Brandon Alston will join Georgia Tech as a graduate transfer from Lehigh. The 6-foot-5 guard from Vienna, Va., will have two years remaining, as he sat out the 2015-16 season with a knee injury. More on the newest member of the Yellow Jackets.
What he did at Lehigh
Alston played in 62 games in two seasons at Lehigh, starting 11, including his final 10 games with the Mountain Hawks. As a redshirt sophomore this past season, he averaged 20.6 minutes per game, with 6.7 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. He showed some scoring pop, with eight games with double-figure scoring.
Lehigh tied for second in the Patriot League, which ranked 22nd out of 32 conferences in conference RPI last year.
Who else he considered and why he chose Tech
Perhaps the most credible assessment of his potential is that South Carolina also offered Alston and that Gonzaga, Oklahoma and LSU also had strong interest, Alston said. He took an official visit to South Carolina after visiting Tech last week (unofficially) before deciding on Tuesday.
Alston said that the draw with Tech was the potential for playing time, as was the opportunity to help turn around the program and return it to the NCAA tournament.
“Lehigh was a great school, great coaches,” he said. “I don’t really have any problems. I just feel like I wanted to look for a different program to showcase my abilities a little more on a different stage.”
How he might fit in at Tech
It remains to be seen, obviously, but he’ll have a shot. With Josh Heath and Corey Heyward graduating, the only returning perimeter players who were a regular part of the rotation are Josh Okogie and Tadric Jackson. Justin Moore showed flashes as a freshman and figures to improve, but how much he improves will likewise determine his playing time.
Freshmen Jose Alvarado and Curtis Haywood will have every opportunity to get on the court, but that also remains to be seen.
In two seasons, Alston demonstrated himself to be a capable college player, albeit in a conference far weaker than the ACC. He did shoot 35.2 percent from 3-point range, which on its own will give him a shot at playing time.
Simply given the jump in competition level, the transition figures to have its challenges. Both Jodan Price and Kellen McCormick joined Tech last year as graduate transfers out of the MAC, a higher tier mid-major than the Patriot League. After having come off the bench for their respective schools, both played sparingly.
That said, Alston, Price and McCormick are each cases unto themselves. Just because Price and McCormick couldn’t make the rotation doesn’t mean Alston can’t.
It’s conceivable that Alston is better than Price and McCormick and will see the floor regularly, but it will also depend on how he compares against Alvarado, Haywood and Moore.
He’s not coming to sit on the bench, though.
“Playing time is available there,” he said. “So they need help at the guard spot and Coach (Pastner) likes big guards.”
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