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ACC Basketball: Ranking all 18 programs after additions of Stanford, Cal, and SMU

By Tristan Freeman

Feb 5, 2023; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Stanford Cardinal head coach Jerod Haase during the second half against the Colorado Buffaloes at the CU Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 5, 2023; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Stanford Cardinal head coach Jerod Haase during the second half against the Colorado Buffaloes at the CU Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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ACC Basketball Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets guard Miles Kelly Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
ACC Basketball Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets guard Miles Kelly Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

14. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

The height of the Yellow Jackets on the basketball court was in two instances. One was the nine straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 1984-93, including going to the Final Four in 1990. Then under head coach Paul Hewitt, Georgia Tech made it to the national championship in 2004.

Things haven’t been the same since, as the program has just one trip to the Big Dance in the past 13 years and has parted ways with Josh Pastner. Coach Damon Stoudamire is his replacement after a stint in the NBA as an assistant and was previously the head coach at Pacific years ago.

With the newly built roster, the Yellow Jackets should definitely be more competitive this season, but the long-term viability remains to be seen. The biggest selling point for this program certainly is being located in the Atlanta area, where there are not only plenty of prospects, but also where Overtime Elite resides.

The problem is that it’s in the height of SEC country and many of those programs, with more current prestige than Georgia Tech, can go there and take the top players from Atlanta. There’s a history with the Yellow Jackets being a contender in ACC Basketball but it’s certainly been a while since we’ve seen that.