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Former Tech guard Marcus Georges-Hunt has officially inked his first professional deal, agreeing to appear on Brooklyn's summer league team after going undrafted last week. The signing was first reported by Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders yesterday.
Former Georgia Tech guard Marcus Georges-Hunt will be playing for the Brooklyn Nets' Summer League team. He went undrafted.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) June 29, 2016
Though a summer league invite is nothing more than a partially-guaranteed contract coupled with the opportunity to play in front of an NBA franchise, there's still a small chance for Georges-Hunt to crack Brooklyn's roster with a solid performance. That possibility becomes a bit more real when you consider the fluidity of the Nets' roster, which has as many moving pieces and fringe players as any team in the league thanks to the exploits of owner Mikhail Prokhorov and former GM Billy King. Even Georges-Hunt's physicality, which is largely more advanced than that of most summer league players, could be an asset that helps him excel and gain some much-needed respect from and NBA team. If not, summer league is still big recruiting ground for European teams which could give him a shot.
Meanwhile in Chattanooga, former Yellow Jacket and current Minnesota Twins farmhand Daniel Palka is all set to represent the Southern League in its upcoming All-Star game as he continues a historic power pace down in AA. Palka has hit a league-leading 19 homers this season, six more than the second-place finisher, while driving in 59 runs in 71 games for the Lookouts. The team record is 31 homers, set last season, and Palka appears to be on pace to shatter it when 2016 is all said and done. An astronomically high strikeout rate of 34% so far this season has really put a cap on his prospect status, but raw power like that is hard to ignore if it comes consistently. Palka is currently the 27th-ranked player in the Minnesota system.
Don't look now, but a team that Georgia Tech baseball swept during the regular season appears poised to win the College World Series at some point this week. That's right, the Cinderella-like Coastal Carolina Chanticleers have advanced all the way to the finals of the CWS, where they are currently locked into a fun series with Arizona. Riding the power of the now-famous staredown kid from their previous matchup with TCU, Coastal could lock things up very soon (weather permitting) unless 'Zona pulls out the series. Some teams have rally lizards, others have hard eye contact. Who's to say what really works?