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Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009

Tech’s Joseph confident about upcoming season

ATLANTA — There are only three teams MaChelle Joseph can see sitting atop the ACC’s women’s basketball standings at season’s end: North Carolina, Duke and ... you guessed it, Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets’ head coach said Tuesday afternoon during a preseason news conference that she is fully confident her squad has the ability to rank among the best before the year is done.

“We’ve gone out the last three or four years and we’ve signed top-10, top-20 classes in the country, and we’ve worked extremely hard to develop that talent,” Joseph said. “I’m confident in standing here and saying that we want to challenge those top teams and have a chance to win the ACC and advance into the NCAA tournament.”

To understand her optimism, look no further than last season.

Going 22-10, the Yellow Jackets reached the NCAA tournament for the third straight year. Before being bounced out of the tournament by No. 4 Oklahoma, Georgia Tech was the only team — aside from North Carolina — to have played each of the tournament’s eventual No. 1 seeds.

For a team continuing to build a firm foundation of success, the experiences of last season have paid off exponentially.

“I think, Georgia Tech, we’re right there,” Joseph said. “I don’t see why we won’t be considered in the top-three (in the ACC) as a contender.”

Part of that is the by-product of a particular mentality she instills in her players on a regular basis.

“I don’t think that you can live in fear of anything. I tell our players that you can’t play this game afraid, and I’m not afraid to say that we have a tremendous amount of talent,” Joseph said. “And I put a lot of pressure on myself because I feel like we have everything at Georgia Tech we need to be successful. I have no excuses.”

Helping the Yellow Jackets’ confidence, All-ACC selection Alex Montgomery is expected to make a strong return by December. The 6-foot-1 wing player tore her ACL in the final game of the ACC tournament last year against Clemson.

While Montgomery missed both games in the NCAA tournament, she has already begun shooting around and participating in various workouts.

“Really it’s about looking back and thinking that they made it without me,” Montgomery said. “With me, I know they can make it, but (to still compete) without me, it’s like there’s just all this excitement to get out there again.”

The Yellow Jackets’ season begins at home Nov. 13 against Winthrop in round one of the WNIT.