Jackets to Host Morehouse in Exhibition

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech will play its first game against an outside opponent, and before a public audience, at 2 p.m. Sunday when the Yellow Jackets host Morehouse College at McCamish Pavilion.

Tech (17-9, 11-6 ACC last season) is coming off its first ACC championship season since 1993 and its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011. The Yellow Jackets welcome back five of their top seven scorers for head coach Josh Pastner’s sixth season, including ACC Tournament MVP Michael Devoe (Orlando, Fla.), senior forward Jordan Usher (Canton, Ga.), senior guard Bubba Parham (Snellville, Ga.), senior forward Khalid Moore (Briarwood, N.Y.) and junior guard Kyle Sturdivant (Norcross, Ga.). Those returnees are bolstered by the transfer of guard Deivon Smith (Loganville, Ga.) from Mississippi State and a freshman class ranked No. 28 in the nation.

The Tigers. members of the Division II Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, did not compete in 2020-21, cancelling their season due to COVID-19.

Sunday’s game will not be televised or live streamed on the internet. No radio broadcast is planned.

SERIES VS. MOREHOUSE

Georgia Tech and Morehouse are meeting for the third time on the basketball court, and for the second time in an exhibition game. the teams’ first meeting was an exhibition game prior to the 2006-07 season, won by the Yellow Jackets, 96-52. The most recent meeting counted on the Jackets’ season record, an 82-54 win on Jan. 28, 2020. Both games were played at McCamish Pavilion.

PRE-SEASON STORYLINES

• 107th season – Georgia Tech is playing its 107th season of basketball in 2021-22 and begins the season with an all-time on-court record of 1,410-1,267 (22 wins and one loss from the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons were vacated by the NCAA Committee on Infractions).
• Tech in ACC play – This is Tech’s 43rd season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, having won the conference championship in 1985, 1990, 1993 and 2021. Prior to that, Tech competed in the Metro Conference for three seasons from 1975-78, was an independent from 1964-75, and was a member of the Southeastern Conference for 32 years from 1932-64, winning one title in 1938.
• This is Georgia Tech’s sixth season under head coach Josh Pastner, who has built the Tech program based on a “get old and stay old” philosophy, elevating the talent level incrementally through ever-improving high school recruiting and attracting transfers who went to high school in the Atlanta area.
• Georgia Tech also was projected by the media panel to finish 10th in the conference regular season. Since the ACC expanded in 2005, Miami is the only defending ACC Champion to be projected lower than 10th the next season (12th prior to 2013-14 season). In the last three seasons, the Jackets have surpassed expectations, having been picked to finish 13th, 12th and ninth, respectively, before eventually finishing 10th, fifth and fourth in the regular season. No team that went on to win the ACC championship had ever been projected to finish as low as ninth before last season.
• Tech is coming off the team’s first Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 28 years, and the fourth in program history.
• Tech is coming off the team’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 11 years, and 17th in program history.
• Tech has won 17 games overall each of the last two seasons, and have won 22 ACC regular-season games (11 each season), the most in back-to-back seasons in the team’s ACC history.
• Tech has finished in fourth place (2021) and fifth place (2020) in the regular season ACC race the last two seasons, the program’s best back-to-back finishes since 2004 and 2005.
• Four players with significant career experience as starters return from the ACC Championship team, led by ACC Tournament MVP Michael Devoe, who has been named honorable mention All-ACC each of the last two years, and is the Yellow Jackets’ top all-conference candidate for 2021-22. He averaged 15.0 points per game and was one of the league’s top three-point shooters at 40 percent for the season.
• Two seniors form the ACC Championship squad – Jordan Usher and Bubba Parham – return to take advantage of their available “COVID year.” Usher, who began his college career at USC, has started every game for Tech since becoming eligible in midseason 2019-20, and last year was Tech’s fourth-leading scorer (11.6 ppg) and third-leading rebounder (4.2 rpg), and made the ACC All-Tournament team. Parham has started 20 of 56 games in two seasons at Tech after transferring from VMI, averaging 5.8 points per game.
• Devoe and Parham are both career 1,000-point scorers.
• Devoe, Usher, Parham and senior forward Khalid Moore have a combined 247 career collegiate starts.
• Parham will be sidelined for an indefinite period of time after undergoing surgery Oct. 26 to repair a torn meniscus in right knee.
• All three freshmen in this year’s recruiting class were rated among the nation’s top 150 prospects, and the class, which includes transfer guard Deivon Smith from Mississippi State, is ranked 28th in the nation, the highest-ranked class for Tech since 2012.
• Tech’s starting “5” man has made the ACC’s All-Defensive team each of the past five years – Ben Lammers in 2016 and 2017, James Banks III in 2018 and 2019, and Moses Wright in 2021.
• In addition to its 20-game ACC schedule, Tech faces a strong non-conference slate that includes Power 5 conference opponents Georgia, Wisconsin, LSU and Southern California. Duke, Florida State, North Carolina, Syracuse, Virginia and Virginia Tech appear among ESPN’s “Way too Early Top 25” ranking. All but Duke played in the NCAA Tournament last March.
• Tech has won 14 of its last 15 ACC games at McCamish Pavilion, including a school-record 11-game winning streak that was stopped by Virginia on Feb. 10 of last season.

Your defending ACC champions, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 🐝 #TogetherWeSwarm pic.twitter.com/WqtunReBpR

— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) October 29, 2021

.@mdevoe0 being placed in the nations top 20 guard list is no surprise#TogetherWeSwarm pic.twitter.com/kqlFPw5nbb

— Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball (@GTMBB) October 27, 2021

SEASON TICKETS REMAIN ON SALE

Men’s season ticket prices start at $290, including all 19 home games. All price levels and associated TECH Fund donations remain unchanged from 2019-20. For a full pricing chart and list of benefits, click here.

Aside from receiving significant cost-savings compared to single-game ticket prices, season ticket purchasers can take an advantage of an interest-free payment plan, receive priority for tickets to post-season events, use online technology to transfer tickets, receive season parking options and access to a secure secondary ticket market.

Alexander-Tharpe Fund

The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.   

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH MEN’S BASKETBALL

Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball team won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship in 2021 after finishing fourth in the regular season. Tech has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1979, winning four ACC Championships (1985, 1990, 1993, 2021), playing in the NCAA Tournament 17 times and playing in two Final Fours (1990, 2004). Connect with Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball on social media by liking their Facebook Page, or following on Twitter (@GTMBB) and Instagram. For more information on Tech basketball, visit Ramblinwreck.com.