Led by the legendary “Lethal Weapon 3” group of Dennis 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.
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.