He didn’t lead his team in points or score a crucial shot for the Yellow Jackets, but there was a quiet hero in Tech’s latest win on the court.
On Wednesday night, Georgia Tech basketball (11-11, 4-5 ACC) took down Syracuse in front of a sellout home crowd and Tadric Jackson went over the 1,000 point mark for his career. Meanwhile another story line was quietly playing out at McCamish Pavilion.
Junior Transfer Brandon Alston against the Orange, scoring four points, coming down with three rebounds and as many assists. That may seem insignificant to the overall game, but what many didn’t know at the time was that Alston’s father had apparently passed away the night before tip-off.
Alston, a transfer from Lehigh, finished his economics undergraduate degree in three years, which left him with two years of eligibility to give the Yellow Jackets. He is currently perusing a masters degree in the same field at Tech.
Playing two seasons at Lehigh, Alston played in 62 games for the Mountain Hawks, including 11 starts. His time at Lehigh included the 2014-15 and 2016-17 seasons. Alston sat out the 2015-16 season due to injury.
Please keep Brandon Alston and his family in your thoughts and prayers. His father passed away last night. Just an incredible display of courage for Brandon to play his heart out tonight for us in honor of his father Michael.
— Coach Josh Pastner (@CoachJPastner) February 1, 2018
Alston’s father Michael played football at the Virginia Military Institute where he was twice named to the All-Southern Conference team.
The cause of death was apparently a heart attack that occurred Tuesday evening . According to Georgia Tech’s head coach, is that Alston’s decision to play was to honor his late father.
“Just an incredible display of courage for Brandon to play his heart out tonight for us in honor of his father Michael,” Josh Pastner said in a Tweet following Wednesday’s win over Syracuse.
In the post game press conference, Pastner called Brandon Alston’s decision to play through the tragedy “heroic.”
Fans can get to know a little bit more about Alston in the Georgia Tech Athletics video below:
The Yellow Jackets get back to action on Sunday, February 4 at 12 noon from Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts as Georgia Tech visits Boston College to continue ACC play.