Anthony Edwards Set For NBA Draft
Freshman Anthony Edwards from Atlanta is poised to be a Top-5 pick in Wednesday night's NBA Draft.
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Edwards Selected Georgia Player Of The Year
ATHENS, Ga. — Anthony Edwards, who was the nation's top-scoring freshman for the Georgia Bulldogs this season, was named the state of Georgia's Men's Basketball Player of the Year by the Atlanta Tipoff Club on Thursday.
Edwards is the ninth Georgia player to be named the Tipoff Club's player of the year for the state. Those Bulldogs have combined to claim the honor 11 times, including four of the past five seasons. The previous winners were Vern Fleming in 1984 (the award's first year or existence), Litterial Green in 1992, Jumaine Jones in 1999, Jarvis Hayes in 2002 and 2003, Trey Thompkins in 2011, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in 2013, J.J. Frazier in 2016 and 2017 and Yante Maten in 2018.
Edwards averaged 19.1 points per game for the Bulldogs in 2019-20 and finished the season ranked No. 47 nationally in scoring average. He was the only freshman included among the top-50 scorers in Division I and one of only three in the top 100. Edwards scored in double figures in 27 of 32 games, including 14 20-point performances and three 30-point outputs. He christened his career with 24 points against Western Carolina, the second-most ever by a Georgia freshman in his collegiate debut. Edwards poured in a season-high 37 points – including 33 in the second half – against No. 3 Michigan State at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, which represented the most points by a Bulldog freshman in 45 seasons.
Edwards' scoring average ranked No. 3 in the SEC. Among league statistical leaders, he also finished No. 5 in 3-pointers (2.3 33FGs per game) and No. 16 in playing time (33.0 mpg).
Edwards finished the season with 610 total points. That tally ranks No. 7 among Georgia's all-time single-season leaders – the second-most by a UGA freshman – and No. 10 among the best outputs ever by an SEC freshman.
Edwards was named the SEC Freshman of the Year in balloting league coaches, the first Bulldog to win that award since its inception in 2001. He was voted the SEC Newcomer of the Year by the Associated Press, the third Bulldog to earn that recognition following Jumaine Jones in 1998 (in the award's first year) and Jarvis Hayes in 2002.
Additional postseason accolades Edwards has earned include being: chosen as one of five finalists for the Jerry West National Shooting Guard of the Year award; named second-team All-SEC by league coaches and the AP; selected All-District by both the USBWA and NABC; and tabbed SEC All-Freshman by league coaches. He was honored as the SEC Freshman of the Week a school-record four times, being selected on Dec. 2, Jan. 3, March 2 and March 9.
Edwards declared for the NBA Draft last Friday (March 20) and has been featured in as the No. 1 overall pick in a majority of mock drafts.
Edwards Earns Multiple Accolades
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia's Anthony Edwards was honored with a list of accolades throughout the day on Tuesday. The most significant were SEC Freshman and Newcomer of the Year recognitions from league coaches and the Associated Press, respectively.
At 11:00 a.m ET., Edwards was named the SEC Freshman of the Year, second-team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman in balloting of league coaches in an announcement from the SEC.
Shortly thereafter, he was tabbed the SEC Newcomer of the Year and second-team All-SEC by the Associated Press.
While the Bulldogs were in the air traveling to Nashville for the SEC Tournament, Edwards was named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's All-District team for players from schools in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Edwards, a 6-5, 225-pound native of Atlanta, is averaging 19.5 points per game, making him the highest-scoring freshman in the nation and the third-best scorer overall in the SEC this season. Edwards' total of 604 points this season is just five shy of matching Tennessee's Allan Houston for the 10th-most ever by an SEC Freshman. Edwards also ranks among SEC statistical leaders in 3-pointers per game (No. 5 at 2.3 3FGs per game), defensive rebounds (No. 10 at 4.6 rpg) and No. 19 in playing time (No. 19 at 32.8 mpg).
Edwards was named SEC Freshman of the Week a school-record four times, being selected on Dec. 2, Jan. 3, March 2 and March 9. Edwards is one of five finalists for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award.
Edwards is the first Bulldog ever to be voted SEC Freshman of the Year by league coaches since the award's inception in 2001. He is Georgia's third AP SEC Newcomer of the Year, following freshman Jumaine Jones in 1998 and redshirt sophomore Jarvis Hayes in 2002.
Edwards is Georgia's 64th All-SEC honoree, and the Bulldogs' 12th Freshman All-SEC pick.
Georgia will open play at the SEC Tournament on Wednesday when the Bulldogs face Ole Miss at 7:00 p.m. ET at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.
Quick Chat: Anthony Edwards
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Not that many student-athletes arrive at college with a nickname-for-life already in place, Anthony Edwards, the much-heralded Georgia men's basketball freshman, was the Ant Man before he arrived in Athens and will be the Ant Man long after he leaves.
You can't help but feel good saying it, "Ant Man," and you can't help but feel good watching the talented and ultra-athletic Edwards, all 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds of him, playing for the Bulldogs. The Atlanta native is one of the top freshmen in the country and showed why Tuesday night when he had 23 points and five rebounds against Kentucky..
During a recent Quick Chat, Edwards talked about celebrity, his diet, travel and much more Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: We just flipped the calendar into a new year, so do you have any New Year's resolutions or goals that you've set for yourself?
Edwards: No, not really. I'm the same person that I was last year, so I just want to keep working hard.
Frierson: How has being a celebrity been for you? A lot of people know who you are, know about the "Ant Man," and that's not something that most of us will ever experience, particularly not at your age. Was there a learning curve for how to handle being well known and the center of attention?
Edwards: I just watched NBA players and how they signed people's stuff and things like that, just knowing how to be a "celebrity" I guess, but I'm not there yet.
Frierson: Well, you're a little bit here.
Edwards: I just keep watching them, man, and whatever they do I try to mimic it a little bit.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Edwards: Definitely burgers and wings, I eat them every day. I've probably got the worst diet for a basketball player, for an athlete, of anybody [laughs] but it's all right, I work really hard.
Frierson: I was going to say, enjoy it while you can.
Edwards: I know that when I get older I've got to stop, most definitely.
Frierson: In terms of your college experience away from the basketball court, what's been the most interesting or enjoyable aspect of being at Georgia?
Edwards: I mean, just walking around and people knowing who I am is interesting. People just know who I am: "Are you that kid, the 5-star kid that Georgia got?"
I met this one lady that worked at the cafeteria and she was like, "Are you that dude, Anthony Howard or something? No, not Howard, Edwards, that's you, right, the 5-star?" I was like, "Yeah, that's me."
Just seeing her smile, her smile was huge, and that was amazing.
Frierson: That's quite a thing, to be able to put a smile on someone's face like that. That's a gift.
Edwards: That's a real gift, yeah.
Frierson: Speaking of gifts, since we just got through the holidays, what's the best gift you've ever received?
Edwards: Hmmm, I'm trying to think. I guess this game, man, and just being able to wake up every morning. That's a gift from God, the game is a gift from God. Everything God's given me is the best gift ever.
Frierson: Did you play any other sports growing up?
Edwards: I played football and baseball.
Frierson: How would you rate yourself as a football player?
Edwards: On a scale of 1 to 10, I was a 10 as a football player. Definitely. I was really good. I played running back, receiver, quarterback, safety, all types of stuff.
Frierson: So you're probably one of the few guys that could be at a Georgia football game and look down on the field and think, yeah, I could play with those guys.
Edwards: Yeah, I definitely could play receiver or safety for Georgia.
Frierson: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you like to go and who would you take with you?
Edwards: That's a good question. I'd probably go to the Dominican Republic or Calabasas (Calif.) or maybe Paris. I definitely would take my family, my brothers, a couple of my friends, and just have fun. You can't go wrong with your friends, your brothers and your family — you can't go wrong.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
