Jackets seek waiver to play Georgia State

Tech is attempting to arrange an exhibition basketball game with Georgia State to be played Oct. 28 at McCamish Pavilion. The game would raise money for hurricane relief. The news was first reported by ESPN on Monday. Tech associate athletic director Marvin Lewis confirmed the effort Tuesday.

Tech and Georgia State need to receive a waiver from the NCAA to play the game, as NCAA rules permit Division I teams to play exhibition games against teams outside Division I.

Tech is playing Faulkner (NAIA) on Nov. 2, and Georgia State is playing Lees-McRae (Division II) on Nov. 2 and Coker College (Division II) on Nov. 6.

Tech and Georgia State last played each other in a regular-season game in December 2008. The Yellow Jackets are 17-2 in the series.

Other schools have done similarly. In recent days, exhibition games for charity have been scheduled between Kansas and Missouri, Connecticut and Providence and Marquette and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The game would be played at noon. The timing works well for fans of both teams. Tech’s football team plays at night at Clemson that night, and the Panthers’ football team plays two days before against South Alabama.

Not a small motivation for Tech and coach Josh Pastner is the opportunity to gain more playing experience for a team with four freshmen and two returning starters. Tech also has a private scrimmage at Auburn on Saturday. The Jackets open the season against UCLA in Shanghai on Nov. 10.