Sources: Georgia Tech closing on Troy’s Scott Cross as coach

Georgia Tech is focusing on a deal to rent troy coach Scott Cross to be the varsity’s subsequent males’s basketball head coach, sources instructed ESPN.

Cross led Troy to back-to-back NCAA tournaments and back-to-back Sun Belt regular-season championships. His observe file of constructing packages appealed to the Georgia Tech brass — he has received 350 profession Division I video games over 19 seasons as a head coach at UT Arlington and Troy.

Cross will change Damon Stoudamire, who was fired after failing to achieve the NCAA match in all three of his seasons as head coach.

Cross has three profession NCAA match appearances, together with No. 13 Troy’s loss to Nebraska on Thursday. He went 225-161 at UT Arlington from 2006-07 by means of 2017-18.

His dismissal at UT Arlington after three straight 20-win seasons has confirmed to be one of many largest administrative blunders in latest faculty basketball historical past.

Since former AD Jim Baker fired Cross In 2018, the Mavericks have churned by means of three coaches and had only one 20-win season.

At Georgia Tech, Cross takes over a program that has reached only one NCAA match since 2010. That got here underneath Josh Pastner; the 2 different coaches in that span, Brian Gregory and Stoudamire, failed.

Cross’ rent marks one of many first marquee additions for first-year athletic director Ryan Alpert, who got here to Georgia Tech from Tennessee in July.

Tech completed final within the ACC this season by two full video games, going 2-16 in league play and 11-20 general. Tech completed the 12 months on a 12-game shedding streak.

Troy completed the season 22-12 and 12-6 in league play. Troy beat San Diego State and Furman within the nonconference play this season.

Throughout the hiring course of, Tech officers made clear to candidates that they might fund this system competitively within the ACC.