Technical Tidbits 3/9

Georgia Tech claimed its first ACC series of the season yesterday afternoon when the Jackets shut down Notre Dame by a final score of 4-1 in Atlanta. The win allowed Tech to clinch the series 2-1 after they dropped the first matchup and featured another phenomenal performance by do-it-all man Brandon Gold, who pitched 8.0 scoreless frames with 7 strikeouts to earn his second win of the season. Gold, who played all of last season in the infield, has quickly become Tech's most reliable pitcher -- he is yet to allow a run in 15 innings as a starting pitcher. In fact, all of Tech's best starters -- Gold, Jonathan King, and Cole Pitts -- have appeared to turn corners following rough starts. If they can maintain this pace, the Jackets will be hard to beat down the stretch.

At this point, it appears that the Brian Gregory era at Georgia Tech has come to a close. Four seasons after then-AD Dan Radakovich hired him, the program appears to be in an even worse situation than it was under Paul Hewitt -- recruiting has fallen off and the Jackets just finished off another awful regular season, capped off with the season-ending injury of star forward Marcus Georges-Hunt. There could, however, be one thing that could save CBG's job for another season, and that is Wheeler High School's Jaylen Brown. Brown, the number one player in the nation, is exactly what Tech needs to save the program. If Tech is truly one of his final choices, it could be enough for Mike Bobinski to justify keeping Gregory around for another season.

Duke's freshman phenom Jahlil Okafor, the near-consensus No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, has been named ACC Player of the Year in what must have been the easiest decision of the decade. He was also a consensus first-team All ACC selection, which was basically comprised of players who enjoyed picking on Georgia Tech during the regular season -- Notre Dame's Jerian Grant and Boston College's Olivier Hanlan were also members of the first team. UVA head coach Tony Bennett was named ACC Coach of the Year for the second straight season. No Georgia Tech player was named to the first, second, or third-team or to the honorable mentions.

The ACC basketball tournament seeds have been officially set, and Georgia Tech will get the privilege of taking on the Boston College Eagles for what feels like the 95th time in a row. In case you didn't deduce it already, this means that we get to face off with Jacket-slaying guard Olivier Hanlan yet again following the 41-point carnage that he induced against Tech two seasons ago in this exact situation. He is a good player no matter which team he's against, but it really does feel like Hanlan saves his best for Tech. He probably got stung by a yellow jacket as a kid. Get over it, Olivier.

How far do you think Tech can make it in the tournament? What kind of performance would save Brian Gregory's job?

Have a great Monday!