As he demonstrated ball-handling drills in the Georgia Tech basketball practice gym, coach Brian Gregory’s summer drew to a close Wednesday.
Along with his staff, the Tech coach spent his summer traveling cross-country to observe prospects, making dozens of recruiting calls, building relationships with his team, giving campus tours to would-be Yellow Jackets, welcoming back former players and trying to set his program on firmer ground.
“We have some momentum going into the fall workouts right now, which is what we wanted to do,” said Gregory, sitting at his desk in the still-under-renovation Tech basketball offices.
Perhaps Gregory’s most noteworthy achievement was winning commitments from two in-state prospects, North Gwinnett High guard Chris Bolden and North Clayton High small forward Marcus Hunt. According to recruiting service rivals.com, Hunt is the No. 91 senior prospect in the country, and Bolden is No. 126. Bolden, who received offers from South Carolina, Virginia Tech and USC among about 20 schools, gave his commitment August 6 at the end an unofficial visit to campus.
“It had everything I was looking for,” Bolden told the AJC after committing.
The commitments signaled that Gregory and his staff have gained a foothold in the state in five months’ time. Considering that this will be Gregory’s first recruiting class and that Georgia’s pool of prospects is historically deep, Gregory’s cultivation of in-state recruiting contacts is significant.
“My staff has done an unbelievable job in recruiting,” Gregory said, referring to assistants Chad Dollar, Josh Postorino and Billy Schmidt. “I think over the next few years, we’re going to have some great opportunities and it’s up to us to build those relationships.”
Gregory has seven scholarships to give over the next two classes, and hasn’t determined how many more scholarships he wants to offer for the 2012 class.
While his contact was limited over the summer with current team members, Gregory attempted to ingrain work habits through workouts led by new strength-and-conditioning coach Mike Bewley.
“I feel like I’m able to just last longer and fight in the post longer,” center Daniel Miller said.
Miller and guard Mfon Udofia said players showed more commitment and camaraderie over the summer.
Said Udofia, “There were days when you didn’t feel like working hard. We had those days, but it felt like our mentality was, Hey, we have to work hard regardless to reach our goals.”
Gregory gave a positive report on Glen Rice Jr., the team’s leading returning scorer who was held out of the starting lineup for the last five games of the season for disciplinary reasons.
“Every day he’s becoming more dependable,” said Gregory, who lauded Rice’s classroom work this summer. “He’s not perfect, none of the guys are, but what we’re trying to build is solid guys.”
The news wasn’t all good. The NCAA’s July ruling on Tech reduced the number of permitted official visits from 12 to 10 for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years, along with two self-imposed penalties. Forward Brian Oliver transferred to Seton Hall.
Gregory has 11 players on scholarship, including two given to walk-ons Nick Foreman and Derek Craig. Former Dunwoody High star Pierre Jordan was added to the roster this week after transferring from Florida State. Jordan, a 6-foot guard, will be eligible to play immediately, as he has enrolled in a graduate program at Tech after earning his degree from FSU in three years.
Players began individual workouts Wednesday with the staff at the Zelnak Center. They can work out two hours a week with coaches until practice officially begins Oct. 14. Tech released its schedule Wednesday. With the McCamish Pavilion a year away from completion, Tech will begin the season Nov. 11 against Florida A&M at Gwinnett Arena. The Jackets will play five games in Gwinnett and the other 10 home games will be at Philips Arena, including all the ACC games. Duke visits Jan. 7.
Tech will have a steep hill to climb to win this season. After an encouraging summer, the grade has flattened somewhat.
“I know he’s going to make all of us better basketball players,” Miller said, “so I’m excited.”
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