Former South Atlanta standout Nick Jacobs is back in his hometown, at Georgia Tech
ATLANTA -- It took Nick Jacobs a year to get on the court at Georgia Tech.
It hasn't taken him that long to make his presence felt.
Jacobs grew up in Atlanta and played at South Atlanta with current Utah Jazz star Derrick Favors. Jacobs decided to sign with Alabama, where he played 93 games and made 57 starts before deciding to leave the team. He transferred to Georgia Tech after the 2013-14 season and had to wait a year before he could suit up. He was in street clothes last season while the team went through that forgettable 12-19 campaign.
"Last year was tough, sitting there watching all the close games my brothers went through," Jacobs said.
Jacobs has made sure the wait was worth it. In two games, the 6-foot-8 forward has averaged 17.5 points and 7.0 rebounds. That includes a 23-point effort against Tennessee on Tuesday that matched his career high from his Alabama days.
"He's getting in better shape," head coach Brian Gregory said. "Defensively, he's getting better. He's shown a great commitment to watching film and learning."
Two weeks ago, Gregory took Jacobs aside and showed him video from last year and how Demarco Cox was able to get himself in better position to play defense and get rebounds. The next day, Gregory noticed that Jacobs was trying to incorporate some the techniques he had been shown on the film.
"He wants to be a better player, and I think he knows this is his senior year and you only get so many chances," Gregory said.
Jacobs said, "I just want to win. If that's got to be me coming off the bench or being in the game just to defend or doing the little things . . ."
The Yellow Jackets will need Jacobs to be at the top of his game again at 7 p.m. on Thursday when Georgia Tech hosts Green Bay, the third of four consecutive home games to open the season. The Yellow Jackets (2-0) are coming off a nice win against the Volunteers and will need to play well against the Phoenix, who have won 24 games in each of the last two seasons.
Green Bay, a participant in the NIT the last two years, changed coaches after last year's 24-9 campaign. Brian Wardle moved on to Bradley and was replaced by Linc Darner, who came from Florida Southern, where he won the NCAA Division II championship in 2015. Green Bay is off to a 0-2 start with road losses to Stanford (in overtime) and East Tennessee State.
The Phoenix are led by senior guard Carrington Love, who is averaging 27 points. Love is a bomber who is 9-for-15 on 3-pointers. He scored a career-high 32 points and six 3-pointers at Stanford.
Charles Cooper averages 14.5 and Kenneth Lowe averages 13.5. Lowe had a career-high 23 points in the loss to ETSU, which began at 6 a.m. as part of ESPN's 24-hour basketball marathon. Jordan Fouse, who averaged 7.5 points and 7.1 rebounds a year ago, is averaging 8.5 points and 12 rebounds.
This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Former South Atlanta standout Nick Jacobs is back in his hometown, at Georgia Tech ."