In the coming season, Georgia Tech’s roster will have a state Mr. Basketball for the first time since Derrick Favors in the 2009-10 season.
Saturday, freshman signee Tristan Maxwell was named Mr. Basketball for the state of North Carolina by the Charlotte Observer. Maxwell, a 6-foot-3 guard who signed with Tech in November, averaged 24 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists for North Mecklenburg High this season.
Maxwell, the son of former NBA veteran Vernon Maxwell, led his team to a 30-1 record. The Vikings were to play for the 4A state championship before the coronavirus pandemic canceled the game.
Five of the past 11 North Carolina Mr. Basketball winners have become first-round picks, and Duke’s Wendell Moore could be a sixth. Former Tech guard Anthony Morrow was also a winner in 2004. Of the past six winners, three went to North Carolina (Isaiah Hicks, Theo Pinson, Coby White), two to Duke (Brandon Ingram, Moore), one to Kentucky (Bam Adebayo) and one to N.C. State (Lavar Batts).
Maxwell is rated a three-star prospect, rated the No. 278 player in the country, the No. 57 shooting guard in the country and the No. 11 player in the state (247Sports Composite). Given his stellar senior season, he would seem a prospect whom Tech coach Josh Pastner identified and secured ahead of his competition. Maxwell also received scholarship offers from N.C. State, Ole Miss, Pittsburgh and Texas A&M, among others.
The Observer noted that the top prospect in the state, Isaiah Todd, was not eligible for the award because he had played only two seasons in the state, and Mr. Basketball is a career award. Maxwell scored 2,253 points in his career, 20th all-time in the state.
Former Tech guard Tadric Jackson was named the AJC’s all-classification state player of the year in 2014, but was not named Mr. Basketball, which is awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
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