Jose Alvarado Named ACC Player of the Week
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech’s Jose Alvarado, who posted his first career double-double in one game and set a school record for steals in the other last week, has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week as announced by the conference office Monday afternoon. Pittsburgh guard/forward Justin Champagnie was named the ACC’s Rookie of the Week.
ACC men’s basketball weekly honors are determined by a vote of a 15-member media panel and announced on Mondays throughout the regular season. Alvarado is the third different Tech player to be honored this season; Moses Wright and Michael Devoe were cited for their play in December.
Alvarado averaged 19.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in helping Georgia Tech split a pair of ACC games last week. For the week, he went 13-for-31 from the floor, hit a pair of threes in each game and 9-for-12 from the foul line.
The 6-foot junior’s performance Wednesday kept No. 6 Louisville on the ropes until the final buzzer; he had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and stout defense against the ACC’s leading scorer, 6-foot-7 Jordan Nwora (guarded him the entire game), who went 3-for-11 from the floor for 10 points, in the Jackets’ 68-64 loss at the KFC Yum! Center. He led the Yellow Jackets to a season sweep of NC State in a 64-58 victory Saturday, scoring a season-high 26 points with another eight rebounds, and he broke a 28-year-old Tech record with nine steals, the last two of which thwarted the Wolfpack’s final two offensive possessions in the game.
The Brooklyn, N.Y., native has averaged 16.9 points over his last seven games for the Yellow Jackets, and set career highs for assists three times in that span. He leads the ACC in steals in conference games only, and ranked No. 5 in assists.
Champagnie averaged 15.5 ppg and 9.5 rpg as Pitt downed Boston College, 74-72, at home on Wednesday before falling at Syracuse, 69-61, Saturday.
Tech hosts Morehouse College Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion before traveling to Notre Dame for a noon game Saturday.
