Tony Parker picks UCLA over UGA, which needed him more
This isn't football. Georgia doesn't get everybody it wants. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
The most accomplished player in the history of Georgia high school basketball announced Monday that he would play collegiately three time zones away. He’d been recruited hard by the flagship university of the state he’d dominated, but Tony Parker declined to remain, to use his phrase, “a hometown hero.”
Then Parker said this: “That would have been the easy way out.”
If you’re Mark Fox, who coaches the Georgia Bulldogs, you’re surely wondering if there will be an easy way. Fox has signed two of Parker’s Miller Grove teammates, and through force of will he elbowed his way onto a short list that was essentially a Mount Rushmore of college hoops. And still: No sale.
“They got in there,” said Norman Parker (no relation), who’s president of the AAU Georgia Stars, for whom Tony Parker played summer ball. “Just to be in that lineup sends the message that Georgia is getting there.”
Trouble is, recruiting comes with no consolation prizes. When Parker is teaming with fellow freshmen Shabazz Muhammad and Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams to restore the UCLA Bruins to national eminence, who lifts Georgia? And if the Bulldogs can’t convince a gifted and determined young man who grew up 60 miles away that the road to glory can run through Stegeman Coliseum, what hope is there?
We’re constantly reminded that this state produces top-shelf basketball talent. On Monday we were reminded why coaching basketball at this state’s flagship university is among the more difficult jobs in the land. To have signed Tony Parker would have put UGA on the map. In the end, Parker chose a school where his chosen sport isn’t considered a nerdy little brother.
The caps on display on the stage at Miller Grove told the tale: UCLA( 11 national titles); Duke (four titles); Ohio State (one title, plus two Final Four runs in the past six season) … and Georgia, which has won seven NCAA tournament games in its history, one this century. (Kansas, with three NCAA titles, was apparently eliminated before the caps were arrayed.)
And the world of college basketball is changing in a way that doesn’t augur well for a program trying to establish its bona fides. The big-name recruits are bonding around big-name schools. Said Norman Parker, whose Georgia Stars have sent 11 players to the NBA: “These young men gravitate to each other and are going with each other – maybe not to become the next Fab Five, but [in UCLA’s case] a Fab Four.”
Georgia’s hope was that Tony Parker would want play near home, but for an athlete who steeped in the AAU system distance has become less of a determinant. “He’s so oriented to travel,” Norman Parker said. “If he had to get on a plane and fly to Germany tonight it wouldn’t bother him.”
Don’t think that friendships forged along the AAU circuit can’t override physical mileage. All the best players know one another, and they’ve taken to clustering in search of an NCAA title. (Kentucky’s recent championship is already the new model.) Nor did it hurt that UCLA hired Korey McCray, who was CEO of the AAU Atlanta Celtics, last summer as an assistant coach.
Said Norman Parker: “I’m sure that connection helped. [McCray] was a pipeline directly to the [Tony Parker] family – that’s my guess … They didn’t hire [McCray] for his looks.”
But here’s the cruel part: UCLA would have had a splendid recruiting class without Tony Parker. Georgia needed him badly. To have paired one McDonald’s All-American (guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who just completed his freshman season) with another in the massive Parker would have suggested that Fox is becoming a major player in a majorly bountiful state. Moot point now.
Said Tony Parker: “I’ve done a lot for [the state of] Georgia, and Georgia has done a lot for me. It’s time for me to broaden my horizons.”
As for the flagship university of the state Parker will leave: How should it feel? Proud to have come so close in a field of heavy hitters? Or frustrated to see a big-timer walk away?
“It’s a little bit of both,” said Sharman White, who coached Parker to four state championships at Miller Grove. “You hate to see talent leave the state, but Georgia came a long way. It was not in this conversation six months ago, even three months ago.”
Someone suggested that Parker bore the look of a player who could have had a transforming effect on the Bulldogs. “Coach Fox is a great coach, and he’s going to get that guy [eventually]’” White said. “It’ll come real soon.”
Then White said: “If he’d have gotten Tony, it would have been monumental.”
By Mark Bradley
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162 comments Add your comment
Mark Fox is not the answer
April 23rd, 2012
8:51 pm
Instead of saying “Poor Mark Fox, Georgia is such a hard job”, why don’t you say the truth? Mark Fox is a below-average recruiter and can’t get top-level kids to play in Athens.
GT22
April 23rd, 2012
8:51 pm
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Quit crying Bradley. There is more than 1 basketball team in this state and he didn’t chose them either but I can’t remember the last time you wrote a puff piece pumping anyone other than the dwags. Maybe if you and Carvell can talk enough about all the reasons why some kid doesn’t go to ugag you can miraculousy change his mind.
todd grantham
April 23rd, 2012
8:53 pm
“He’s so oriented to travel,” Norman Parker said. “If he had to get on a plane and fly to Germany tonight it wouldn’t bother him.”
what the hell does that mean? is he on a no fly list or something??
Realism
April 23rd, 2012
8:54 pm
Cause it’s not the truth. The truth is that high school coaches don’t matter anymore, it’s all about the AAU and their huge shoe contracts.
Fox needs to hire a guy on the inside and his recruiting will turnaround. That is the only reason Parker and these other Georgia Stars players are going to UCLA in the first place
BG
April 23rd, 2012
8:54 pm
UCLA hired his AAU Coach. This one is easy to figure out. College basketball recruiting is a very dirty business.
todd grantham
April 23rd, 2012
8:56 pm
maybe the youngster was having trouble discerning on paper UCLA and UGA. Very close. We might wake up and find it’s all a mistake!
Realism
April 23rd, 2012
8:56 pm
UCLA hired his AAU Coach. This one is easy to figure out. College basketball recruiting is a very dirty business.
———————————————————————————————————————————-
Somebody gets it. Mark, you have to play the AAU game or you won’t have a team to coach. High School doesn’t matter in basketball recruiting, it’s all about the the Shoe Deal sponsored AAU programs.
todd grantham
April 23rd, 2012
8:58 pm
Georgia’s hope was that Tony Parker would want play near home, but for an athlete who steeped in the AAU system distance has become less of a determinant. “He’s so oriented to travel,” Norman Parker said. “If he had to get on a plane and fly to Germany tonight it wouldn’t bother him.”
Mark, have you ever written a dumber quote in your career?
Pmc
April 23rd, 2012
9:03 pm
Maybe Georgia should go pay a guy that can bring in talent of they want to be relevant anyway.
Herschel Talker
April 23rd, 2012
9:07 pm
MB:
This hat-flipping, babbling circus was a disgrace. The media puts these clowns up to these nonsense press conferences and these kids get a God complex. This guy is a disgrace, his parents are a disgrace, and everyone involved with today’s Barnum and Bailey imitation should be embarrassed.
HT
Mark Bradley
April 23rd, 2012
9:21 pm
I met Tony Parker for the first time today. I liked him very much. He seems like a fine young man. And I’ve met a few big-name recruits I wouldn’t characterize thusly.
Augusta Bred
April 23rd, 2012
9:22 pm
You people kill me about AAU and shoe deals. UCLA is an Adidas school and T.P. has played for Nike sponsored AAU team. If anything the shoe deal thing worked in reverse
Augusta Bred
April 23rd, 2012
9:25 pm
And even if he is overrated. He would’ve been the best player to step on UGAs campus in a long time. KCP included. Let the man enjoy his scholarship and his opportunity to play big time college basketball
foothills
April 23rd, 2012
9:44 pm
Hope he does for California what he’s done for Georgia….whatever THAT is. Maybe he will become as good as he thinks he is.
bubba4dawgs
April 23rd, 2012
10:14 pm
Good Luck, Tony! Ga. hates to see you go! It’s like growing up your son, developing all your skills at home then kissing them off! That’s OK! Anyway, we’ll be checking in on you with hopes you are realizing your dream. Georgia will always be home and you really could have lit up some boards for your family and friends to enjoy and your career could have been just as exciting and rewarding as yours may be at UCLA. I must tell you that the road to the championship goes thru Kentucky, North Carolina and Duke. Don’t expect to be there during your time there!! It won’t happen!!
Fan of the Game
April 23rd, 2012
10:33 pm
He’ll be back soon. UCLA must have kissed the AAU coaches butt. That is the only way these schools get these kids. They pad these AAU coaches wallets and kiss their butts.
Fan of the Game
April 23rd, 2012
10:36 pm
Kentucky, the College champions, what a joke. What they did had nothing to do with student athletes. They were just a minor league team for the pros. Maybe they will get rid of this one and done rule. Makes the NCAA look stupid.
Delbert D.
April 23rd, 2012
10:43 pm
The University of Georgia dodged that one-and-done bullet. Let UCLA pay the price of a corrupt system.
I dropped my fried twinkie
April 23rd, 2012
10:52 pm
Most accomplished player? NOT even close. He played on some great teams but he himself isn’t the greatest player or a hometown hero.
He will not have to compete for accolades at UCLA like he would have at UGa. UGa is a football school in a football conference. At UCLA football will not be much competition.
He is a Good player but not Stellar by a long shot at this time in his career.
The dawg fans already bashing him for his choice is just WRONG and I hope more players considering playing at UGa will see how the UGa fans can be.
COACH J
April 23rd, 2012
10:53 pm
I am a true DAWG FAN. Tony’s display today was a joke. He is a punk that should be on the left coast. Did a high schooler claim today that he has done a lot for the State of Georgia? He and his parents, his HS coach, his AAU advisors have all lost their perspective. He is an 18 year punk that has a long way to go. It’s a shame his advisors told him an hour press conference was a good thing. Watch him closely, could be a long fall, ala, Damon Evans.
I dropped my fried twinkie
April 23rd, 2012
10:55 pm
The UGa fans should be bashing the kid for his choice. I hope UGa recruits see how UGa fans react to players that don’t choose the dawgs.
At UCLA he will not have to compete with FOOTBALL like he would at UGa.
I dropped my fried twinkie
April 23rd, 2012
10:56 pm
At UGa he would have to compete with SEC football and that will not happen at UCLA.
COACH J
April 23rd, 2012
10:59 pm
AT UCLA, he will battle Hollywood, the Lakers, the Dodgers and USC, all the while he will not even sniff a championship. Winning is about coaching, not just recruiting.
I dropped my fried twinkie
April 23rd, 2012
11:00 pm
man UGa fans are bashing this kid for making a choice that HE BELIEVES is BEAT for himself. What is WRONG with you people? You LOVED him for Months, Weeks, Days, and just Hours before he chose UCLA. Why would ANY kid want to play for UGa fans?
I dropped my fried twinkie
April 23rd, 2012
11:01 pm
Jilted UGa fans are real mean.
mark
April 23rd, 2012
11:02 pm
There is no more hometown pride! In my days kids wanted to go to the local school, and help bring championships to their hometown! Not anymore it’s all about the glamor! Hometown loyalty is a thing of the past! What a shame!
I dropped my fried twinkie
April 23rd, 2012
11:05 pm
HOMETOWN Loyality? What is that? Are you reading what HOMETOWN People are saying about him? Why would Any Kid whant to play for UGa fans?
I dropped my fried twinkie
April 23rd, 2012
11:06 pm
What is Hometown Pride?
carl
April 23rd, 2012
11:06 pm
Georgia Tech sign a 5 star player in Robert Carter!!! Georgia Tech recruiting class was 24th ESPN and rivals 15th… All state of Georgia players!!!! Go Tech
I dropped my fried twinkie
April 23rd, 2012
11:07 pm
Looks like the Hometown People HATE him. He should be happy he isn’t playing for DOG fans.
Who Me?
April 23rd, 2012
11:18 pm
As a lifelong UGA fan, it isn’t about Coach Fox. It IS about the school – and the money it doesn’t spend on basketball. We don’t have to worry about losing the Parker’s of the world, we need to be worrying about getting this coach the tools he needs before he packs up and heads off to “greener” pastures.
Want Tier 1 players? Give Fox a Tier 1 budget, and spend some of the football TV money on a new b-ball gym for God’s sake. UGA should NOT be losing players to other schools, period. There’s no reason at all this SEC school shouldn’t be getting and keeping the top players in the state. UGA has to decide it wants to be a basketball powerhouse and give CMF the tools to build the program.
UGA’s facilities and budget are a joke, I don’t blame Parker. Still can’t believe he didn’t choose Duke but can’t blame him for choosing a school with a beach and a former coach on the staff.
Hoops Dawg
April 23rd, 2012
11:20 pm
Get a grip dawg fans. I wanted Tony about as badly as anyone and never gave up on Coach Fox’s getting him, even when UGA wasn’t even on the radar. Who can blame him for wanting to try Westwood–the most storied program in college basketball (at least as defined by national titles). I grew up in California and absolutely adored John Wooden’s bruins–those teams were always a class act. So good luck Tony, although I have to admit that I’d have much rather seen you in Athens.
J-dawg
April 23rd, 2012
11:24 pm
Didn’t any of these prized recruits read the Sports Illustrated article about how far the UCLA program has fallen? The allegations of drug use, in-fighting, and aura of the “inmates running the asylum” over the last few seasons?
But I guess in this era of 1-and-done they aren’t going for a college experience- it is just a one year stepping stone to the NBA.
Moobs Johnson
April 23rd, 2012
11:30 pm
After the hour long announcement, Dawg fans should be happy the drama queen is going to Hollywood.
I dropped my fried twinkie
April 23rd, 2012
11:34 pm
J-dawg……just like many of the UGa football recruits don’t read about all the arrests at UGa. I don’t think they CAN READ.
LOL
April 23rd, 2012
11:46 pm
I hope the kid enjoys his time at UCLA, and I hope he grows up. That dog and pony show of a press conference was ridiculous for a HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER. His parents should be ashamed that they even allowed that to happen. He was a fine HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER, and thats it.
wha
April 23rd, 2012
11:50 pm
wha? read? wha? twinkie wha?
I dropped my fried twinkie
April 23rd, 2012
11:54 pm
Do you really think the kids read this stuff? They watch the TV but I doubt many read the hard hitting articles about schools before they make a choice unless it is saying Team on Probation.
KevinM
April 23rd, 2012
11:56 pm
All the griping about one and done…and everyone here would jump the first chance they got as well.
Move on, there’s not much to see here….Fox needs to step up his instate recruiting to stay competitive. And if he’s not getting the OAD, then he should at least be competitive every 3-4 years with the guys he is getting…so all is not lost.
Parker may be forgotten as soon as this PC was held. He can go and see what’s in store for him with a bunch of former UNC parts and another lumbering big man, Josh Smith…the ‘other’ Josh Smith.
herschel squawker
April 23rd, 2012
11:58 pm
Talker: Dont blame the media! Kids eat it up.Twinkie kid…they dont know what probation means.
I'm Just Saying
April 23rd, 2012
11:59 pm
My guess is that he knew how much a three point shot was worth and ugump felt his academic standards were too high.
I dropped my fried twinkie
April 23rd, 2012
11:59 pm
LOL…….I didn’t hear all this Negative Stuff from the Dawg fans when Crowell did his Show and used the puppy.
The Factor
April 23rd, 2012
11:13 pm
Parker and his parents are Pinheads. Should have stayed in state.
Man 35:55minute Murray and his parents are Pinheads too. He should have stayed in State.
Faton Bauta, Marlon Brown, Marc Deas, Zach Debell, Kwame Gathers, Christian LeMay, Keith Marshall…….just to name a few should have stayed in state too.
You Dwags need to BOO every time a UGa player from out of state gets in the game.
bluebru
April 23rd, 2012
11:59 pm
It’s funny to see, when someone doesn’t pick your school then they become over rated which is dumb to me. The kid can play so just congratulate the guy
Whopper Dawg
April 23rd, 2012
11:59 pm
Mark, good points. Tough job for Fox, took a step back last year. It can be done, witness Donovan at FLA (I hated writing those words). UGA basketball can be a resounding success, we just need the right coach.
Is Fox that coach?? Right now I think the needle is right in the middle. If he gets the wins on the court, the players will come.
bluebru
April 24th, 2012
12:04 am
@Coach J… Howland can coach, 3 final 4’s is coaching to me. And out here in L.A. UCLA basketball is up there with the lakers and dodgers
herschel squawker
April 24th, 2012
12:06 am
Sense a lil Dawg envy from Twinkie Boy…..Or a Dawg whose a Dawg Hater…
OJ Mustard
April 24th, 2012
12:08 am
Agree Howland can coach but the closest thing youv’e sniffed since Dollar and Tyus is Love.
dudefuss
April 24th, 2012
12:14 am
Im Just Sayin…Im an idiot.
Cindy
April 24th, 2012
12:29 am
Hey Twinkie Maybe he didn’t want to stay “In State” maybe he wanted to go to school OUT of STATE to a place that has won more National Titles then any other school and is also a place where John Wooden once coached. Isn’t just TOO D BAD that he didn’t choose UOFA.
Cindy
April 24th, 2012
12:31 am
Sorry for the Typo I meant to type UGA