Moses Wright, the 2020-21 ACC Player of the Year, will be out for Georgia Tech’s first round NCAA Tournament game vs. Loyola Chicago.
Rumors started to circulate about Wright’s availability earlier in the night on Wednesday; however, Jeff Goodman of Stadium was the first to report the news, along with Brett McMurphy.
If Georgia Tech were to now upset Loyola-Chicago, there’s a good Wright would also miss the team’s second matchup vs. (most likely) Illinois.
BREAKING: Georgia Tech will be without star big man Moses Wright for the Yellow Jackets first-round game against Loyola Chicago, sources told me and @Brett_McMurphy.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 18, 2021
(Those rumors, by the way, had to do with the money line moving several points in favor of Loyola-Chicago. It was such a sharp shift that something significant had to have happened for Georgia Tech.)
Back on Tuesday, Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner informed reporters that one member of GT’s travel party tested positive for COVID-19 and would be held out of the first round matchup. The person was unnamed, though speculation quickly started to follow. As of this moment, Goodman and McMurphy’s reporting has yet to state the Wright tested positive for COVID-19. That could be an important detail.
Regardless, the Yellow Jackets will now be without their best player for the program’s first NCAA Tournament game in over a decade. Georgia Tech last made the NCAA Tournament back in 2010.
Wright started all 25 games during his senior season; he averaged 17.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.5 steals.
Georgia Tech plays a very tight rotation of players. The bench accounted for less than 20 percent of Georgia Tech’s on-court minutes this season, one of the lowest numbers in Division I basketball.
Beyond the limited rotation, though, so much of Georgia Tech’s offense flows through Wright. The veteran big man ranked No. 1 on the roster in usage rate (25.2%) and fourth in assist rate (13.4%). Wright touches the ball on most of Georgia Tech’s possessions as the one proven high-post passing hub and facilitator.
In his absence, the Yellow Jackets will need Jordan Usher to handle it more in their Chin and Post Series sets. That won’t come easy against the Ramblers, who rank No. 1 nationally in defensive efficiency.
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