Georgia Tech star Moses Wright, the ACC player of the year, will miss the game in the first round of the yellow jackets against Loyola Chicago in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, sources told ESPN on Wednesday night.
Wright will also likely come out if Tech defeats Loyola Chicago and advances to the Illinois-Drexel winner, sources said.
A tall man of 6 meters and 9, Wright played as well as anyone in the country in the last weeks of the regular season. He had 26 points and 10 rebounds against Virginia Tech, followed by 31 points and 16 rebounds against Syracuse, then earned 29 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in a victory over Duke.
Wright averaged 17.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 blocks per game.
Coach Josh Pastner will likely have to play a shorter line for longer stretches on Friday against Cameron Krutwig and Loyola Chicago, as Georgia Tech rarely took Wright off the floor for more than a few minutes per game. Expect Rodney Howard, a 6-meter student, to see an extended role; he played double-digit minutes just five times this season, but saw 18 minutes in an ACC tournament winning Miami.
The yellow jackets, winners of the ACC tournament, won eight consecutive games entering the NCAA tournament.
News of Wright’s availability was first reported by Stadium.