Georgia basketball: Is Anthony Edwards the next James Harden?

Georgia basketball has never had a player like Anthony Edwards and expectations are high for what the phenom can do for Tom Crean’s team.

Anthony Edwards is taking a different route to fulfil his NBA dreams. Rather than team up with other top recruits, he’s going solo at Georgia where the hometown star hopes to leave as a hometown hero.

What might look like a trailblazing decision on the surface, is actually the culmination of the second overall high school prospect in the Class of 2019 using two popular recruiting trends. The first, choosing to stay home for school and the second, reclassifying in order to get to the NBA quicker.

Previously Edwards was part of the 2020 graduating class but in November of 2018, he made his decision public to move up a year. He remained a top player despite the move and was chased by all of the top programs across the country. Then in February, he announced he would play for Tom Crean and the Bulldogs.

Remaining in the state and being the hometown hero clearly resonated with him and he now will be counted upon to be the driving force to what many hope will be a big season for the team.

However, what happens if things don’t go according to plan and the Bulldogs aren’t in contention for anything meaningful by late January? It wouldn’t be the first time a top prospect was unable to lead his team to the NCAA Tournament as a freshman. Ben Simmons (LSU) and Markelle Fultz (Washington) failed to take their teams to March Madness but still were taken with the top pick in their respective NBA drafts. Edwards could end up looking past this year and get too caught up in what awaits him at the next level.

It is easy to see why the NBA would fall in love with him when watching him play. His offensive game is advanced for a player his age. He can score from all three levels of the floor. He is a dynamic ball-handler who is capable of breaking his defender down off the dribble via an array of crossovers, step-backs, and other moves. When allowed to operate in one-on-one scenarios there will be few college defenders who have what it takes to stop him from getting the shot he wants.

He is listed by the school as 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds (for comparison, James Harden is 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds according to the Houston Rockets website) which gives him an NBA-ready body. Edwards could realistically take the court tomorrow in an NBA game and not look out of place. Yet, he will have to face off against the SEC before he gets to that stage of his career.

Choosing to be coached by Crean might look like an odd choice on the surface but during his time at Marquette and Indiana, he’s been part of the development of two pretty good shooting guards in Dwyane Wade and Victor Oladipo. Edwards is hoping he could become the next piece of that lineage.

Positions have been basically eroded over time, instead players now feel slots on offense. Edwards can operate with or without the ball. Expect the Bulldogs to put his full arsenal on display by letting him be the focal point of the offense. Whether he’s receiving high ball screens or working in isolation, Georgia will do all they can to showcase his singular talents.

His measurements aren’t the only thing resembling Harden. He has borrowed the former MVP’s style of play and has tried to make it his own. He doesn’t have all the fakes, step backs, and footwork down yet but what he has been able to piece together has made him a very dangerous weapon on offense.

Unlike the other two, he is a more complete player entering college. Crean was able to mold Oladipo and Wade into what they eventually became, the task this time around is refining the talent Edwards already possesses. The freshman from Georgia is a better offensive player but he will need a lot of work on the defensive end to match his predecessors.

The length and athleticism are there for him to make life difficult but the mindset hasn’t clicked for him yet. If Crean is able to get him to buy in on that end and at least look like he’s trying to play good defense 90 percent of the time there really isn’t much keeping him from being in the race for the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Similarly to how Trae Young’s name recognition shot through the roof during his lone season with the Oklahoma Sooners, Edwards has an opportunity to become a household name this season. It’s rare a player ranked as high as he comes into the collegiate ranks with little national name recognition. Part of it is due to his choice to reclassify but the people who know and watch high school basketball made sure Edwards got his recognition for what he accomplished at that level.

Georgia hasn’t had a player of this caliber since Kentavious Caldwell-Pope elected to stay home and attend UGA. Edwards is clearly a better prospect. What he does on the floor this year will likely make the Bulldogs a team the mainstream media is talking about because of their accolades on the basketball court this winter.

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