THE FLATS – Georgia Tech’s 1990 Atlantic Coast Conference championship and NCAA Final Four team, led by the legendary “Lethal Weapon 3” trio of Kenny Anderson, Brian Oliver and Dennis Scott, is being featured in the ACC Legends series episode that will premier Thursday night on the ACC Network at 10 p.m., following the Yellow Jackets’ men’s basketball game vs. Northern Illinois.
The Lethal Weapon 3 episode was produced by Philip Weiss of Raycom Sports, and features interviews with all three members of the trio, as well as head coach Bobby Cremins and other members of the team, as well as flashbacks to the key moments of the 1989-90 season, which culminated in the Yellow Jackets’ first-ever trip to the Final Four.
The program will re-air at 10:30 p.m., multiple times Friday and again other times during the course of the season.
With Anderson, Oliver and Scott as the catalysts, 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.
Cremins won the Naismith Coach of the Year Award in 1990. 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
Competitive Drive Initiative
In a unified endeavor, Georgia Tech, the Georgia Tech Foundation, Georgia Tech athletics and the Alexander-Tharpe Fund have come together to accelerate funding for student-athlete scholarships with the launch of the Competitive Drive Initiative. The initiative kicks off with the Accelerate GT Match Program, where any new gift to the A-T Fund’s Athletic Scholarship Fund made through Dec. 31 will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Georgia Tech Foundation, up to $2.5 million. Should Accelerate GT reach its $2.5 million fundraising goal, the matching gift would result in a $5 million impact for Georgia Tech athletics. To learn more and to contribute online, visit atfund.org/accelerate.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL
Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team has completed six seasons under head coach Josh Pastner, winning the Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 2021 and making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 11 years. Tech has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, won four ACC Championships (1985, 1990, 1993, 2021), played in the NCAA Tournament 17 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.
