Georgia Tech Basketball: Yellow Jackets land 7-footer Saba Gigiberia

Georgia Tech Basketball continues to work on its 2020 recruiting class. This time it’s in the frontcourt with big man Saba Gigiberia.

Since taking over the Georgia Tech basketball program in 2016, head coach Josh Pastner has taken a lot of heat from the fan base in regards to his recruiting successes, or lack thereof. Those criticisms may be a thing of the past as the Yellow Jackets have signed their third recruit of the early period in seven-foot center Saba Gigiberia.

Gigiberia is a native of the country of Georgia who plays his prep ball at Prolific Prep in California. He is currently a 4-star recruit ranked #85 in the country according to 247sports. At the 2019 U18 Euro Championships he averaged 8 points, 9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 16 minutes per game, albeit in only two games. The previous year in the u18 games he played in eight games where he averaged 8.6 points, 6.2 rebounds in just under 17 minutes per game.

The signing of Gigiberia gives Georgia Tech a three-man class for the 2020 cycle as Georgia (the state, not country) native Jordan Meka committed late in the summer and was soon joined by high scoring guard Tristan Maxwell. With James Banks III graduating at the end of this year, and Moses Wright and Evan Cole entering their senior seasons in 2020,  the Jackets desperately needed re-enforcements in the frontcourt. Meka is a tremendously athletic forward who reminds me a little bit of Jeremis Smith, while Gigiberia is a nice face-up pivot with solid fundamentals.

With each player intending to sign their letter of intent, the trio brings the roster count to 13 for next season. The recent sanctions placed upon the Georgia Tech program by the NCAA only allow 12 scholarships over the next few years. Tech is currently appealing those sanctions so it will be interesting to see what happens with the roster if the NCAA chooses not to rescind the restriction.

Regardless of what happens, you have to give kudos to Pastner and his staff for bringing together what is a sneaky good and very underrated 2020 class.