Georgia coach Mark Fox and assistant coach Philip Pearson have been tracking shooting Rivals150 guard Alex O’Connell since last summer. They checked in on him again Thursday afternoon and gave him big news before leaving.

“I worked out for them for about an hour and a half and then we chatted after,” O’Connell said. “They offered today.”

The offer vaults Georgia among the top two of his list.

“It puts them up there,” O’Connell said. “Right now, I’m really considering Georgia, Ole Miss, Clemson, and Kansas State. That’s like my top four right now. Georgia and Ole Miss are probably the top two.”

The fact Georgia was so thorough before pulling the trigger on a scholarship offer could have been a concern for some, but not for O’Connell, a member of the 2017 Rivals150.

“It doesn’t really matter to me,” O’Connell said. “I felt it since they started recruiting me that they really like me. Whether they offered or not, I felt like they really liked and they have been recruiting me the longest too.”

Fox and Pearson have built a strong relationship with O’Connell and his family.

“I like them both,” O’Connell said. “They are both really cool. I think Coach Fox is a really good coach. They didn’t get into too much about how they would use today and that type of stuff today. They did all that when I visited for the football game a while back. We’ll definitely go up there again and I’m sure we’ll talk more in-depth.”

After visiting O’Connell, Fox and Pearson traveled down the road to see Garrison Brooks, a Rivals150 power forward from Alabama who happens to be a friend of O’Connell’s.

“Oh yeah, we’re real close,” O’Connell said. “We’ve talked about going to the same school. It would be really cool to play with somebody I’ve known for a while. It’s not too important, but it would be awesome.”

There is no set time for a decision to come from O’Connell.

“It will probably be before high school season next school year and then I’ll sign during the early signing period,” O’Connell said. “I could definitely do it earlier. It just comes down to when I find the school that has all the components I’m looking for checked off. I mean I could do it tomorrow if I found the right school. There isn’t really a set timeline.”