As Georgia Tech’s preseason basketball practice continues, Yellow Jackets seniors Moses Wright, Jordan Usher and Jose Alvarado offered their assessments of four of the team’s newcomers: freshman forward Jordan Meka, freshman forward/center Saba Gigiberia and the two transfers, sophomore forward Rodney Howard and sophomore guard Kyle Sturdivant. (Freshman guard Tristan Maxwell has been out with a foot injury since August. He is expected back later in November.) Tech’s season begins Nov. 25 with a home game against Georgia State.
Wright on Gigiberia, Howard and Meka:
“All three are very athletic and they’ll go get (block) some shots, especially Saba and Rodney. Meka is an inch or two undersized, I’d guess you would say, but he’s still very athletic so he’ll get them, too. And all three of them are straight physicality. We’re going to miss James (Banks) a lot, but it’s not like it’s going to be a major miss, like a noticeable miss.”
On how Gigiberia and Howard are different:
“I would say that Saba definitely can stretch the floor a little bit more than Rodney, and he can shoot a little bit better. When you have a side-by-side comparison of them, I would give the physicality aspect to Rodney, but overall, like shooting, and being able to stretch the floor — because Saba can be a stretch five — I’d go with Saba.”
Usher on Howard and Sturdivant:
“They’re both super hard workers. They came right in, we didn’t give them any time to take it slow. We pushed them, and they’ve been doing really well. Kyle’s pushing Jose in practice, they’re battling against each other. Rodney has been working with Coach ‘Rev’ (Eric Reveno). I’ve seen a lot of development from them from the time they just got here to (the time we’re) starting to get ready. I’m proud of both of them and I love both and excited to play with them. Especially Kyle. I’ve been waiting to play with Kyle for years now.”
On the strengths of each:
“I would say Rodney has great hands. Rodney probably has the best hands out of our big men in the post. And he can finish. He has good over-the-shoulder hooks. And Kyle has great speed. He can defend. I think Kyle’s going to be really good at changing pace, changing the side of the floor in transition and getting us into our sets. Like I said, I’m really excited about our team. Can’t really give you too much (about both players). Can’t let all all the cats out of the bag.”
Alvarado on Sturdivant and Meka:
“Kyle, he’s going to be a good guard for us. Very disciplined in what he does, like he doesn’t turn the ball over. Very fast on fast breaks. He’s going to be really good for us. I’m glad that we got him. And Jordan, he’s going to give you a lot of energy. He’s going to give you a lot of energy and he’s going to wake a lot of people up to how athletic he is and just how he just moves around and works so hard.”
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