The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Okogie’s draft situation has Jackets in recruiting limbo
As Georgia Tech guard Josh Okogie trains in hopes of raising his draft stock, he has the full support of coach Josh Pastner.
For one, if it works out as hoped for Okogie, Pastner can point to recruits that he helped develop a threestar prospect into an NBA draft pick in two years. For another, Pastner obviously cares for Okogie personally.
“We’re proud of him,” Pastner said. “We want the best for him, for the program.”
The difficult part for Pastner and the Yellow Jackets, though, is that the timeline of the process to decide to stay in the draft or come back to school handcuffs Tech in recruiting. With Okogie, Tech is at its 13-player maximum for scholarships with last week’s addition of Texas transfer James Banks. If Okogie goes, the Jackets will have one scholarship available, and will be in need of someone who can potentially help replace the 36 minutes and 18 points that Okogie contributed this past season.
However, Okogie has until May 30 to decide on returning or staying in the draft. As such, Pastner and his staff continue to recruit to add a player for the upcoming season, but can only make scholarship offers contingent upon Okogie’s leaving.
While making clear he isn’t faulting Okogie, Pastner acknowledged that “we’re just in a tough spot.”
At this point in the recruiting cycle, nearly all of the top
high-school prospects have committed, and many of the top transfer candidates have decided on their next destinations. For those who haven’t, the idea of waiting until June to see if Tech has an open scholarship or not is not appealing, as other options may have dried up by that point.
Others deciding now
For instance, Tech was recruiting guard Tye Fagan of Upson-Lee High, ranked the No. 10 player in the state of Georgia (247 Sports composite). Fagan announced his commitment to Georgia and new coach Tom Crean on Monday. Tech was also interested in Samford grad transfer Justin Coleman, who averaged 13.5 points and 6.6 assists this past season, but he committed to Arizona last
Friday. “Everyone appreciates the honesty (about Tech’s scholarship situation), but not everyone’s going to wait,” Pastner said.
Others that Tech continues to engage with are Mike Wynn, a guard from Charlotte, N.C., who was released from his letter of intent by East Carolina after its coaching change; Alabama guard Braxton Key, who is transferring after two seasons; and Maryland grad transfer Dion Wiley.
Should Okogie leave, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Jackets are not able to fill the scholarship.
“I’m not going to take someone in June that can’t play just for the roster spot,” Pastner said. “That does us no good.”
The larger point for Tech is that Okogie’s departure
would be a considerable setback for Pastner’s efforts to build a competitive outfit in the ACC. Were Okogie to join guard Tadric Jackson and center Ben Lammers in departing, Tech would lose its three best players from the 2017-18 team. The trio accounted for 56 percent of the team’s scoring and 48 percent of its rebounding.
The Jackets have returnees with potential, notably the four-man rising sophomore class of point guard Jose Alvarado, shooting guard Curtis Haywood, and forwards Evan Cole and Moses Wright. Incoming freshman guard Michael Devoe is a top-50 prospect in his class.
Georgia Tech also will have guard Shembari Phillips, who sat out this past season as a transfer from Tennessee and is expected to contribute.