Dennis Scott has long been considered one of the greats in Georgia Tech men's basketball history, but he will officially join those other Jackets' legends on Friday when his No. 4 is retired by the program during a ceremony at halftime of the team's matchup vs. rival UGA at McCamish Pavilion.
Scott, who was the 1990 ACC Player of the Year and a First-Team All-American, was given the news this past June when Georgia Tech athletic Director J Batt and head basketball coach Damon Stoudamire surprised Scott with the announcement during a taping at the NBA TV studios just up the street from the Georgia Tech campus. Scott said the night it happened that they genuine surprise and described it is "that's how they got me."
Along with his many accomplishments on the court, the final hurdle to have his number retired by the program was getting a degree from Georgia Tech, which he accomplished last December when he completed an MBA program at the school to fulfill the Georgia Tech Athletics' requirement of graduating from the school in order to be honored. Scott said he attributes most of that to a promise he made to his mother many years ago.
"To make a long story short, how we got to this day is my wonderful mother. She just turned 82 this past May, but when she was 79...if you have a mother, if you have a grandmother, if you have an important woman in your life and they say something to you, she says 'Baby, I'm getting old. You promised me you would graduate," Scott remarked during a press conference at Georgia Tech on Tuesday to precede the big night on Friday.
He added that his mother has recently been sick but is feeling better now and will be in attendance Friday to see her son honored while his head coach at Georgia Tech, Bobby Cremins, and several teammates will also be there. Scott remarked that most of the time when old teammates get together it's because of a funeral, but this time it will be a joyous occasion.
"I had to share with my mom that (she) was bringing all of us back together by challenging me in my 50s to do something that I promised her I would do," said Scott. "So that's why we're here today."
Scott went on to say that his he could see the emotion on his mom's face when he told her that his number was going to be retired at Georgia Tech and his stubbornness and determination that he had in his playing days was the same approach that led him to completing his Georgia Tech degree.
"She just kind of gave me one of her normal smiles that 'I knew you could do it'," said Scott about delivering the news to his mother. "And throughout my whole life, all the different adversities I've had, it's always been a side of me that when I lock in and get focused and use my stubborness to get me right...which we all know my freshman and sophomore year, they were solid years, but then when I locked in, junior year speaks for itself."
Scott will join an elite group of former Jackets in the rafters who have had their number retired by the program, including Roger Kaiser (No. 21), Rich Yunkus (No. 40), Mark Price (No. 25), John Salley (No. 22), Tom Hammonds (No. 20) and Matt Harpring (No. 15). Cremins also has a banner alongside those players that honors the former Jackets' head-coaching great.
Scott was a third of the famous "Lethal Weapon 3" trio in 1990 that included Brian Oliver and Kenny Anderson, which led Georgia Tech to only its second-ever ACC title and the program's first trip ever to the Final Four. He was the ACC Rookie of the Year in 1987-88 and followed that with a sophomore season in which he earned third-team All-ACC and third-team All-America honors to help the Jackets make an NCAA Tournament appearance both years.
Scott then produced his biggest season as a junior as he set an ACC record that still stands today of 970 points during the 1989-90 campaign, averaging 27.7 points per game. He also made 137 3-pointers during that season, which was the the ACC record until JJ Reddick broke it in 2005-06 as Scott is still second on that list.
Scott reminisced during Tuesday's media session about when he started to notice his natural knack for shooting from the outside.
"I'd probably say my junior year in high school because what's different, if you remember, after practice guys would always hang around and try to dunk. Who could do the one-hand dunk? Who could throw it off the backboard? Well, I knew I wasn't super-athletic so I was never doing that," said Scott. "I was always shooting from half court, shooting from the hash mark, and then I realized I was the only one out there doing that. So that's when for me, when the game slows down, that's where your true basketball knowledge kicks in, and when you watch basketball today, college, high school, NBA, if somebody can't shoot, what do they do? They back up off them. I've never had that problem (laughs)."
Scott left after his junior season and was drafted No. 4 overall by the Orlando Magic where he went on to have an impressive NBA career as at one time he held the record for 3-pointers in a single game (11) and 3-pointers in a season (267). He played with the Magic until 1997 before finishing the final few years of his career bouncing around between several organizations, including the Mavericks, Suns, Knicks, Timberwolves and Grizzlies. In 2023, Scott was inducted into the Orlando Magic's Hall of Fame. He said that honor is special along with others, but getting this recognition at Georgia Tech is at the top of the list.
"This has been a very, very emotional, monumental and I think to your question recognition on how I played the game," said Scott. "Also I went into the Washington, D.C. Basketball Hall of Fame as well so that Hall of Fame, the Magic, but if I'm being brutally honest, this is still the best of coming back, wearing this Jacket, going to South Africa, getting my masters, that to me at my age and what I've been through, was more challenging and I can say just as gratifying as well."
Scott talked about the most memorable moments in his Georgia Tech career and mentioned his famous shot against North Carolina as well his first 40-point game that came in the first-ever ACC-Big East Challenge in Hartford, Connecticut that included a buzzer-beater. He said that it is a point of pride to be included with the other greats in Georgia Tech basketball history with one of those names really sticking out to him.
"I'm super excited because I remember one of the first relationships I built was through Mr. and Mrs. Roger Kaiser," said Scott. "And knowing how much of a class gentleman he is, and he was always respectful from Day 1 when I stepped foot on here as a freshman. And every year I would come back, he would always greet me with warm arms. So he's the first person that comes to mind because he set the stone for all of us to want to be here at Tech."
Scott said he is still a big supporter of the Georgia Tech program and has tried to help in recent years to get the Jackets back to where he expects them to be, which is in a Final Four, a national championship game or even cutting down the nets at the end of the tournament as the final team standing one day. He said he has let Stoudamire know that he's there to help any way he can.
"Dame (Damon) knows this. I can't tell all of my secrets, but I've had my hands on a few things that's going on, and I told Damon that my phone is always open, my door is always open because I want beyond the glory days. It's time to win one," said Scott. "Paul (Hewitt) did a hell of a job getting us to one more step than we did (in 1990), getting to the final game. Now it's time to win one. And we have to get players like myself, the Derrick Favors...We all know in this room that it's hard to win a championship if you don't have horses. Period. So how do we help Damon get the horses like we had. Like Bobby (Cremins) had something like eight out of 10 freshmen of the year when Bobby was hot. How do we get those type of guys in? But also have guys that want to be here for four years too. Because you've got to have a mixture of both. That's just the reality of how the sport is."
Along with the halftime ceremony to honor Scott, there will be a giveaway to the first 2,000 fans through the gate on Friday as they will receive a commemorative rally towel featuring a likeness of Scott's No. 4 jersey.
Scott said when he first heard his jersey retirement was going to happen on the night Tech hosted rival Georgia he had some reservations, but in the end, he said he thinks it will be a great night for the festivities with the history of the rivalry and his own personal disdain for the Bulldogs.
"I had mixed feelings on that at first because I thought it should've been against an ACC school. But I thought about it and I said, 'well, I still hate Georgia too.' This is the closest thing I carry red around ever (points to Starbucks cup)," said Scott, who also said it killed him during a recent promotional event to have to wear red shoes. "Then I got over it, and I said 'let's kick Georgia's butt.'"
