Who Stands To Benefit The Most With Scott Cross As The Head Coach?

Georgia Tech is in a new regime and officially in the Scott Cross era. Let’s take a look at who stands to benefit with him as the new head basketball coach.

Players

Whoever decides to stay and give head coach Scott Cross a chance could see their career propel to new heights. Coach Cross has already said they have identified several players who will be a priority to retain on the roster next year. Who that is remains to be seen. It will also be easier said than done to retain players with an influx of cash being thrown their way and a coach they aren’t very familiar with.

However, as we have seen over the course of Cross’s career, he is known for taking underrated talent and making the players Conference Player of the Year and making all-conference teams. It is nothing new for Cross, and I think the players who stay will reap the benefits of their hard work under Cross and make the All-ACC teams and be a true difference maker on the team and the direction it is headed. So who will stay? Here is a closer look from Cross.

“You know, there are a couple of guys probably on this current roster, there will be priorities trying to retain those guys. I've already been in contact with other guys as well throughout the country, both junior college guys there are potential transfers that we know starting April 7th will be in the transfer portal. I think the biggest thing is just doing our homework on those guys and talking to as many different people as possible, making sure that they are the right fit, and also watching as much film as possible, so we make sure it's not about the guys you don't sign; you just cannot sign the wrong guys. That's the most important thing,” said Cross.

Fans

You can make the argument that this is No.1. It has been a long time since the fans have had something to be excited about on the Flats when it comes to basketball. They now have a coach who cares about them and wants to put the best product on the court, and pack out, as he calls it, Thriller Dome like it was back in the day when the Yellow Jackets had Lethal Weapon 3. It will be a process, but the fundamentals, player development, and scouting should help Coach Cross put a good product on the court that fans will be ecstatic about. I don’t think it will be long until McCamish Pavilion is rocking and back to the sold-out days. Here is the plan Cross has for McCamish and the fans.

“While I'm the head coach of this basketball team, this team is your team. It's the Georgia Tech community team, it's the City of Atlanta's team. In order to be successful right away, we need each and every person in this room. I want, and we need the Thriller Dome to be back. We need to absolutely pack McCammish Pavilion and make it one of the most intimidating basketball college environments in all of the country,” said Cross.

“It can be done. I know it begins with me. It starts with me getting out on campus and engaging the students. And it extends with you, our loyal fans, boosters, and alumni. The time to get on board is right now. I'm fired up to be your men's basketball coach. I will work extremely hard every single day.”

Georgia Tech Program

It has long been said that the resources for the basketball program are antiquated and not nearly enough for the program to be competitive. However, the athletic director has said they will do what it takes to be competitive and fund the program properly. With Coach Cross's success with Georgia Tech, it can go a long way to changing the perception the Yellow Jackets currently have about their basketball program. With each win, being competitive in the ACC, and even making the NCAA tournament, will begin to silence the doubters. Coach Cross's success could go a long way for the program. Here is Alpert on the funding of the program.

“Yeah, I think Coach mentioned it. I would say that any coach we talked to, that was their first question. I think that, you know, talking to others that had openings this cycle and last and in the new modern era of NIL revenue share, it's the first question, and rightfully so from any coach you talk to. As he said, we're committed to winning. I think I said that when I took the job. And we're going to commit the resources it takes to win. We're still going to be a blue-collar mentality program. We're always going to want to punch above our weight class. But we're not going to fund the program 18th and expect to win a conference championship. So we're going to fund it competitively and have a chance to give our coach and our program the opportunity to win,” said Alpert.