Ball movement is something that is crucial at any level of basketball, but perhaps the most important of those is at the collegiate level, where one player can make all the difference in how a team performs night in and night out. Every team needs that key ball distributor, and for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, that player is sophomore guard Naithan George.
In the slow-paced offense that then-first-year head coach Damon Stoudemire, it was crucial for him to find a player that the offense could build an offense around, and George was that answer. He made an immediate impact in the Yellow Jackets offense last season under first-year head coach Damon Stoudemire, recording at least eight assists in the team's first six games. On top of being a ball distributor, George proved to be a key contributor in scoring sporadically for the offense, scoring in double figures in 12 of the team's 29 games last season, including a season-high 24 points in the Yellow Jackets last game of the season in the ACC tournament against Notre Dame.
Coming into this season, George was slated for another big season, and he has delivered in every way for the Yellow Jackets despite how underwhelming the season has been for the team. George has started all 16 games for the Yellow Jackets this season, and has put up his only two career double-doubles this season, one against Central Arkansas, and one against Boston College.
George continues to shine for the Yellow Jackets, especially recently, as he has put up at least four assists in all of the team's last 11 games. The area that George has seemed to improve in this season though has been his ability to grab rebounds, where he has grabbed at least five rebounds in five of the team's last eight games. George is averaging 10.2 points per game this season, while leading the ACC in assists per game, averaging 6.3.