Hoping to guide Georgia Tech back to national relevance, first-year head coach Scott Cross has an idea of what the program can be under his watch.
While an almost entirely new roster presents challenges ahead of Tuesday’s season opener in Atlanta against Hampton, he has confidence he can resurrect the Yellow Jackets.
“It’s kind of surreal to be here now. I grew up watching Georgia Tech basketball when Coach (Bobby) Cremins had ‘Lethal Weapon 3’ with Kenny Anderson, Dennis Scott and Brian Oliver,” Cross said. “It’s been a great experience so far. We had a really good summer. Our guys have been really bought in and they’ve been working extremely hard.”
Georgia Tech — a mainstay in the NCAA Tournament in the late 1980s and early ’90s — hasn’t won a tourney game since 2010.
The former head coach at UT Arlington and Troy replaces Damon Stoudamire, who was fired after a 20-loss season that included a 2-16 record in Atlantic Coast Conference play in 2025-26.
Kam Craft (7.3 points per game in 2025-26) and Cole Kirouac (1.7 ppg) are the lone returners from the ACC’s last-place team.
Highlighting the offseason additions are Colby Garland — a reigning All-Mountain West Conference guard from San Jose State — and Lehigh transfer Nasir Whitlock, whose 20.5 points per game led the Patriot League.
“I like what I’m seeing,” Cross said of his first roster in Atlanta. “The progress is there and we just have to continue to take steps. If we can do that over the next four or five months, we can have a really good basketball team.”
ACC media members don’t share his enthusiasm, projecting Georgia Tech to finish last in the conference’s preseason poll.
Hampton faces a similar obstacle, as head coach Ivan Thomas’ team has 13 new pieces following a 13-19 campaign that ended with a second-round loss in the Coastal Athletic Association tournament.
“I’m just getting these new guys to buy into my culture and the way we do things,” Thomas said. “We’re trying to be a tough, gritty team, the way I like to play and get after teams.”
Etienne Strothers, labeled by Thomas as the Pirates’ lone “defender of culture,” returns after averaging 6.2 points per game last year. Strothers is the only member of the team who has been with Thomas since his first season in 2024-25.
Hampton was predicted to finish 10th of 13 teams in the CAA preseason poll.
