Veteran Jackets assess Georgia Tech’s newcomers

Players weigh in on Gigiberia, Howard, Meka, Sturdivant.

‘ All three are very athletic and they’ll go ( block) some shots, especially Saba ( Gigiberia) and Rodney ( Howard). ( Jordan) Meka is an inch or two undersized ... but he’s still very athletic so he’ll get them, too. ’

Moses Wright On his new teammates

As Georgia Tech’s preseason practice continues, seniors Moses Wright, JordanUsher and Jose Alvarado offered their assessments of four newcomers: freshman forward Jordan Meka, freshman forward/ center Saba Gigiberia and two transfers, sophomore forward Rodney Howard and sophomore guard Kyle Sturdivant. ( Freshman guard Tristan Maxwell, out with a foot injury since August, 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 ( block) some shots, especially Saba and Rodney. Meka isaninchortwoundersized, I’d guess you would say, buthe’s still very athletic so he’ll get them, too. And all three of themare straight physicality. We’re going to miss James ( Banks) a lot, but it’s not like it’s going to be ... like a noticeable miss.”

On how Gigiberia and Howard are difffffffffffferent: “I wouldsaythatSabadefifinitely can stretch the flfloor a little bit more than Rodney, and he can shoot a little bit better. When you have a sidebyside comparisonof them, I would give the physicality aspect toRodney, butoverall, like shooting, and being able to stretchtheflfloor— because Saba can be a stretch fifive — I’d go with Saba.”

Usher on Howard and Sturdivant: “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 ( Eric Reveno). I’ve seen a lot of development from them from the time they just got here to ( the timewe’re) starting to get ready. I’m proud of both of them and I love bothandexcitedtoplaywith them. Especially Kyle. I’ve been waiting to play with Kyle for years now.”

Onthestrengthsof each:

“Rodney probably has the best hands out of our big men in the post. And he can finish. He has good overtheshoulder 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 flfloor in transition and getting us into our sets. Like I said, I’mreally excitedabout 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 andMeka: “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 thatwe 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 justmoves around and works so hard.”