Georgia Tech guard Travis Jorgenson showed Friday night that the whispers surrounding his play in the preseason had reason.
In Tech’s only exhibition game, Jorgenson gave effective minutes off the bench in the Yellow Jackets’ 90-53 win over Young Harris, a Division II team in northeast Georgia.
As coach Brian Gregory searches for a guard rotation, Jorgenson’s bid at McCamish Pavilion was eye-catching in the team’s first action before the fan base. In 18 minutes, Jorgenson gathered seven assists against only two turnovers. Jorgenson, who is from Columbia, Mo., but played a year of prep ball in New Hampshire, looked in control on the dribble, made smart passes and maintained good spacing on the floor.
He made a highlight play in the middle of the first half, when he picked Young Harris guard Isiah Johnson’s pocket off the dribble near midcourt, led the fast break and fed Stacey Poole Jr. for a basket and foul. In the final minute of the first half, he connected on an alley-oop to center Daniel Miller on a pass from well beyond the 3-point arc.
Jorgenson’s classmate, forward Quinton Stephens, had the stat line of the night — a mind-boggling 16 rebounds in just 19 minutes. Stephens, from Marist, also took the team’s most shots — nine, making three.
Redshirt freshman Corey Heyward, coming back from two ACL tears to the same knee, started alongside Trae Golden at guard. From a physical standpoint, Heyward did not appear to struggle, but did not make a significant impact on the game. Golden, the transfer from Tennessee who recently received an immediate-eligibility waiver, fit into the flow well, scoring 12 points on five shots with three assists.
Golden’s work from the line — 6-for-6 — helped produce a healthy free-throw percentage, 15-for-19 (78.9 percent).
Young Harris is coached by Pete Herrmann, who coached Gregory for one season at Navy before he transferred and later was an assistant at Georgia under Dennis Felton.
Tech will begin non-conference play Friday at home against Presbyterian, followed by a second game vs. Delaware State on Nov. 11 and then at Georgia on Nov. 15.
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