Josh Pastner shares updates on Georgia Tech’s newcomers, scheduling

Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner has been devoting himself to finding a post player to back up center James Banks, but has also been overseeing individual workouts for returnees and his three newcomers, transfers Bubba Parham and David Didenko and freshman Asanti Price.

Pastner shared a brief update on each of the three in an interview with the AJC.

» Parham is a transfer from VMI, where he ranked sixth in the Southern Conference in scoring as a freshman (14.6 points per game) and led the league this past season as a sophomore (21.4).

In two seasons, he averaged 2.8 3-pointers per game and shot 37% from beyond the 3-point arc. He also averaged an even three assists per game. Parham has two seasons of eligibility remaining and hopes to receive an immediate-eligibility waiver.

On Parham: "I really like Bubba. He's been highly dependable. Really good guy, and he can score the ball. He's a better playmaker than I think people realize. He's a good player."

» Didenko is a transfer from Palm Beach State College, a junior college in Florida where he played one season. A 6-foot-8 forward, Didenko signed with Tech last fall after an impressive showing as a perimeter shooter in preseason workouts and scrimmages. In the season, he averaged 3.8 points per game and shot 21.7% (10-for-46) from 3-Point range. Pastner said that Didenko was better than his numbers showed.

On Didenko: "David's been good. David's done a nice job. We've done a lot of individual stuff. There's not been a lot of team (practice). We're not really getting into team until we get to team practices (to prepare for the Spain trip in August). David's done a nice job. I tell you, David's a good athlete and he's strong."

» Price, the team’s lone incoming freshman, is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Columbia, S.C. He was an under-the-radar prospect who began to gain significant recruiting attention as his senior season progressed. Pastner has called him a “high-level shooter.”

On Price: "Asanti, he's only had a couple workouts because they've been in freshman orientation, but in the workouts, he's shot the ball really well."

Pastner also said that the staff is continuing to work on finalizing its two final non-conference games for the 2019-20 schedule.

Pastner said there have been conversations with power-conference teams about setting up home-and-home series and also with mid-major schools about guarantee games. Tech opens the season at N.C. State on Nov. 5 (a Tuesday). All but one of the 15 ACC teams will open their seasons with a league game as part of the conference’s new 20-game schedule.