first.
Armed with new notoriety following that, Pastner, Lammers and Okogie spent Wednesday meeting members of the media at the 56th annual Atlantic Coast Conference Operation Basketball. Head coaches and players from all 15 ACC teams spent half the day meeting writers and broadcasters at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in downtown Charlotte and the other half of the day doing live interviews and photo shoots at the ESPNU studios.
Along with participating in social media activities at both locations, the trio handled questions centered on how the Yellow Jackets will move forward after surprising many teams around the conference a year ago.
“I still think we’re in a rebuilding process,” said Pastner Wednesday. “We could be better this year and not win as much. I mean, we got fortunate on some games. We got a little lucky here and there. And for us to have success this year, we’re going to have to get a little lucky along the way, and we’ll have to stay healthy.
“We’re really relying on some freshmen to have to produce for us and that’s not going to be easy. So our main three guys returning in Josh Okogie, Ben Lammers and Tadric Jackson, they’ll have to be good. And they’ll have to remain healthy. Because we don’t have that margin after them, margin for error after those guys.”
Tech is nearly four weeks into its pre-season practice, with 16 days remaining until the Jackets open the season Nov. 10 against UCLA in Shanghai, China. But first, the Yellow Jackets host a pair of exhibition games, entertaining Georgia State at noon Saturday in a game to raise money for hurricane relief, and next Thursday, Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m. against NAIA member Faulkner.
.@GTMBB‘s Ben Lammers knows that to be the best, you’ve got to play the best. #ACCMBB #ACCMediaDay pic.twitter.com/4qKHN0In8A
— ACC Men’s Basketball (@accmbb) October 25, 2017
.@GTMBB Coach Pastner speaking now at #ACCMediaDayhttps://t.co/10Um6JV4ad: https://t.co/vEX9jixavo
Facebook Live: https://t.co/wq1v0UIBZz pic.twitter.com/So4IMrpZRI— ACC Men’s Basketball (@accmbb) October 25, 2017
ACC Operation Basketball 2017-18 Preseason Poll
(First-place votes in parenthesis)
Team & Points
1. Duke (57) – 1020
2. North Carolina (7) – 921
3. Notre Dame (4) – 852
4. Miami (1) – 809
5. Louisville – 733
6. Virginia – 690
7. Virginia Tech – 549
8. Florida State — 519
9. Georgia Tech – 468
10. Syracuse – 420
11. Wake Forest – 378
12. NC State – 310
13. Clemson – 289
14. Boston College – 181
15. Pittsburgh — 141
2017-18 Preseason All-ACC Team
(votes in parenthesis)
First Team
Bonzie Colson, Notre Dame (64)
Grayson Allen, Duke (60)
Joel Berry II, North Carolina (58)
Marvin Bagley III, Duke (26)
Ben Lammers, Georgia Tech (25)
Second Team
Bruce Brown Jr., Miami (22)
Quentin Snider, Louisville (12)
Deng Adel, Louisville (12)
Josh Okogie, Georgia Tech (11)
Jerome Robinson, Boston College (11)
ACC Preseason Player of the Year
Bonzie Colson, Notre Dame (49)
Grayson Allen, Duke (9)
Joel Berry II, North Carolina (9)
Bruce Brown Jr., Miami (1)
Jerome Robinson, Boston College (1)
ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year
Marvin Bagley III, Duke (58)
Lonnie Walker IV, Miami (3)
Lavar Batts Jr., NC State (2)
M.J. Walker, Florida State (2)
Jalek Felton, North Carolina (1)
Aamir Simms, Clemson (1)
Oshae Brissett, Syracuse (1)
De’Andre Hunter, Virginia (1)
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team is in its second 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.
