Why can’t Georgia State University (GSU) play ball?

I absolutely love Georgia State University, the largest university in Georgia and a school numerous Fayette County residents attend. When I was 18, I left UGA to get married to the love of my life, another UGA student. When I was 19, I got a job in downtown Atlanta at a bank which would pay my tuition to night school at GSU, the only place I could realistically work and go to college. After 10 years, I received both my undergrad and graduate degrees there, going at night. Those credentials were key in assisting me in advancing in my very successful career, ending up as a Senior Vice President for a national corporation.

When I went to GSU many decades ago, the area surrounding the city’s business district was in decline. No one with any resources would consider living there.

With its urban campus sprawling all over downtown Atlanta, GSU has completely remade the area. Million-dollar condominiums are being built on very safe, walkable streets that were once plagued by crime. I have witnessed this remarkable feat with amazement and admiration.

All Georgians should applaud the stellar track record of GSU, with 52,000 students, now the largest school in the deep South. In fact, in the entire South/Southwestern part of our nation, only 2 schools in Texas (Texas A&M University and University of Texas at Austin) and 3 in Florida (Florida International University, University of Florida, and University of Central Florida) have higher enrollments. In addition, GSU graduates more black men and women than any HBCU in the nation, a fact often overlooked.

Essentially, I have nothing bad to say about GSU…except its athletic program. I was never an athlete. But because I love the school, I have had season basketball and football tickets for many years. In a state known for great college teams (especially UGA and Tech, which always have winning teams), I just cannot figure out why GSUs teams are so mediocre. Scratch that- they are just plain bad.

Here is the GSU football record by year (wins/losses)-

• 2013: 0-12 (0-7 Conf.)
• 2014: 1-11 (0-8 Conf.).
• 2015: 6-7 (4-4 Conf.)
• 2016: 3-9 (2-6 Conf.)
• 2017: 7-5 (6-2 Conf.)
• 2018: 2-10 (1-7 Conf.)
• 2019: 7-6 (5-3 Conf.)
• 2020: 6-4 (6-4 Conf.)
• 2021: 8-5 (7-1 Conf.)
• 2023: 7-6 (5-3 Conf.)
• 2024: 6-7 (4-4 Conf.)
• 2025: 1-11 (0-8 Conf.)

So, in a 12-year period, GSU has only had a winning record 4 times since the start of the program. Almost two thirds of the time we lost, giving us a record of 65 wins and 126 losses. Even worse, GSU has not had a season as bad as 2025 since the program began in 2013-2014.

The football program is relatively new. But in the last few years, our Basketball team has not done much better. Here is the record for recent years (wins/losses)-

                                          Wins                            Losses 

2013-14	25	9
2014-15	25	10

2015-16	16	14
2016-17	20	13
2017-18	24	11

2018-19

24

10

2019-20

19

13

2020-21	16	6
2021-22	18	11
2022-23	10	21

2023-24           14

17

.

2024-25	14	19
2025-26 (inc.)	4	10

GSU’s basketball program did relatively well in its early years. It did especially well under Coach Hunter who was hired in 2011. But after the 2018 season, he left to go to Tulane (a big mistake on GSU’s part). Since 2021, we have not had a winning season. We have won 42 games and lost 67 from 2022 to 2025. In other words, GSU only won 39% of the time in the last 4 years. Dismal to say the least.

So, here comes the big question- Georgia State hired a new President in 2021, an “acclaimed engineer and computer scientist”. I do not know Dr. Brian Blake, but I have met him. He seems like a very nice guy, but he had no real answer when I asked him why GSU was losing so many games.

Until he does, GSU will continue to lose ball games, depressing alumni and student enthusiasm, key to building GSU’s reputation and future student body. And the fabulous, new $85.2 million GSU basketball stadium (the Convocation Center) will continue to be virtually empty. As will Center Parc Stadium (formerly known as Turner Stadium), the $30 million field where GSU football games are customarily lost, excuse me, played.