MBB: Bulldogs sign a pair of top-100 prospects
MBB: Bulldogs sign a pair of top-100 prospects
ATHENS — The Georgia men’s basketball team opened the NCAA’s early signing period by signing two players ranked that are among the nation’s top 100 prospects.
According to ESPN.com, Lamariyon “Mari” Jordan and Dylan James are currently ranked No. 72 and No. 94 nationally, respectively.
Bulldogs’ head coach Mike White was thrilled about inking both Jordan and James’ signatures.
“It’s an exciting day for us to be able to sign two players that we targeted and invested a lot of time and energy in,” White said. “Both of these guys are excited to be Bulldogs. Mari grew up right down the road from Athens and has always admired this university. He is a high-energy player with much versatility and a very good positional size. Dylan has tremendous length for a guy who shoots the ball the way that he does. He also has the ability to post. Like Mari, he has a chance to be a very good defender as well.”
James, a 6-foot-9, 190-pound power forward helped lead Winter Haven High School to the semifinals of the 2022 Florida Class 6A state tournament as a junior. He was selected as the Lakeland Ledger’s Player of the Year after averaging 15.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.4 blocks, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game last season for the Blue Devils, who finished 23-8 overall. James helped Winter Haven compile a 23-9 record as a freshman before playing at The Rock School during his sophomore year. He and his Winter Haven teammates will begin the 2022-23 season ranked No. 67 nationally by MaxPreps.
James also was ranked as the nation’s No. 94 prospect by 247Sports.com, as well as No. 115 by On3.com and No. 133 by Rivals.com.
Jordan, a 6-foot-6, 185-pound small forward was tabbed first-team All-State for Class 6A by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a junior after averaging 19.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals per game for Dacula High School. Over three seasons, Jordan has compiled 1,257 points, 434 rebounds, 128 blocks, 109 assists and 104 steals for the Falcons. He was voted the Region 8-6A Player of the Year and named second-team All-Gwinnett County by the Gwinnett Daily Post as a junior. Jordan will spend his senior season playing at Norcross High School, where he has already been tabbed second-team preseason All-State by the Georgia High School Coaches Association (GHSA).
Nationally, Jordan is ranked No. 101 by 247Sports.com and No. 137 by Rivals.com.
UGA Athletics also contributed to this report.