It’s official: Milton High’s Julian Royal to remain with Georgia Tech under new basketball coach

Unofficial "first win" for the new coach? Brian Gregory told Julian Royal that he "made his day" after deciding to stick with the Yellow Jackets (AJC)

Georgia Tech’s new basketball coach Brian Gregory is off to a good start with recruiting.

On Thursday, Milton High’s Julian Royal called Gregory to say that he was sticking with the Yellow Jackets. Ex-Tech coach Paul Hewitt had convinced the 6-foot-8 forward to sign with the Yellow Jackets over archrival UGA last November.

“I told Coach Gregory that I wanted to keep my commitment and that I wanted to be a Jacket,” Royal told the AJC. “He sounded like he was happy. He said that I ‘made his day’ and ‘made his weekend.’”

Gregory made his recruitment of Royal a top priority. He called Royal within an hour after being introduced on Monday, and rushed over for an in-home visit with Royal and his family for two hours on Tuesday night.

“I want to go to Georgia Tech for the same reasons I originally signed with them — It’s great academics, it’s a great basketball program, they play in the ACC, I like Atlanta … I felt the new coach was still a good coach,” Royal said.

Royal had been leaning to remaining with Tech all along, not even bothering to discuss other schools with his family and friends. He said he felt like Thursday was the right timing. “I didn’t want to drag it out and have a long period to think about it. Georgia Tech is where I want to be.”

Royal was the leading scorer this year for Milton High, which had six players on its roster that had either signed or been offered by major colleges. Milton played for three straight state championships in Georgia’s largest classification, winning the 2010 title.

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