Published Nov 15, 2020
Alvarado enters his 4th season at GT with great expectations
Alex Farrer
Staff Writer

Georgia Tech’s Jose Alvarado said he would have some advice if he could talk to the younger version of himself four years ago as he was getting ready to start his college career in Atlanta.

“I would tell the young Jose I wish you had a short-term memory when you were on the court and didn’t let little things affect you like missing two shots or getting mad at a call that didn’t go your way…just keep on playing as hard as you can,” said Alvarado, who is gearing up for his senior season that will start On The Flats in a few weeks. “I’ve enjoyed my time here. It’s been the best four years of my life probably. It does go fast. It goes too fast for me. I know everyone says it to you when you’re a young freshman, everyone says these four years go fast. You think they’re just talking like that because they’re older, but it really does. It really does go quick. I’ve learned a lot, and I’m just glad that I’m here.”

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The senior point guard and one of the unquestioned leaders of the Jackets said he has grown up a lot over the past few years, and this most recent offseason, one of his biggest growths has been his dedication to finding ways to improve based off watching film, something he didn’t have much experience at previously but has grown into with the help of his coaches in the past several months.

“I watched a lot of film because of the pandemic,” said Alvarado. “I learned how to watch film on my own. I tell a lot of people this…I didn’t know how to watch film. My coaches taught me, and I started breaking down film myself and seeing what the little things are that I could improve. And with my teammates, if I see something they do wrong, I’ll call them right then. I was just trying to be a coach outside of the court. But improving, I’ve got to improve in every aspect of my game and I feel like I did. I think we’re just trying to improve everything on our team.”

Alvarado is coming off a junior season in which he was named to the All-ACC Third Team after averaging 15.1 points, four assists and 2.4 steals per game. He heads into the 2020-21 season as a preseason All-ACC Second Team selection as he aims to wrap up his Jackets’ career in style, which would also include a berth in the NCAA Tournament if things go to plan for he and his teammates who have set that as one of their main goals following being ineligible for the postseason last year.

“Definitely, I wish that still even if we weren’t in the tournament (last year), I love basketball, I wish there was still a tournament. But we did catch a break. Obviously, there was no tournament when we were banned so I guess that was a good thing for us,” said Alvarado. “But it’s a big, big, big chip on our shoulder to make it, and I think we have the team to do it so that’s what makes more of when we look at each other every day and think that we could make it. Just practicing with these guys and seeing how good they’ve gotten over the year and these freshmen that we’ve brought in, I feel so confident in my team that I think we should be a team that’s in the conversation of being in the tournament.”

(Photo by Kelly Quinlan)

The Jackets, who were 17-14 last season when they were ineligible for the postseason due to NCAA sanctions, are used to playing with some uncertainty ahead of them which is a situation every team finds themselves in this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic conditions and protocols. Alvarado said his team’s experience from last year isn’t necessarily an advantage, but they will continue that same underdog, us-against-the-world mindset they had in 2019-20.

“I don’t think it’s an advantage because I think we still have a chip on our shoulder,” said Alvarado. “Us not being able to go to the tournament last year was a little tough on us, but we wanted to just show everybody that we were better than what we were and have that tough mindset. And this year obviously everyone went through this pandemic. We’re just worrying about when the season’s going to start and how we’re going to just keep on attacking every single game like it’s our last because I think the guys have a big-time chip on their shoulders and I think we’re just going to try to prove a lot of people wrong.”

Alvarado serves as one half of one of the most experienced and talented backcourts in the ACC alongside fellow guard Michael Devoe, a junior who was named Honorable Mention All-ACC last season. Alvarado said having that kind of experience at guard should help the team be more consistent going into the 2020-21 schedule.

“It’s real big,” said Alvarado. “Obviously me and Mike are very experienced and very good guards so it just helps our team (play) at a faster pace. We have good leaders such as me and Mike. We just try to lead our team to the best that we can be, and we know how it is when we’re on that court and it gets tough against those ACC schools. So in the locker room and in our group text message we just try to keep the guys having a positive mindset and winning attitude the whole time.”

Georgia Tech is currently in the midst of preseason practice as they prepare for the season opener on Nov. 25 at home against Georgia State. It’s not been the typical offseason and preseason, but Alvarado said every time the team gets out on the court for a practice, they are doing their best to make the most of it.

“Weird, yeah, but we know the season’s right there so every practice that we get we’ve got a chance to go get after it,” said Alvarado. “We go 110 percent. Like Mike (Devoe) said, we won’t do a lot of contact so whatever we do, we’ve got to try to get our skills and conditioning because the season’s right there. We’re just trying to get in the best shape that we can if that’s possible because obviously we’ve got veterans, but we’ve also got young guys. And with this pandemic a lot of people sat down. We try to focus on more like just trying to get in the best shape and just improving our skills. Obviously go through our offenses and defenses, but just mostly try to get our guys to have confidence and in shape.”

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