Georgia Tech appeared on the verge of collapse.
The Yellow Jackets had nearly raised their capacity for starting strong before losing games in the final minutes to an art form. The end of coach Brian Gregory’s tenure seemed a near certainty.
Managers and consultants everywhere will celebrate what has helped fuel Tech’s turnaround since early February — a meeting. Away from coaches, Tech players met to air grievances, understand differing perspectives and challenge each other.
“I think that meeting alone just kind of made us more comfortable with one another,” forward Quinton Stephens said. “That’s where it starts, the respect value, where we’re able to call one another out, make sure guys are on top of their roles and things of that nature.”
Since falling to 12-11 overall and 2-8 in the ACC, the Jackets have won five of their last six and the past four straight. They play No. 11 Louisville Tuesday night in a critical matchup that may determine their continued viability in what seemed complete folly only three weeks ago: an NCAA tournament berth.
“That meeting was pretty big,” guard Marcus Georges-Hunt said.
Aside from the record, it was necessary, perhaps, due to the Jackets’ composition. The Jackets have two graduate transfers in guard Adam Smith and forward James White. Senior forward Nick Jacobs is playing his first and only season for Tech after transferring from Alabama prior to the 2014-15 academic year. Senior forward Charles Mitchell is playing his second season following his transfer from Maryland.
“We got different opinions and I think it opened our eyes to see, like, wow, maybe this affects my teammate different than it’ll affect that teammate,” Stephens said. “And as leaders, you want to see that you want to know the best way to help your teammates.”
Players left the meeting resolving to each chip in just a little more. It echoed a message from coach Brian Gregory that, for the Jackets, who to that point had lost all of their ACC games by single digits, what was necessary wasn’t a 50 percent improvement, but five percent.
Stephens has seen players doing extra conditioning work, getting sufficient rest and devoting more time to video sessions.
“Guys just buying into it even more, each guy individually, and I think that stuff adds up,” Stephens said.
Through five of the past six games, it’s been just enough. The Jackets have beaten Wake Forest, Florida State, Notre Dame, Clemson and Boston College by an average of 3.8 points. It’s Tech’s first four-game winning streak in regular-season ACC play since 2001-02.
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said that, prior to the season, he thought the Jackets would have a chance to compete because of their age, size and strength. They just needed time to figure each out.
“And, right now, they’ve put themselves in position to make a run at an NCAA tournament bid, which I think really speaks to the job Brian has done, kind of holding a group together, being poised and getting better every day,” Brey said.
Despite the record and what seemed a bleak outlook for the remainder of the season, players continued to stay positive. It is part of a culture established by Gregory, whom Georges-Hunt said keeps a positive outlook “24/7” and reinforced by Georges-Hunt, who also has maintained an unusually optimistic outlook throughout his career.
“You’ve got to constantly be hitting the guys (with a positive message), especially when you’re losing some close and tough games,” Gregory said. “Again, to be honest, there’s a lot of negativity and the guys have got to stay focused.”
To that end, Gregory gave players another voice to listen to when he had them read “The Energy Bus,” the bestselling motivational book that preaches the value of positivity, and brought in the book’s author, Jon Gordon.
“I think that helped a lot of people change their mindset in a way,” Georges-Hunt said. “It just made you look at life different, too, outside of basketball. Just being positive is just a healthy trait to have.”
A positive-minded team chipping in just a little bit more has brought itself to within sight of their season-long goals, an ACC championship and a NCAA tournament run. It’s not quite so ludicrous a proposition as it was earlier in the season, and there is work yet to do, starting with a tough assignment at Louisville’s KFC Yum Center. However, the Jackets are closer than they’ve been in a while.
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