Sports

Nation's top basketball recruit Anthony Edwards picks UGA

ATLANTA — The nation's top-ranked high school basketball player announced Monday morning that he'll sign with Georgia. Anthony Edwards, a 6-foot-5 guard from Holy Spirit Prep who's known as Ant-Man, chose the Bulldogs over Florida State, Kentucky and North Carolina.

Speaking at a press briefing at the school off Northside Drive, Edwards said, “I’ll be playing college basketball at the University of Georgia.” Then he donned a red UGA cap.

PHOTOS: Nation's top basketball recruit Anthony Edwards picks UGA

Georgia has attracted highly ranked players before – Dominique Wilkins and Vern Fleming were massively sought – but they arrived in Athens to play for Hugh Durham 40 or so years ago. The decades since have seen the Bulldogs struggle to land top in-state products, which was a key reason the school fired Mark Fox last spring and hired Tom Crean, who’d coached Marquette and Indiana.

“This is HUGE for Georgia,” said Tysor Anderson, Holy Spirit’s coach. He added: “One of the reasons Anthony hit it off with coach Crean is because he coached two of his favorite players” – meaning Dwyane Wade, who led Marquette to the 2003 Final Four, and Victor Oladipo, who helped Indiana reach the Sweet 16 in 2012 and 2013.

Asked his projection for Georgia next season, Edwards said: “National championship.”