Jackets lose key player for early part of season
Georgia Tech senior shooting guard Lewis Clinch will miss at least the team’s first six games because of academic issue.
Clinch averaged nine points per game last season (39.8 percent from the field) and started 14 games, but with the lack of depth with this year’s Yellow Jackets team, his role was expected to increase, and he reportedly looked very good in practices.
Georgia Tech also lost DeAndre Bell to a career-ending spinal injury last month and the Yellow Jackets are down to three scholarship perimeter players for at least the first six games — sophomores Maurice Miller and Lance Storrs, and freshman Iman Shumpert. Storrs, who averaged seven minutes a game last season, is the leading candidate to see a more significant role.
The school released a statement saying that Clinch could regain his eligibility after the semester, which ends Dec. 12. It’s not the first time that academics have been a problem for Clinch. He was the team’s leading scorer through the first part of his sophomore season before missing the second semester because of academics.
Clinch, who was second on the team last year with 44 3-pointers, will miss two early tests, both at home, for Georgia Tech, against Penn State and Vanderbilt but would at least be back for ACC play, assuming he regains his eligibility.
Incidentally, the 6-foot-6 Bell, regarded as the Yellow Jackets’ top defensive player, has said he still hopes to complete his college career in the 2009-10 season.
Assuming Clinch comes back, Tech will return four of the top seven scorers from a team that finished strong with four wins in its last six games and went 4-4 on the road in the ACC — making Tech one of only four conference members with a .500 or better record away from home in league games. The Jackets finished 15-17 overall and 7-9 in the ACC last season.
Georgia Tech opens the season Friday against Winston-Salem State.
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