Southeast sleeper Fagan gaining steam
Nestled away in rural middle Georgia might be one of the better-kept secrets in the Southeast in the 2018 class. Tye Fagan, a 6-foot-3 shooting guard, is having a terrific junior season for Upson Lee. He's helped his team to a 29-0 record as they move into the Elite 8 of the AAAA state tournament. In a second round win over Stephens County, Fagan pumped in 29 points as he relentlessly attacked the rim all night.
The Thomaston, Georgia native isn’t a complete secret to college coaches. He landed a scholarship offer earlier this season from Middle Tennessee and has had varying levels of interest from Georgia, Georgia Tech, LSU and Georgia State, among others. He visited Georgia on Saturday for their win over LSU and has already been to Middle Tennessee, Georgia State and Georgia Tech this season as well.
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IN HIS OWN WORDS
Fagan shared his thoughts on the programs involved with him so far.
Georgia: “The visit went very well. The coaches loved me. They said they are coming to see me soon and the head coach said he’s coming too. The game was good. I’ve been following a few of their players. I talked briefly with Coach Fox because he had a meeting. But Coach Hayes, he was all kinds of crazy. I like them as coaches.
Georgia Tech: “I like it there. I talked to one of the assistants when I went to their game. He told me he was going to come see me play, but I’m not sure if they have been. I’ve watched them play this year. I like Ben Lammers and I like their freshman point guard from California too.”
On schools he’d like to get an offer from: “Georgia, Louisville and LSU. That’s the main three so far.”
WHAT'S NEXT?
In the immediate future Fagan will be most focused on helping Upson Lee continue to make a run in the AAAA state tournament in Georgia. When his season is over, he’ll be playing with the Middle Georgia Supersonics and hoping to land some high-major offers. He’s expecting Georgia and Georgia Tech to be in attendance for one of his games in the near future. If he makes it to the state championship, he’ll be playing on Georgia Tech’s campus.
RIVALS REACTION
From a recruiting standpoint, it’s always hard to peg where a kid might end up when he’s yet to receive any high-major offers. That said, Fagan certainly seems to be high on Georgia coming off his visit there and lives in an area with a lot of Georgia influence. Mark Fox and his staff have done well with in-state prospects located outside of metro Atlanta, and this could be another hidden gem for them.
As a prospect, Fagan looks to be someone high-major programs need to at the very least monitor over the next several months. His best trait is his ability to attack the rim. On Thursday night, all his points came from right at the rim or from the free throw line. He didn’t connect on any jumpers from the perimeter, but his lefty stroke did look to be pretty smooth during warm-ups. His competitiveness on the defensive end really stood out as well.
