The Georgia Bulldogs added two basketball players and lost one this week. And it remains to be seen if there will be any more roster fluctuations.
The Bulldogs lost one of their current players on Thursday as Tim Dixon, a backup center, informed Georgia of his intent to transfer. The 6-foot-10, 230-pound from Columbus would have been a senior next season.
Dixon’s decision came a day after the Bulldogs signed two front-line players to national letters-of-intent on Wednesday. Yante Maten, a 6-foot-8 forward from Bloomfield Hills, Mich., outside of Detroit, was the Gatorade Player of the Year in Michigan. He averaged 19.8 points, 15.2 rebounds, 6.6 blocks and 4.8 assists as a senior, shooting 66 percent from the field.
The Bulldogs also inked 6-11 center Osahen “Fred” Iduwe, a 6-11 center out of St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy, a prep school in Delafield, Wis. A Nigerian citizen, Iduwe averaged 8.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game after graduating from Central Park Christian High School in Birmingham, Ala.
The thought was that Georgia was done with recruiting after signing those two players. But Dixon’s departure leaves the Bulldogs one scholarship shy of the NCAA limit of 13. Meanwhile, there are a couple of intriguing transfer possibilities that could fill the void.
Ahmed Hill, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Aquinas High School in Augusta, is suddenly available. He was granted a release from Marquette, where he signed in November, after coach Buzz Williams left for Virginia Tech. Meanwhile, JaKeenan Gant, a 6-7 forward from Effingham County, is “reviewing his situation” with Missouri in the wake of reports that coach Frank Haith has been hired away by Tulsa.
Gant and Hill were rated the No. 1 and No. 2 overall prospects in Georgia for 2014, according to 247sports.com composite rankings. Georgia was heavily involved in the recruitment of both players.
UGA coach Mark Fox, of course, cannot comment on the possibility. In fact, he had nothing to say about Dixon’s decision to leave. His only statement Thursday was about the two players Georgia signed.
“Yante is a very talented power forward with legitimate size and a very versatile game,” Fox said. “He can score, pass, rebound and is just a terrific young man. He’s a winner both on and off the court.”
“Osahen is obviously a young student of the game, but he has a dynamic future in front of him,” Fox said. “He has terrific length and athleticism. He’s a great runner of the court and shot blocker. We’re very excited that he will be joining us next season.”
Dixon never played more than a bit role for the Bulldogs in his three seasons in Athens but showed some promise toward the end of this past season. He had five rebounds and played solid defense in a career-high 19 minutes against LSU on March 8 and had two points and six rebounds in just nine minutes three days earlier vs. Mississippi State. But he leaves Georgia was career averages of 1.1 points and 8.7 minutes per game.
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