Brothers could land with Jackets after transferring from Memphis

Georgia Tech’s recruiting efforts for the 2017 signing class may have taken a sharp turn. Dedric and K.J. Lawson, brothers who were recruited by coach Josh Pastner at Memphis, have decided to transfer.

Given their connection to Pastner, who also hired their father, Keelon Lawson, to join his staff at Memphis, it’s highly likely that Tech will have interest.

Tech has five scholarships available. New York point guard Jose Alvarado signed, and Pastner received a commitment from Oklahoma guard Curtis Haywood.

While the Lawsons will be required to sit out a season wherever they transfer, they would both have two seasons of eligibility remaining and would seem worth the wait. Dedric Lawson, a 6-foot-9 forward, was a firstteam American Athletic Conference selection after averaging 19.2 points and 9.9 rebounds. He ranked second in the league in scoring and first in rebounding. His brother K.J., a 6-7 redshirt freshman guard/forward, was named the conference rookie of the year. He averaged 12.3 points and 8.1 rebounds, finishing third in the league in rebounding.

Both were rated in ESPN’s top 50 coming out of Hamilton High in Memphis. Dedric was named a McDonald’s All-American.

More intriguingly, the Lawson brothers have two younger brothers, Chandler and Johnathan. Chandler is rated the No. 20 sophomore nationally by ESPN and Johnathan, an eighth grader, is said to be a similarly elite player.

Also, Pastner will host a rather unheralded prospect on an official visit this weekend. Forward Moses Wright of Enloe High in Raleigh, N.C., could be the third player to join Tech’s 2017 class.

Wright does not have a recruiting ranking from Scout, Rivals, 247Sports or ESPN. He did not make the coaches or Associated Press all-state team in North Carolina.

He does, though, have scholarship offers from Kansas State and Charlotte along with Tech, Wright’s highschool coach Patrick Paye said Thursday.

“He did kind of come off the radar,” Paye said. “I don’t want to sell him short. I think a lot of it’s a tribute to him and how much work he’s put in over the past two years.”

Paye said Wright was 6-foot-4 and 160 pounds as a sophomore but has grown to 6-8 and 200 pounds with a 7-2 wingspan and the frame to put on about 15 more pounds. At the start of last summer, he was fielding interest from Division II and low Division I schools, but that interest picked up throughout his high school season.

Besides Tech, Kansas State and Charlotte, a couple of SEC schools have shown interest. Texas is trying to bring him out for an official visit, Paye said.

Wright has an official visit with Charlotte (coached by Tech legend Mark Price) after he makes his trip to Atlanta and is considering making a trip to Kansas State.

The signing period begins Wednesday, although letters of intent are often signed weeks after the opening of the period.

Tech has five scholarships available because forward Christian Matthews will transfer after one season. Matthews played limited minutes and then was apart from the team for the final nine games of the season for personal reasons.

Matthews had trouble getting playing time, playing a total of 27 minutes while appearing in five of Tech’s first 15 ACC games before his separation from the team. He was a high-scoring player coming out of high school and showed scoring touch at Tech, but had trouble meeting Pastner’s standards on defense.

Overall, Matthews played in 15 games, averaging 3.4 points and 7.3 minutes.