Georgia lands legacy Houston Kessler as final signee of 2012 hoops class
We now know who was Georgia’s “Plan B” to Tony Parker.
Houston Kessler, a 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward out of Landmark Christian School in Fairburn, signed with the Bulldogs on Tuesday night and faxed in his signed letter-of-intent Wednesday morning, his coach confirmed.
“They have been watching him since his sophomore year,” Landmark Christian coach Chip McAllister said via email. “They have always really liked him. He had a huge year this year and as the season wore on things just fell into place.”
Kessler is a UGA legacy, the son of former Georgia basketball player Chad Kessler and the nephew of the late Alec Kessler, who starred for the Bulldogs’ 1990 SEC championship team. Kessler averaged 22 points and 11 rebounds as a senior at the Class A private school and finished as Landmark’s career scoring leader at 1,600 points. The War Eagles have gone 39-16 over the past two seasons, including a 20-8 mark in 2012 that was capped by a Round of 16 showing in the Class A state tournament.
“Houston is a skilled forward,” coach Mark Fox said in a statement released by UGA. “He is a great shooter and rebounder and we are looking forward to having him join our team next year.”
McAllister described Kessler as a great shooter and rebounder and “very hard worker.”
“He’s still developing as a player,” McAllister said. “He has a huge upside. He’s still growing. Phenomenal kid, brilliant student, Salutatorian of his class. Underrated athleticism. Diamond in the rough.”
Kessler becomes the fourth and final member of Georgia’s 2012 recruiting class. He joins 6-4 guard Kenny Gaines of Whitefield Academy, 6-6 guard Charles Mann of Milton and 6-8 forward Brandon Morris of Miller Grove.
Parker, a 6-9, 280-pound forward from Miller Grove and a McDonald’s All-American, chose UCLA over UGA on Monday.
– Chip Towers, The UGA Blog
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85 comments Add your comment
Moneyball
April 25th, 2012
2:06 pm
Had I known that this was “Plan B”, I would have been wishing for “Plan A” to fall through. I, for one, am glad that it played out this way.
kingster
April 25th, 2012
2:08 pm
Ha, ha, the football team doesn’t mind dipping into the GT legacy, sometime I wonder how UGA people and coaches can look at themself, all is fair as long as they win, this is sad, but when Paul Johnson leaves and we get a real coach, Tech is going be nationally like we use to be, but right now we fighting hard to stay ahead of Div II team, whooooo boy!!!
Hoopster
April 25th, 2012
2:23 pm
Congrats for this kid. He had 1 other “big-time” offer, Mississippi State. The rest were from………
HardTruth Soldier
April 25th, 2012
2:28 pm
Ya’ll lost nothing in Tony Parker, he’s Big slow, and Lazy. He’ll be just like the kid that they compared to Dwight Howard (Zach Randolph) who became a huge failure.
Frank Lane
April 25th, 2012
2:55 pm
Great News! Much rather have another Kessler than Parker.
Eisendawg
April 25th, 2012
3:38 pm
What I really like is he didn’t hold a press conference and make us wait an hour. I’d rather have a hard working player who will put team first and spare us the drama.
Promethius
April 25th, 2012
3:48 pm
Now this is the kind of kid UGa or anyone else can be proud of. Too bad we don’t go after enough of this ilk.
Peach Fuzz
April 25th, 2012
3:49 pm
I agree, rather have this type guy (like Tyler Zeller at UNC) who can really make you proud of your school. Although, I don’t believe Parker was a dummy either.
gg
April 25th, 2012
3:58 pm
Totally happy with this outcome! Better in the long run, too.
Hey Bama Pride: Get real. It ain’t Bama they want. It’s the coach! Otherwise, how do you explain all those years prior to Sabin?
Dawg Whisperer
April 25th, 2012
4:11 pm
@Alabama Pride…. and the reason Alabama is not on anyone’s list to relocate a business is because all you think about is football. If you are as one dimensional as your post suggests, then I suppose you are content with that. Kessler is exactly what UGA needs with what he brings both athletically and academically.
Gary
April 25th, 2012
4:34 pm
As much as I would have liked to have seen Parker a bulldog, this may actually work out for the best. I remember the Kessler brothers and the great contributions they made on and off the court. Having the next generation continue that tradition could once again elevate the program to where it should be. Fox will make a star out of him, watch and see.
VinceVanGo
April 25th, 2012
5:17 pm
I love the name Houston, his dad must have for seen a basketball career when he was born. I think that if Mark Fox continues to get 2, 3, and an occasional 4 star recruits he will get 4 year players that will stay and learn to play as a team and make the Dogs competitive year in and year out and occasionally have a real good year when they have an abundance of upper class-man. Fox can definitely coach up his players, so if they play team ball and hard nosed defense we Bulldog fans will be proud. Stay away from the 5 Star, head in the clouds, one & done recruits. Georgia doesn’t need them. Very few colleges can be successful with them.
Bob
April 25th, 2012
5:40 pm
Didn’t realize Parker was so fat…6′9″, 290 lbs…sounds like back, knee, and stamina problems. Welcome aboard Mr. Kessler.
D-MAN
April 25th, 2012
5:52 pm
Great to have a white player,good to see,they will hustle!
Big time?? Not
April 25th, 2012
8:00 pm
Having watched both of the earlier Kesslers many times………great! And good to have someone who WANTS to be a dog.
Big time?? Not
April 25th, 2012
8:01 pm
Oh. Four tickets, four hotdogs, four cokes.
1953dawg
April 25th, 2012
8:09 pm
You guys are hilarious. You would rather have a 2 star player that has his father’s name than a 4 star player that will help UGA win games. It’s this type of attitude that has made UGA mediocre. Fans will convince themselves that these projects will win games when they have to play against 4 and 5 star recruit at other SEC programs. The sad part of this whole story is that Fox once again has proven he can’t recruit top Georgia talent, and unfortunately he want be at UGA for 4 or 5 years to watch this marginal player develop. Fox has one more year, and he will be gone. He will have his 3rd losing record this coming winter out of 4 seasons, and he will and he should be gone. He is in one of best states in the country for high school basketball, and he can’t do a damn thing about it. A coach is judged by his won-loss record, fan attendance, fan support, and recruiting. Fox has not succeeded in any of these. And if you UGA fans want to continue to believe that this recruit is better for UGA, then that is where the problem lies. UGA fans are the most gullible fans in the SEC. They love mediocrity, and they have been living in it for more than 30 years, so why try and change things now. They have the right A.D. in place to continue with this pathetic MEDIOCRITY!!
PTC DAWG
April 25th, 2012
8:55 pm
I like when fans show some class on these blogs. Unfortunately, that is all too rare.
Congrats to Kessler.
Pensacola dawg
April 25th, 2012
9:11 pm
Good luck ti the kis. Sad his unclle Alex is no longer with us to watch him play. Alex was a DGD he is in heaven looking down on his nephew.
3 & 8 is still Gator Bait
April 25th, 2012
9:39 pm
To the genius that thinks building fine, new arenas is the answer to keeping local talent here-Have you ever been to Duke? Cameron Indoor Stadium is not exactly a state of the art facility. Also, Derek Harper was from Florida, not Georgia. Dwight Howard & Josh Smith went straight to the NBA as did Lou Williams & others. Check your facts before you start running off at the mouth.
Pago Pago DAWG
April 25th, 2012
9:48 pm
We bet he doesn’t wear deadlocks!
Reporter Dawg
April 25th, 2012
10:24 pm
Great to have another Kessler!
nobody
April 25th, 2012
10:43 pm
get used to no-name players…until Coach Fox proves he can win with the “no-names”, he want have much opportunity at recruiting kids like Tony Parker … the Tony Parkers of the world are looking for the big bucks and are not interested in the emotion associated with playing for the “home state school” because the home state school has yet to prove that it can win enough to give the “big names” t.v. exposure in big time games
Reporter Dawg
April 25th, 2012
10:49 pm
1953Dawg, what are you talking about? 30 years? Try 100 years! Georgia hoops have been irrelevant since the 1930’s. Why? The AD, the Athletic Board and the leadership. Why would you blame the fans? Are you nuts? Where do the fans play a role in hiring a coach, paying a decent staff, establishing a decent budget, establishing a decent facility, establish a very good recruiting process? They don’t. Blame the Athletic Administration PERIOD. They have set the standard for decades. They do not believe they can win, so they don’t fund the program appropriately. Then they use their marketing to drum up support and act like they care. Meanwhile, none of them show up for basketball games. NONE. I cancelled my season tickets for football this season after 11 years because of the obvious lack of commitment to win championships.
Reporter Dawg
April 25th, 2012
10:54 pm
People, it’s NOT the facility. It’s the culture and the tradition. Georgia doen’t spend enough money to recruit and doesn’t have decent pay plans for the assistants. That has been an ongoing problem for YEARS. Why do people not understand that?! Because they have no clue what it takes to win in college basketball. Georgia has the resources but refuses to use them. Hoard the money made from football and only use it to fund football stuff and more women’s sports. We have a halfway decent baseball program, but hoops is ranked last in Athens. No proper commitment.
thwg
April 25th, 2012
11:14 pm
Parker didn’t pick ucla over uga u morons. I heard his coach on the radio. Uga wasn’t even in the top 5. It was ucla over duke, ky, Kansas. Uga as he stated “wasnt on the same level as the others”. No chit!
thwg
April 25th, 2012
11:24 pm
Let me guess, this noname mediocre kessler guy picked uga over ky. Actually I hear it came down to uga or he wa s gonna join the military! What a looser program. Btw, 4-3 jackets win another series against the dawgs. Can’t wait to run all over that redneck grantham’s d next fall unless he gets suspended for a bar fight over the summer. Uga d is a joke. There stats were padded by.playing the bottom of the conference. Looking forward to the slaughter in mizzou
BiggieSmalls
April 26th, 2012
1:14 am
What an absolute waste of a ’ship! This kid couldn’t play at Valdosta St. I saw him several times this year and he is AWFUL. Simply put, he is a skinny NERD. His uncle was pretty good (a different era by the way), but his father was awful as well (i.e. apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree…in fact, the apple doesn’t even fall off the tree at all in this case). Fox gets the Heisman from Tony Parker, and then turns around and gives this guy a free ride? This move is equally as pathetic as it is desperate…goodbye Fox, make sure you turn the lights off when you leave the building!!!! Biggie
Tupac
April 26th, 2012
1:30 am
That was pretty harsh, Biggie. Why don’t you go crawl back in bed with your boyfriend, Paul?!
Hotdawg
April 26th, 2012
7:57 am
Parker will come crawling back in about a year after he figures out that the lure of California isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Glad to have another Kessler! Good kid and good student along with the legacy.
lovinlife
April 26th, 2012
8:31 am
Congratulations to Houston & the Kessler family! So proud to have a talented kid on & off the court who not only will be an asset to the team but to society as well. Not only will he have played basketball at UGA he will have the college degree to go along with it & give back to society just like his father, an incredible surgeon & late uncle did up until his death. So many athletes only go to college to pursue being drafted & when that fails have nothing to turn to. Glad to know Houston has a family who will help guide & direct his path for the future!
a
Jonk
April 26th, 2012
11:55 am
Who cares about That Tony…who knows he mite be busted player later on in life, i am happy with the kids we got right now, all they need is a good guidance and coach
AL ISasafetyschool
April 26th, 2012
4:59 pm
Alabama Pride had to talking about the only good thing in Tusk-a-loser….foosball, since no self respecting Georgia high school grad would be caught dead enrolling a such a crappy extension of a junior high.
More Tony Parker fallout … and UGA’s “Plan B” | cellphoneplansreviews.com
April 26th, 2012
9:29 pm
[...] For a story on Houston Kessler by a AJC’s Chip Towers, please go here. [...]
Monroe's First Redcoat
April 27th, 2012
9:33 am
This DAWG has a great pedigree! I’m not worried that he played in the smallest GHSA division – so did Trey Thompkins…..