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Mark Price the Yellow Jacket
Standing at 6 feet (183 cm) tall, Price played college basketball at Georgia Tech. During his time playing on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men’s basketball team, he was a two-time All American and four-time All ACC basketball player who helped lead the Yellow Jackets to an ACC Championship his junior year by defeating North Carolina in the ACC Tournament championship game. He was named the ACC Player of the Year for the 1984–85 season and his jersey was retired. He was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 1991 and into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. Price graduated in four years with a degree in Industrial Management.
College records
- All-time Georgia Tech leader in 3-point field goal percentage (.440, 1983–86)
- All-time Georgia Tech leader in steals (240, 1983–86)
- All-time Georgia Tech leader in consecutive games started (126, 1983–86)
- All-time Georgia Tech leader in minutes played (4,604, 1983–86)
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GT Yellow Jackets NCAA Football Champs 1990
The Jackets posted an undefeated 11–0–1 record. For the season the Yellow Jackets offense scored 379 points while the defense allowed 186 points. Highlights from the season included a nationally televised win over #1 Virginia on the road and a defeat of archrival Georgia for the second consecutive year. Georgia Tech capped off the season by defeating Nebraska, 45–21, in the Florida Citrus Bowl. Head coach Bobby Ross and the Yellow Jackets were awarded a share of the national championship, winning the UPI Poll title by one vote over Colorado, who won the AP Poll title. The team was selected national champion by the UPI coaches poll, Dunkel, and Sagarin (ELO-Chess), while co-national champion by both FACT and NCF.
The Ramblin’ Reck Club is charged with upholding all school traditions and creating new traditions such as the SWARM. The SWARM is a 900-member spirit group seated along the north end zone or on the court at basketball games. This is the group that typically features body painting, organized chants, and general fanaticism.
The marching band that performs at halftime and after big plays during the football season is clad in all white and sits next to SWARM at football games providing a dichotomy of white and gold in the North End Zone. The band is also the primary student organization on campus that upholds the tradition of RAT caps, wherein band freshman wear the traditional yellow cap at all band events.
College Sports Established
1896
Location
Atlanta, Georgia
College Name
Georgia Institute of Technology
Collegiate History
1973 – Present / NCAA Division 1
1921 – 1973 / University Division of the NCAA
1907 – 1921 / Athletic Association of the United States
Conference History
1979 – Present / ACC
1975 – 1979 / Metro Conference
1933 – 1975 / Independent
1921 – 1933 / Southern Conference
1896 – 1921 / Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Nickname
Yellow Jackets – As far as can be determined, the first reference to Tech students as “Yellowjackets” appeared in the Atlanta Constitution in 1905 and came into common usage at that time.
Historians say the name, spelled as one word, was first used to describe supporters who attended Tech athletic events, dressed in yellow coats and jackets. The actual mascot was conceived at a later date, still undetermined.
Other common nicknames which have applied to Georgia Tech teams include Engineers, which is still used by some writers; the Techs, the first known nickname which was phased out sometime around 1910; and the Blacksmiths, which was common between 1902 and 1904 and is thought to be an invention of sportswriters at the time.
The Golden Tornado is another former nickname thought to be created by sportswriters when John Heisman led Tech to its first national championship in football in 1917. Tech was the first team from the South to earn the honor bestowed by the International News Service, and any team thereafter which approached the same level of excellence was referred to as the Golden Tornado. The nickname was used as late as 1929, when Tech defeated California in the Rose Bowl.
NCAA Championships
Baseball 0
Men’s Basketball 0
Women’s Basketball 0
Football 4
1990, 1952, 1928, 1917
Soccer 0
