Georgia Tech became the first ACC team in two years to fire its basketball coach when it let go of Brian Gregory last week. With Gregory out after five seasons, the program will conduct its first coaching search since 2011, when it replaced Paul Hewitt.
Athletic director Mike Bobinski faces a financial hurdle as he works down a list of possible candidates. The Yellow Jackets owe Gregory (through 2017-18) and Hewitt (through 2018-19) roughly a combined $4 million over the next three years, which will make it difficult to spend big right away on its next coach.
Whoever accepts the position will also be facing a rebuilding project going into next season. Georgia Tech’s top four scorers from this year have exhausted their eligibility, and while the Jackets’ recruiting class includes consensus top-100 forward Romello White, the class as a whole only ranks in the middle of the pack of the conference.
That doesn’t mean Tech won’t be able to make a quality hire, though.
Bobinski has a proven track record for identifying promising young basketball coaches. His hires at Xavier included Thad Matta, Sean Miller and Chris Mack, who all combined for one year of head-coaching experience before taking over the Musketeers program. He can also pitch the Georgia Tech job as an opportunity to coach in the ACC, which would be a major draw for many up-and-coming prospects in coaching circles.
As Bobinski looks to fill the vacancy, a few potential replacements for Gregory come to mind. Get access to the rest of this article and unlimited access to the rest of ACCSports.com when you upgrade to Premium Access! Click on the button below to view all the benefits of becoming a Premium Access member.Get the rest of the story right now with Premium Access!
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