When Mark Fox was named head coach at Georgia many in the business questioned whether a man with a West Coast pedigree would be a good fit at an SEC school. After one year, which the Bulldogs became a difficult opponent to defeat, no one questions Fox's basketball acumen, but from a recruiting standpoint there hadn't been that breakthrough recruit to help legitimize the UGA program as a viable option for in-state recruits. Many of the elite players in the state were leaving the borders to compete against, instead of for the state's namesake. That all ended when
Kentavious Caldwell (Greenville, Ga./Greenville) committed. The 6-foot-6 shooting guard, who is the No. 11-ranked player in the ESPNU Top 100, not only gives the Bulldogs a high-level shooter with unlimited range, but Caldwell's future arrival on the Athens campus could start a trend of other elite in-state players to follow suit.
Dai-Jon Parker (Milton, Ga./Milton),
Julian Royal (Alpharetta, Ga./Milton) and fast-rising
Malcolm Brogdon (Norcross, Ga./Greater Atlanta Christian) are all still available and in UGA's site.If the Bulldogs can continue to lure the state's top recruits, watch for Georgia to quickly rise amongst the ranks in the highly-competitive SEC East. Being able to attract one or more of the remaining in-state targets, it would be safe to say that Fox has made the transition from left coaster to southern gent in smooth fashion.