Devoe aims to make another jump for his JR season
Georgia Tech’s Michael Devoe made quite a jump in production from his freshman to sophomore season, and his improved play happened all while dealing with a foot injury in the second half of the season. Now after what the junior combo guard said he considered a great offseason in which he combined the right amount of work and rest, he aims to take another step in becoming one of the more consistent players in the ACC.
Devoe, who was named Honorable Mention All-ACC by the coaches and a Second Team All-ACC Selection by the AP as a sophomore averaged 16 points per game last season to finish in the top 10 in the conference in scoring as well as shooting 47.6 percent from the floor, which was good enough for fifth in the ACC. As he heads into the 2020-21 season that begins for the Jackets with a home contest against Georgia State next Wednesday (Nov. 25) at 9 p.m., Devoe said he feels like he is ready for a big junior campaign following his productive offseason.
“I talked with one of the trainers, and that’s the main thing that I needed for my feet is to take some downtime,” said Devoe. “One thing about me, I don’t ever want to stop. I always want to get better and stay in the gym so this Covid was kind of like a benefit for me individually and just getting my body right and being able to stay focused and those types of things. This has helped me individually, and I’m ready to go this season, feeling better than ever.
Devoe was Tech’s top three-point shooter last season, and actually posted the highest three-point percentage by a Jackets’ player (42.7 percent) since Anthony Morrow in 2007-08. He was even better in ACC contests with a 44.2 mark from long range.
As much as Devoe stepped up more consistently as a sophomore, he said he knows there is always room for improvement and a heavy dose of watching his film from last season should lead to a better version of himself in 2020-21. One area was being ready to let his jump shot fly a little more frequently.
“(I saw) a lot of stuff (on film),” said Devoe. “I learned a lot from watching film with the coaches and things like that…just being ready to shoot at all times. I feel like when I get my feet set and ready to go, I feel like I can make a lot of those threes. Just being well-prepared and watching what I did last year and learning from those type of things. It’s going to be a really good year for me individually and as far as our team, it’s going to be really good as well. I’m looking forward to it. I got a lot better this offseason with just getting stronger, faster and things like that so it’s definitely going to be a great year.”
Devoe is expected to start alongside fellow experienced guard Jose Alvarado who returns at the point for his senior season. The duo will be one of the most experienced and talented backcourts in the ACC this coming season, and that experience is a big plus according to Devoe.
“It feels amazing to have somebody like Jose and the other guards that we have,” said Devoe. “It feels amazing to have guys that know what they’re doing, guys that are veterans that know the plays and all that type of stuff that have been there and competed on that type of floor. It’s good that we have an older group, and it will definitely be an advantage this year for us.”
Devoe got the opportunity for more minutes early last season due to Alvarado missing several games due to injury. He said even though he doesn’t consider himself a true point guard, being relied upon to direct the offense in Alvarado’s absence allowed him to grow as a player and that experience will only help as the Jackets will hope to be at full strength and have a good amount of depth this season.
“Learning those type of things when I classify myself as being a combo guard…I don’t just classify myself as being a one or two, it’s just a combo guard,” said Devoe. “Those type of things, playing without Jose and some of our other guards, I just learned a lot from it. I watched film on it, got better from it and just learned from that. This year, luckily, we’re going to have everybody back, and we’re going to be ready to go. It’s going to be adjusting and just getting used to everything.”
It hasn’t been the typical offseason and preseason to say the least with the extra precautions in place due to Covid-19. The team has been placed in a bit of a bubble as far as where they can go and who they can be around, and while it has been a challenge and added responsibility, Devoe said the team is making the sacrifices they need to in order to be able to play this season, something they didn’t know for sure was going to be an option a few months ago.
“It’s been something to get adjusted to as far as after practices or before practices, the main thing is staying on top of schoolwork and then after practices, just staying at our place,” said Devoe. “We live across the street. As far as that, just staying away from people, staying in the gym, staying focused, staying prepared, like I said before, our main thing is we want to play. We’re getting the ability to be able to play this year so we’re looking forward to that, and we just have to stay on top of things. So as far as that, we just stay distanced from a lot of people, stay with our core that we have and stick with it. It definitely takes discipline. Just staying focused on what our goal is this year, doing stuff like that to not be able to get set back, just staying away from things like that.”
The finish line of the preseason (and the start of the regular season) is in sight, and Devoe said he and the team are chomping at the bit to get on the court after all the hard work and sacrifice they have put in for what will likely be a different kind of year in 2020-21.
“We’re more than ready,” said Devoe. “Right now it’s going to be a crazy season this year due to Covid and all this type of stuff we have going on, but we’re still locked in. We’re getting better every day, and we’re excited. We really want to play basketball. That’s the main thing for us this year. We really want to play so we’re excited and we’re more than ready.”
The Jackets are coming off a 17-14 record in 2019-2020, and with an experienced core returning, an NCAA Tournament berth is definitely the goal as they head into Josh Pastner’s fifth season at Georgia Tech.