Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner has a shot at his first recruit, point guard Charlie Moore from Morgan Park High in Chicago. Moore, a four-star prospect ranked by ESPN as the No. 61 player in the 2016 class, was signed with Memphis but received his release from his letter of intent after Pastner left for Tech.
“Charlie is very interested in Georgia Tech,” said Nick Irvin, Moore’s coach at Morgan Park.
Moore is in no rush to make a decision. Other schools that he’s considering include Illinois, Miami, Iowa, LSU, SMU and Western Kentucky, Irvin said.
“He’s taking it all in,” Irvin said. “Listening to what best fits him. Like I told him, just like he did the first time, just take your time and don’t rush.”
Moore could actually be on Tech’s campus as soon as next weekend. Irvin said that Moore’s brother attends school in Atlanta and that he has visited the city “1,000 times.” A stop by Tech during that visit is probable, according to Irvin.
Pastner has the obvious advantage of having built a strong enough relationship with Moore that he signed to play for him in the first place. Irvin said that Pastner has made a strong push to bring him to Tech.
“Josh always wanted to coach him,” Irvin said. “Like I said, (Moore) committed to him the first time.”
Pastner can also offer a chance at immediate playing time in arguably the strongest conference in the country. Tech loses starting guards Marcus Georges-Hunt and Adam Smith, who combined for 61 percent of the minutes played by Yellow Jackets guards and scored 78 percent of the points this past season. The presumptive starting point guard is Josh Heath, who averaged 17.6 minutes with 2.7 points and 2.8 assists. The fact that the Jackets likely will have a difficult time competing in the ACC next season isn’t daunting, Irvin said.
“Charlie’s a ballplayer,” Irvin said. “In his mind, he thinks, ‘Anywhere I go, I can turn anything around.’ That’s the least of his worries. He’s worried about getting people better that are on the roster.”
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