Scouting Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech returns all five starters from last year, but also won’t have a chance to play in the postseason this season. The Yellow Jackets were banned by the NCAA this fall for violations surrounding the program.

The Yellow Jackets went 14-18 overall and 6-12 in the ACC. One of those ACC wins was against NC State, 63-61, on March 6 at PNC Arena. The Wolfpack shot a miserable 8 of 35 (22.9 percent) on three-pointers that day.

Georgia Tech travels to NC State to open up the season at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on the ACC Network. Here is a scouting report on Georgia Tech.

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Georgia Tech found out a month ago it was going to be put on four years of probation, with a postseason ban this year. Reaching the NIT could have been a semi-realistic goal for the program.

Texas transfer James Banks III got a waiver last year and revived his college career, and VMI junior guard Bubba Parham received one this fall to be eligible right away. Banks and former Tennessee guard Shembari Phillips are the lone seniors on the squad, so the Yellow Jackets will be building for next year.

In the newly established NET rankings done by the NCAA, Georgia Tech finished No. 127 in the country last year.

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) had the Yellow Jackets at No. 107 last year and No. 72 this preseason. KenPom.com has GT at No. 66 going into this season, but the Yellow Jackets were No. 115 a year ago.

The Yellow Jackets were ranked No. 152 last year in the old RPI formula used by the NCAA — according to RealTimeRPI.com.

Georgia Tech was a poor shooting team last year, and that won’t likely change. Junior power forward Moses Wright of Raleigh hit the lone three-pointer in last year’s win over State. GT shot 1 of 5 from beyond the arc overall.

The Yellow Jackets were dead last in the ACC in three-point shooting (30.7 percent) a year ago. Sophomore Michael Devoe has missed some practice time this fall due to a toe injury, but he returns and led the team at 39.3 percent last year. Junior point guard Jose Alvarado drained a team-high 44 three-pointers, but he only shot 28.6 percent from beyond the arc.

Parham averaged 21.4 points per game and shot 39.7 percent on three-pointers at Virginia Military Institute last year. However, he missed all four shots and was scoreless against Alabama in Georgia Tech’s exhibition loss Oct. 27. USC transfer Jordan Usher could also help out the outside shooting this season, but the small forward isn’t eligible until the Ball State game Dec. 18.

The one-two punch of Banks and Wright will have most of the rebounding responsibilities fall on to them, but the Yellow Jackets do stress to their guards to help out the big men. Banks averaged 7.7 boards per game last year, while Wright was at 3.7. However, Wright came alive the last five games of the season, and grabbed at least seven rebounds in three of them.

Georgia Tech ranked 13th in the ACC with 33.5 rebounds per game last year, plus were last in offensive rebounding (8.2). Junior Evan Cole and sophomore Kristian Sjolund back up Banks and Wright. Cole went for 13 points and 11 rebounds against Georgia College in Georgia Tech’s first exhibition game.

The Yellow Jackets hope to play at a slower tempo and will mix in some zone on defense. GT allowed 66.6 points per game last year, which ranked fifth in the ACC. Banks helped Georgia Tech block 5.19 shots per game as a team, which ranked second in the league, and Wright is an active shot blocker who has a larger role this season.

Banks blocked 2.5 shots per game, and he had at least five rejections in four games, including seven against Clemson on Feb. 6, 2019. Banks has a wingspan of 7 feet, 5.35 inches and a standing reach of 9 feet, 3.5 inches.

The depth will improve when Usher is eligible, but until then the Yellow Jackets will probably play a core of seven players, with four reserves hoping to create more depth. Cole originally signed with Kevin Keatts at UNC Wilmington and then picked Georgia Tech over NC State when Keatts was hired to coach the Wolfpack.

Cole showed promise as a freshman, but took a step back last year and averaged 4.1 points and 2.5 rebounds per game in 18 contests played. He had a team-high 18 points off the bench against Alabama in the exhibition game. GT also had Parham coming off the bench in its exhibition games.

The transformation of Banks last year was pretty stunning. The Decatur, Ga., native went to prep powerhouse La Lumiere in La Porte, Ind., for his senior year, and was ranked No. 83 in the country by Rivals.com in the class of 2016. NC State had offered him but didn’t get a lot of traction. He eventually picked Texas, but sat behind recruiting classmate Jarrett Allen, who became a first-round pickin the NBA Draft. Banks’ sophomore year he was a reserve for freshman center Mohamed Bamba, who became a lottery pick.

The 6-10, 250-pound Banks transferred back home to Georgia Tech and got a waiver to play immediately last year. He averaged 1.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 12.4 minutes per game his sophomore year at Texas. Banks jumped to 10.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game at Georgia Tech.

Banks needed a few games to hit his stride, but he went for 12 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out against Northwestern in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. He finished with seven double-doubles in points and rebounds. Banks had his best game, going for 24 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, in a 79-51 loss versus Louisville Jan. 19.

Banks hit the game-winning dunk to top NC State last year with one second remaining. He finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and five blocks that game.

NC State

PG — 11 Markell Johnson (6-1, 175, Sr., 12.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.1 spg)

SG — 13 C.J. Bryce (6-5, 210, 5th-Sr., 11.6 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.1 spg)

G — 10 Braxton Beverly (6-0, 180, Jr., 9.4 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 2.5 apg) or 24 Devon Daniels (6-5, 205, R-Jr., 9.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.6 apg)

F — 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 205, So., 5.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.7 apg) or 31 Pat Andree (6-8, 220, Sr., 12.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.7 apg at Lehigh)

C — 15 Manny Bates (6-11, 230, R-Fr., no statistics in 2018-19)

Georgia Tech

PG — 10 Jose Alvarado (6-0, 179, Jr., 12.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.8 spg)

SG — 0 Michael Devoe (6-5, 193, So., 9.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.4 spg)

SF — 12 Khalid Moore (6-7, 203, So., 4.2 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.2 apg)

PF — 5 Moses Wright (6-9, 230, Jr., 6.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 0.8 apg)

C — 1 James Banks (6-10, 250, Sr., 10.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 1.4 apg, 2.5 bpg)

Three-point shooting: Georgia Tech shut down NC State’s three-point shooting in last year’s win, and that wasn’t a fluke. The Yellow Jackets ranked 11th in the country and second in the ACC in holding opponents to 29.7 percent shooting from long range.

Keep Bubba Parham in check: Parham scored at least 30 points in nine games last year for VMI, including shooting 10 of 16 from three-point land en route to 35 points against Kentucky on Nov. 18, 2018. He had a season-high 41 points against Western Carolina in the Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinals, and had 38 against WCU two weeks earlier.

41 turnovers: Georgia Tech committed 41 turnovers in two exhibition games against Georgia College and Alabama. GT averaged 14.3 turnovers per game in ACC contests last year.

It really doesn’t get much different from each other than three-point sniper Pat Andree of NC State and Moses Wright of Georgia Tech.

The 6-9, 230-pound Wright was one of the more fascinating developments in the ACC at the end of last year. He was home-schooled and a complete unknown in recruiting circles for the first three years of high school. He played on the Garner Road B-team in traveling team basketball. He made the move to Raleigh Enloe High for his senior year, and became a spring signee for Georgia Tech.

Wright had a shaky freshman year, averaging 3.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in 16.6 minutes per game. He shot just 30.7 percent from the field. Wright improved to 47.0 percent from the field last year, and averaged 6.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per contest.

The last five games of the season, he showed he wasn’t just a raw post player. It started with going for 19 points and five boards against Miami on Feb. 23, 2019. Two games later he went for 18 points, eight boards and two blocks against NC State in the regular season finale. Wright wore out Notre Dame for 25 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in the ACC Tournament.

Wright made 36 of 58 field goals for 62.1 percent over the last five games, plus added six blocks and 31 rebounds.

Conversely, Andree will try and take Wright away from the basket. The 6-8, 220-pound graduate transfer from Lehigh averaged 12.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game last year. He shot an impressive 41.9 percent on three-pointers. Andree made 167 of his 283 field goal attempts from beyond the three-point arc last year.

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