Georgia basketball signs four 2020 recruits for incoming class

The Georgia basketball team signed four 2020 recruits for its incoming class this week

The Georgia men’s basketball program recently signed four 2020 prospects, after starting the season at 2-0.

Coach Crean and the Bulldogs host Georgia Tech on Wednesday at Stegeman Coliseum, but have already inked four of their targeted recruits for next year’s team.

Mikal Starks, Jonathan Ned, Josh Taylor and KD Johnson signed with Georgia and will look to set the tone for the 2020 class, after one of the best finishes in school history in 2019.

Starks, a junior college three-star, is a native of Cocoa, Florida. The 6’0″, 180-pound point guard will bring added depth an already guard-heavy Georgia roster, which is expected to lose at least Crump and Edwards after this season.

Ned, a 6’9″, 200-pound teammate of Starks’ at Eastern Florida State, is also a three-star looking to reshape the Bulldog basketball program.

Meanwhile, Taylor is a four-star power forward out of Norcross, who signed with the Bulldogs over in-state rival Georgia Tech, Houston, LSU and more.

And last but not least, Johnson is a 6’1″, 170-pound point guard who chose Georgia over Auburn, Mississippi State and the Yellow Jackets from North Avenue. The Chatham, Virginia native comes in as a three-star, ranked No. 23 in the nation at his position.

Watch: Notre Dame Basketball Wins Fourth Straight

But with Mooney and Carmody out, Rex Pflueger took over, leading the Irish to a 63-53 victory while scoring a season-high 13 points.

Reigning ACC Player of the Week and double-double machine, John Mooney was a scratch Monday night at Purcell Pavilion when Notre Dame played host to Presbyterian.

Take out Robby Carmody who remains in concussion protocol and the lack of depth becomes visible to even the most-blind of eyes.

But with Mooney and Carmody out, Rex Pflueger took over, leading the Irish to a 63-53 victory while scoring a season-high 13 points.

Juwan Durham played the role of Mooney, pulling down 15 boards while scoring 11 himself.

Highlights:

The now 4-1 Fighting Irish have now taken four-straight contests after falling in their season-opener at top-10 North Carolina.

They try and make it five-straight Thursday when the Irish welcome a Toledo team to town that Mike Brey claims could win the MAC this season.

Catch that game Thursday on ACC Network.

Utah Valley-Kentucky odds: UK heavily favored over UVU

Previewing Monday’s Utah Valley Wolverines at Kentucky Wildcats sports betting odds and lines, with college basketball analysis and picks.

The Utah Valley Wolverines (3-1) head east to face the Kentucky Wildcats (2-1) at Rupp Arena Monday at 7 p.m. ET. We analyze the Utah Valley-Kentucky odds and betting lines, while providing college basketball betting tips and advice on this matchup.

Utah Valley at Kentucky: Three things you need to know

1. Not many expected Utah Valley would have a win more recently than Kentucky, but the Wildcats were tripped up by Evansville last time out by a 67-64 score as 24.5-point favorites.

2. Kentucky’s offense has been sluggish, averaging just 74.7 points per game (PPG), and they’re 334th on 3-pointers at just 24.5 percent from behind the arc.

3. G Ashton Hagans (leg) is a question mark for Monday’s game against the Wolverines.


Get some action on this game or others by placing a bet at BetMGM!


Utah Valley at Kentucky: Odds, betting lines and picks

Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 11:15 a.m. ET.

Prediction

Kentucky 79, Utah Valley 54

Moneyline (ML)

There is no moneyline for this game at the time of publishing due to the large spread, but even if one were to be released by tip-off, the risk is not worth the meager reward.

Against the Spread (ATS)

KENTUCKY (-24.5, -115) had cashed in nine straight games against the spread before its loss to the Purple Aces last time out. The Wildcats are also 5-2 ATS in the past seven at Rupp Arena.

Utah Valley (+24.5, -105) is just 1-5 ATS in the past six games overall, and 2-5 ATS in the past seven non-conference tilts. The Wolverines have three wins, but they haven’t faced a team remotely close to the caliber of Big Blue.

Over/Under (O/U)

The UNDER 136.5 (-121) is the play. Kentucky is still working out the kinks on offense, and should do just that against the Wolverines. However, UVU won’t contribute much to the total in this game where it’ll be quite overwhelmed. Look for freshman G Tyrese Maxey to show out in this one.

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Alabama PG Jahvon Quinerly’s appeal denied by NCAA

Alabama transfer point guard Jahvon Quinerly will not be suiting up for the Crimson Tide’s basketball team this season. On Monday, the former five-star prospect had his appeal for eligibility denied by the NCAA. Michael Casagrande with AL.com shared …

Alabama transfer point guard Jahvon Quinerly will not be suiting up for the Crimson Tide’s basketball team this season. On Monday, the former five-star prospect had his appeal for eligibility denied by the NCAA.

Michael Casagrande with AL.com shared the statement made by the University of Alabama in response while also giving an appropriate rebuttal about the lack of transparency from the NCAA:

In addition, several people, including Quinerly’s mother, took to Twitter to share their displeasure with the NCAA for this decision:

It’s obviously a tough situation for Quinerly, his family and the Alabama basketball program, which was already dealing with multiple season-ending injuries before the season even started.

Quinerly originally signed with Villanova out of high school, but chose to transfer after only one season. He was the nation’s No. 29 overall player, No. 7 point guard and No. 3 player from the state of New Jersey, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

Alabama will play its second game of the season on Monday night against Florida Atlantic, which is set to tip off at 7:00 p.m. CT at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa.

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