Tech is dancing in Wisconsin as a No. 10 seed
GREENSBORO, NC – After four games in four days of a grueling run to the ACC tournament finals, Georgia Tech didn’t have to wait long to see the rewards from it Sunday evening.
Fifteen minutes into the NCAA selection show, a quiet and tired Tech team, not-so-fresh off an ACC tournament final loss to Duke, let out a collective roar as the Yellow Jackets were named a No. 10 seed in the Midwest bracket.
To that point the banquet room at their team hotel had been silent, but the Yellow Jackets didn’t have long to stew. They will play seventh-seeded Oklahoma State (22-10) in the first round on Friday in Milwaukee.
A week ago Tech (22-12) had lost to Clemson and Virginia Tech to fall to 7-9 in the ACC and sat squarely on the NCAA tournament bubble.
“A prayer has been answered,” said senior Zachery Peacock, who was a freshman the last time Tech made the NCAA tournament. “The loss earlier today erases itself out of the picture with this opportunity we have in front of us.”
Three wins in the ACC tournament got Tech into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007, when Javaris Crittenton and Thaddeus Young were freshmen and Tech lost to UNLV in the first round.
This will be the Yellow Jackets’ third trip to the NCAA tournament since their trip to the Final Four in 2004 and fifth under coach Paul Hewitt. They started that 2004 tournament run in Milwaukee as well.
“It’s a great accomplishment for these kids,” Hewitt said. “They played hard all year. They defended well, lost some really tough games. It’s a nice reward for them. And now let’s see what we can do with this opportunity we’ve been given.”
Oklahoma State finished tied for sixth in the Big 12 and got knocked out in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament by Kansas State. But it was only two weeks ago that the Cowboys upset Kansas, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament.
The Cowboys are led by Big 12 player of the year James Anderson, a 6-foot-6 junior guard, who averages 22.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He scored 27 points that night against Kansas.
Gani Lawal played with Anderson in the high school McDonald’s All-American game.
”He’s a horse,” said Lawal, who was named to the ACC All-tournament second-team Sunday. “He’s primarily a wing guy, but he can post up. Quiet guy but he’s a killer on the court.”
As a No. 10 seed, Tech wasn’t going to get an easy draw but any draw was good by Tech.
“You just want to get in, once you’re not one of those top four seeds,” Hewitt said. “I thought we could be anywhere from a six to 11.”
The Yellow Jackets enter the tournament with some momentum from beating North Carolina, Maryland and N.C. State in the ACC tournament before Sunday’s loss to Duke, which earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
“Moe (Miller) and I were sitting there, talking about it,” Lawal said. “We’re clicking. We’re playing some good basketball.”
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185 comments Add your comment
Arthur Blank
March 14th, 2010
6:31 pm
FIRST
hHANK
March 14th, 2010
6:31 pm
ALL YOU HEWITT HATTERS!
STFU!
Bangkapi Ajarn
March 14th, 2010
6:31 pm
Congratulations Jackets!!
Tech Student
March 14th, 2010
6:33 pm
Go Tech!
#1 GE FAN
March 14th, 2010
6:34 pm
WRAMBLIN WRECH FROM GEORGIA TECH AND A H*LL OF AN ENGINERR!!!
GO JACKETS!!!
AND FOR ONCE PAUL HEWITT!
Kay
March 14th, 2010
6:34 pm
Good luck, Jackets!
Vivek Wallace sucks!
March 14th, 2010
6:34 pm
Why is it DUKE is the only team in NCAA with white players good enough to win with 3 of them starting? Maybe I am confused and they are actually light skinned brothers? Singular? Naw, no way. I guess Coach K is the only coach to recruit white guys.
Pete
March 14th, 2010
6:35 pm
Congrats to Tech and coach Hewitt !!!
Whoda thunk !!!
#1 GT FAN
March 14th, 2010
6:36 pm
WRAMBLIN WRECK FROM GEORGIA TECH AND A H*LL OF AN ENGINERR!!
GO JACKETS!!!
AND FOR ONOCE… PAUL HEWITT!
(my bad for the other post….I was in a hurry trying to be first, oh well)
Ernest
March 14th, 2010
6:39 pm
Great job getting into the tournament! Now we will be looking for a scouting report on Oklahoma State. Will we see that in Monday’s edition of the AJC???
John
March 14th, 2010
6:40 pm
Go Tech Go…… Coach on Coach Hewitt
bubbamcbubba
March 14th, 2010
6:41 pm
this is not the best match up for tech
get the ball to FAVORS!!
CONGRATULATIONS TECH!!!
March 14th, 2010
6:41 pm
Enter your comments here
Davan S. Mani
March 14th, 2010
6:43 pm
@Vivek. Jimmy “The Greek” had a theory about white guys and got his butt canned.
JoD
March 14th, 2010
6:44 pm
Haha, Moutain West had as many invites as the SEC… Your SEC … The irrelavent conference.
Tony Cole
March 14th, 2010
6:45 pm
Where’s Georgia? NIT?
Joe Schmoe
March 14th, 2010
6:46 pm
I love my GT and the players, but Hewitt still blows… He has to go.
bigstack19
March 14th, 2010
6:46 pm
Vivek Wallace sucks!
March 14th, 2010
6:34 pm
Why is it DUKE is the only team in NCAA with white players good enough to win with 3 of them starting? Maybe I am confused and they are actually light skinned brothers? Singular? Naw, no way. I guess Coach K is the only coach to recruit white guys.
First of all, there are lots of good white basketball players in the NCAA. Secondly, Coach K is the best coach in the NCAA and it shows.
Oh God
March 14th, 2010
6:49 pm
Whooooty…ugay seeded 125th…
Manny
March 14th, 2010
6:49 pm
I thought they should be a 10th seed. Very nice!
White players??? What is this… 1963? We’re still counting the colors of players?
gtguy142000
March 14th, 2010
6:50 pm
You got to love Tech’s draw in the Bracket. I am glad we are the 10th seed and not a number 8 or 9 so we don’t have to worry about playing Kansas for a while. Georgetown and Kansas are the two main tough teams. I feel that Tech can hang or beat anyone else in the Bracket. Go Jackets!
Buzzed Driving
March 14th, 2010
6:51 pm
Tech was the last ACC team to get in. VA Tech didn’t make it. Tech may have not made it in until we beat MD.
German Jacket
March 14th, 2010
6:52 pm
Wow, hhhhhHank. We have a lot of talent, but the quality of play is way below where it should be, especially when it comes to fundamentals. We STILL can’t get the ball inside on a regular basis and we take rushed outside shots, we are woeful at shooting free throws, and I cringe every time we have to in-bound the ball in a critical situation. Fundamentals = coaching. We’ve won on talent, IN SPITE of coaching. This isn’t a debate over whether CPH is a nice guy – by all accounts he’s a class act. This is a debate over his ability to get the most out of the available talent, among other things. Until you can bring a good argument to the table, to use your own witty comeback – Why don’t you STFU?
Hewitt the Inbounding Master
March 14th, 2010
6:53 pm
Hey hHank, why don’t you STFU ? blewitt is the worst coach in college hoops. Anybody that can’t see that is as dumb as a rock. Decent recruiter, terrible coach. There are 5 coaches in the ACC that would win it all with our lineup. Blewitt is pathetic. We’re in despite his horrendous coaching. Again, STFU if you don’t know what you’re talking about and have never worn a jock strap in your life.
John
March 14th, 2010
6:54 pm
duke white players suck lets see what happens if they make it to the nba.
coach k is overrated
John
March 14th, 2010
6:55 pm
Enter your comments here
John
March 14th, 2010
6:55 pm
go coach hewitt we love you
RamblinWreck
March 14th, 2010
6:55 pm
I was surprised that UGAG wasn’t invited with their awesome record, SOS and RPI rating. Unreal! LMFAO!
John
March 14th, 2010
6:55 pm
go coach hewitt
PTC DAWG
March 14th, 2010
6:55 pm
Good luck to GT…
Hewitt the Inbounding Master
March 14th, 2010
6:56 pm
Congrats to the Jackets! But anybody that thinks Hewitt has redeemed himself has obviously not been watching any of these games. About all Hewitt is good for is the occasional brainless timeout to stop his own team’s momentum. Or the obsessive-compulsive substitutions to replace the hot hand. Or the “how not to draw up an inbounds play” inbounds plays… Great run, but it was still hard to watch knowing what could have been… The saga continues. Go Tech, though, and hope they overcome the ineptitude of their coaching staff. Has to be the worst coach ever in ACC history.
RamblinWreck
March 14th, 2010
6:57 pm
Tony: UGAG isn’t even going to the NIT, they are going to their doublewides to chew tobacco, smoke ganja and whine about what should have been.
Hewitt the Inbounding Master
March 14th, 2010
6:57 pm
Yeah, go Coach Hewitt is right! Go a long way away!!
John
March 14th, 2010
6:59 pm
coach hewitt great way to silence the haters
RamblinWreck
March 14th, 2010
6:59 pm
Oklahoma Stste is good and Ohio State is great. Tuff bracket. I think we can beat OSU, but the other OSU may be a little more difficult. GO JACKETS. Anyone know what time the game is on?
louisville slugger
March 14th, 2010
6:59 pm
Glad they’re in, proud of their run. No, I’m not a CPH fan, but I’m definitely a Tech fan! They really do have a chance to make a run if they cut down the turnovers and learn how to inbound the ball….
John
March 14th, 2010
7:00 pm
coach hewitt one of the top coaches in the nation, where is uga coach team playing
uga fan
March 14th, 2010
7:00 pm
wait until football season nerds
Tech Fan
March 14th, 2010
7:01 pm
German Jacket -
Correct. The commentators spelled it out pretty clearly: 1. one of the most talented teams we’ve seen all year 2. one of the sloppiest teams we’ve seen 3. one of the most undisciplined teams 4. must drive Tech fan crazy That’s more or less what the common thread is from Bradley, and the quote “Hewitt bashers”. We recognize he is a great recruiter, thus “one of the most talented teams” but “undisciplined…sloppy” these are all the same things we’ve been saying for years. Great talent…poor coaching. Go Jackets…win with whatcha got…size and skill…it not bball iq or coaching
Hewitt the Inbounding Master
March 14th, 2010
7:02 pm
John, Silence the haters? Really?? An ACC tournament record for turnovers? Is that the way you silence the haters? Our coach is pathetic and we’re winning despite him.. If you can’t see that then you must be related to the guy… I can assure you this hater is not silenced.
GO TECH
March 14th, 2010
7:03 pm
Our region is BRUTAL.
But I’m glad we are there. Lets get those ‘Pokes!!
BS
March 14th, 2010
7:05 pm
One and done!
Hewitt the Inbounding Master
March 14th, 2010
7:05 pm
John aka moron, I’m a Tech alum and fan – not a Bulldog. Keep telling yourself that all of the “haters” are Dawgs.. Give me a break. Agree with the others here that the ESPN commentators pretty much sum it up and stop just short of calling out Hewitt for his horrendous coaching. Its obvious to all that have any knowledge of the game. It couldn’t be more obvious.
white & old gold
March 14th, 2010
7:05 pm
anyone know anything about oklahoma state? (other than us having beaten them in ‘04!)
RamblinWreck
March 14th, 2010
7:05 pm
BS: Better than none and done, like another team in the state.
Hewitt the Inbounding Master
March 14th, 2010
7:06 pm
Not to mention Blewitt is an intergalactic A hole.
79
March 14th, 2010
7:06 pm
Go coach Hewitt…please…go.
Run a quick Google search for “most turn-overs by a team, ACC tourney”….
“Great job, Brownie..” (W post-Katrina, BTW)
Dacula Jacket
March 14th, 2010
7:06 pm
Number 10 seed? Should’ve been higher considering the ACC tourney run. What is up with 8 at-large bids going to non-power conference teams? NCAA Selection Committee needs to pull their heads out of their butts. VT got screwed big time. Sorry Hokies.
Hewitt the Inbounding Master
March 14th, 2010
7:06 pm
I hear St. Johns is looking for a coach that can help them inbound the rock and beat the press. Hewitt is your guy!!
RamblinWreck
March 14th, 2010
7:07 pm
white & gold: I know alot about OSU, as I took some classes there and follow their sports. They are very well coached, disciplined and a very good team. We are in a very BRUTAL bracket.