Georgia Tech

Get ready for a rebuilding year at Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets finished seventh in the conference last season but lost their two leading scorers—Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal—to the NBA Draft, eliminating any momentum gained from the team’s upset-filled run to the ACC Tournament championship game and the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

After being courted by St. John’s in the offseason, head coach Paul Hewitt is back for his 11th year at the helm. The 2010-11 season will be one of Hewitt’s biggest challenges ever, with a roster filled by undersized underclassmen—only three players are taller than 6-foot-6, and none of the three have ever played a collegiate game. On the team roster, all but four players are listed at the guard position.

Junior Iman Shumpert, the team’s leading returning scorer, will lead a starting five otherwise comprising underclassmen. Sophomores Mfon Udofia and Glen Rice, Jr. will join Shumpert on the perimeter, while sophomore Brian Oliver and redshirt freshman Kammeon Holsey will start at power forward and center, respectively.

However, Georgia Tech’s light non-conference schedule will ease the young team into the season. A potential Nov. 27 matchup with preseason No. 10 Syracuse in the Legends Classic will be the only opportunity for the Yellow Jackets to face top-25 competition before the spring. Plus, a friendly conference slate with just one game apiece against three of the ACC’s projected top four teams—Duke, North Carolina and North Carolina State—will work in Georgia Tech’s favor.

But at the end of the day, with so much youth and lack of size, it would be a surprise to see the Yellow Jackets make a repeat appearance in the NCAA Tournament.