Georgia Tech Targeting Troy’s Scott Cross As Its New Head Coach

Georgia Tech appears to have a new head man. According to multiple reports, Georgia Tech is targeting Troy’s Scott Cross to be its new head coach. Cross has been very successful with the Trojans, leading them to multiple 20-win seasons during his tenure there including back to back NCAA Tournament appearances. His coaching career began at UT-Arlington, where he was an assistant until he took over head coaching duties from 2006 to 2018. Here is more on some of his accolades via our own Jackson Caudell.

“The 2016 squad helped put UTA basketball on the Division I men's basketball map. Crowned the best rebounding team in the nation and ranked in the top 10 in four team categories, UTA knocked off national powers Ohio State and Memphis on the road en route to its best start in school history (14-3).

In 2017, he earned Sun Belt and NABC District Coach of the Year honors after leading the Mavericks to a program-record 27 wins. Cross, who has coached 19 players to professional contracts, was named a Prosser Award finalist for the second time and earned finalist honors from the Hugh Durham Award. The Mavs defeated Texas for the first time in school history, marking UTA's first win over an AP top-25 team in program history. UTA went on to win NIT games at BYU and against Akron and posted two of the largest UTA basketball crowds in College Park Center history.”

Cross continued to make headway and guided his teams to postseason appearances as they played at a high level and continued to contend, playing in the NCAA tournament and multiple NIT appearances.

“Throughout the course of just more than a decade, Cross guided the Mavericks to postseason tournament appearances with trips to the NCAA Tournament (2008), NIT (2012 & 2017) and CIT (2013, 2016). In addition, UT Arlington won the Southland Tournament Championship in 2008 and the 2012 regular-season Southland Conference Championship.

Cross led Troy to its first 20-win season in five years and back to the postseason in 2021-22 as the Trojans finished 20-12 overall and a 10-6 mark in the Sun Belt. The Trojans returned to the postseason for the first time since their 2016-17 NCAA Tournament run with an appearance in the College Basketball Invitational. Troy finished with the third-most Sun Belt wins and advanced to the Sun Belt Tournament semifinals despite being picked to finish last in the league during the preseason.”

The biggest question remaining

Will head coach Scott Cross be able to overcome a smaller NIL/rev share budget around roughly 5.5 million dollars, as reported by CBS Sports Matt Norlander. That means coach Cross will have to be very creative with how he puts together the roster and find kids that fit his system and the scheme he wants to implement. The early sign will be if he can stand out among the top recruits in the state of Georgia. Metro Atlanta is a hotbed and has continued to produce top prospects who play at an elite level in college. You can look at recent examples of Stephon Castle (Newton), Caleb Wilson (Holy Innocents), Isaiah Collier (Wheeler), and many more. Coach Cross will also be down the street from one of the top high school basketball leagues in the nation, which is a breeding ground for the next college stars in OTE (Overtime Elite). Georgia Tech's previous head coach Damon Stoudamire, used OTE to his advantage and brought top recruits in from there. It is not an easy job being in the ACC, which is one of the top conferences in the nation and has two powerhouse programs in Duke and North Carolina who consistently contend, but there is a great opportunity, as we saw with No.3 seed Virginia, which went and hired Ryan Odom from VCU. Yes, Virginia has a higher budget than the Yellow Jackets, but they were able to manufacture a terrific season in year one under Odom. To have that same success, Cross will have to find players who can bond together, sacrifice, play hard, and continue to buy in.

Yes, talent is important on all levels, but sometimes the less talented teams win because of the cohesion, togetherness, and camaraderie they have. Those will be important factors as Cross builds his program.