March 3, 2021 –
BY DAN MATHEWS
680 THE FAN, ATLANTA – If “chalk” holds, Georgia Tech’s streak of missing the NCAA Tournament looks like it could be coming to an end. 

Josh Pastner has sold a vision of the Georgia Tech program. One that at times has been hard to see. He talked about better days ahead, as soon as earlier this season when the Yellow Jackets fell to 0-2 following a loss at home to Mercer. 

This Tech program has seen an NIT run and a postseason ban during Pastner’s time in Atlanta. Now, his chance at heading into March relies on the play of underdogs in the sport. One, a 6 foot senior point guard in Jose Alvarado. The other was a 6 foot 9 senior forward, Moses Wright. 

Alvarado is a gutsy player who was deemed too small to succeed in the ACC, according to what Pastner says other coaches told him. The guard who has been said to value winning more than breathing, is showing that this season is personal to him. Also, he’s been playing these last two crucial games with a hamstring issue. 

Wright, has saved his best basketball of the season for the final three games. He’s scored 26, 31 and 29 points in these contests. He’s also put up 40 rebounds in these wins. According to Pastner, he was someone who had only offers from Tech and Catawba. 

Georgia Tech is not going to be the school that gets the NBA Lottery draft picks to come play for one season and move on. They need to be veteran teams, like the one Pastner currently has on-campus. Upperclassmen leadership, solid/smart players and even underdogs are needed to make them successful. 

This 2020-21 team has seen some games go against them in rough fashion. But, they’ve also found a way to win these close games as of late and now have the chance to play further than this program has in over 10 years. 

Want to find a group who is easy to root for this tournament season? They go by the name of Georgia Tech.