[email protected] Death Thrills Technique Sports Editor: Steven Cappetta DramaTech’s show Deathtrap will be 12 performed at DramaTech today and Friday, Sports tomorrow. Be there if it kills you.!9 July 10, 2009 Jackets earn Lawal returns for another season preseason Rising junior withdraws name from ‘09 NBA draft

WNITBy Steven Cappetta bid Sports Editor

On June 30, it was announced that the women’s team will play in the 2009 Preseason Women’s National Invita- tion Tournament. !is will be the Jackets’ second appearance in this tournament; the "rst came before the 2002-03 season, when the team reached the second round. Tech is one of the 16 teams in the "eld and will host Winthrop in the opening round. !e Jackets and Lady Eagles will face o# for the fourth time in school history. In the last matchup, which occurred last sea- son, Tech was able to defeat Winthrop 65-27 in the "rst round of the Bahamas Sunsplash Shootout. !e winner of this year’s game, scheduled for Nov. 13, will play either Okla- homa State or Arkansas-Little Rock in the second round. !is year’s WNIT will include 11 teams that reached the postseason last year. !is year’s "eld will include Arkansas-Little Rock, Bowling Green, Florida Gulf Coast, Marist, New Mexico, North Carolina A&T, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Winthrop, Chicago State, Eastern Illinois, Northern Colorado, Towson and the Uni- versity of Texas-El Paso. !e event will run from Nov. 13-22. !e second-round games will be played Nov. 15-16, the semi"nals on Nov. 18-19 and the championship game on Sunday, Nov. 22. All games will be hosted by the participating schools. Last year, No. 4 North Carolina defeated No. 2 Oklahoma 80-79 in the preseason WNIT championship game. !e game fea- tured a pair of top-"ve teams in a close game that had six ties and seven lead changes. Photo by Joey Cerone / Student Publications Tech’s berth in this year’s preseason Gani Lawal takes the court before last season’s game at North Carolina. Lawal, who led all Tech players in rebounding last WNIT is a mark of the team’s rise to promi- season, entered his name for the 2009 NBA draft before withdrawing to return for his junior year of . nence in collegiate women’s basketball. Last year, the Jackets had a single preseason exhi- By Nishant Prasadh second in scoring on the Jack- Trail Blazers and Cleveland conference schedule. bition game against Troy. But after a third Senior Sta! Writer ets’ roster with 15.1 points per Cavaliers would be making In Tech’s "rst "ve ACC straight 20-win campaign, the Jackets, who game after leading Tech in their picks. However, many games, he averaged 11.2 re- were ranked as highly as No. 22 in the coun- Around the same time that that category for most of the believed that Lawal would be bounds and two fouls per try last season, have begun to garner atten- Tech’s men’s basketball team season. better served returning for his game, but in the last "ve ACC tion on the national stage. secured the last of its six fresh- Additionally, two of his junior year of college basket- games he had just six rebounds man recruits in late April, the best statistical games came in ball. per game while committing team learned that forward Tech’s two biggest wins of the !e general consensus 3.8 fouls per game. Gani Lawal, a rising junior, season. among many scouts was that Both of those trends, a had submitted his name for He had 25 points and 10 he was still somewhat raw as decrease in rebounds and an the NBA draft. rebounds in the 76-74 upset a pro prospect, and he would increase in fouls, can be at- Lawal did not immediately of No. 6 Wake Forest on Jan. likely have to spend his "rst tributed to fatigue for a post hire an agent, meaning that he 31, and his 20 points and 14 couple of years in the NBA on player, and Lawal often had to was leaving open the option of rebounds helped Tech earn an the bench continuing to learn work hard to get open while returning to Tech for his ju- 86-81 victory over Clemson the game if he entered the facing double- or triple-teams nior year. in the "rst round of the ACC draft right away. throughout the ACC schedule. On June 15—the deadline tournament. ESPN’s Jay Bilas believed His declining numbers to- for players to decide wheth- After declaring for the that Lawal was talented wards the end of the season be- er or not to declare for the draft, Lawal participated in enough to be drafted, but that came a concern among NBA draft—Lawal announced that a number of pre-draft camps he would bene"t from return- teams, and proving that he he was withdrawing his name and workouts with several ing to Tech and working on could maintain a high level of from the draft pool, meaning NBA teams, all the while gath- his post play against ACC op- play for an entire season would he would be returning to Tech ering information on where he ponents. go a long way toward improv- for his junior year. was projected to be drafted By spending another year ing his draft stock. Although the men’s basket- and what he could do to im- re"ning his game, Lawal In the end, Lawal chose to ball team struggled last year prove his stock. would put himself in position return for his junior year. “I and "nished 12-19 on the sea- He performed well in these to be drafted earlier by a team learned a lot about my game son, Lawal had a strong year as postseason activities, and NBA looking to take someone ready and what I need to work on, the focal point of the Jackets’ scouts had plenty of positive to play right away, and thus and coming back to school will o#ensive scheme. things to say about Lawal’s avoid the risk of riding the be very bene"cial toward that !e 6-foot-9 power forward intelligence, footwork, mo- bench during some of his best end,” he said in an interview from Norcross High School tor skills, and his potential for potential years of professional with ramblinwreck.com. followed up a solid freshman success in the pro circuit. play. Lawal’s return means that year by averaging nearly a As mock NBA drafts be- Also, even though Lawal he will team with incoming double-double in points and gan to emerge, many projected posted very strong numbers freshman of Photo by Robert Combier / Student Publications rebounds as a sophomore. Lawal to be drafted late in against conference foes as a South Atlanta High School Iasia Hemingway goes for a layup during He led the team with 9.5 the "rst round, where strong sophomore, Lawal’s numbers to give the Jackets two strong last year’s home game against Virginia. rebounds per game, and was teams such as the Portland began to decline late in the post players for next season.