Anthony Edwards going No. 1 in NBA Draft puts Georgia athletics in rare company

With Anthony Edwards going No. 1 overall in the NBA draft, University of Georgia athletics is now in some rare company.

On Wednesday night, University of Georgia guard Anthony Edwards went No. 1 overall to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA draft. He is now obviously the highest-drafted player in the basketball program’s history, and the first top-five pick from the program since Dominique Wilkins in 1982.

Had he not gone No. 1 overall, Edwards would have gone in the top-five to join Wilkins in that select company. But his selection in the first round has put the Georgia athletic program in some very rare company, with three top-10 picks in a set of three professional drafts in the same year.

Georgia is now one of five schools, and the second SEC school, to have a first-round pick in the NBA, NFL and MLB drafts in the same year.

Andrew Thomas was the first offensive tackle off the board in April’s NFL Draft, fourth overall by the New York Giants. He has started nine of 10 games so far this season, with early struggles a serious cause for concern. He has played his best over the last three games though, allowing just one sack, two quarterback hits and five hurries (h/t to Giants.com, via Pro Football Focus). This week’s dismissal of offensive line coach Marc Columbo might be a positive development for Thomas.

Right-handed pitcher Emerson Hancock was selected sixth overall by the Seattle Mariners in this year’s MLB draft, and he has signed. He is the 11th Bulldog baseball player to be drafted in the first round, and the highest selection for the school since Derek Lilliquist (sixth overall to the Atlanta Braves in 1987). In three seasons at Georgia, Hancock went 16-7 with a 3.47 ERA, 206 strikeouts (9.7 K/9) and 55 walks (2.6 BB/9) over 192 innings (33 appearances, all starts).

The Bulldogs’ men’s basketball program occasionally puts a recognizable player in the NBA (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope of recent ilk). The baseball program produced a top-10 pick this year, as they ranked as high as No. 2 in the country in national polls last season. So Georgia is not just a football school.