The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball team represents the
Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...
Yellow Jackets in
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
. The team plays its home games in
McCamish Pavilion
Hank McCamish Pavilion, nicknamed The Thrillerdome and originally known as Alexander Memorial Coliseum, is an list of indoor arenas, indoor arena located on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. It is the ...
on the school's
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
campus and is currently coached by
Damon Stoudamire. Bobby Cremins led his team to the first
ACC tournament victory in school history in
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
and in
1990
Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
he took Georgia Tech to the school's first
Final Four
In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...
appearance ever.
Cremins retired from Georgia Tech in 2000 with the school's best winning percentage as a head coach.
The Yellow Jackets returned to the Final Four in
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
under
Paul Hewitt and lost in the national title game to
UConn. Overall, the team has won 1,352 games and lost 1,226 games, a .524 win percentage.
History
Basketball was invented by
Springfield College
Springfield College is a private university in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. The institution's mission, called the Humanism, Humanics philosophy, calls for educating students in spirit, mind, and body for leadership in service ...
teacher
James Naismith
James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Scottish-Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball.
After moving to the United State ...
in 1891. It seemed to take off in the
Southern colleges in 1906, when
Yale
Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
's basketball team traveled throughout the South. That year Georgia Tech organized a small basketball club under Coach Chapman.
Tech lost to
Auburn in the first college basketball game played in Atlanta, and won the two other games they played that season, against rival
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
.

In 1909, continuous
dribbling
In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score.
As ...
and shots off the dribble were allowed. Tech organized another basketball team, under famous coach
John Heisman
John William Heisman ( ; October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College ...
, also Tech's
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
and
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
coach. Heisman had a winning percentage of .142 that season and improved the team's percentage to .500 in 1912 and 1913.
Heisman wasn't able to keep up with a basketball team, and his successor
Bill Alexander revived the Georgia Tech basketball program in 1920.
From 1924 to 1926, the team was coached by
Harold Hansen, also the football team's
backfield
The offensive backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage, and players positioned there on offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including the quarterback and running backs ( halfbacks and full ...
coach.
Roy Mundorff
Roy Mundorff coached Georgia Tech basketball from 1927 to 1942. Georgia Tech became a charter member of the
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...
in 1932 (the first season was in 1933). The 1936-37 team was captained by future Tech coach
John Hyder and posted an 11-1 conference record. Tech won the conference title the next season in 1938.
Dwight Keith
During World War 2, the basketball team was coached by assistant football coach Dwight Keith.
Roy McArthur
Former Tech quarterback Roy McArthur coached the team after the war. He was "among the forerunners of the present run-and-shoot brand of basketball".
John Hyder
Coach John Hyder, whose teams won 292 games in 22 seasons, put the program on the national map when his 1955 team defeated
Adolph Rupp
Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. Nicknamed the "Baron of the Bluegrass", he coached the University of Kentucky Wildcats to four NCAA Division I men's basketball tournam ...
's
Kentucky
Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
team, ending the Wildcats' 129-game winning streak at home.
The Yellow Jackets played their first
NCAA tournament game in 1960. Led by all-American
Roger Kaiser, the team defeated
Ohio University
Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...
before losing in the second round to the eventual champion,
Ohio State
The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...
. Hyder continued to have strong teams in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1964, Georgia Tech's final season in the Southeastern Conference, the team went undefeated at home and was the conference runner-up. In 1971 the Yellow Jackets, led by
Rich Yunkus, reached the finals of the
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...
but lost to the
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...
.
Georgia Tech became a charter member of the
Metro Conference
The Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference, popularly known as the Metro Conference, was an NCAA Division I athletics conference, so named because its six charter members were all in urban metropolitan areas, though its later members di ...
in 1975 (the first season started in 1976), and then became the eighth member of the
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...
(ACC) in 1978 (starting play in 1979). As of the 2020–21 season, the Yellow Jackets have won four
ACC tournament championships and been the ACC's top seed twice. Through 2021, Georgia Tech has received 17 berths in the NCAA tournament, and seven of its teams have made it to the
Sweet Sixteen.
Bobby Cremins
The
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
team, led by head coach
Bobby Cremins and players
Mark Price
William Mark Price (born February 15, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. The last coaching job he held was as head coach of the Charlotte 49ers men's basketball, Charlotte 49ers. As a four-time NBA All-Star and ...
,
Duane Ferrell,
Yvon Joseph,
Craig Neal,
Bruce Dalrymple, and
John Salley, won the school's first ACC championship and advanced to the final eight in the NCAA tournament.
Tom Hammonds earned
Rookie of the Year honors in the ACC in 1986. In the
1990 tournament, the trio of
Kenny Anderson,
Dennis Scott, and
Brian Oliver (nicknamed "
Lethal Weapon 3") carried the
Yellow Jackets all the way to the
Final Four
In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...
, where they lost to eventual champion
UNLV
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...
in the national semi-finals. In 1992, Cremins led an inexperienced Tech team to the
Sweet 16, thanks in no small part to
James Forrest's buzzer-beating game-winning three-pointer in the second round against
USC USC may refer to:
Education
United States
* Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico
* University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina
* ...
. The following year, the Yellow Jackets won the
ACC tournament.
Georgia Tech's nine consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament from the mid-1980s and the early 1990s accounted for the nation's fourth-longest active streak before it ended in 1994. In 1996, the team finished first in the ACC's regular season and returned to the tournament behind future
NBA All-Star
The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Traditionally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of ...
Stephon Marbury
Stephon Xavier Marbury (born February 20, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who was also the head coach for the Beijing Royal Fighters of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) from 2019–2023. After his freshman year ...
. In 1998,
Matt Harpring
Matthew Joseph Harpring (born May 31, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player who played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was formerly paired with play-by-play broadcaster Craig Bolerjack as the colo ...
was third-team All-American.
Cremins's 19-year tenure (1981–2000) stands as the team's most successful era. Cremins is Georgia Tech's all-time winningest coach and is third among all ACC coaches. Upon his retirement after the 1999–2000 season, his teams had won 354 games and lost 237 for a .599 winning percentage (Cremins would later come out of retirement to coach at the
College of Charleston
The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th-oldest institution of higher lea ...
). The floor at
McCamish Pavilion
Hank McCamish Pavilion, nicknamed The Thrillerdome and originally known as Alexander Memorial Coliseum, is an list of indoor arenas, indoor arena located on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. It is the ...
is named "Cremins Court" in his honor.
Paul Hewitt
In 2000, head coach
Paul Hewitt was hired away from
Siena College
Siena College is a Private college, private Franciscan college in Loudonville, New York, United States. It was founded by the Order of Friars Minor in 1937 and is named after the Franciscan friar Bernardino of Siena. The college enrolls approxi ...
and immediately helped to revitalize the Yellow Jacket program. In his first season, Georgia Tech beat UCLA, Kentucky and five ACC rivals that were ranked en route to an NCAA tournament appearance. Georgia Tech experienced a
Cinderella season in 2003–04: winning the
Preseason NIT, ending
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
's 41-game winning streak at
Cameron Indoor Stadium
Cameron Indoor Stadium is an indoor arena located on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The 9,314-seat facility is the primary indoor athletic venue for the Duke Blue Devils and serves as the home court for Duke Duke Blue ...
, making it to the school's second
Final Four
In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...
and first national championship game, in which they lost by nine points to
UConn. Notable players sent to the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
under Hewitt include
Chris Bosh
Christopher Wesson Bosh (born March 24, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. A Texas Mr. Basketball in high school, he played one season of college basketball for Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball, Georgia Tech ...
,
Jarrett Jack,
Mario West,
Luke Schenscher,
Thaddeus Young,
Will Bynum, and
Anthony Morrow. In back-to-back years (2008 & 2009), Hewitt also successfully recruited national top-10 high school prospects in
Iman Shumpert and
Derrick Favors.
During the 2009–10 season, the Yellow Jackets played for the ACC tournament championship game as well as earning Hewitt's fifth NCAA tournament appearance at Tech. They advanced to the round of 32, losing to Ohio State. Georgia Tech then finished the 2010–11 season 13–18. On March 12, 2011, Paul Hewitt was dismissed as the head coach of the Georgia Tech after eleven seasons.
Brian Gregory was appointed as his successor, Georgia Tech's 13th men's basketball coach, on March 28, 2011.
Brian Gregory
Brian Gregory, who led
Dayton
Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
to 97 victories over his last four seasons there and worked under
Tom Izzo
Thomas Michael Izzo (, ; born January 30, 1955) is an American college basketball coach who has been the head coach at Michigan State University since 1995. On April 4, 2016, Izzo was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Izzo has le ...
at
Michigan State
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...
when the Spartans won the
2000 NCAA championship, was named Georgia Tech's head men's basketball coach on March 28, 2011. In their first season with Gregory at the helm, Georgia Tech finished 11–20 and 11th in the ACC while playing without a true home court while
McCamish Pavilion
Hank McCamish Pavilion, nicknamed The Thrillerdome and originally known as Alexander Memorial Coliseum, is an list of indoor arenas, indoor arena located on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. It is the ...
was under construction. Gregory only had two seasons with overall winning records and no seasons of winning records in ACC play. On March 25, 2016, after five disappointing seasons and no trips to the NCAA tournament, Georgia Tech fired Brian Gregory.
He was 76–86 overall and 27–61 in ACC play.
Josh Pastner
Josh Pastner was hired by the school on April 8, 2016.
Pastner was 167–73 with four NCAA tournament bids in seven years as the head coach of
Memphis.
Pastner took Tech to the NIT finals in his first season, and was that season's ACC Coach of the Year. After that season Tech was hit with NCAA violations, although most punishments would later be dropped. Because of this, Tech struggled for the next few seasons. However, Pastner ultimately led the team to their first ACC title since 1993, as well as their first NCAA tournament berth since 2010, as the Yellow Jackets defeated
Florida State
Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
to win the 2021 ACC championship. They would end up losing to
Loyola Chicago in the first round of the NCAA tournament. It is Tech's latest postseason appearance.
The success wouldn’t last though, Tech parted ways with Pastner on March 10, 2023 following two disappointing seasons. He finished 109–114 in his seven years coaching the Jackets. He finished as the fourth-winningest coach in school history, behind only Hewitt, Hyder, and Cremins.
Damon Stoudamire
On March 13, 2023
Damon Stoudamire was named the fifteenth coach in program history. Stoudamire came to Georgia Tech after serving as an assistant coach of the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
's
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...
for nearly two seasons. Before that he served as the head coach at the
University of the Pacific from 2016 to 2021.
Damon Stoudamire became the first Tech coach in the Yellow Jackets’ ACC history to defeat Duke in his first try when the Yellow Jackets stunned the then seventh ranked Blue Devils 72–68 on December 2, 2023. He became the third coach in ACC history to beat Duke and North Carolina in his first year when on January 30, 2024, Tech beat #3 UNC 74–73 in front of a sold out home crowd.
Stoudamire's first team finished 14–18 despite the big wins, but in his second year at the helm Tech would turn an 8–11 start into a 17–16 record at the end of the ACC Tournament. The Yellow Jackets were invited to the
2025 NIT, which marked their first postseason appearance since the 2021 ACC championship season.
Postseason
NCAA tournament results
The Yellow Jackets have appeared in the
NCAA tournament 17 times. Their combined record is 23–17.
NIT results
The Yellow Jackets have appeared in the
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...
(NIT) nine times. Their combined record is 14–10.
Coaches
Players
Many famous and talented players have played with the Yellow Jackets.
Dennis Scott was the 1990 National Player of the Year and the 1990 ACC Player of the Year,
Jarrett Jack was the 2005 Basketball Times All-South player.
A notable fictitious player for the Yellow Jackets is eternal Tech student
George P. Burdell, who is officially listed in team media guides as having earned three letters (1956–58).
Basketball Hall of Famers
Georgia Tech has one alumnus in the
Basketball Hall of Fame
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...
,
Chris Bosh
Christopher Wesson Bosh (born March 24, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. A Texas Mr. Basketball in high school, he played one season of college basketball for Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball, Georgia Tech ...
who played at Tech from 2002–2003.
Retired numbers
All-Americans
All-time leaders
Points
Rebounds
Assists
Steals
Blocks
Arena
The Hank McCamish Pavilion, rebuilt and renamed from Alexander Memorial Coliseum (also nicknamed "The Thrillerdome") in 2012, is an
indoor arena
An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...
located on Tech's
Midtown Atlanta
Midtown Atlanta, or Midtown for short, is a Urban area, high-density commercial and residential neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The exact geographical extent of the area is ill-defined due to differing definitions used ...
campus. It is the home of the Georgia Tech
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
teams and hosted the
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...
of the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
from 1968 to 1972 and again from 1997 to 1999. Tech's women's volleyball team occasionally uses the facility as well, primarily for NCAA tournament games and other matches that draw crowds that would overflow the O'Keefe Gymnasium. During the
2011–12 season, the Yellow Jackets split their home schedule between
Philips Arena
State Farm Arena is a Multi-purpose stadium, multi-purpose arena located in Atlanta, Georgia. The arena serves as the home venue for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It also served as home to the Atlanta Thrasher ...
and the
Arena at Gwinnett Center in suburban
Duluth
Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...
while McCamish Pavilion was under reconstruction.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Men's Basketball