“Was Gonna Go to Florida State”: Anthony Edwards Breaks Down Why He Chose to Stay Close to His Home and Became a Bulldog

Anthony Edwards was a five-star recruit, a top-five player in the country, and a top shooting guard as a high schooler in the 2019 class. As a five-star recruit, everyone expected the future Minnesota Timberwolves star to choose a top collegiate program, like Florida State, Kentucky, or the University of North Carolina. However, Edwards threw a curveball at fans by choosing Georgia State, a program that wasn’t known as a college basketball powerhouse.

In a recent interview with Through the Wire, Edwards explained his reasoning behind the move. He said, “I was gonna go to Florida State. Something happened in the end. And then I went on a visit Kentucky, but two guys had committed there. I wasn’t gonna go to UNC because they had Cole [Anthony]. So I was like, I might as well go to Georgia.”

Ant explained how he was prepared to go to Florida State as his other two options, North Carolina and Kentucky, already had five-star recruits on the team roster. However, after something undisclosed went down in Florida State, Georgia State seemed like the only option close to home. As a native of Atlanta, Edwards also had another serious reason for choosing Georgia over other powerhouse basketball schools.

A 2019 article from The TomaHawk Nation reported that Edwards chose Georgia State to be closer to his family. In a statement, Ant told The TomaHawk Nation, “My sister just had my nephew, I want to see him grow, so [staying close to home] was a big factor.” Edwards was also drawn towards the program as two of his favorite players, Dwyane Wade and Victor Oladipo, were coached during their college stints by the Bulldogs’ head coach, Tom Crean.

The 22-year-old had previously stated, “The reason I picked the University of Georgia is because it’s my home school.” Though the FSU team would have been thankful to have Ant onboard with them, they still seemed pretty good in shape even without the future Timberwolves star. Edwards finished his career in college ball averaging 19.1 points, 2.8 assists, and 5.2 rebounds per game.

Anthony Edwards explained his reasons for choosing Georgia basketball in a press conference

Soon after declaring his recruitment at Georgia State, Anthony Edwards appeared in front of the press to answer questions about his recruitment. In the press conference, we could see the budding star holding his sister’s four-month-old son, who was a major factor in influencing his decision.

Choosing Georgia over other top recruiting programs such as FSU, Kentucky, and Kansas State was tough for Edwards. In the press conference, he said, “It was really tough turning down Kentucky because, I mean, one of the greatest coaches of all time. Great dude. It was not like putting on the Kentucky jersey, so it was hard to turn down Kentucky.” 

On board with the Bulldogs, Edwards became the top scorer on his team and among freshmen nationally. He earned second-team All-SEC and SEC Freshman of the Year honors before declaring for the NBA draft in 2020.