Will Georgia Tech Have The Proper Funding When It Comes To The Basketball Program?

In the introductory press conference on Monday afternoon, there were a couple of questions about the funding of the program and whether it would have the necessary resources in order to be competitive in the ACC and the NCAA conference. Much talk around the program has been about this piece, and that it won’t attract coaches. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth, with a number of coaches being intrigued with the job and what it has to offer.

I'd also say the interest in this job was incredible. And that's a credit to Georgia Tech, the history, the program, the tradition, what the president has done about investing in athletics and making that known, said Georgia Tech athletic director Ryan Alpert.

In terms of funding, Alpert continued to emphasized that it would be competitively funded and the proper resources would be intact.

“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.

One of the positive notes is that head coach Scott Cross doesn’t seem to be worried about and has trust in the administration in the funding and resources to allow him to win at a high level.

“Yeah, I wouldn't be here today. As I mentioned earlier, Ryan has a commitment, and he definitely expressed that to me. There's an investment in place to win championships, and that's what we're going to work hard every day to do,” said Cross.

Now, it turns into a waiting game. Only time will tell if they will have enough to be able to compete. Recruiting cycles that follow, the transfer portal, and roster retention will be clear indicators to see how much the Yellow Jackets will have at their disposal to bring in a competent roster and one that will not be at the bottom of the conference. Even in the first year, they could give a sign of what they can bring in. Then moving forward, how well they do in recruiting the state and retaining the top talent to stay home and play for the Yellow Jackets. It will be an intriguing storyline to follow.