With his playing rotation set, Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner wants to make the rest of the season worthwhile for freshman forwards Evan Cole and Moses Wright and junior forward Sylvester Ogbonda. Pastner said Friday that he is treating them like redshirts, putting them on a schedule that’s heavier on weight lifting and skill development rather than focusing on preparing for upcoming games.
Pastner said he made the decision just before the North Carolina game January 20.
Cole and Wright both had larger roles in the non-conference season, but have seen their roles get drastically reduced since the ACC schedule began. Wright actually started five games and played at least 11 minutes in 11 of the first 12 games. Cole played 22 minutes in the season opener, one of four non-conference games in which he played double-digit minutes. But Cole has played a total of nine minutes in ACC games and Wright has played seven.
At one point in the non-conference season, Pastner was ready to go with Cole and Wright in a rotation at power forward with Abdoulaye Gueye as backup to Ben Lammers at center, but Gueye’s rapid improvement put him back in the starting lineup and pushed Cole and Wright down the rotation. Being treated like redshirts does not mean, obviously, that they can actually redshirt the season, as they have already played.
Ogbonda, who redshirted in his first season on campus, has played in four games for a total of eight minutes.
Pastner said that the three players, along with guard Shembari Philips, who is sitting out the year as a transfer from Tennessee, lift six days a week and are doing skillwork outside of the designated practices. As an example, Pastner said that on Wednesday, when Tech played Florida State, the four were at the team shootaround 45 minutes early for an extra workout.
It doesn’t mean that Cole, Wright or Ogbonda won’t play – in fact, Cole got into the Florida State game. But their main priority will be preparing for the 2018-19 season.
“Because we’re going to count on them for next season,” Pastner said.
Tech plays No. 18 Clemson Sunday night at McCamish Pavilion.
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