The Georgia men’s basketball team moved quickly to fill the scholarship that became available when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope declared for the NBA draft Monday.
Kenny Paul Geno, a 6-foot-6, 200-pound forward from Booneville, Miss., committed Wednesday, the first day of college basketball’s late signing period.
“Georgia had been recruiting me for a while,” Geno said. “They had two scholarships open, and had been telling me that if Kentavious was to go to the NBA, that would probably be my scholarship.”
Geno picked the Bulldogs over Middle Tennessee State, Arkansas State and Jacksonville State, among others. He plans to sign with Georgia on Thursday morning.
Geno averaged 23 points and 14 rebounds as a high school senior.
“He’s a very dynamic player — a tremendous jumper who shoots the ball very, very well,” Booneville coach Mike Smith said. “He’s the type of kid that explodes off the floor, and can dunk on anyone. He’s blue collar, and he does things the right way. He sort of ‘old school’ and plays the game the way it should be played. He’ll take a charge or do whatever to help the team.”
Tech signs Jorgenson: The competition to run Georgia Tech's offense officially became a three-way battle Wednesday with the signing of point guard Travis Jorgenson from Columbia, Mo. ESPN ranks Jorgenson, who played his senior season at the New Hampton (N.H.) School, as the No. 31 point guard in the country.
Jorgenson (6-0, 170) also received scholarship offers from Boston College, Creighton and Kansas State. He averaged a team-high 13.2 points and 5.0 assists per game.
“We’re really pleased that Travis is joining our program,” coach Brian Gregory said in a statement. “He’s got a tremendous basketball IQ and the unique ability to create scoring opportunities for himself and others, qualities which are very important in our program as we continue to move forward.”
Jorgenson will vie for the starting point guard spot with rising sophomore Solomon Poole and redshirt freshman Corey Heyward.
With the transfer of forward Julian Royal, Tech has one scholarship available. Gregory’s coaching staff is considering transfer candidates to complete the roster.
Panthers add two: Georgia State signed guards Isaiah Dennis of Eagle's Landing and Jaylen Hinton of Trinity Episcopal in Richmond, Va.
Dennis, who is 5-11, averaged 16.2 points and 4.3 assists per game in helping Eagle’s Landing to the Class AAAA state championship. He earned first-team all-state honors.
Hinton, 6-1, averaged 17.5 points and 5.0 assists per game to earn all-state honors.
Georgia State coach Ron Hunter said Dennis can play point guard or shooting guard, while Hinton is more of a point guard. GSU also will add Kentucky transfer Ryan Harrow.
Owls sign Wozniak: Kennesaw State signed 6-5 shooting guard Tanner Wozniak, who averaged 7.8 points per game at Jones County (Miss.) Junior College. Wozniak, who will be a junior, began his college career at Florida International.
