Eastern Kentucky vs Georgia Tech prediction: Scott Cross's rebuilt Georgia Tech leans on imported scorers against EKU

A program built in seven months

Scott Cross was named Georgia Tech's head coach on March 20, 2026, and he inherited almost nothing. The Yellow Jackets have no returning starters and only two returning lettermen, and the players on this roster accounted for just 14.2% of last season's minutes. That makes the 11-20 record from 2025-26 close to irrelevant here.

What Cross brought instead is scoring. Colby Garland averaged 20.3 points at San José State last season, and Nasir Whitlock averaged 20.5 at Lehigh while making 43.3% of his threes. Victor Valdes, who followed Cross from Troy, put up 14.8 points a night there. Those three carried usage rates near 30% at their old schools, so the question for Cross is how three primary options share one ball.

The preseason didn't settle it. Georgia Tech lost exhibitions to Maryland, 85-70, and at Providence, and Cross used two different starting lineups while he sorts out his rotation. The Yellow Jackets open the regular season against Hampton on Nov. 3, which gives them one real game before this one.

Eastern Kentucky still lives behind the arc

Eastern Kentucky also starts over. Yvens Paul is the only returning starter, 11 players are new, and the roster returns 28.0% of last season's minutes. Last season's team numbers are a loose guide, but the identity under A. W. Hamilton's staff was clear: the Colonels took 50.7% of their shots from three, 11th-most in Division I.

If that shape holds, Jackson Holt is the shooter to know. He made 43.3% of 134 threes last season and 95% of his free throws in under 20 minutes a game, and he is the most efficient returner on the roster. Austin Ball, who started 15 games, adds volume more than accuracy at 33.6% from deep.

The defensive side is where the Colonels have to change most. Last season they ranked 335th in defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) and let opponents hit 56.7% inside the arc, 349th nationally. A Georgia Tech backcourt that can get downhill would test whether the new pieces fix that.

Eastern Kentucky's size edge

The Colonels are the bigger team. Their roster averages 78.0 inches weighted by minutes, against 76.3 for Georgia Tech, and the frontcourt newcomers lean into it. Shadrak Lasu started all 33 games at Long Island last season, averaging 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks, and he posted a double-double in the exhibition win over Morehead State on Oct. 21.

Paul finished 61.8% of his shots last season, but he made only 37.5% of his free throws, a liability if Georgia Tech chooses to send him to the line late. Georgia Tech's inside answers are thinner: Jackson Fields played only nine games at West Virginia last season, and returning center Cole Kirouac logged 11.5 minutes a night. The Yellow Jackets' path is likely guard play rather than a fight on the glass.

Home stretch against a first road trip

This sits inside an eight-game home stretch for Georgia Tech at McCamish Pavilion, while it is Eastern Kentucky's first road game of the season. For two rosters still learning each other, familiar rims and routines matter more than usual.

One more baseline: last season's final adjusted net efficiency (points per 100 possessions, adjusted for opponents) had Georgia Tech at 1.1 and Eastern Kentucky at -11.4. Both programs have turned over enough that those figures describe different teams, but they frame the talent gap between an ACC program and a UAC one.

What to watch - How Cross staggers Garland, Whitlock and Valdes, and who handles the ball late. - Eastern Kentucky's three-point volume, and whether Holt's role grows. - Lasu and Paul against a smaller Georgia Tech frontcourt. - The outcome of Georgia Tech's Nov. 3 opener against Hampton as a first real read on the rotation.