Anthony Edwards arrived in Athens, Georgia to much fanfare.
Depending on which recruiting service you asked, Edwards was either the first- or second-ranked high school basketball prospect of the 2019 recruiting cycle.
After the senior out of Atlanta’s Holy Spirit Prep announced his commitment to Tom Crean’s Bulldogs in February of 2019, many Georgia fans quickly deemed him the Dawgs’ deliverer from mediocrity.
Reminder: this was over three months before Edwards had even graduated high school and over eight months before he would play in his first collegiate competition.
What is almost certainly the Dawgs’ only regular season featuring Anthony Edwards ends with an even 15-15 record. Unless the 2020 Bulldogs can replicate the results of 2008’s unlikely winners in next week’s SEC tournament, Georgia may not qualify for any further postseason play.
Crean’s squad, which entered the campaign with high hopes, needs to win the conference tourney to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Unless tournament results prove otherwise, the Dawgs are considered a bubble team for the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
A quarterfinal or semifinal appearance in the conference tourney would likely earn them a spot, anything less would likely leave them out. But Georgia basketball fans probably don’t want to think of any more what-ifs.
Though plagued with blown leads and those pesky what-ifs, the Bulldogs’ 2019-2020 campaign was highlighted by several miraculous finishes, wins over Georgia Tech and Auburn, and a slew of NBA-worthy clips from Edwards.
All of that sounds bad. And don’t get me wrong, it’s not great. But here’s the thing: Edwards is still projected as the top NBA draft pick by more than one draft analyst.
This isn’t a moral victory thing. Anyone who watched Georgia’s men’s basketball team all season saw the team fold and surrender late leads on multiple occasions.
To me, a recovering pessimist constantly checking my peripheral vision for any sort of bright side, such results don’t blind me from what I’ve learned to see truth of the matter:
If a star player like Anthony Edwards can come into Georgia’s historically average basketball program and maintain his projected draft position while packing Stegeman Coliseum to the brim, it shows young local talent that they can do the same and receive that fanfare and adoration similar to Edwards’.
That is, before they go get a fat paycheck in the NBA.
Though not assuredly, this could prove vital for a program currently struggling to tread water alongside a strong and balanced Southeastern Conference no longer run just by traditionally powerful Kentucky, Florida, and Tennessee (each of which can usually predict its two annual division games against Georgia as wins).
The Atlanta area is one of the highest-concentrated NBA breeding grounds in the United States. Georgia often lands local four-star recruits but very seldom secures commitments from upper echelon five-stars. The last was current Los Angeles Laker Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in 2011.
Examples: 2018’s Ashton Hagans and E.J. Montgomery enrolled at Kentucky. Wendell Carter enrolled at Duke in 2017. Kobi Simmons enrolled at Arizona in 2016.
So, yeah, in the short term, this isn’t ideal. Especially knowing that .500 winning percentage could’ve been a .533 or a possibly a .567, or heck, maybe even .600!
But since I’m speaking in hypotheticals, Georgia could very well have lost some of their eventual dramatic victories, namely against SMU, Vanderbilt, and Arkansas.
Given what Edwards’ success could mean for the future of Georgia men’s basketball recruiting in the future, I choose to see this year’s 15-15 record as a glass half full.
Even in the short term, the Bulldogs’ hopes aren’t dead. There’s still an entire conference tournament to be played.
