When Tom Crean looks back on the nine-plus months that Anthony Edwards spent as a member of Georgia’s basketball program, he does so with nothing but fond memories.

When the NBA Draft gets underway Wednesday night, the most-heralded Bulldog recruit in recent years can expect to hear his name called early, perhaps with pick No. 1.

“I think I’m the best player in the draft,” Edwards recently told reporters.

We'll soon see if he is correct.

“He wants to be No. 1, I want him to be No. 1. But for me, the thing that keeps me awake as far as Anthony Edwards is concerned is just being in a place where he’s got a head coach who will be invested in him in a big way, and take that responsibility,” Crean said. “Trust me, the NBA is not full of 30 head coaches willing to do that, a lot of times due to where they are in their life.”

Nevertheless, Georgia’s head coach has his fingers crossed.

Minnesota holds the first pick in the draft, followed by Golden State and Charlotte—three teams that have held workouts for the Atlanta native.

Various mock drafts have Edwards going anywhere from first to fourth.

“My hope is he gets that person—my hope is he gets a coaching staff that's going to spend that time with him,” Crean said. “My hope is he gets around leaders, mentors, and a team that, no matter where they are as players, they can help him be a professional, and he’ll listen to them. Because he’s got humility, he’s got hunger, and he wants to learn. But he's also very confident, and I hope he trusts people who respond to him, will get to know him, and not assume things and aren’t afraid to make him better.”

Last year, Edwards averaged 19.1 points en route to earning SEC Freshman of the Year honors, helping the Bulldogs to a 16-16 record that ended with a win over Ole Miss in the SEC Tourney before the event closed due to Covid-19.

“If this process has taught me anything, it’s taught me to be patient,” Edwards said. “The draft was supposed to have been held in June, then July; I should have already played my first game. So, I’ve definitely learned to be patient overall.”

Despite his busy schedule, Edwards remains close to Crean and current members of the Bulldogs basketball team.

Crean was on FaceTime last week with Edwards, who recently made a surprise visit to Athens to say hello and check in on his former teammates.

“We’ve texted a couple of times, and he was here a few weeks ago,” Crean said. “What I love about him is, he keeps in touch with this team so much. It's great. It's like he never left in that respect of being a great teammate. As much as you miss him as a player—and he is a tremendous talent—I miss him as a person; I miss his personality. I miss his energy. There's an aura about him.”

However, unlike many young stars, it's his hunger and willingness to learn that Crean believes will help him become a star.

“He came in predestined. I haven't coached too many guys who were predestined for the NBA at a very early age. Cody Zeller was probably like that. But Victor Oladipo, one scholarship offer; Dwyane Wade, three to five scholarship offers. Those guys did not come in predestined. They earned it,” Crean said. “A lot of times what happens when you're predestined, you also feel because of the way you’ve been brought up in basketball, that you’re anointed. He realized pretty quick that's not how it is, and I think he ran with that.

“He never came in here and acted like it had owed him or he was something that was all that, so to speak.”