NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Top 2019 prospect Anthony Edwards down to five teams

Top-5 2019 recruit Anthony Edwards has three blue bloods on his final-five college list.

Anthony Edwards recently narrowed his college choices down to five. The consensus 2019 five-star recruit revealed his list at the Chick-fila-A Classic, according to Evan Daniels of 247 Sports. His five finalists are the Georgia Bulldogs, Florida State Seminoles, North Carolina Tar Heels, Kansas Jayhawks, and Kentucky Wildcats.

“It’s going real good,” Edwards told Daniels about the recruiting process. “I like it. It’s been fun. The colleges, the coaches calling my phone all the time.”

The Atlanta native is ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the nation by 247 Sports, but No.4 by  247 Sports Composite. He is also ranked fourth by ESPN and third by Rivals.

Edwards has a scorer’s mentality and is a physically gifted and very skilled guard who likes contact. He is a solid athlete who can play above the rim as well as a good passer and sound decision-maker. Edwards, who is also a strong rebounder for a guy his size, does need to work on his on-ball defense and becoming more of a facilitator.

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams and Georgia assistant coach Amir Abdul-Rahim were in Columbia, South Carolina, for the Chick-Fil-A Classic on Dec. 27, where Edwards pumped in 27 points and seven rebounds in Holy Spirit Prep’s loss to Bella Vista Prep. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard followed that game by posting a double-double (18 points and 11 boards) in a loss to The Rock in Game two of the tournament.

Edwards decided to re-classify from 2020 to 2019 on November 20. He took his lone official visit to Georgia on Dec. 1. While Edwards has yet to schedule any other visits, he said he plans on making some trips in January.

In cutting his list to five from his previous list of eight, he eliminated Duke, UCLA and Michigan State from his list.

Breaking Down The Five Finalists

Georgia

According to Edwards, Bulldogs head coach Tom Crean’s pitch to why Georgia is the place for him has centered around staying near home. “Hometown,” Edwards said when asked about the Bulldogs message. “It’s your hometown, so come on.”

Crean is currently 8-4 in his first season with the Bulldogs. While the Bulldogs have six seniors on their roster, it is sophomores Rayshaun Hammonds and Nicolas Claxton as well as junior Tyree Crump leading the way.

Crean brought in No. 37 recruiting class last year, according to 247 Sports. However, Tye Fagan is the only one of the four freshmen who is making some sort of impact. Georgia currently has two scholarships remaining for 2019 offseason after signing four-star recruits Jaykwon Walton and Toumani Camara to national letters of intent. Per Verbal Commits, the Bulldogs still have open scholarship offers to eight players in the class.

Kentucky

"“Kentucky is the Big Blue school.It’s different with coach Cal and it’s a good school and I know a couple of people that go there.”"

The Wildcats are a little different with all the ones and dones they have had over the years. Keldon Johnson may be the only one of UK’s talented freshmen that may leave after this season, although sophomore P.J. Washington is also a candidate to leave early. But as it stands now, the Wildcats have two scholarships left in 2019. They have already signed five-star guard Tyrese Maxey and four-star small forward Dontaie Allen to a national letter of intent. 6-foot-7 wing Kahlil Whitney gave his verbal commitment on Sept. 8.

North Carolina

Edwards has the Tar Heels on the list because coach Roy Williams lets his guards play and the fact that Michael Jordan went there. Williams just signed a huge extension, so the 68-year-old will definitely be there. Obviously, like Kentucky along with Kansas, UNC is one of the blue bloods and has a strong history.

The Tar Heels will lose three key players at the end of the season in seniors Cameron Johnson, Luke Maye and Kenny Williams.  They still should have a couple of quality building blocks in Coby White and Nassir Little.

UNC currently has one scholarship left for the 2019 season of the three that they started with as four-star point guard Jeremiah Francis and five-star 6-foot-10 power forward Armando Bacot have already signed letters of intent. The Tar Heels recently offered five-star Precious Achiuwa.

Kansas

"“It’s far, but they always welcome their basketball players and show them a large amount of love and Bill Self is a great coach.”"

The Jayhawks, who just lose senior LeGerald Vick after the season, may not have any scholarships for 2019 available after already inking Issac McBride and Christian Braun to LOIs. However, it is possible at least one of the following players will leave early: Udoka Azubuike, Dedric Lawson, Devon Dotson, Quintin Grimes, and Silvio De Sousa. Kansas has open offers to five other players in the class.

Florida State

“They are like family to me, so they are just always going to be in the mix.”

The Seminoles are considered the favorite for Edwards’ services. FSU is off to a fantastic start at 12-1 in 2018-19. The Seminoles will lose five seniors after the season and they have already signed four recruits and have received a commitment from another player in next year’s recruiting class. Meaning that FSU has no other scholarships currently available.

JUCO transfer Nathaneal Jack, Patrick Williams, Naheem McLeod, and Balša Koprivica have signed LOIs. Meanwhile, Zimife Nwokeji has verbally committed to the program.

Prediction for Edwards: 1. Georgia, 2. Kentucky 3. FSU 4. UNC 5. Kansas