Georgia Tech Basketball: Player Preview - Charles Mitchell

As basketball season approaches, we at FTRS will be breaking down the team player by player. We start this series with senior Forward Charles Mitchell.

Recruitment

Charles Mitchell came out of Wheeler High School in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2012 as a four-star recruit. After getting offers from Georgia, Cincinnati and Florida State, among others, but not Georgia Tech, Mitchell elected to commit to Maryland.

Mitchell made an immediate impact for the Terrapins. In his first season, Mitchell ranked third among ACC freshmen in rebounds per game at 5.4, which was good for 17th in the country. All of that was as a part-time player. Per 40 minutes, Mitchell averaged 13.7 rebounds (best in the nation).

Over the season, Mitchell shot 51 percent from the floor and averaged 5.5 points per game for a Maryland team that finished 25-13 (8-10 ACC) and in seventh place in the ACC. In an early-season match-up against Lafayette, Mitchell came off the bench and scored 12 points off the bench. He would go on to have good games against Georgia Southern (13 points, 11 rebounds off the bench), Maryland-Eastern Shore (10 points, 11 rebounds off the bench) and Delaware State (19 points, 14 rebounds off the bench).

In his sophomore season, Mitchell continued his excellent play, appearing in every game that season and becoming a starter for the final 10 games of the season. He shot 51.7 percent from the floor and averaged 6.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. That 6.3 rebounds per game was tops on the team and sixth in the ACC among underclassmen. He posted double-doubles against Abilene Christian (15 points, 11 rebounds) and No. 5 Ohio State (12 points, 11 rebounds).

Following his sophomore season, Mitchell announced he would transfer from Maryland to Georgia Tech the week immediately following the announcement from Robert Carter, Jr., to transfer from Georgia Tech to Maryland.

History

Early in the fall following Mitchell's transfer, he was granted a waiver from the NCAA that allowed Mitchell to be eligible in his first season on the Flats, meaning he could play for the Jackets right away, where he immediately became a starter. He started the first 18 games for the Jackets before competing in the last 13 off the bench.

Mitchell made his impact felt immediately against Georgia in his first start. He scored what would be his season-high of 20 points and grab nine rebounds. In just his second game, he would record the first of seven double-doubles last season against Alabama A&M (12 points, 14 rebounds).

Mitchell finished second on the team in scoring (9.8 points per game), shooting 52.1 percent from the floor (best on the team). He also averaged seven rebounds per game, which was also the best on the team.

Over the summer, the Yellow Jackets took a short trip to the Bahamas, and Mitchell was pretty dominant. In the first of three games, Tech took on the Atlantis All-star. Mitchell hit 10-of-12 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the line for 28 points and also had 10 rebounds. He finished the three games shooting 77.8 percent from the floor and hit 9-of-15 from the line. He averaged 17 points and eight rebounds per game.

This Season

This season, Charles Mitchell is expected to be a leader on this team. He is a senior and definitely one of the better players on the team. While one of the younger guys may end up with a starting job instead of him, he has made it clear that he can make his presence known from the bench. I don't expect that to be the case at the beginning of the season, but we'll see how the season goes.

Mitchell, in part, represented Georgia Tech at this year's ACC Media Days. You can check out the full transcript here (Link), but I just wanted to share this quote:

Q. When you say you're down on yourself if you don't give it your all, is there an aspect of your game which you think about in the locker room that was not part of that all, the rebounding and -- what is it?

CHARLES MITCHELL: Rebounding to me, that's my best attribute, as I say. It's all about effort and that's what I give. I give my effort. When I say I give my all, after the game, if we lose by two or three points, four points, you look at the shot attempts you take, the free throws you missed, the rebounds you could have got, like the plays you could have made yourself personally, and you don't beat yourself up about it, but you think about, dang, what if I did or what if I could have. And I don't want to have that this year of what if could have got that point or that rebound, it would have been a different outcome. So I just try to leave all those thoughts this year and just get it done.