Lawal’s return seen as asset to Favors

Georgia Tech basketball coach Paul Hewitt said he hasn’t thought about who’ll play power forward and who’ll play center next season.

But he’s confident Gani Lawal’s decision to return to Georgia Tech for his junior year will accelerate the development of Derrick Favors, the 6-foot-9 freshman rated by some as the nation’s top recruit.

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Tech forward Gani Lawal opted out of the NBA draft to return for his junior season.

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“He brings a maturity and some experience that’s really going to help our freshmen, particularly Derrick,” Hewitt said Monday. “People are going to focus on Derrick from a media standpoint and a fan standpoint, but Gani’s the guy who’ll be a candidate for preseason player of the year in the ACC.

“He can help Derrick get through a lot of the stuff that Gani had to experience almost by himself — being a dominant big guy, learning how to handle double teams and things like that,” Hewitt added. “The numbers that he can post are going to be impressive, but I think the leadership he can provide is going to be more important.”

The 6-9 Lawal, who averaged 15.1 points and 9.5 rebounds while earning third-team All-ACC honors, withdrew his name from next week’s NBA draft after learning he wasn’t a lock to be a first-round pick.

Lawal’s return and a six-man recruiting class ranked No. 5 in the nation have boosted expectations.

“That’s great,” said Hewitt, whose team will be expected to make the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in his 10-year tenure. “We should have a very, very good team.”

Tech now has 13 scholarship players, the NCAA maximum. That eliminates any possibility of Tech signing Noel Johnson, the Fayette County star recently released from his scholarship with USC.

The roster is set, but the coaching staff is not. Hewitt said he’ll hire an assistant to replace Charlton Young, who took the Georgia Southern head coaching job, by the time school begins in August.