The South Georgia Technical College Jets basketball team recently captured their second Georgia Junior College Athletic Association (GJCAA) basketball title and became the first team from the Technical College System of Georgia to earn a berth in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National basketball tournament.

The Jets finished the 2008-2009 season unbeaten on their home court with a 20-0 record after they defeated Georgia Perimeter 76-71 in the GJCAA tournament championship match-up which was held on the SGTC campus in Americus.   
That win allowed the Jets to advance to the NJCAA tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas.  It was South Georgia Tech’s first trip to the national tournament.
The Jets, who are only in their eighth season since the program was reinstated in 2001, may have earned their second GJCAA conference title, but it was definitely a season filled with many firsts as well including:

Jets head coach Steven Wright, who served as an assistant coach under Chris Wade when the program was reinstated and is now in his third season as head coach, was named GJCAA Coach of the Year for the first time

Jae Crowder was selected as the GJCAA Player of the Year for the first time

The team finished the season with their most wins ever with a 28-8 overall record

The team made their first trip to the NJCAA tournament and became the first technical college from Georgia to advance to the national tournament

The Jets won their first game in a national tournament by defeating Navarro College from Texas in overtime

Guard Antonio Bell became the first Jets player named to the NJCAA All-tournament team.

“This was a tremendous year for Jets basketball,” said Coach Wright.  “I made a statement at the beginning of the season at our booster club banquet that ‘The Jets are back!’  This team lived up to that billing.”

The Jets began the season with only one scholarship player returning from the 2007-2008 season, Quan Martin, a sophomore from Cedartown, GA.  It was Martin who sank a free throw with .9 seconds left to go in the GJCAA Championship game to clinch the Jets’ 76-71 victory and help propel them to their first national tournament.

Martin was named to the GJCAA All-Tournament team along with teammate Jae Crowder of Villa Rica, GA, who was also named the GJCAA Player of the Year.  Crowder and NJCAA All-Tournament team member Antonio Bell of Jonesboro, GA, were also named to the GJCAA All-Freshmen team.

The Jets have made it to the GJCAA Championship for five of the eight years that the program has been in place, playing Georgia Perimeter College in all five of those championships.  Last season Georgia Perimeter defeated the Jets in the finals to advance to the national tournament.  This year, the Jets returned the favor.

The Jets made a strong appearance in the first game of the NJCAA National Tournament by defeating Navarro College 91-89 in overtime, making them one of the top 10 teams in the national tournament.  The Jets dropped the next game, however, a 95-73 decision to Midland College, the team that eventually finished second in the nation. 

The members of the 2008-2009 South Georgia Technical College Jets team are:  Head Coach Steven Wright, Assistant Coach Reco Dawson, Rearkus McCrory of Shiloh, GA, Markell Smith of Milledgeville, GA, Josh Mason from Minneapolis, MN, Quan Martin of Cedartown, GA, Jamar Young of Bishop, GA, Paul Mitchell of Milledgeville, GA,  Ino Novak of Zagreb, Coratia, Tyson Randolph of Commerce, GA, Daley Strafford of Calhoun, GA, Antonio Bell of Jonesboro, GA, Jae Crowder of Villa Rica, GA, Greg Brooks of Macon, GA, and Josh Tarver of College Park, GA.