The Yellow Jackets received some good and completely expected news regarding the status of transfer Charles Mitchell. The NCAA has approved his waiver and Mitchell will be allowed to play in the 2014-15 season. Mitchell transferred from Maryland, citing his desire to play closer to home. Mitchell lives in nearby Marietta, graduated from Wheeler High School, and wants to help tend to his ailing grandmother.
Mitchell, a 6'8" forward who averaged 6.5 points and 6.3 rebounds in 18 contests last season, enters his junior year in a new location that has undergone a lot of change.
It's an understatement to say the Jackets lost some beef in the offseason. Daniel Miller and Kammeon Holsey were four year players who each logged 125+ games in their Georgia Tech careers but graduated in the spring. In addition, stand-out power forward Robert Carter Jr. transferred away with two years of eligibility left.
Incidentally, Robert Carter Jr. decided to transfer to Maryland just days before Mitchell declared his intentions to leave but will have to sit out a season per NCAA rules.
After sitting out last season, Robert Sampson will be able to play out his senior year with Georgia Tech. Sampson transferred from East Carolina, where he almost averaged a double-double. If Sampson's name sounds familiar, he is the son of Naismith Hall of Fame member Ralph Sampson, one of the greatest NCAA basketball players of all time. He and Mitchell will be counted on to provide offense in Brian Gregory's post-heavy offensive schemes as well as crash the glass on both ends of the floor.
Mitchell joins Josh Heath, a former South Florida point guard, and Demarco Cox, the center originally from Ole Miss, as transfers to have immediate approval to play. Heath originally was recruited to Tampa and played under his father, Stan Heath, the head coach of the Bulls, but sought a new program after USF relieved his father of his duties. Cox is a graduate transfer, much like Pierre Jordan was from a few years ago, and will have one more year of eligibility.
The only constant from last year among the forwards and centers is sophomore Quentin Stephens, the wiry long-range shooter. Rounding out the core in the paint are two incoming freshmen, Abdoulaye "AD" Gueye and Ben Lammers.
Nick Jacobs is the lone incoming transfer not expected to receive immediate eligibility. Jacobs, the 6'8" forward, transferred from Alabama this summer where he averaged 8.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in 25 games played last season. He will have to sit out until 2015, when he'll have one year of eligibility remaining.
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