Georgia Tech Basketball: Can the Yellow Jackets recover from Josh Okogie’s departure?
With Josh Okogie heading off to the NBA Draft, Georgia Tech Basketball will be losing the team’s leading scorer. Can they recover to have a good 2018-19 season?
After a surprisingly good season two years ago, the 2017-18 basketball campaign for Georgia Tech took a major step back. The Yellow Jackets finished with a 13-19 (6-12) record, good for 13th in the ACC.
This next season was going to be a big question mark anyways for the team, with both Ben Lammers and Tadric Jackson graduating and moving on. A couple of other role players were transferring as well, hurting their depth even more.
There’s still talent in the program though. Jose Alvarado was a bright spot in an otherwise down season, averaging 12.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg and 3.1 apg. He’ll be joined on the perimeter with 6’4 guard Michael Devoe, a four-star recruit ranked in the top-50 of the 2018 class. A pair of wings is also coming abroad, with some offensive capabilities.
Problem is – they won’t have a star player to lean on, with the announcement that leading scorer Josh Okogie is staying in the NBA Draft and hiring an agent.
Josh Okogie announces he will remain in the NBA Draft. We wish him all the best! https://t.co/aJC09E5ucA
— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) May 21, 2018
The high-scoring guard came onto the scene in a big way his freshman year, averaging 16.1 ppg and 5.4 rpg. He was largely the reason for the Yellow Jackets’ success two years ago. Okogie played just 24 games this past year due to injuries and a preseason suspension, but still put up good numbers (18.2 ppg and 6.3 rpg) overall.
With him now gone, Georgia Tech will lose the team’s top three scorers from this past season. That’s freighting considering that they ranked 329th in team scoring. And even though Texas transfer James Banks is coming over for the 2019-20 season, the frontcourt depth is a big problem for next year.
One player that will have to make up for Okogie’s lost production is Shembari Phillips, who sat out last season after transferring in from Tennessee. The guard averaging 6.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg and 1.7 apg in 20 mpg and some spot starts for the Vols and could excel offensively on a team who really needs it.
Next: Top 21st Century ACC Players per team (Part 1)
Head coach Josh Pastner had a great beginning to his tenure at Georgia Tech. Last year’s performance brought the honeymoon phase to an end though. The Yellow Jackets will once again need to find some great talent out of nowhere, just like Okogie was two years ago.