Rodney Howard, the post player whom Georgia Tech coaches had hoped could fill a pressing need for depth, has elected to play for archrival Georgia.
Howard, who was released from his letter of intent with Ole Miss earlier in May, announced his decision to attend Georgia through a tweet sent out Wednesday. Howard, who spent his first three years of high school at Centennial before finishing this year at Legacy Early College in Greenville, S.C., had narrowed his choices down to Tech and UGA.
Howard was needed by both Bulldogs coach Tom Crean and Yellow Jackets coach Josh Pastner. UGA learned Tuesday that it was losing forward Nicolas Claxton to the NBA draft. Tech, meanwhile, has but one post player on the roster, senior center James Banks. At Tech, Howard could have stepped into a role where he would have backed up Banks for a year and then had a clear path to starting.
In text messages to the AJC, Howard said that he couldn’t pick a favorite between UGA and Tech and that “it was close the whole time.” In the end, he said, he went with UGA because of the situation, including the coaching staff and fan base. He noted Crean’s honesty and ability to develop players.
Pastner, who said earlier in May that “we are searching and fighting for a big,” is not done in his search for a post player for his lone remaining scholarship for the 2019-20 academic year. Thursday, Tech is expecting a visit from German center Quentin Post, who has played as an amateur for the Lok Bernau club. Post could enroll at Tech and play this year.
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