Georgia Tech’s three signees all plan to meet with new coach Josh Pastner before deciding on whether they will stay with Tech or ask to be released from their letters of intent. For Pastner, who is inheriting a roster thin on scoring power and needs all the help he can obtain, keeping forwards Romello White (Wheeler High) and Christian Matthews (Fort Washington, Md.) and guard Josh Okogie (Shiloh High) will be a critical element of his first few steps on the job.
“I’m going to reach out to the three signees,” Pastner said at his introductory news conference Friday. “Obviously, we don’t have a lot of numbers returning, so we need to fill out a roster and we need all three guys to come here.”
All are open to staying with Tech.
“We have a meeting set up with him sometime this week, so after that I’ll see where I am,” said Okogie, who was named the Gwinnett County player of the year by the Gwinnett Daily Post after averaging 21 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Okogie is particularly interested to learn more about Pastner’s style of play and how he sees Okogie fitting into his system.
White’s mother, Catrece Martinez, said they have a meeting planned with Pastner. White is ranked the No. 74 prospect in his class by ESPN. She called Tech’s dismissal of coach Brian Gregory “a big doozy” and unexpected.
“Of course, we love coach Gregory,” Martinez said. “He’s a great guy. He understands my son’s temperament and just kind of what he needs on the next level.”
Martinez said that there have been phone calls with Pastner. A face-to-face meeting is coming.
“We’ll decide on how that meeting will go, and then we’ll kind of go from there,” she said.
Matthews’ high-school coach at National Christian Academy in Fort Washington, Md., Trevor Brown, said that Matthew still plans to attend Tech. Pastner is expected to visit Matthews and his family, according to Brown.
“He likes the school, he likes the city and all that,” Brown said. “I’m pretty sure he wants to stay.”
Matthews was named to the Washington Post’s All-Met team for a second consecutive season.
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