ATHENS, Ga. (AP) Football rules the athletic landscape at Georgia.
It would take a superhero to swipe away some of that attention.
Enter the Ant Man.
Stopping off in Athens for a one-season layover on his way to the NBA, Anthony Edwards has readily accepted an enormous challenge:
Make basketball relevant at the home of the Dawgs.
Its just a great place, man, Edwards said. I felt the atmosphere and was like, This is where I need to be.
Surprising words from a 6-foot-5 guard who is projected as one of the top picks perhaps even No. 1 in next years NBA draft.
He had his choice of blue-blood programs coming out of high school in Atlanta, including Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina.
Instead, Ant Man went with a team that lost 21 games last season including a dismal 2-16 mark in the Southeastern Conference.
A school where football is king.
I thought he was playing with me, said senior Tyree Crump, who helped recruit Edwards and developed an instant rapport with him. He was like, No, Im really coming to Georgia. Thats what we needed.
Second-year coach Tom Crean also knew how important it was to land a player of Edwards caliber.
Not just for what he could do on the court, but how he would change the perception of Georgia basketball for potential recruits in the years to come.
Theres no question its a huge thing, Crean said. It made being at Georgia cool.
With the NBA beckoning, Edwards time with the Bulldogs will surely be short.
After nine games, its not yet clear how lasting his mark will be on Georgia basketball.
Ant Man leads the team in scoring with a nearly 20-point average, but hes not surrounded by as much talent as he would have been with the Jayhawks or the Wildcats or the Tar Heels.
Georgia (6-3) lost by 19 points to Dayton and is coming off a 20-point blowout at Arizona State. The Bulldogs other setback was to No. 15 Michigan State, but Edwards gave a tantalizing glimpse of his potential in that one, scoring 33 of his 37 points in the second half with a barrage of contested 3-pointers.
