The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tusculum fills need on Jackets’ schedule
Pastner keeps team busy during break in ACC schedule.
Georgia Tech’s 112 basketball seasons have featured games against Agoga Class (a tough overtime loss in Febuary 1922), Arundel Boat Club (a four-point road win in December 1930) and the Mayport Naval Base (a homeand-home sweep in 1944. Incidentally, the Tech football team visited that base in Jacksonville, Fla., during its TaxSlayer Bowl trip in December.)
But the Yellow Jackets have never engaged Tusculum College in basketball, a void filled Tuesday night at McCamish Pavilion. Tusculum, a private liberal arts college of 1,800 students in northeast Tennessee, is a Division II school.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Tusculum coach Mike Jones said. “We’re really excited about playing there.”
The game came together in September as a result of coach Josh Pastner’s desire to not have an open date in the ACC schedule. In ACC play, teams typically have a midweek game and a weekend game. The schedule for the 15-team league, released Sept. 12 left the Jackets no games between last Saturday’s game at Wake Forest and this Saturday’s game against Boston College.
ACC teams typically take the open date to rest, but Pastner’s method, going back to his time at Memphis, has been to fill in open dates with opponents.
“I do not like bye weeks,” he said. “I like staying in the rhythm and flow of two games a week.”
Normally, that might mean a game against a lower-tier Division I opponent. However, finding an opponent at that late date is a challenge. And there were advantages of a Division II opponent. One, it’s cheaper. Tusculum will receive $10,000, compared with D-I North Carolina A&T, which was paid $85,000 and one night’s hotel accommodations to play Tech on Dec. 28.
Also, Pastner wanted to limit risk.
“We wanted to get a game, to play somebody — there’s no guarantee to win — but you have maybe a chance, a better chance,” Pastner said.
Tech assistant coach Eric Reveno, who is in charge of nonconference scheduling, knew Tusculum assistant coach Jay Welborn and the game was arranged.
Division I and Division II teams often play in season-opening exhibitions, such as Tech’s game against Shorter. But it’s not unheard-of for a power-conference team to play a regular-season game against a Division II team. Georgia played Morehouse in November. Tusculum played Tennessee in January 2014.
For the Division I team, it has the benefit of counting toward its record but not its RPI score, where a game against a lower-tier mid-major could hurt its RPI.
Pastner said that stronger Division II teams are the equal of lower-tier Division I teams. He pointed out that Tech had to go to overtime to beat Shorter. Jones said he recruits against lower-tier Division I schools.
“People don’t realize how good (Division II basketball) is a lot of times,” Jones said. “Is it the same as the ACC? No, but we’ve got guys that can make baskets. We’ve got guys that can move around a little bit. We’ve got guys with some size.”
Jones said the $10,000 guarantee wasn’t incentive, but instead it was the opportunity to play a power-conference opponent on its home court. The game has its costs, though. The Pioneers will play a South Atlantic Conference game 24 hours after playing Tech, also on the road.
Jones’ plan was to bus down to Atlanta on Tuesday — a 280-mile trip — return home early today, go to class and then make the 75-mile trip to Harrogate, Tenn., to play Lincoln Memorial, which is ranked No. 16 nationally. (Tusculum is 10-12.)
With a critical league game on deck, Jones might be excused for not investing all of his team’s energies into Tuesday’s game. He insisted that wouldn’t be the case. The senior-dominated Pioneers boast a guard who has made a 3-pointer in 38 consecutive games (Cory Fagan) and one of the best big men in school history (6-foot-10 Chase Mounce).
Tech has some players needing some time off. A bug has been circulating through the team, and guard Tadric Jackson and forward Quinton Stephens both have ankle injuries. Guard Justin Moore won’t play with an abdominal injury. Pastner didn’t plan to pull back, either.