The Three Biggest Questions Scott Cross Must Answer As Georgia Tech's New Coach

Georgia Tech's new head coach, Scott Cross, has a number of tasks ahead of him and questions about how he will reshape the Yellow Jackets program. There is optimism in him and in how he comes from a pedigree of winning. Let’s take a look at three questions he must answer as a head coach over the next few weeks.

1. Can he make a run at any top recruits?

There are still a number of top recruits in high school like Tyran Stokes, Brandon McCoy, Quentin Coleman, Quincy Wadley, Chris Washington Jr, Kayden Allen, and Josiah Johnson, to name a few. This would be a good time for the Yellow Jackets and Cross to make a run at a number of top-tier players to try to bring into their program. They have already lost two elite prospects in Moustapha Diop and Jalan Wingfield, who both requested release from their letter of signing and reopened their recruitment. The other big question here is what happens with Kaiden Bailey, who was another top recruit coming out who signed with Georgia Tech from Santa Margarita in California. Will they be able to retain him, or do they look in a different direction at the point guard position? This will be an important few weeks for Cross when it comes to recruiting to see if he can bring in a couple of freshmen prospects.

2. How will he attack the transfer portal?

This will be a major question, as many in the college basketball world know that the Yellow Jackets don’t have the same funding or NIL/revenue-share resources as other basketball programs. That means Coach Cross will have to be creative when evaluating the portal and bringing in the right pieces to fit his scheme. Another question here is how many Georgia Tech players he will retain from last year’s roster? Will he keep a couple or completely move in a new direction? There is a number of talented players like Akai Fleming, Jaeden Mustaf, and Mouhamed Sylla. It probably won’t be easy with what those players could potentially garner from other teams. Another thing to consider is if Cross will bring a good amount of his roster from Troy that went to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances? We see a lot of college coaches do this, especially in their first season with a new team, because of the continuity and familiarity with them. The portal will give us a good look at how Cross will attack.

3. How will he build out his staff?

Will Cross look to bring a good chunk of his staff from his time at Troy to come coach with him at Georgia Tech? Names like Scott Campbell, Larry Cordaro, Brandon Gilbert, Kevin Lewis, and Kaleb Canales could all potentially follow Cross to Georgia Tech. Or will Cross look to rebuild the staff entirely and grab a few high-ranking assistants to fill out his staff? This is important, especially when we talked about development, getting the most out of players, and having everything align the right way. You have to be able to depend on a staff in certain areas of the game and use their expertise to help guide your decision-making. This will be another key question to see how Coach Cross answers it.