Hewitt surprise speaker at Georgia Tech Club meeting
The Georgia Tech Club of Augusta got an unexpected visit from men's basketball coach Paul Hewitt at its annual meeting Tuesday night at St. Mark United Methodist Church.
While the crowd expected Athletic Director Dan Radakovich to be in attendance, Hewitt served as a last-minute replacement because Radakovich was in Athens for the women's tennis team's NCAA championship match against UCLA.
Hewitt greeted the crowd by offering an opening statement regarding the topic he knew was on everybody's mind: the status of Thaddeus Young and Javaris Crittenton, the pair of freshmen who recently entered their names into NBA Draft consideration.
When asked for his expectation of Tech's 2007-08 regular season record, Hewitt offered an honest reply.
"I'll tell you after the draft," he said with a smile.
If both freshman return, Georgia Tech will be a preseason top-10 team, Hewitt said, and will probably be ranked regardless.
Hewitt said that neither has retained an agent, which means that both will have until June 18 to decide whether to remain in the draft pool.
While the discussion opened with Georgia Tech's youngest players, it moved to past Yellow Jackets, many of whom Hewitt praised for representing the university well.
One example is eight-year NBA veteran Matt Harpring, whose role in bringing the Utah Jazz to the Western Conference final wasn't lost on Hewitt.
"The truth is that lots of guys have probably been more impressive physically," Hewitt said. "But the things he does in the community and the professionalism he plays with have kept him around the league."
With alumni making up the majority of the attendees, Hewitt addressed the difficulty of recruiting.
"When I'm recruiting, I go to high school counselors who have worked with these kids. Later, many of them tell me that no other coach talked with them," said Hewitt. "We need to know if these kids are motivated in their schoolwork, because otherwise, it just won't work."
Georgia Tech senior Mario West, who won the college slam dunk contest during this year's event in Atlanta, also was singled out by Hewitt.
"I gave him a scholarship after his first year because nobody plays harder than he does," Hewitt said. "He's one of those guys who takes every opportunity you give him. Whatever he does doesn't surprise me anymore."
See more at http://chronicle.augusta.com
