From The Flats: A Letter from Ryan Alpert

Yellow Jacket Fans,

On behalf of all of our coaches, staff and student-athletes here in the Georgia Tech Athletic Association, I hope that you and your families are having a wonderful holiday season.

Of course, many of us have had the privilege of spending the week here in Orlando in anticipation of and preparation for Saturday’s Pop-Tarts Bowl versus BYU. For those of you who are traveling down today and tomorrow, you’re in for an incredible time. Florida Citrus Sports – the organization that operates the Pop-Tarts Bowl and next week’s Cheez-It Citrus Bowl – is first-class all the way, and our players, coaches, staff and fans are benefitting from their hospitality.

There are a few events that I want to be sure to highlight for Tech fans that are in Orlando:

FRIDAY NIGHT FAN HQ

On Friday night, the place to be for Tech fans in Orlando is the Headwaters Lounge at the Rosen Shingle Creek, which will serve as the Yellow Jackets’ official Fan HQ. The festivities officially start at 8 p.m., and at 8:15 p.m., the voices of Georgia Tech football, Andy Demetra and Andrew Gardner, will host a Pop-Tarts Bowl Preview Show featuring an appearance by head coach Brent Key (I’ll also jump on for a few minutes following Coach Key unless it’s just too hard an act to follow!). The show cannot be heard or seen anywhere but at the Headwaters Lounge, so everyone in town is invited to join us for the exclusive experience. The fellowship and fun doesn’t end with the show, as the event will continue after Andy and Andrew sign off and include appearances by the Georgia Tech marching band, spirit team and, of course, everyone’s favorite mascot – Buzz! Admission is free, so be sure to join us at the Headwaters Lounge on Friday night.

OFFICIAL GEORGIA TECH PREGAME TAILGATE

The best place to get fired up with Yellow Jacket fans and enjoy great food, drink and entertainment before toe meets leather on Saturday is the official Georgia Tech Pregame Tailgate, which will take place on Tinker Field (adjacent to Camping World Stadium) from 12-3 p.m. There are still a limited number of spots available – click HERE to sign up before it fills up.

YELLOW JACKET ALLEY

Of course, we’re bringing Yellow Jacket Alley to Orlando for this huge game! Tech fans should gather on the southwest side of Camping World Stadium at 1 p.m. on Saturday to cheer the Jackets on as they arrive for the game at approximately 1:15 p.m. See the map below for specifics on where Yellow Jacket Alley will take place.

It’s been a historic season for Georgia Tech football, and we can’t thank our fans enough for the big part you’ve played in the Yellow Jackets’ success. Your support is literally worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the Institute. For those of you who aren’t a part of the third-straight sellout of Georgia Tech’s bowl ticket allotment here in Orlando, we hope that you’ll be tuning in live on ABC to support this team – and incredible group of seniors – one last time.

In other news from The Flats, I want to publicly offer huge congratulations to our student-athletes on a pair of amazing academic achievements.

First and foremost, congrats to the 25 student-athletes that earned their degrees from the Institute earlier this month. This comes on the heels of the NCAA announcing last month that Georgia Tech has once again matched an all-time record with a 94% Graduation Success Rate, with 12 of our 13 programs having rates at or above the national averages in their respective sports.

Secondly, I’d like to congratulate all of our student-athletes for their performance in the classroom this semester. As a group, our 300-plus student-athletes matched a record for the third-straight semester with a 3.30 mean grade point average. However, more impressively, for the first time in Georgia Tech history, all 13 of our programs have team GPAs of 3.0 or higher. How remarkable is that? Golf and women’s tennis – both NCAA qualifiers – led the way with GPAs of 3.68 and 3.65. Football set another new team record with a 3.17 GPA (its previous high was 3.03, and its previous in-season high was 3.00). And men’s basketball absolutely shattered its record with a 3.16 GPA – the first time it has ever surpassed 3.0 as a team.

As I said earlier this week, as the landscape of college athletics changes, one thing that remains constant here on The Flats is the value of a Georgia Tech education and degree. I couldn’t be more proud of our student-athletes that take advantage of the opportunity through their hard work in the classroom, and I’m grateful for everyone – academic support staff, coaches, partners on campus – that supports their academic pursuits.

Speaking of, I would be remiss if I didn’t offer one final shoutout to someone that has been integral to our student-athletes’ academic success for two decades. As I mentioned in my November letter, senior associate A.D. Phyllis Labaw announced this fall that she will retire in February after leading our academic services for student-athletes since 2005. And what a way for her to go out – with 25 new graduates and record-setting GPAs. Phyllis will leave our academic services at unprecedented levels and we can’t thank her enough for all that she has done for Georgia Tech student-athletes throughout the years.

Congratulations also go out to Georgia Tech volleyball, Coach Michelle Collier and her staff on earning their sixth-straight NCAA Tournament berth. Coach Collier challenged her team with one of the toughest schedules in the nation, and her very young but talented team responded in a big way to earn their way into the tournament field. The future of Tech volleyball is bright!

Finally, a couple of reminders for fans:

• You can take advantage of end-of-year tax benefits by making a gift to Alexander-Tharpe Fund by Dec. 31. In particular, you can earn four A-T Fund priority points for every $100 given to the Athletic Scholarship Fund through the end of the month. For details on how to make a gift in time to take advantage of the end of the tax year, click HERE.
• You can also take advantage of a special holiday gift from Buzz until Saturday at 4 p.m. – the 10 for 10 holiday special. This special offer features $10 tickets for all remaining men’s basketball home games (except North Carolina), as well as $10 reserved seats and $5 general admission tickets for all remaining women’s basketball home games. Click HERE to take advantage of this special offer before it expires on Saturday at 4 p.m.

For everyone traveling to Orlando, travel safe and we can’t wait to see you here.

For those who can’t make it, tune in on ABC or at a watch party in your area, cheer loud, and we hope to see you at McCamish Pavilion for a big hoops doubleheader on Sunday!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and continues to have a safe and happy holiday season.

As always, Go Jackets!

Sting ‘Em,

Ryan Alpert

Vice President/Director of Athletics