With Gani Lawal withdrawing from the NBA draft—and touted freshman Derrick Favors coming in—Georgia Tech has the opportunity to go from a cellar dweller to a conference contender next season.

In addition to Lawal, who averaged 15.1 points and 9.5 rebounds a game, and Favors, ranked by Rivals.com as the nation's No. 4 freshman, the Jackets also welcome back D'Andre Bell.

Bell had the best season of his career in 2007-08 before missing all of last year because of a condition called spinal stenosis. He had surgery in December and has been cleared to play in 2009-10.

They aren't all that is in the Yellow Jackets' cupboard, however.

Guard Iman Shumpert and forward Zachary Peacock combined for 61 starts last season, and Mo Miller started 16 games...]]> Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:10:23 PDT ncaab urn:newsml:sports.yahoo,sportsxchange:20080101:ncaab,article,teamreports-2009-ncaab-gah:1 Georgia Tech has more reasons to be optimistic about its basketball season after learning that Gani Lawal will remain at the school. Lawal has withdrawn from the NBA draft and will return for his junior season. Lawal, a 6-foot-9 forward, averaged 15.1 points and 9.5 rebounds. He ranked second in the Atlantic Coast Conference in rebounds and led the league in double-doubles. Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:01:44 PDT ncaab urn:newsml:sports.yahoo,ap:20050301:ncaab,article,ap-gatech-lawal:1 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 07:36:00 PDT ncaab urn:newsml:sports.yahoo,rivals:20050301:ncaab,article,rivals-301331:1 Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:27:00 PDT