Georgia adds three-star Rodney Howard to top 10 2019 class
Georgia continues to roll in its first full recruiting class with Tom Crean at the helm. Its top 10 2019 class got a little bit stronger on Wednesday when three-star big man Rodney Howard out of Greenville (S.C.) Legacy Charter committed after seeing the Bulldogs over the weekend.
"When I went to campus on Sunday, Coach Crean showed me the whole campus because I had never seen it,” Howard told Rivals.com. “He broke down my film for like three hours. My mom wanted me to go to Georgia Tech after Saturday’s visit and I thought I was settled on Georgia Tech, but she wanted me to go up to Athens to see it to be sure. After we met with Coach Crean, she didn’t expect so much out of it and she just said she was fine either way I go. She really liked that visit. It was the way he broke everything down about my game and his plan for me that sold me on Georgia.”
The commitment comes just a day after the Bulldogs lost Nicolas Claxton early to the NBA Draft. Despite leaving school, Claxton made sure to put in a good word with Howard, who played with Nicolas’ younger brother Chase at Legacy Charter this year.
“I talked to Nicolas a couple times. He has seen me play a lot and told me if I play for Crean, he will help develop me into a complete player. I think the same thing. His dad and his brother are big fans of Georgia.”
Howard, who is originally from Georgia and played at Centennial High School in Roswell before transferring for his senior season, backed out of his letter of intent to Ole Miss on May 15th after committing to the Rebels last May.
After opening up his recruitment, Howard heard from schools all over the country and he narrowed his list down to Georgia and Georgia Tech and took unofficial visits to each of his home state programs before deciding that Crean and the Bulldogs offered him the best fit.
Howard joins a class at Georgia that already includes five-star guard Anthony Edwards, along with four-star prospects Christian Brown, Jaykwon Walton, Sahvir Wheeler and Toumani Camara. Northeastern graduate transfer Donnell Gresham will also be headed to Athens for his last year of college basketball.