Georgia Tech’s nightmare men’s basketball season is over. They played hard in a 79-76 loss to NCAA-bound Clemson, but yet again, the Jackets, in games they actually play reasonably well in, faded in the second half. Up 10 points in the second, Clemson outscored Georgia Tech by 13 the rest of the way.
The Jackets finished the season 11-20 (2-16), and in dead last place in the ACC, 2 games clear of the teams in front of them.
Damon Stoudamire will finish his third season without making the NCAA tournament yet again. He’s 42-52 (19-36) and has never had a season over .500. It’s well known that Georgia Tech’s NIL spending in men’s basketball is far closer to the bottom than the top. Georgia Tech has to make changes, but what kind?
In his first season, Stoudamire did guide Georgia Tech to wins over Duke, UNC, and a Clemson team that went to the Elite 8. Last year, there was a win over a top 25 Louisville and a .500 finish in the league. This year, though, there was a win at the NCAA Bubble team NC State, and that’s it. That’s the highlight for 2026. Georgia Tech didn’t win another game after January 17.
Before a coaching change is considered, Georgia Tech has to invest in its basketball program. You can have successful sports at Georgia Tech. The football team, even with a late fade went 9-4, and has largely recovered from the Geoff Collins era. Even in a year with multiple assistant coaching changes and a loss of some players, Georgia Tech was still able to land an NFL caliber back in transfr Justice Haynes from Michigan. The baseball team is loaded with MLB talent and in the top 5. That program has managed to hold together an extremely talented team.
New AD Ryan Albert has a tough job ahead. Georgia Tech basketball is without any momentum, but that’s his job to find creative ways to raise money for Yellow Jacket athletics.
Stoudamire hasn’t done enough to warrant keeping him, but changing coaches without any real investment will leave Georgia Tech in the same place. If Albert chooses to retain Stoudamire, while increasing investment is also an option. One can argue that Stoudamire exceeded expectations in year 1 and 2, before the bottom fell out in year 3.
The basketball program needs a true commitment from Georgia Tech to again be a competitive program.
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