Quotes That Matter From Georgia Tech's Scott Cross At ACC Basketball Tipoff

The Scott Cross era at Georgia Tech officially begins next month and they will be trying to turn the page on previous years to try to become a real threat in the ACC once again.

Cross had to remake this roster in the transfer portal and had very few players left over from the previous regime, and it is going to be interesting to see if he can get his team playing well from the start. The Yellow Jackets have some tough non-conference tests against Georgia, Butler, Mississippi State, and Florida this season, and we will know before conference play if this team can be better than they have been in several seasons.

Today, Cross met with the media at ACC tipoff and talked about his team and the upcoming season. Here are the important notes and quotes from Charlotte today.

1. Cross talks about turning around the program

Georgia Tech is a proud program and one that has had a lot of success in the past. They have been unable to recapture that magic, having only made the NCAA Tournament four times since making the national championship game in 2004. Cross opened up today by talking about how he wants to get the program back on the right track and competing in the ACC.

"Great question. I mean, we have a thing we say. We say, "championships are won today" at the end of every practice, at the beginning of every practice. I think that has to be our mentality.

We have to approach every weight workout, every practice like we want to win a championship. It's not going happen in March and April if we don't win one today, so that's where our focus need to be.

We can only control the things that we can control. Do you get in the gym? Do you get extra shots up? Are you pushing yourself in the weight room? Are you working hard building great defensive habits in practice every day? Are you working on your voice? These are the things that they can control.

I think when a team plays together and they like each other and they have that team chemistry, I think you can overachieve, and you can do some great things. I do believe we've built some very good team chemistry up to this point, but again, adversity is where you really find out, you know, what you are about and how you can withstand those things.

That's why we're playing three of those games in preseason on the road. We're going to be, you know, on the road at an exhibition game against Maryland. We have one against Providence. Have a close scrimmage against Oklahoma. So all these games will be on the road in great environments for our guys. We'll expose some things that we need to improve upon.

But, again, I think it goes back to just getting better every single day."

With a new-look roster filled with experienced transfers and talented freshmen, is this the year that the Yellow Jackets go back to competing in the ACC?

2. Will his past experience help this season?

Turning around programs is something that Cross is used to. At UT-Arlington and Troy, Cross helped make them into NCAA Tournament teams and conference contenders.

Doing the same at Georgia Tech is not going to be easy and playing in the ACC is a much taller task. Cross talked about his time at both programs today:

" I think every year you learn something new; you grow. I can remember when I was an assistant coach and, you know, dying to be a head coach. You had all the answers. You think you knew everything. And then you get humbled very, very quickly.

You see how many great coaches that there are across the country, and you lose games probably that you look at on paper that you shouldn't have lost. You know, each year you grow watching video of how other coaches do it. You know, that year I spent at TCU was invaluable with Coach Dixon, you know, just seeing another guy that's been super successful and how he runs his program, the things he does, the things he emphasizes.

All those things have helped out over the years, but I would like to think I'm a better coach this year than I was last year and the previous year and so on and so forth.

I mean, I have been doing this since 1998. I would like to think that I'm better than I was in 1998, but there are so many great coaches.

We're entering a league with coaches that have all been super, super successful at some point in their careers and some of the best in the business. So looking forward to matching up against some of these great coaches in the ACC."

Add us as a preferred source on Google