Georgia Tech Basketball 2018-19 Player Previews: #10 G Jose Alvarado

One of Georgia Tech’s top players last year as a true freshman, Alvarado returns in 2018-19, fully recovered from a fractured elbow and is looking to elevate his game to the next level.

A season ago, Jose Alvarado was starting as a true freshman for the Georgia Tech basketball program. A point guard out of Brooklyn, the coaching staff and fans alike had high expectations for the New Yorker as he began his career.

The freshman ended up playing and starting in 25 games for the Yellow Jackets but missed the tail end of the season with a fractured elbow that he suffered against Duke on February 11th. But prior to the injury, Alvardo was one of the best freshmen in the ACC and the country.

Prior to his injury, Alvardo was nothing short of a durable player for the Yellow Jackets. The true freshman point guard plays a rather physical game but still logged 35.9 minutes per game and had eight games where he played 40 or minutes. A feat that shows tremendous conditioning, athleticism, and durability.

Statistically like any freshman, Alvardo was up-and-down offensively for the Yellow Jackets but fans were able to see the promise and potential that the New York native brings to the program. Overall, Alavardo last season averaged 12.1 points per game, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists. He shot a decent clip for most of the season with a shooting line of .448/.370/.802. His free throw percentage was among the highest on the team.

When breaking down his offensive contributions on a game-by-game basis, you can see the potential. He had seven games of 15+ points and four games of 20+ points. He also had five games on the season where he had 5+ assists as well.

It was a quiet but special season as we pointed out in this article from April. Here’s a very telling excerpt from that article.

"Since the 1997-98 season, only three freshman Yellow Jackets have averaged 12.0+ points per game, 3.5+ rebounds per game, and 2.0+ assists per game. The three other Jackets to do so are Dion Glover (97-98), Thaddeus Young (06-07), and Javaris Crittenton (06-07). When bumping the assist to 3.0+ per game,Alvarado joins a list that features only Javaris Crittenton.Even when expanding the list to not just freshman but all Yellow Jackets over the last 20-years, there are still just 11 Yellow Jackets. That list features names such as Iman Shumpert, Jarrett Jack, and Glen Rice just to name a few. Both Jack and Rice did it twice during their careers at Tech."

If that’s not impressive for a true freshman, I’m not sure what it. Alvarado simply last season was tremendous for a true freshman and with a ton of room to still grow and develop his game, the sky is the limit for Alavardo offensively.

Defensively, Alvardo was pretty solid for the Yellow Jackets but still has a ton of room to grow. His defensive rating was 104.3. That being said, he did show some defensive abilities, averaging 1.7 steals per game and makes up for defensive miscues with his ability to rebound, bringing down just shy of 100 for the season. Overall, defensively there’s not a ton to talk about with Alvarado but for a player who grew up playing in the parks of New York City and the five boroughs, you know that Alvarado will only be getting better as he develops and will never shy away from contact.

As a player, Alvarado will be a huge centerpiece for the Yellow Jackets in 2018-19 and will take on a bigger role as Josh Okogie, Ben Lammers, and Tadric Jackson have all moved on. As he gets more and more playing time, Alvarado will only get better and is molding himself into being a tremendous college basketball player and leader of the program. The idea of putting him on the court at the same time with a shooter like Michael Devoe must leave the Jackets coaching staff salivating.