As Georgia football eases into the weekend with a bye this Saturday, things are cranking up considerably for the Bulldogs’ basketball team.
Second-year coach Tom Crean on Wednesday announced that Georgia has set up a preseason exhibition game with Charlotte that will benefit victims of a school shooting there earlier this year. Later in the day, the Bulldogs got a commitment from a yet another blue-chip prospect from Atlanta.
Joshua Taylor, a 6-foot-6 guard out of Norcross High School, committed to Georgia’s class of 2021 via his Twitter account. A 4-star prospect who is rated 146th in the nation, according to 247Sports, Taylor chose the Bulldogs over Georgia Tech, Houston, LSU and St. Johns.
“I am excited to announce as of today I am 120 percent committed to Tom Crean and the Georgia basketball program,” Taylor said.
Taylor is a junior and is the first pledge for the Bulldogs’ 2021 class. Georgia’s most recent signing class of 2019 included six Top 100 players and finished with a consensus top-10 national ranking. Georgia doesn’t currently have any commitments for the class of 2020.
Meanwhile, as the current Bulldogs get set to open practice next week, Crean announced the teams’ plans to travel to Charlotte on Oct. 25 to face the 49ers in an exhibition game at Halton Arena. Proceeds from the game will go to the April 30th Remembrance Fund, managed by the UNC Charlotte Foundation, to support memorial efforts for shooting victims from the school. Two students were killed and four others were injured in a shooting there April 30.
“We are extremely excited about the opportunity to travel to Charlotte for this charity exhibition,” Crean said in a statement released by UGA. “Playing a true road game and the challenges that come with that are a valuable experience for any team, but even more so for this team because we have so many newcomers. … I’m pleased, we will be able to gain this experience and at the same time support the April 30th Remembrance Fund and remember those affected by the tragic events of that day.”
