Clinch talks about college selection

The wait is over before the race really began for Lewis Clinch. The strong bodied guard from Cordele, Ga., made a verbal commitment on Monday, just 24 hours after visiting an Atlantic Coast Conference program. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound shooting guard needed one visit to make sure he knew where he wanted to go.

“I committed to Georgia Tech,” he said. “I decided that they were the best fit for me. Not saying the other schools weren’t good but Georgia Tech just gives me the best opportunity for basketball and academics.”

The No. 36 ranked player in the nation by Rivals.com visited the Atlanta campus over the weekend for his first official visit and that was enough to make it his choice easy. In fact, the Yellow Jackets were always the favorite school, he said.

“It’s been back and forth with them all summer but Georgia Tech has always been my number one school. I didn’t want to say that out loud because I wanted to keep my options open and scare any other schools off,” he said. “Coach Hewitt, (assistant coaches) Cliff Warren, Willie Reese and Peter Zaharis always shot straight with me. They weren’t going to tell me anything that isn’t true.

“I just felt at home there. The coaches and players just made me feel so welcome. They made me feel like I was part of the family, even the players that aren’t going to be there next year.

“Me and Alade Aminu (the other Georgia Tech commitment who was there for his official visit as well) just clicked like we’ve been together all summer long,” Clinch said. “We are on the same page already.”

Clinch is a dynamic scoring guard that has the ability to put up 30-plus points in any given game. His skills, and story, resembles that of current Georgia Tech senior guard B.J. Elder. Elder, who grew up in rural south Georgia like Clinch, was also a bit of a national unknown at the prep level, again, like Clinch. The high school senior knows he has a challenge ahead of him, trying to replace Elder.

“Those are some pretty big shoes to fill, too,” Clinch said.

“Coach Hewitt said the same thing about that. From an offensive standpoint, he’s probably their best player. That’s an honor when the head coach says that about a player he trusts so much."

Clinch had plans to officially visit Georgia and Wake Forest. Even Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski had an in-home visit scheduled with Clinch.