By the decision of coach Josh Pastner, Georgia Tech guard Justin Moore did not dress for the Yellow Jackets’ game against Miami on Wednesday, though he was healthy and eligible to play. That may continue when Tech plays Yale on Saturday night at McCamish Pavilion and going forward.
“We’ll just take it one day at a time and one game at a time and, whether dressing or not dressing, we’ll just take it game by game,” Pastner said Friday.
Pastner further clarified that it is not a disciplinary matter, that Moore is practicing and that he expects him to begin the semester Monday. He described it as a “personal situation” and an internal matter.
“What I would tell you is things are always moving, it’s free flowing, there’s moving parts,” he said. “Everybody wants to play a lot. It is what it is. I respect that it can look (peculiar), but I can assure that it’s not.”
Moore’s playing time has dropped since the beginning of the season. He played a combined 47 minutes against UCLA and Bethune-Cookman, but has played a total of 63 minutes in six games since then.
He missed two games for an NCAA suspension, didn’t make the trip for the Wofford game to tend to his studies during finals and then missed the Coppin State and Notre Dame games after Christmas break to stay home to attend the funeral of a close family friend.
He has scored seven points on 3-for-18 shooting from the field with seven rebounds, 10 assists and 14 turnovers. At the point-guard spot, freshman Jose Alvarado has become a fixture, averaging 12.9 points, 3 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 33.6 minutes. Last season, Moore played 34 games, starting 18, and averaged 4.4 points and 18.8 minutes per game.
“At the end of the year, we’ll all meet, put our heads together and then go from there,” Pastner said.
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