If the Atlantic Coast Conference is going to hold up its reputation as one of the nation's top men's basketball leagues this winter, more than a few young players had better grow up in a hurry.
Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt, who has overhauled the Yellow Jackets' roster after two seasons in Atlanta, is surrounded by youth. And in a league marked by drastic talent turnover, a league that lost 17 of its top 20 scorers from a year ago and features only one squad (Maryland) with more than two seniors in its projected starting lineup, Hewitt is not alone.
But in a conference marked by unproven teams that think they can mature enough to hang with the perceived big boys like the Terps and Duke, the Yellow Jackets actually might be onto something. Not that you'll catch Hewitt raising any high expectations, although few ACC squads played as well as Georgia Tech down the stretch.
The Yellow Jackets, held down by so much inexperience early last year, did not make a postseason tournament and did not even finish at .500. Yet, by coming on to win eight of their last 11 games, by turning an 0-7 start in league play into a 7-9 regular-season finish, Georgia Tech was among the more dangerous teams on the East Coast by season's end.
If you're looking for a dark horse to upset the pecking order near the top of the standings, look to Atlanta, where Hewitt is establishing himself as one of the bright minds in the game. Look to Georgia Tech, where the Yellow Jackets will be hard-pressed to replace two valuable players. Point guard Tony Akins has played his final season, while forward Clarence Moore decided to forgo his last year for personal reasons and chose to focus on studies.
No seniors will get measurable playing time this year. Shooting guard Marvin Lewis figures to be the lone junior starter. Freshman point guard Jarrett Jack will start, as could freshman power forward Chris Bosh.
"I would much rather have a senior point guard or a fifth-year guy who's been around and can help these young guys understand that they might be good enough to win an isolated game here or there, but in order to get to the NCAA tournament, you've got to put together six, seven, eight, nine weeks of solid basketball," Hewitt said.
"I think we have some talented guys, but except for Marvin, they have yet to demonstrate they know what it takes to get into the tournament. We lost our most important piece in Tony. We lost our second most important piece in Clarence. I'm not trying to downplay our team. I'm trying to be realistic."
Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams sees Georgia Tech moving into the thick of things. Williams, whose Terps nearly lost to the Yellow Jackets on the road while Tech was in the midst of its early-season slide, likes the way Hewitt developed freshmen such as 7-foot-1 center Luke Schenscher (4.8 points per game, 3.2 rebounds per game), forwards Ed Nelson (8.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg) and Isma'il Muhammad (7.1 ppg) and guard B.J. Elder (9.9 ppg).
Each of them is a pretty seasoned sophomore now. Nelson is the reigning ACC Rookie of the Year. And everybody has bought into Hewitt's pressing, up-tempo style. Remember, Hewitt inherited a young team from the departed Bobby Cremins two years ago and promptly guided Tech to a 17-13 record and an NCAA tournament berth.
"I like what Paul did coming into the league," Williams said. "He didn't wait until he had his kind of players. He said this is how I like to play and this is how we're going to play. And now he's getting his kind of players. They're a dark horse."
Finding a leader in the Akins mold is one of Hewitt's prime objectives, and he is trying to bring that out in Lewis, a mild-mannered sharpshooter who is suddenly the dean of the team. Lewis averaged 28.8 minutes last year, made 54 three-point field goals and shot 87.5 percent at the free-throw line. He is a budding ACC star.
"You run the danger of over-coaching them when you don't have a senior in there to help you, to make sure guys stay after practice and get extra work in," said Hewitt, who took Siena to two postseason tournaments in three seasons before being hired at Tech. "Marvin is going to be that guy, and his game is still developing."
Said Lewis: "I'm going to be a vocal leader. I'm going to put the team on my shoulders a little bit. We want people to look out for us this year and for the next four, five, six or seven years. We want Georgia Tech to be a name you have to respect."