Georgia Basketball just finished up one of its worst season ever in conference play. Despite this, there is a lot to be excited about surrounding UGA’s basketball program. Coach Tom Crean will look to take the program back to the NCAA Tournament with a top ten rated recruiting class coming that features potential number one overall pick Anthony Edwards and the pending return of versatile big man Nic Claxton.
Crean will hope to build Georgia into more of a basketball school, but this doesn’t happen overnight. One excellent blueprint the Dawgs can look to follow is from SEC rival Auburn, who plays in the Final Four vs. Virginia this Saturday.
Auburn was in a similar situation several years ago before Bruce Pearl got there. In Pearl’s first full year at Auburn, he put together an excellent recruiting class, much like Crean is doing in his first full season. To sum up to the state of the Auburn program before Pearl got there is simple: the Tigers have not had a player drafted into the NBA since 2001.
But how does Georgia, who was a dreadful 2-16 in SEC play this season, have the ability to replicate the success of a Final Four team in Auburn? Look no further than Auburn’s starting lineup vs. UNC:
The easiest thing Georgia can copy from Auburn’s lineup is the composition of talent. Georgia won’t have to go far and wide to build a talented roster. Jared Harper is from Mableton, GA. Bryce Brown is from Stone Mountain, GA. Malik Dunbar is from North Augusta, SC, which while technically is in South Carolina, anyone from Georgia would consider Augusta to be in GA. Chuma Okeke hails from Westlake HS in Atlanta. Lastly, Anfernee McLemore is from Warwick, GA.
Chuma Okeke unfortunately suffered a torn ACL in the win vs. UNC, but helped lead Auburn to an SEC Title.
Tom Crean is doing his best to recruit the Dawg’s home state. Georgia is also an excellent state for basketball and football recruits, with seven of the top 100 basketball recruits in the 2019 class hailing from the Peach State. There’s a lot of competition for these recruits though. Edwards is the only one of the top seven GA recruits Crean has signed in 2019 and notably, Auburn has secured two of these top seven.
For the best chance to replicate Auburn’s Final Four run, Crean is going to have to win recruiting in the Peach State.
