Ryan Alpert Releases Statement Welcoming Scott Cross To Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech has a new head basketball coach in Scott Cross, who comes over from Troy, where he was very successful. In his coaching stops at UT Arlington and Troy, he has compiled a 350-260 career record (.574).

Most recently, he led Troy back to the NCAA tournament and was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year after leading the Trojans to regular-season and tournament crowns. It brought him up to three coach of the year titles in his career. Georgia Tech vice president and Director of Athletics Ryan Alpert talked about the excitement of bringing in Cross as its new head coach.

“We’re thrilled to name Scott Cross the 16th head coach in Georgia Tech men’s basketball history,” Alpert said. “Coach Cross is a proven winner with 350 career victories and seven conference championships on his resume. His combination of experience, success and development of student-athletes, both on and off the court, makes him the perfect person to carry on the proud tradition of Georgia Tech men’s basketball. He is a great fit for our program, the Institute and the Georgia Tech and Atlanta communities.”

It is exciting to bring in a new head coach to the program as it seeks a new direction, but the same problem exists. With Alpert running the show, maybe things will change with how good he is at raising money and getting the most out of athletic departments. The question is, how will they land marquee talent? In this NIL era, you have to fork out a lot of money to land top recruits, and it is not even guaranteed they will be back after one season if they perform well. Will Cross attack more of the mid-major market and develop veteran guys who are looking to make the move up? This is a more enticing market than you may think. This will be one of the storylines to follow this offseason.

One of Scott Cross's calling cards has been his development of players, which is pivotal in this era of college basketball. He has developed guys like Myles Rigby and Duke Deen, who were both named Sun Belt Player of the Year. He even developed Tayton Conerway, Kevin Hervey, and Marquez Haynes, who were all named Conference Players of the Year. The previous coaching era's troubles were development and seeing guys take the next step in their careers. With Cross at the helm, that should add to the Yellow Jackets' ability to develop kids and get them ready for the next level.