King Bees
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When we think of the best ACC basketball programs North Carolina and Duke come to mind. The conference has some other very good programs and once upon a time Georgia Tech was in that category. Let’s look at the best players in program history.
Mark Price (1982-86): He was a two-time All-American and four-time All ACC player.
Price lead the Yellow Jackets to an ACC Championship his junior year by beating North Carolina in the ACC Tournament championship game. He was the ACC Player of the Year in the 1984-85 season.
He was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 1991 and his jersey was retired. He holds several records and he’s the All-time leader in steals (240), consecutive games started (126), minutes played (4,604) and 3-point field goal percentage (.440). He was the first pick in the second round of the 1986 draft (25th overall) by the Dallas Mavericks.
Kenny Anderson (1989-91): He won ACC Rookie of the Year in 1990. Anderson was All ACC and All-American both years at Tech.
He averaged 23 points per game and 7 assists per game. He was a key member of the 1990 team that got to the Final Four. That team also won the ACC title. He was the second pick in the 1991 NBA draft by the New Jersey Nets.
Stephon Marbury (1995-96): You may have noticed a theme here since we have another point guard on the list.
Marbury was a 1995 McDonald’s All-American along with Kevin Garnett, Antawn Jamison, Paul Pierce and Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
He averaged 18.9 ppg and 4.5 apg and was named a Third Team All-American. Tech was 13-3 in conference play which made them the regular season ACC champs.
They advanced to the ACC Tournament championship game but lost by one point to Wake Forest, led by Tim Duncan.
The Yellow Jackets got to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament. He was selected fourth overall by Milwaukee in the legendary 1996 draft.
Chris Bosh (2002-03): Bosh was the ACC Rookie of the Year in 2003.
He averaged 15.6 points, 9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 31 games. Georgia Tech had a disappointing season and finished 16-15. They got to the third round of the NIT. He was the No. 4 pick by Toronto in 2003, which is another legendary draft class.
Dennis Scott (1987-90): He led the Yellow Jackets to the NCAA Tournament each year he played.
Scott was ACC Rookie of the Year in 1988, ACC Player of the Year in 1990 and Sporting News Player of the Year (1990). He was also a consensus second-team All-American in 1990. In his career he averaged 21.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 3 apg. He was the No. 4 pick by Orlando in the 1990 draft.
Matt Harpring (1994-98): Harpring was a four-year starter and was named First Team All-ACC three times.
He set career highs in his senior season with 21.6 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, ranking second in the ACC in both categories.
He finished his collegiate career as Georgia Tech’s second all-time leader in points (2,225) and rebounds (997).
Harpring is the institute’s all-time leader in free throws attempted (675) and made (508).
His jersey was retired in his final regular season home game. He was the 15th pick by Orlando in the 1998 draft.
Travis Best (1991-95): The McDonald’s All-American led Tech to the 1993 ACC Tournament Championship.
He averaged 16.6 ppg and 5.6 apg. He was one of only three ACC players to score 2,000 points with 600 assists. He was the 23rd pick in 1995 by Indiana.
