Georgia Tech (12-14, 4-9) vs. Wake Forest (14-13, 5-9)
February 27, 2000 * 2 p.m. * Lawrence Joel Coliseum * Winston-Salem, N.C.
TV: CBS-TV (WGNX in Atlanta). Announcers: Gus Johnson, Dan Bonner
Radio: WGST (640 AM) in Atlanta, flagship for the Georgia Tech Radio Network (Wes Durham, play-by-play; Randy Waters, color)
Tech Record: 12-14, 4-9 ACC
Home: 10-3; Away: 0-8; Neut.: 2-3
Tech vs. WFU: Tied 23-23
vs. WFU under Cremins: 22-17
First Meeting This Year:
1-22-00, NC State 66-58 (Raleigh)
Last Year’s Meetings:
1-16-99, Tech 75-61 (Atlanta)
2-16-99, WFU 67-58 (Winston-Salem)
at Joel Coliseum: 3-7
Nat’l Rank: Neither team ranked
Cremins Record: 453-304 (.598), 25th season
Cremins at Tech: 353-234 (.601), 19th season
Last Tech game: Feb. 24, d. NC State, 66-63 (home)
Next Tech game: Mar. 1, at North Carolina, 9 p.m. (RJ)
Probable Starters
F 52 Jason Collier 7-0 Sr. 16.2 ppg 9.4 rpg Leads ACC in rebounding, double-doubles (11)F 34 Jason Floyd 6-6 Sr. 9.2 ppg 3.3 rpg Ranks sixth in Tech history in career 3-pointers (162)C 4 Alvin Jones 6-11 Jr. 10.0 ppg 8.2 rpg 735 career rebs, needs five to move into Tech's Top 10G 11 Shaun Fein 6-3 Jr. 10.5 ppg 3.3 apg 4th in ACC in A-TO (1.62)G 3 Tony Akins 5-11 So. 11.7 ppg 3.5 apg Career-high 33 pts vs. FSU, 9-14 3-pt FGTop ReservesF 42 Clarence Moore 6-4 Fr. 5.0 ppg 4.0 rpg Averaged 10.2 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 2.8 spg in five startsG 10 T.J. Vines 5-10 Jr. 4.3 ppg 2.2 apg 7 pts, 4 assists, 1 TO vs. NC StateF 23 Jon Babul 6-7 Jr. 3.9 ppg 4.1 rpg Missed eight games with strained right quadricepsG 13 Darryl LaBarrie 6-3 Jr. 1.4 ppg 0.2 rpg 6 points vs. FAMUF/C 44 Michael Isenhour 6-8 So. 1.2 ppg 1.0 rpg Out with sprained ankle, missed last three games
Cremins to Step Down at Season’s End
Georgia Tech head coach Bobby Cremins announced in a pressconference last Friday afternoon that he will step down at the endof 1999-2000 season, concluding his 19-year career with the YellowJackets and ending the most successful era in Tech basketballhistory.
Cremins, who took over the Tech program in 1981-82 following a 4-23 season, is the third winningest coach in ACC history with a record of 3523-234 (.601). Only North Carolina’s Dean Smith (879) and Duke Mike Krzyzewski (491) have won more games as ACC head coaches than Cremins. His overall record is 453-304 (.598) in his 25th season as a head coach.
Cremins, 52, guided Tech to 14 winning seasons and 14 postseason berths in his 19 years, including 10 of the 11 NCAA appearances in school history, highlighted by a trip to the Final Four in 1990. He led the Jackets to three ACC tournament titles, one ACC regular season championship and a share of another.
His litany of great players began with Mark Price and John Salley and continued with Duane Ferrell, Tom Hammonds, Dennis Scott, Kenny Anderson, Jon Barry, Travis Best, Stephon Marbury and Matt Harpring as he coached six all-America’s, 23 all-ACC players and eight ACC Rookie of the Year honorees. Twenty of Cremins’ former Yellow Jackets have gone on to the NBA-11 are currently active-including 11 first-round draft picks.
Jackets Down NC State
Jason Collier scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half as Georgia Tech overcame a 13-point deficit to defeat NC State, 63-60, at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Trailing 42-31 with 14 minutes to play, the Jackets went on a 23-4 run to take a 54-46 lead with 8:15 left. Collier scored 11 points during the run and Alvin Jones had six points. But NC State stormed back as Anthony Grundy scored 15 of his 29 points in the final eight minutes, including a fast break layup that tied the game with 32 seconds left. Grundy was fouled on the play and had a chance to put the Pack ahead but he missed the free throw and then he fouled Tech’s Shaun Fein with 12 seconds left. Fein made the first and missed the second, but Jones grabbed the loose ball for the Jackets and Fein made two more free throws to seal the win.
Collier Back on Track
Jason Collier led the Yellow Jackets to victory against NC State with 22 points, his first 20-point effort in nine games since scoring 21 in the first meeting with the Wolfpack. Collier has led Tech in scoring all season, currently averaging 16.2 points per game, but he had averaged just 11.9 points for the previous eight contests. Against NC State, he hit nine of 16 field goals, including a key baseline hook shot 57 seconds left, and 3-for-4 from the free throw line and also had five rebounds and two assists.
The Series with Wake Forest
Wake Forest’s 60-46 victory in Atlanta last month evened the series with Georgia Tech at 23-23. (See page 8 for complete boxscore and summary). Tech has won three of the last five meetings and is 22-17 against the Demon Deacons under Bobby Cremins.
Tech has a 3-7 record at Lawrence Joel Coliseum and a 7-14 mark in all games on the Demon Deacons’ homecourt. Wake Forest won last year game in Winston-Salem, 67-58. Tech’s last win at Wake Forest was a 77-76 victory in 1997-98.
The home team has won 10 of the last 13 games between Tech and Wake Forest.
Tech Players vs. Wake Forest
Player G FG 3FG FT RB Avg A Bl St TP AvgAkins 3 8-29 1-16 6-12 10 3.3 16 0 1 23 7.7Babul 4 3-10 0-3 2-4 10 2.5 1 1 1 10 2.5Collier 3 19-42 3-12 16-18 26 8.7 7 2 0 57 19.0Fein 1 4-10 3-8 1-2 2 2.0 1 0 2 12 12.0Floyd 7 18-44 9-21 8-9 15 2.1 5 2 4 53 7.6Isenhour 1 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 0.0 0 0 0 2 2.0Jones 5 13-28 0-0 7-13 28 5.6 8 16 3 33 6.6LaBarrie 2 3-5 2-3 0-0 2 1.0 0 0 0 8 4.0Moore 1 0-1 0-1 1-2 1 1.0 1 0 0 1 1.0Vines 5 4-12 4-11 4-8 1 0.2 6 0 4 16 3.2
WAKE FOREST 60, GEORGIA TECH 46
1-27-00 * Alexander Memorial Coliseum
Robert O’Kelley scored 16 points and Josh Howard added 14 to leadWake Forest to a 60-46 victory.
The Demon Deacons took charge with an 18-0 run, during which six diferent players scored to put them ahead 21-4 midway through the half. Howard scored 13 of his 14 points in the first half, helping Wake open a 37-19 advantage at the intermission.
Tech shot just 32.7 percent from the field, managing just eight field goals each half, and the Jackets were outrebounded 40-28. Jason Collier led Tech with 16 points and Shaun Fein added 12.
Tech never got closer than 12 points in the second half, at 53-41 on a three-point basket by Tony Akins with 4:46 left in the game.
WAKE fg- a 3p- a ft- a rb a to bl st tp mpHoward 5- 7 0- 0 4- 5 9 4 1 0 2 14 28Songalia 3- 9 0- 1 2- 2 1 2 4 0 0 8 20Vidaurreta 0- 5 0- 1 1- 2 4 0 2 0 4 1 30O'Kelley 5- 14 2- 7 4- 6 3 0 2 0 0 16 34Arinze 1- 2 0- 0 2- 5 7 2 1 0 0 4 22Dawson 1- 6 1- 3 2- 2 2 0 0 0 0 5 25Scott 3- 6 0- 0 0- 0 3 0 1 0 0 6 9Shoemaker 2- 3 0- 0 2- 2 5 0 0 0 0 6 21Hicks 0- 1 0- 1 0- 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 7Murray 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4Total 20- 53 3- 13 17- 24 40 9 12 0 6 60 200FG: 1st (14-31) .452 2nd (6-22) .273 Game (20-53) .377 3PT: 1st (2-8) .250 2nd (1-5) .200 Game (3-13) .231 FT: 1st (7-9) .778 2nd (10-15) .667 Game (17-24) .708TECH fg- a 3p- a ft- a rb a to bl st tp mpCollier 5- 15 0- 3 6- 8 6 2 4 2 0 16 33Floyd 3- 7 0- 1 0- 0 5 0 0 1 0 6 32Jones 1- 6 0- 0 2- 4 8 1 3 2 1 4 32Akins 2- 7 1- 5 0- 2 3 4 3 0 0 5 33Fein 4- 10 3- 8 1- 2 2 1 5 0 2 12 33Vines 0- 1 0- 1 0- 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 15Isenhour 1- 2 0- 0 0- 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 12Moore 0- 1 0- 1 1- 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 10Trotti 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+Totals 16- 49 4- 19 10- 18 28 9 16 5 4 46 200FG: 1st (8-27) .296 2nd (8-22) .364 Game (16-49) .327 3PT: 1st (1-11) .091 2nd (3-8) .375 Game (4-19) .211 FT: 1st (2-4) .500 2nd (8-14) .571 Game (10-18) .556Georgia Tech 19 27 46 Officials: Wood, Hess, KittsWake Forest 37 23 60 Attendance: 7,421
Akins on Fire
Sophomore point guard Tony Akins turned in the most prolific game of his career with a 33-point performance in Tech’s 64-54 loss at Florida State last Monday. That is the highest scoring output by a Yellow Jacket in nearly two years, since Dion Glover had 33 against Seton Hall in the 1998 NIT. The last time a Tech player scored more was a 36-point effort by James Forrest in 1994.
Akins, who returned to the starting lineup for the first time in five games due to Shaun Fein’s illness, scored 27 of his points from three-point range as he went 9-for-14 from beyond the arc. His nine treys equalled the Tech high in an ACC game, matching Drew Barry (9 vs. North Carolina, 2-10-96) and Dennis Scott (9 vs. North Carolina, 1-28-89). Only Scott has made more three-pointers in any game, canning an ACC record 11 against Houston in 1988-89. Even Tech assistant coach Mark Price, one of the best shooters in ACC and NBA history, never had nine treys. Price’s best effort was eight against Virginia in 1983.
Jackets Hot From Beyond the Arc
Georgia Tech has shot better from three-point range in recent games, hitting 38 of 93 (40.9 percent) in the last five contests. That includes a 10-for-25 performance against Florida State and a 10-for-23 outing against Maryland.
Tech ranks second in the ACC in three-pointers per game, averaging 7.7 to 8.0 for Duke. Four Tech players-Shaun Fein (58), Tony Akins (56), Jason Floyd (35) and Jason Collier (23)-have hit more than 20 treys, while T.J. Vines has added 19.
Fein is second in the ACC treys per game (2.2) and eighth in percentage (.363), while Akins ranks third (2.2) and seventh (.368), respectively.
Jones Climbs Rebounding List
Center Alvin Jones needs six rebounds to move into the Top 10 on Tech’s career list. The 6-11 junior is the ACC’s active leader with 735 career rebounds. With six boards he will move past former Yellow Jacket Jim Wood and into 10th place in school history, and with 10 rebounds he would also pass Bruce Dalrymple for ninth place.
Tech’s Career Rebounding Leaders
1. Malcolm Mackey (1990-93) 1205 2. Matt Harpring (1995-98) 1011 3. Jim Caldwell (1963-65) 993 4. Rich Yunkus (1969-71) 955 5. Tom Hammonds (1986-89) 885 6. James Forrest (1992-95) 846 7. John Salley (1983-86) 798 8. Eddie Elisma (1994-97) 762 9. Bruce Dalrymple (1984-87) 744 10. Jim Wood (1974-77) 740 11. Alvin Jones (1998-present) 735
Babul Returns
Finally recovered from a strained right quadriceps, junior forwardJon Babul played for the first time in a month against FloridaState, contributing four points, four rebounds and two steals in 23minutes. He missed the previous eight games after aggravating theinjury in the first half of Tech’s win over Florida State on Feb.19. Earlier he missed games against Wofford (Dec. 22), Kentucky(Jan. 5) and Virginia (Jan. 8) with the same injury.
Tech’s top frontcourt sub, the 6-7 Babul averages 3.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game and is the Jackets’ best and most versatile defensive player.
Moore of a Good Thing
Clarence Moore made the most of his opportunity to start for the Yellow Jackets. The 6-4 freshman from Norco, La., averaged 10.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.8 steals, 2.0 assists and 1.4 blocked shots in his five starts. He hit 17 of 35 shots from the field (48.6 percent) and 15 of 20 from the free throw line (75 percent).
In his first start against FAMU, Moore responded with 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists. He hit six of eight shots from the field, was 5-for-5 from the free throw line and also contributed three steals and a blocked shot.
Moore was even better against Virginia, recording his first double-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and one block. Against third-ranked Duke, he contributed nine points, five rebounds and two steals, and then against Maryland he grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds, along with eight points, four steals, three assists and two blocks.
As a reserve, Moore’s highs were eight points against Morehead State and seven rebounds against UNC Greensboro.
A Fein Find
Except for a subpar performance against Florida State (0 pts, 3 ast, 2 stl in 20 min) while ravaged by a stomach virus, Shaun Fein has scored in double figures in five of his last six games. Discounting the FSU game, he has averaged 13 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.0 assiss and 1.8 steals over his last five games.
In Tech’s win over NC State, Fein scored 10 points, including three free throws in the final seconds to help seal the win. He also had five assists and three rebounds. The 6-3 junior transfer from Stonehill College had a 15-point performance last week at Maryland in which he hit five three-pointers on nine attempts, his best performance of the season in a road game.
Earlier this season, Fein put together two of his best games in back-to-back ACC wins over Maryland and Florida State, in which he hit 10-of-17 three-pointers, contributing 17 points and four assists against the Terrapins and 18 points and five assists versus the Seminoles.
Fein averages 10.5 points, 3.3 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game and is fourth in the ACC with an assist-turnover ratio of 1.62. He is third in the league with 2.2 three-pointers per game and eighth in three-point percentage at .363. He also leads Tech with 30 steals, including six against Florida A&M.
Tech Holds Cavaliers to 47 Points
In its 68-47 victory over Virginia on Feb. 12, Georgia Tech allowed its fewest points in an ACC game since a 48-43 victory over Maryland on Feb. 19, 1985. Tech’s 21-point win was its largest margin of victory against an ACC opponent in 72 games, since a 21-point victory over Florida State on Jan. 27, 1996.
Tech held Virginia to 27.6 percent shooting from the field, a season-low for the Cavaliers, and the Jackets’ best defensive performance against an ACC team since limiting Virginia to 24.7 percent in a 68-56 victory in the 1992 ACC Tournament.
Collier Enjoying All-Round Season
Jason Collier leads Georgia Tech in both scoring (16.2) and rebounding (9.4), ranking sixth in the ACC in scoring and first in rebounding. He is bidding to become the first Tech player to lead the ACC in rebounding.
One of 30 candidates for the John Wooden Award, Collier is ninth in the ACC in field goal percentage (.466) and ninth in free throw percentage (.744). The seven-foot senior joins Maryland’s Terence Morris as the only ACC players to rank among the league’s Top 10 in those four categories. Collier is also eighth in blocked shots (1.2) while leading the league with 11 double-doubles, including five in ACC play.
The Springfield, Ohio, native is shooting fewer threes than he did last season but has been effective from beyond the arc, hitting 23 of 66 (.34.8).
Home Sweet Home
Alexander Memorial Coliseum has been a friendly place for Georgia Tech this season when it comes to shooting the basketball.
The Yellow Jackets, who are 10-3 in their on-campus home this season, have shot 37.0 percent 104-281) from three-point range at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Contrast that with games away from home, in which the Jackets have hit just 30.7 percent (96-313) of their threes. Overall, Tech shoots 42.8 percent from the field at home and 38.5 percent away from home.
The home court advantage is most pronounced for Shaun Fein, who has hit 45.2 percent (37-82) of his threes at the Thrillerdome, versus 26.9 percent (21-78) away from home. The 6-3 guard is averaging 13.4 points in Tech’s home games but just 7.6 points in other arenas.
Jackets Cashing In At The Line
The Yellow Jackets have made a significant improvement as a team in free throw shooting this season, ranking third in the ACC at 69.6 percent. Last year’s team shot 62.1 percent.
Tech has been able to handle the pressure of close games with even better free throw shooting. In Tech’s win over Maryland, the Jackets hit 11-of-12 free throws in the second half, including two charity tosses by Shaun Fein with 53 seconds left that helped seal the win. Jason Collier nailed two with 16 seconds left to preserve the victory over Florida State.
The Jackets were 17-of-21 against Lafayette, including 10 straight in the final five minutes. Tech canned 10-of-10 in the final five minutes of its Dec. 22 win over Wofford, and 8-of-8 in the last five minutes against Morehead State.
In its 12 victories, Tech has hit 66-of-79 free throws (83.5 percent) in the final five minutes.
Wes Durham Named Georgia Sportscaster of the Year
Georgia Tech radio voice Wes Durham has been named Georgia Sportscaster of the Year for 1999 by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.
Durham, who has called play-by-play for Tech football, basketball and baseball since 1995, will receive the honor at the NSSA Convention May 1 in Salisbury, N.C. The award is voted on by the NSSA membership in the state of Georgia.
It is the first time Durham has been so honored, though his father, legendary North Carolina radio voice Woody Durham, has received the award for North Carolina 10 times.
Since August of 1997, Wes Durham has worked as Georgia Tech’s Director of Broadcasting. He originally came to Atlanta in July of 1995 as the Jackets’ radio play-by-play announcer. Prior to that, he served as the radio voice at Vanderbilt, where he was a 1995 finalist for the Tennessee sportscaster of the year award, Marshall and Radford.
Akins Takes Advantage of Charity
Tony Akins is Tech’s top free throw shooter at 82.1 percent, which would rank among the ACC leaders if he had enough attempts to qualify. The 5-11 guard has managed to get to the free low line more frequently in recent games, going 24-for-29 in the last seven games after shooting just six free throws in the previous eight games.
Earlier this season, Akins made 27 consecutive free throws, five away from the school record of 33 in a row by Drew Barry during the 1995-96 season. Tech assistant coach Mark Price, the NBA career free throw percentage leader who has been instrumental in improving the Jackets’ at the line this season, hit 31 straight in 1984-85.
Collier Makes it to 1,000
Jason Collier went over the 1,000-point mark for his career in Tech’s win over Wofford, and his career total now stands at 1,258. The 7-foot senior has scored 852 points for the Jackets, following 406 at Indiana.
Collier is the second Georgia Tech player to reach the career plateau this season. Shaun Fein reached 1,000 points with his first score in Tech’s game against Washington. Fein now has 1,244 career points, including 971 (19.7 per game) in two seasons at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass.
Senior Jason Floyd, with 973 career points, has a chance to become the 30th Tech player to score 1,000 points in a Yellow Jacket uniform.
Jones Improved at the Free Throw Line
Assistant coach Mark Price, the top free throw shooter in NBA history, has made improving Alvin Jones’ free throw shooting his project, and the results have been promising.
In his first two seasons at Tech, Jones hit 53.5 percent of his free throws. This season, he has connected on 99 of 162 from the stripe (61.1 percent), shooting 29 more attempts than his closest teammate. Jones shot 73 more charity attempts than anyone else on the Tech team last year.
Jackets Spread the Scoring
Georgia Tech has had at least four players score in double figures in 10 of 26 games this season, including four games in which five players reached double figures, most recently against Florida A&M.
Four Tech players are averaging at least 10 points per game, ranging from 16.2 points per game for Jason Collier (7th in the ACC) to 10.0 for Alvin Jones, while Jason Floyd is just under double figures at 9.2. The last Tech team to have five players average double figures for a season was the 1991-92 quintet that featured future NBA players Travis Best, Jon Barry, Matt Geiger and Malcolm Mackey.
Jackets Hitting the Boards
Jason Collier leads the ACC in rebounding with 9.4 per game. Alvin Jones is second on the team and fifth in the ACC at 8.2 per game, followed by Jon Babul at 4.1 and Clarence Moore at 4.0. Jones (3.0) and Collier (2.88) rank third and fourth, respectively, in the ACC in offensive rebounds per game.
Jones, the ACC’s career rebound leader among active players with 735, grabbed 16 against Michigan, the best for a Jacket this season, 15 against Stanford and 13 versus Duke.
The Yellow Jackets are outrebounding their opponents collectively, 39.2-36.1, a +3.1 margin.
From the Left …
It has to be a rarity, if not unique, in college basketball. Georgia Tech features three left-handed players among its top eight.
Jason Collier, Tony Akins and newcomer Clarence Moore all shoot lefthanded, which is believed to be the most ever on one Tech team. According to Moore, shooting is the only thing he does lefthanded.
The Yellow Jackets have had other famous lefties on its roster, including point guard greats Kenny Anderson and Travis Best, who have both taken their southpaw success to the NBA.
Rejection Record
It took only 60 games for Alvin Jones to become Georgia Tech’s all-time leader in blocked shots, breaking the record late in his sophomore season. Jones, who surpassed the record of 243 set by John Salley from 1983-86, now has 315 rejections in 90 games, including eight in the season opener against Mercer and seven against Virginia.
Jones, who had 107 blocks in 31 games last season (3.5 per game), also continues his climb up the Atlantic Coast Conference career lists for blocked shots. After becoming just the seventh player in league history to reach 300 blocked shots, his next target is former Clemson Tiger Elden Campbell, who ranks sixth with 334 blocks.
Jones career average of 3.50 blocks per game is third best in ACC history. The ACC record is 4.07 set by Clemson’s Tree Rollins (1974-77).
Dialing Long Distance
Georgia Tech owns the third-longest active streak in the nation for consecutive games with at least one three-point field goal. Tech’s streak has reached 407 games. The last team to hold the Jackets without a three-point field goal was Virginia in the 1987 ACC Tournament.
UNLV held the longest streak with 416 games entering the 1999-2000 season, followed by Vanderbilt at 412 games.
Jackets Look for Depth, Balance
No Yellow Jacket has played more than 38 minutes in any of Georgia Tech’s games thus far, and that includes Tech’s overtime game with Stanford. Jason Collier leads the Jackets with 31.8 minutes per game. None of the Yellow Jackets ranks in the ACC’s top five in minutes played, contrasted to last year, when three did.
Tech’s top eight players all average at least 15 minutes per game. Tech has not had eight players average more than 10 minutes for a full season since 1988-89.
Jackets Reach Alaska Shootout Final
For the second straight year, Georgia Tech reached the final of a Thanksgiving week tournament and lost in the championship game.
The Yellow Jackets finished second in the Great Alaska Shootout, defeating Grambling State, 100-88, and Washington, 82-65, before falling to 11th-ranked Kansas in the final, 84-70. Last season, Tech fell to the Huskies in the title game of the Big Island Classic.
Jason Collier recorded a pair of double-doubles and averaged 20.7 points and 10.7 rebounds in the three games, earning a spot on the all-tournament team. Alvin Jones also made the all-tournament team after averaging 13 points and 6.3 rebounds. All five Tech starters averaged in double figures for the tournament, including Tony Akins (11.0), Shaun Fein (10.7) and Jason Floyd (10.7).
Tech Signs Three Early
Georgia Tech signed three players during the November early signing period. Joining the fold will be 6-4 shooting guard Marvin Lewis of Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Md., 6-2 point guard Brendan Plavich of Dalton (Ga.) High School, and 6-7 small forward Halston Lane of Oak Ridge (Tenn.) High School.
Price Has Number Retired Again
The No. 25 worn by Mark Price as a player has been retired twice. Georgia Tech retired the all-America point guard’s number in his final home game in 1986. The Cleveland Cavaliers, the team for whom he played for nine seasons in his 12-year NBA career, retired his number in November.
Price, in his first season as an assistant coach at Tech, scored 2,193 points in his four-year Tech career, still the third-best all-time total, and led Tech to the 1985 ACC championship and two NCAA Tournaments.
An NBA all-star at Cleveland, he finished his career as the league’s top free throw shooter and helped build the Cavaliers into a perennial playoff team. His was the sixth jersey retired by the Cavaliers.
Non-Conference Foes Beware
Georgia Tech is 112-4 against non-conference opposition at Alexander Memorial Coliseum during the Bobby Cremins era including the last 11 in a row. Tech’s third-round NIT loss to Penn State to end the 1997-98 season, its last home loss to a non-ACC team, snapped a 24-game home winning streak against teams outside the conference.
The other non-conference teams to win at the Thrillerdome during Cremins’ tenure are Richmond (Dec. 22, 1987), Louisville (Jan. 15, 1989) and the College of Charleston (Jan. 16, 1993).
Freshmen of Influence
Freshman swingman Clarence Moore is the latest rookie to join the Georgia Tech starting lineup under Bobby Cremins. Last year, Tony Akins was the 22nd rookie to join a season-opening starting lineup for the Jackets, and he started every game of 1998-99.
In all but three of Cremins’ 19 seasons at Tech, at least one freshman has been in the starting lineup. Eight of them have earned ACC Rookie of the Year honors, and three others have been runner-up.
The list of freshman starters under Cremins includes seven rookies who have started at point guard,including Mark Price (1983), Kenny Anderson (1990), Travis Best (1992) and Stephon Marbury (1996).
Southern Comfort
Georgia Tech’s basketball roster, which for the third consecutive year is without a player from New York, has taken on a very home-state and Southern look.
Of the 15 players on Tech’s pre-season roster, eight are native Georgians, all from metropolitan Atlanta. Freshmen Clarence Moore and Ross Chouest are both from Louisiana, while Alex Luyk, a native Spaniard, prepped in Mobile, Ala. Jon Babul (North Attleboro, Mass.), Jason Collier (Springfield, Ohio) and Shaun Fein (Centerville, Mass.) are the only Jackets not from the Southeastern United States.
