While they've unofficially been a part of Georgia Tech's 2025 recruiting class for a while, the trio of Akai Fleming, Cole Kirouac and Brandon Stores Jr. officially signed to join Damon Stoudamire's program on Wednesday.
Fleming and Kirouac signed during a ceremony on at Overtime Elite Arena while Stores signed at a ceremony at his school at St. Raymond's (New York).
Fleming, a four-star guard, committed to Georgia Tech last April. He spoke with JOL back in October and talked about the relationship with Georgia Tech's coaching staff as well as their NBA experience as a big factor in his decision to become a Yellow Jacket.
"I have a good relationship with Georgia Tech. Right now we're just building trust. I mean I talk to Coach Stoudamire every week and just building our relationship for the next level is the last key part is what we've got going on," said Fleming. "I love Georgia Tech. The coaching staff, they've got NBA personnel. I feel like they can get me to the next level, and Coach Stoudamire as a coach, what he did last year, building Georgia Tech up in his first year."
The three-star center Kirouac originally committed to Georgia Tech in 2023 and was set to become a part of the Jackets' 2024 class before reclassifying to 2025 so he could have another year of development physically and working on his game just down the street at OTE. Kirouac said he was sold early on with his decision to choose Georgia Tech as he clearly sees the program moving in the right direction.
"I'm just excited to get out there and wear that Georgia Tech uniform, play in the ACC,” said Kirouac. “And I think with the guys that are there now and with the class coming in, we have a shot to be really good. I think it really is (a program on the rise). The coaching staff, they were all really cool. I'm excited for what they have for me and the guys coming in."
One other member of the Jackets' 2025 class, guard Eric Chatfield Jr. from Pace Academy, will sign at a later date to officially add their names to the Georgia Tech program.
Stoudamire was asked about the class as a whole on Tuesday night following Georgia Tech's 81-62 victory over Texas Southern to move to 2-1 on the early season. The second-year head coach said he is excited about the class and the further ability to build depth and build out the entire roster with the group he and his staff has coming in is a big plus.
"It's depth. The big thing about it, I think the big thing now is that you know you're trying to find guys and you have to build out a roster. And I think that that's neglected," said Stoudamire. "Most people consider NIL to be a liability, but I don't consider it that. I mean my background is I've been in the NBA and I was fortunate enough with the organizations that I was with as a coach, I was privy to learn and little did I know that NIL was going to come about. But I kind of learned strategically what you need to do to try to put together a roster, and that's what I try to do. So the way I recruit I try to recruit guys that fit the mold of what I'm looking for in a player within my offensive and defensive schemes. I'm not going to just recruit talent. I'm not going to recruit talent, I'm not going to get drunk off talent. But what I'm going to do is I want to find fits. I want to find a guy that has a trick. What does he do well? Can he do one thing well? Can he do two things well? There's a lot to be excited about the group that I'll be bringing in, and it is kind of refreshing for me as I look at the group because it's not only a good group of basketball players, but they're high-character guys who come from high-character families. They believe and have the right things instilled in them. So I'm looking forward to getting them onboard and getting them here next May."
While the Jackets have four members already in the 2025 class, they aren't quite done yet with this year's cycle as multiple other high-value targets remain on the board, including four-star small forward Bryson Tiller, another OTE product, who recently announced a top four of Georgia Tech, Kansas, Auburn and Indiana and will make his decision soon.
Georgia Tech is still recruiting five-star power forward Caleb Wilson from Holy Innocents in Atlanta and also recently hosted 6-foot-10 center prospect Mouhamed Sylla from Bella Vista Prep (Arizona) a couple weekends ago after he received an offer from the Yellow Jackets.
