The 2022-2023 Georgia Tech basketball roster looks to be the deepest and most balanced team Pastner has had in his time at Georgia Tech. In his time at Tech, coach Pastner has historically used a short bench, often going just 7 players deep (last season Georgia Tech ranked 239th in the nation in bench minutes). However, expect that to change this season, with the Jackets possibly going with a 10+ deep player rotation. Gone are leaders Michael Devoe and Jordan Usher, but replacing them is a deep lineup of guys looking to step up. Today, I’ll be breaking down the different position groups and assessing each player’s projected impact this season.

Guards

Kyle Sturdivant

Projected impact: High

Kyle is entering his senior year and his third season in a Yellow Jacket uniform. After transferring from USC following his freshman year, Kyle came mostly off the bench in his first season as a Yellow Jacket, but saw his minutes increase significantly last year. Following the departure of Jose Alvarado, he took over as the starting point guard for Georgia Tech last season. Kyle is a strong floor general who takes care of the ball well, ranking inside the top 20 in the conference in turnover rate last season. Expect Kyle to have another impactful season leading the Georgia Tech offense.

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Deivon Smith

Projected impact: High

Enter another transfer guard Pastner has brought in. Deivon joined the Jackets last season after playing his freshman campaign at Mississippi State. One of the best athletes on the team, Deivon is an explosive guard who can create his own shot and get to the basket. He also has excellent court vision, but saw his assists dip last season since he was playing more off ball. There is some buzz around the program that he is playing at a really high level entering the season and on a team that will be looking to play at a higher tempo this season, it should play right into Deivon’s skill set. Expect him to have a great year.

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Lance Terry

Projected impact: High

A native of Georgia, Terry played his first three seasons at Gardner-Webb, where he was an honorable mention All-Big South player a season ago. Terry is an outstanding shooter, making 33-80 (41%) 3-point attempts in conference play last season. In addition, he has shot over 80% from the free throw line for his career. Terry takes care of the ball, rarely turning it over and does all the little things well. It sounds like he has had an excellent preseason and will definitely be a part of the rotation this season.

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Miles Kelly

Projected impact: Medium

Miles was just a freshman last season, but Tech fans saw him develop before their eyes as the season progressed. He saw limited minutes early in the season, but was a consistent contributor off the bench late in the year and got his first career start in the Yellow Jackets ACC tournament game against Louisville. Kelly is an excellent shooter who really started to find his stroke late in the year, shooting over 50% from behind the arc in the final six games of the season, where he saw his minutes really take off. Miles will most likely come off the bench, but should be a key contributor for this Yellow Jacket team.

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Tristan Maxwell

Projected impact: Medium

Maxwell enters his third season with the Yellow Jackets, hoping this will be the breakout year. Maxwell’s first two seasons have been a bumpy ride. A combination of injuries, dental problems, and family matters have limited Maxwell to just 6 games in his career (5 last season). When he’s played, he’s shown the potential to be an impact player and an electric scorer. Against Boston College last season, Maxwell had his breakout game, scoring 22 pts on 7-11 shooting from behind the 3-point line. How much of an impact Maxwell has this season will most likely be a result of whether he can stay on the court, but if he is able to, he should definitely find a spot in the rotation.

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Wings

Deebo Coleman

Projected impact: High

Deebo came to Atlanta as a freshman last season and the highest rated recruit of the Josh Pastner era. He had a solid freshman season, averaging 20+ minutes per game and getting a handful of starts throughout the year. Despite a cold shooting finish to the season, Deebo still ended the year shooting nearly 40% on three-pointers including a 4-6 performance vs Stetson, 5-7 vs Lamar, and 4-5 vs Clayton State. With another year of development for a highly rated recruit who flashed tons of potential a season ago, I expect to see Deebo take a significant leap forward in his second season and be one of the go-to options for this Georgia Tech team.

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Jalon Moore

Projected impact: Medium

Jalon played in limited minutes as a freshman last season, but he oozes potential as a 6-7 athletic wing. Last year, Moore did not see game action in 16 of the first 22 games, but saw game time in 7 of the final 9 games, including double digit minutes in 4 of those 7 games. How much playing time Moore sees this season will depend a lot on how he develops coming into his second season on the flats, but I do expect him to see the floor in some capacity most nights.

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Freds Pauls Bagatskis

Projected impact: Low

An intriguing freshman who comes to Atlanta with lots of international experience. He played club basketball in Spain as well as the Latvian U20 national team. He is an excellent shooter with good size for his position.

Bigs

Rodney Howard

Projected impact: High

Rodney is entering his third season with the Yellow Jackets after spending his freshman year with Georgia. He earned the starting center job last year and averaged 25 minutes per game. Howard came on strong late in the season, scoring in double figures in 6 of the final 9 games of the year. He has to get better at not fouling, as he struggled with foul trouble much of the season, especially as his minutes increased (though he showed improvement last season compared to his first two years). Howard should be the Jackets go-to center this season and see similar minutes to last year.

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Ja’von Franklin

Projected impact: High

Ja’von comes to Atlanta as a grad transfer with tons of experience. After two years of community college, Franklin enrolled at Auburn. After two seasons of limited playing time at Auburn, he transferred to South Alabama where he had his big breakout last season. 12.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game earned him third team All-Sun Belt honors. Franklin is a strong, athletic body in the post and uses that to his advantage. He is extremely efficient offensively, topping the Sun Belt last season in effective field goal percentage. He is also an excellent rebounder and shot blocker and gets to the free throw line at a high rate, where he knocks down ~65% of his attempts. I expect Franklin to get significant minutes this season.

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Jordan Meka

Projected impact: Medium

Meka enters his third season with Georgia Tech and hopes this will be his breakout campaign. He played in just one game his freshman season before undergoing back surgery, but saw that number jump to 15 last year, including 4 starts. With a 7-1 wingspan, Meka has shown flashes of being an excellent defender / shot-blocker. He still needs to improve offensively, making just 6-27 shot attempts last season. Georgia Tech fans have been waiting for his breakout since he stepped on the flats and his second full season could be it. How many minutes he sees will most likely depend on his offensive development as well as the success of the other bigs.

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Cyril Martynov

Projected impact: Low

Cyril is the most interesting member of the freshman recruiting class, simply because of his size. He definitely falls under the developmental category, but as a 7-footer who moves extremely well for his size, he checks all the boxes for upside. Depending on how quickly he can adapt to the college game, I would not be surprised to see him get some minutes, especially as the season goes on.

Projected rotation

The projected starting lineup is anyone’s guess with such a deep team and it’s possible it could change from game to game. But for my best stab at it, here I go.

PG - Kyle Sturdivant
SG - Deivon Smith
SF - Deebo Coleman
PF - Ja’Von Franklin
C - Rodney Howard
6th man - Lance Terry

X-factor

There are probably a few different answers to this question, but for me, the biggest X-factor this season is Rodney Howard. The Jackets need to see him take a step forward and they also need him to stay out of foul trouble. The addition of Ja’Von Franklin will help, but Tech was forced into a lot of small lineups last season. A strong post presence from Rodney could really help open the floor for the Jackets shooters.

Breakout Player

The answer to this one has to be Deebo Coleman. Coming into his sophomore season, he will be expected to take on a much bigger role and has to deliver double digit scoring for the Yellow Jackets.

Sleeper

In my opinion, look for both of the transfers to make big impacts. I think Lance Terry and Ja’Von Franklin could have big seasons and surprise some people.