Damon Stoudamire acquired some great transfers after a down year. With the fourth-ranked 2024 freshman class in the ACC, GT has a few first-year guys who can make an impact right away. After going 14-18 and finishing 12th in the ACC last season, the team should improve with a strengthened roster. Just how far can Stoudamire take this young squad? Let’s preview Georgia Tech’s upcoming basketball season as the Yellow Jackets look to rebound.
Georgia Tech Basketball Preview: Yellow Jackets Ready to Sting
As previously mentioned, the 2023-2024 season was disappointing for the Yellow Jackets. 20 years removed from the program’s only national championship game appearance, the team largely struggled due to a lack of identity and star power. They were effective on the boards, ranking 55th among all D1 schools in team rebounds averaging 38.1 on the year. Additionally, Georgia Tech had three upset wins against Duke, Clemson, and UNC, and a solid non-conference win against Ole Miss. However outside of that, there were not many positive takeaways from last year. Looking ahead, things should go a little better for the 2024-2025 season with the transfers Stoudamire has brought in. The team still has an open roster spot, so who knows if we’ll see another transfer added to the team.
Yellow Jacket Transfers
Javian McCollum, Duncan Powell, Luke O’Brien, and Ryan Mutombo will be joining the Yellow Jackets for the 2024-2025 season. McCollum was a highly coveted transfer entering the portal out of Oklahoma where last year he was second in the nation in free throw percentage averaging 94.3% last year. He’ll be one of the better transfers in the ACC and certainly someone to keep an eye on. Powell joins Tech after transferring from Sacramento State. With the Hornets, Powell averaged 7 rebounds per game, which ranked 7th in the Big Sky conference for the 2023-24 season. O’Brien is transferring out of Colorado where he shot 37% from deep last year. Mutombo, like his father Dikembe Mutombo, attended Georgetown. Mutombo now joins Georgia Tech where he hopes to find more playing time after he struggled to see the floor as a Hoya.
Georgia Tech 2024 Freshmen Class
Jaeden Mustaf, Darrion Sutton, and Doryan Onwuchekwa are the three freshmen joining GT this upcoming season. Mustaf is the 61st-ranked high school prospect nationally and 9th among combo guards. Mustaf’s father, Jerrod Mustaf, played four seasons in the NBA and is the CEO of the Street Basketball Association. Sutton, like Mustaf, played for Overtime Elite where in 2023-2024 he had averages of 10.2 points, 3.5 assists, and 8.2 rebounds. His outside jumper is his only offensive drawback, but his slashing ability along with his length should help him see the floor this upcoming season for Tech. Onwuchekwa is a center from Desoto, TX, and measures 6-foot-10 while weighing 235 pounds. Coach Stoudemire seems excited about what he can bring to the program, stating:
“Doryan is one of the better shooting bigs in the country. He’s really worked on his body…which shows his commitment to be the best player he can be. As he gets stronger he can impact our program for years to come”
GT Schedule Preview
Georgia Tech’s only scheduled non-conference game is for the SEC-ACC Challenge where they’ll be facing Oklahoma. This is a huge game for incoming transfer Javian McCollum as he played at Oklahoma last year. The two teams haven’t faced off since 1995, so they won’t be familiar with one another. Nonetheless, it should still be a competitive matchup. The Yellow Jackets will surely add more non-conference games as we near the 2024-2025 season. The team’s official non-conference schedule has yet to be announced as well, but the ACC will be a gauntlet this year regardless.
