Hewitt in no rush to hire new assistant

Georgia Tech basketball coach Paul Hewitt is not in a hurry to replace Charlton Young, the assistant coach who was named Georgia Southern’s coach on Thursday.

“We’ve got a great recruiting class. We’re in great shape for 2010,” Hewitt said. “We’ll take our time and see what happens.”

Hewitt spoke earlier this week at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Zelnak Basketball Center, which will be Tech’s new practice facility.

Hewitt said he will look for a coach who understands Georgia Tech’s culture and can develop players. He would not comment on the possibility of hiring Dean Keener, a former assistant who left in 2004 to coach at James Madison but resigned toward the end of the 2008 season.

Keener has since returned to the Atlanta area and works for an executive search firm. A message seeking comment Friday afternoon was not returned.

Hewitt did say he would consider hiring assistants from past staffs, which would include Keener.

“Guys that understand Tech are very important,” Hewitt said. “You can read into that what you want.”

Hewitt said Thursday he had received 20 or 30 inquiries, and that there are colleagues he will definitely contact. He declined to name them.

Also at the ceremony was sophomore forward Gani Lawal. The third-team all-ACC pick said he had yet to decide on whether to declare for the NBA draft, saying he wanted to meet with family and coaches first. The deadline is April 26.

Lawal sounded uncertain, saying that “At the end of the season, I thought I would be closer at this point” to a decision.