Basketball: UGA target more than triples his scholarship offers in a week

Mr. Georgia Basketball 2011?? Malcolm Brogdon

Greater Atlanta Christian’s Malcolm Brogdon, one of the state’s top basketball players, more than tripled his number of major-college scholarship offers in a week.

Brogdon caught the attention of scouts while playing for the Georgia Stars at the Nike Peach Jam, one of the nation’s top AAU tournaments. He averaged 18.8 points over five games, including a team-high 23 points in three different games. Brogdon also made 17 of 20 foul shots.

“It’s really surprising, and I’m very thankful for it,” Brogdon said. “My coaches told me to be patient with recruiting and they were right.”

The 6-foot-5, 206-pound Brogdon picked up offers from Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Notre Dame, Butler, UMass, Harvard and Providence. Before the tournament, Brogdon held early scholarships from Georgia, Clemson and Minnesota.

Brogdon said he talked on Monday with Georgia coach Mark Fox, who confirmed that the Bulldogs are still recruiting him despite the surprising commitment of Greenville High’s Kentavious Caldwell over the weekend. The 6-foot-6 Caldwell, who is consensus top 15 in the nation by the scouting services, picked UGA over Tennessee and Florida, among others, and also plays shooting guard, like Brogdon.

“Coach Fox said that he wanted to sign two wings this year,” Brogdon said. “He said [Caldwell] was one of them, and he hoped I would be the other.” According to Brogdon, Fox explained that he doesn’t really have a two- or three-guard in his offensive set. He refers to both positions that line up next to the point guard as “wings” — with both having the same basketball responsibilities.

How does Caldwell’s commitment affect Brogdon’s feelings about Georgia? “It’s a positive,” Brogdon said. “Kentavious is a great player, and if I went to Georgia, that’s the kind of players you would want on your team. We would all push each other in practices to be the best we could be.” (Click here to read about Caldwell’s commitment)

Out of the new batch of scholarship offers, Brogdon said he was most excited about Butler, which is one of his dream schools. Butler reached last year’s NCAA championship game, losing to Duke.

“I might take an official visit there, and Butler is definitely going to be one of my final options,” Brogdon said. “I think [Brad Stevens] is a good coach and that I can learn a lot from him. Butler is also a situation where they feel like I can go in and make an immediate impact … and be a part of a winning team in my very first year.”

Brogdon, who has a 3.6 GPA, says his next offers could be from Wake Forest and Boston College. He hasn’t had much contact with Georgia Tech but says he would consider the Yellow Jackets if they get involved.

Last season as a junior, Brogdon averaged 20 points while leading GAC to the Class AA championship. GAC coach Eddie Martin, who had two of his former players at Norcross High selected in last month’s NBA Draft, says Brogdon is one of the most talented players he’s ever coached. (Click here for story)

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Note: I will say it again: Brogdon nearly won Mr. Georgia Basketball honors last year and is one of the frontrunners for the 2011 award. As good as his stats are (and they are), Brogdon does all the “little things” as well as anyone. He is a natural leader, encourages his teammates, works hard to get them involved in the game, sets picks and dives for balls out of bounds, appears to have outstanding character, and strives for excellence in the classroom (Harvard). As we predicted a few weeks ago, we knew it was only a matter of time before the rest of the nation’s top colleges learned about Brogdon. He will likely pick up 5-10 more offers after the Orlando AAU tournament next week and eventually land in the national player rankings, where he belongs. On another note, I’m puzzled by Georgia Tech’s stance, to this point. I know the Jackets are loaded on the roster at shooting guard. However, when someone is that good with those grades in close in proximity, you would think they would at least flirt as a courtesy. And with how quickly things change at the major-college level (players transferring, declaring for the NBA Draft, etc.), you can never have too many recruiting options.

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