Stoudamire talks up Kelly and more in first preseason presser

ATLANTA- Georgia Tech men's basketball coach Damon Stoudamire held his first press conference of the fall as the Jackets began practice this week. The season starts in several weeks and the new Tech coach didn't hold back on expectations for his leading returning scorer Miles Kelly.

Kelly's name and Stoudamire's expectations were at the forefront of his mind during his opening statement.

"I will say this before I go any further," Stoudamire offered just a few seconds into his media appearance. "Miles Kelly, I think he has to play at an All-American level. Some people say, 'Oh he skipped steps." He hasn't, I think been All-ACC as of yet, but I need him to play at an All-American level. I think that is key for us. He has to be a shotmaker and his ability to do that will definitely impact this team."

Kelly averaged 14.4 points per game last year and shot just under 38% from three playing 32.4 minutes per game. In the final four games of last season, Kelly averaged 21.8 points per game while hitting on 19 of his final 43 three-point attempts for a 44.2% three-point mark in those games.

Stoudamore also heaped praise on true freshman forward Baye Ndongo immediately after talking about Kelly's expected major role on the team before going into other key contributors.

"Ndongo, he is a freshman and I think he will be a guy that really impacts this program at a high level," Stoudamire said.

In the backcourt along with Kelly, Stoudamire said Ole Miss transfer Amaree Abram and returning guards Lance Terry and Kyle Sturdivant are primed for large roles as combo guards in the Jackets' new offensive scheme.

"I think Amaree Abram will be a really good player for us as well. I think Lance will be Lance. I don't look in the past, but I think Lance is a really good college player and I think that Kyle Sturdivant will help us because up this point he has been a really good college player and they're older and they are experienced so I look forward to coaching those guys."

For Sturdivant and the other returning guard/wing Deebo Coleman, Stoudamire said they are learning his way of doing things and having to adjust.

"I think both of them are doing well," Stoudamire said when asked specifically about those two players. "I think it has been different for them in a sense. I'm more demanding. I won't let you skip steps. I didn't get to where I got to by skipping steps. They've done everything I've asked them to. You can see them each getting better every day and more comfortable with the things that we are trying to do. Both of them will have big impacts on this team."

The Jackets were often undersized last year playing with center Rodney Howard (6'10") early in the year and pivoting to Ja'von Franklin being the primary post player at six-foot-seven. Stoudamire said adding size and length to the team was an immediate goal for him.

"In getting this job, I wanted to add length with athleticism. I don't have a physically imposing player I would say, but within that, I have a lot of speed and quickness and a lot of shot blocking. We can get up the floor defensively and harass teams and can get up and down offensively so that is kind of how I looked at it," Stoudamire said. "If you really look at the roster and you take a couple of our smaller guards we pretty much range from six-four to six-eleven and that was intentional."

The biggest change from Stoudamire's previous college stops at Pacific as a head coach and Arizona and Memphis as an assistant to the current version of college sports has been the transfer portal. Stoudamire made it clear he is not a big fan of unrestricted free agency in college basketball.

"It was okay," he said of his portal experience. "In the past, it wasn't as bad, guys did transfer but it would be a little different. I think moving forward for me I like freshmen. It gets hard sometimes and I think I got on the right guys and we have really good players but more so high character people but I like to know the guy's family. I want to know who surrounds him. I want to know a little more about him and it makes it hard (using the portal). So I would rather moving forward have those guys support my main guys that are already here and add guys without compromising the culture."

On Tuesday night the Jackets' 2023-24 schedule will be released and Tech fans will find out when and where they can see Stouadmire's new-look Jackets.