Edwards headed to NBA

To the surprise of no one, Georgia basketball freshman Anthony Edwards is turning pro.

The most hyped Georgia freshman since Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the 6-foot-5 guard was named the SEC Freshman of the Year after averaging 19.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.8 steals per game.

Edwards made the announcement via Twitter Friday morning. He’s projected by many to be the first pick in the NBA Draft.

"This is no surprise in him making this decision announcement. But at the same time, it's bittersweet, because you knew it was coming, you expected it to come, but it also puts it in perspective that we're not going to coach him any more," head coach Tom Crean said. "He's one of the most improved from the beginning of June to end-of-season players that I've been around in all my years of coaching. He grew leaps and bounds in so many areas; sometimes it showed up statistically, sometimes it didn't, but at the end of the day, knowing we were dealing with a very young man, who should have been a senior in high school, was incredible."

The 19.1 points led all freshmen in scoring. Edwards hit double-figures in 27 of Georgia’s 32 games, with a season-high 36 during a loss to Michigan State.

The Atlanta Hawks, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Cleveland Cavaliers will take part in a lottery to determine the first pick.

"I think he's got an incredible future. I think he's going to get nothing but better," Crean said. "I think it will be crucial that he gets into a program that can really get him to continue to develop how he's playing that's relationship-based, and people will be very, very happy with what happens as time goes on."

Crean said he was pleased with the way Edwards was able to handle all the attention throughout the course of the year.

This was despite the constant presence of NBA scouts who flocked to Stegeman Coliseum and wherever the Bulldogs happened to play.

"When you're coaching a team, coaching a player, and building a player, you need it to be day by day. And in this day and age, especially when you know you're not going to have somebody very long, you try to expedite the process in what you're trying to teach them, what you're trying to learn, and what your expectations are," Crean said. "But that stuff was never part of the conversation or anything that we dealt with on a daily basis. We just coached him and tried to get him to do better every day."

Some of Edwards' numbers weren't quite as impressive as many thought they would be. The Atlanta native finished under 30 percent from three-point range, but Crean still believes Edwards has a bright future as a long-range shooter.

"He also made 72, which led us by far, so for a team that shot 30 percent, or a little bit less, that's a good number," Crean said. "The biggest thing with him is really trusting his catch-and-shoot shot, and he's got to do that without taking that dribble. It's just maturing to the point where you trust that shot, and I think he will."

Although he played just one year for the Bulldogs, Crean said the fact that he did should help bolster his team's recruiting in the years to come. "It shows that your dreams can come true at Georgia, just like they can anywhere else. I think the thing that I'll talk about and be able to show is how much better he got," Crean said. "Again, it didn't always show up statistically; I know that. But as far as moving without the ball, making back cuts, whatever we asked him to do defensively, he improved throughout the course of the year."