The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Stoudamire: ‘When I get my guys,’ it will be different
Coach’s 1st season a struggle: Tech has lost 5 of 6 and is 14th in ACC.
Damon Stoudamire said Wednesday he knew there would be tough days during his first season at Georgia Tech. And he said he’s OK with that. The way he sees it, Tech’s current state — after a 24-point loss to Clemson at home, buried at the bottom of the ACC standings and as one of the worst shooting teams in the country — is temporary.
“It is what it is. I’m with the process. I’m not all right with it, but I’m all right with it,” Stoudamire said. “Because I didn’t sign up for this, to be the coach who was only going to be here for the good times. I knew that there could be some rough patches when I signed up for this and I was all right with that. And I will be all right as we move forward. Because to me, the way I see it, and I’ve never said this before, this will be the first time anybody ever hears me say this: When I get my guys up in here, it’s going to be different . ...
“I’m all right with saying that because my type of guy, whether he’s making a bucket, whether he’s not making a bucket, he’s going to have pride in playing for the front of the jersey and the back each and every day.”
Technically speaking, the majority of the Yellow Jackets’ roster is players Stoudamire signed. Only guards Lance Terry (who has not played this season), Kyle Sturdivant, Deebo Coleman and Miles Kelly returned from the 2022-23 squad. Stoudamire was hired in mid-March and pieced together a squad that has 10 newcomers: four freshmen and six transfers.
That squad (11-16 overall, 4-12 in the ACC) is shooting 41.4% from the floor, which is 319th in the nation and better than just five power-conference teams. Tech’s loss to Clemson on Wednesday was its fourth in its past six setbacks in which it lost by double figures. And Tech has not won back-to-back games since Dec. 21-22. It had the chance to do that against Clemson after having beaten Syracuse, but faltered early and wilted late as Clemson slapped the Yellow Jackets around.
Stoudamire indicated he thought his players quit over the final eight minutes of the contest after they fell behind 62-43. To him, that’s an indication his roster hasn’t bought in to playing with a sense of pride when the score isn’t in Tech’s favor.
With a minimum of five games left (four in the regular season and one in the conference tournament), the Jackets still have a chance to get back to .500. But not with the type of performance put forth Wednesday.
“A couple weeks ago, I told the guys the reason I do what I do when I get up every day, to try to help you guys be successful, is because when we go in the record books at Georgia Tech, the records books is still going to print what they going to print. You don’t want to be known as the losing team. Simple as that,” he said. “It don’t matter if you a freshman or you a senior, you got to play the game the right way, you got to finish it out the right way because you don’t get none of this back.”
The Yellow Jackets’ next game is today at Miami at 4 p.m. The Hurricanes were a Final Four team last season and picked second in the ACC preseason poll, But Miami has seen its season derailed during a current fivegame losing streak, which continued Wednesday in an 84-55 home loss to No. 8 Duke. That was Miami’s third loss by at least 17 points during its streak. Standout guard Nijel Pack (13.7 ppg, 3.6 apg) has missed the past two games with an injury and reportedly may be out for the rest of the season.
Miami (15-12, 6-10) was 15-7 on Feb. 3 and still holding on to NCAA tournament hopes with a NET ranking of 62. But it has dropped nearly 30 spots in the NET since and is 12th in the ACC.
After Saturday, Tech has regular-games remaining with Florida State at home and Wake Forest and Virginia on the road.
“I told our guys, as we move forward, we’re playing teams that, for the most part, are trying to play for something,” Stoudamire said. “So we got to make a choice.”