When Anthony Edwards made the decision to play college basketball at the University of Georgia, it was a big deal.

Edwards was a 5-star recruit and one of the most sought-after players in the country. He had narrowed his choices down to 4 schools - Florida State, North Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky - but ultimately chose Georgia.

Why?

There were 2 main reasons: proximity to home and the coaching staff.

Coach Tom Crean had a proven track record of developing All-Star guards, which was important to Edwards. It was Anthony's unofficial visit to UGA where he saw the Bulldogs upset the Texas Longhorns in the 2019 Big 12/SEC challenge that proved Crean's coaching to Edwards. Crean also sold Edwards on the idea of starting a new trend of Georgia kids staying home. This was appealing to Edwards because he wanted to stay close to his family and friends.

Raised by his siblings after their mother passed away, Anthony Edwards wanted to stay close to his family while still pursuing his dreams of playing college ball. He had many college prospects, but none of them kept him in close proximity to his siblings and his newborn nephew.

“Family is, like, the most important thing ever to me because of what happened,” Edwards said. “So whatever my family needs, I feel like I got to be there for them.”

This meant choosing the University of Georgia, which was only 75 minutes away from his home in Atlanta.

“I pray to God that it will inspire a hometown kid to stay at home and live out their dream at home,” Edwards said, “and not go to another school, where you got to worry about other players and coaches lying to you, not telling you the truth. Just stay at home and grind.”

Anthony Edwards quickly became one of the most exciting players in college basketball. The Georgia Bulldogs freshman guard showed he was capable of putting up big numbers and helping his team win.

In Anthony's first game for the Bulldogs, he scored 24 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. He followed that up with a 37-point performance against Michigan State in the Maui Invitational. This put him in some elite company as only the 3rd Georgia freshman ever to score over 37 points in a game. Anthony would go on to have several other big games throughout the season, leading Georgia to an SEC regular season title and being voted SEC Freshman of the Year. He was also a finalist for the Jerry West Award which is given to the top collegiate shooting guard.

Anthony declared for the 2020 NBA draft, but not before leaving his mark on Georgia Bulldogs basketball. He will certainly be remembered as one of the best players in program history and fans can only wait with anticipation to see what he will achieve at the next level.