The jewel of Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory’s first recruiting class has walked out the door, a heavy blow to the Yellow Jackets’ hopes six months before tipoff of a new season.
Forward Robert Carter, who stood poised to assume leadership of the team as a junior, was granted a release to transfer.
“I was surprised and disappointed at the same time,” said Gregory, speaking by phone from the ACC spring meetings in Amelia Island, Fla. “Supportive of him, want to wish him the best in his next step.”
By Tech’s standard agreement with transfers, Carter will be allowed to transfer anywhere except for another ACC school or Georgia. When he filed his transfer papers, he did not immediately grant permission to any schools to contact him, a wish list that often indicates a player’s thinking.
Undoubtedly, though, interest will be heavy in Carter, a 6-foot-8 forward with a ferocious rebounding appetite, jump-shooting touch and ball-handling skill uncommon for a player his size. In his final six games of the season, after he had recovered from a torn meniscus in his left knee, Carter averaged 16.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game while shooting 44 percent from the field. After he sits out the 2014-15 season, he will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Gregory said Carter met with him last week to inform of his desire to transfer. Gregory said he had had no indication that such a decision was under consideration. Carter showed his commitment to the team this season after the knee injury, suffered against Charlotte on Dec. 29. Carter raced through his rehabilitation and returned after missing only 10 games. In the interim, he was emphatic in his cheering for the team from the bench.
But, decisions such as Carter’s are increasingly common in college basketball. A list of players tabulated by ESPN who have transferred from their schools either during or after this season is about 500 players deep, about 1 1/2 per team. In Gregory’s three seasons, he has received five transfers and had six leave.
“No one’s immune to it,” Gregory said. “It’s part of the culture, it’s part of the fabric. Now you have to move on, and you have to keep building.”
Carter was part of Gregory’s initial class, signing in November 2011 as the No. 33 player in the country, according to ESPN. Headed toward the 2014-15 season, he and classmate Marcus Georges-Hunt figured to be the foundational players to try to advance Gregory’s rebuilding efforts.
Instead, more attention will shift to forward Robert Sampson, who will play his senior season after transferring from East Carolina. And Gregory will redouble his efforts to bring in another player from the burgeoning transfer market.
“We’re just going to keep actively recruiting like we have been,” he said.
