Georgia Tech is back in action tonight as the season tips off at McCamish Pavilion. The Yellow Jackets are looking to start off the year right and advance to 1-0 with a win over Hampton. We take a look at three things to watch in this game for the Yellow Jackets prior to the matchup that could do a lot with their success and coming out with a win. 

1. How will the point guard play look? 

Have the Yellow Jackets finally figured out the point guard position? The point guard has been a struggle the last few seasons, especially finding someone who can score and playmake at a high level. Georgia Tech has had guys that can specialize in one but not both. Head Coach Scott Cross went to pick up Colby Garland from San Jose State to help with that and be a veteran guard that can run the show for the Yellow Jackets. Garland averaged 20.3 points, 4.6 assists, and 3.3 rebounds with the Spartans last season. If the Yellow Jackets are going to have any chance of being a good team this season, they must improve their play at this position. Tonight will provide a better look at whether point guard will be a position of strength or weakness 

2. Kayden Allen 

Georgia Tech has a chance to have one of the best true freshmen in the country. One of the major flips of the recruiting cycle, and for Coach Cross, was bringing in Allen from Cincinnati and coming back to where it all started, from him in the state of Georgia. Allen starred at Grayson before making the move to Florida and then New York. He has already been praised as being the best scorer on the team for the Yellow Jackets. One thing the Yellow Jackets have been struggling with is scoring and having a player that can go and get a bucket. Allen may be able to finally help with that and orchestrate his own offense consistently. It could go a long way with helping the team finally being able to lean on someone to get out of lulls and bad play. He has impressed the coaching staff and is coming off one of his best practices prior to the season starting. 

“Kayden made a big jump last Tuesday was his best practice by far. And I think that was one of the ones where you're like, "Oh, wow." Like if this guy figures it out, like he can be special. He's had a couple inner squad scrimmages where he's been, you know, the best offensive player on the floor. And so for him, it's just, you know, getting him to be in the stands, getting him to fly around, getting him to react to the basketball. Once he figures that out, then he's going to be a really special college basketball player,” said Cross. 

3. How will the rotation look? 

It doesn’t look like head coach Scott Cross will be shy about giving guys minutes on the team who earn them. Who makes up this rotation will be a key thing to watch this season for Coach Cross and the Yellow Jackets. Who can earn consistent minutes? Is it the veterans or young guys? Georgia Tech will need some guys to be sparks off the bench, whether it is rebounding, defending, scoring, or creating for others. A couple of names to watch are Courland Muldrew, Victor Valdes, Kaiden Bailey, Cole Kirouac, and Kam Craft. Craft is one of the best shooters on the team who is looking to get back to his shooting prowess after a rough season. Valdes was a key player on Troy under Coach Cross. Kirouac enters year 2 with the program and is looking for a bigger role. Bailey is a highly touted true freshman. Muldrew has some experience but will be looking to see more time on the court and carve out a role. It could even be someone that I didn’t name. It will be interesting to see who stands out early because now is the time to do it in non-conference play because rotations begin to shrink as the competition gets tougher. Rotations can trim down to eight players, and Georgia Tech will need to have a solid rotation by then. 

“You have 13 scholarship guys out there, and they're all talented. They can all play. There's not much separation from, you know, one through 15 on the roster. So, you know, a lot of guys will get opportunities, guys. You know, like for example, Kam (Craft)had a really good game against Providence, so his minutes, you know, he played a whole lot of minutes. And so, you know, we're going to have to go with the flow in the game. There's certain guys maybe that are a little bit more experienced that maybe do things a little bit better defensively. Those are the guys that'll get the first crack at it, but um nobody can play more than 30 minutes; we're not in good enough shape yet to even come close to that. So, a lot of guys will get opportunities, and if they go out there and do the things that we need them to do, then their minutes could go up,” said Cross.