Signing Day For The Dribble Dawgs

BASKETBALL

Men’s Basketball

University of Georgia basketball coach Mark Fox announced today the signing of three prospective student-athletes -- two high schoolers and one junior-college transfer -- to national letters-of-intent to attend Georgia and play for the Dawgs next season: Tim Dixon of Columbus, Ga., Kentavious Caldwell-Pope of Greenville, Ga., and John Florveus of Fort Myers, Fla.

Dixon, a 6-10, 215-pound forward, is currently starting his senior season at Oldsmar Christian School in Oldsmar, Fla. He transferred to Oldsmar after starring for three seasons at Kendrick High School in Columbus. Dixon averaged 16.1 points, 11 rebounds and 6.4 blocks per game as a junior in 2010 for the Cherokees.

"We're very excited to have signed Tim and we think he has a bright future ahead of him," said Fox. "He's got great length and athleticism with a good, sound set of offensive skills."

Caldwell-Pope is beginning his senior season at Greenville High School, where he has built a reputation as one of the nation's top backcourt scorers. Last season the 6-6, 185-pound guard averaged 29.7 points per game in leading the Patriots to a 20-7 record and the second round of the Class AA state playoffs. He is rated as the third-best shooting guard in the country, 11th-best prospect overall by Rivals.com recruiting analysis.

"Kentavious has a terrific future ahead of him," Fox said. "We're really excited about his ability to score from the perimeter. It's easy to see by his ability and his skills that he's been very well-coached."

Florveus, a 7-0, 215-pound center, is a sophomore at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Fla. He played as a prepster at Dunbar High School in Fort Myers before heading to Hillsborough. As a freshman last season, he averaged 4.0 points and 3.5 rebounds, but also 2.5 blocks per game, which ranked him 24th nationally in junior-college statistics.

"John is a long, athletic player who is really quick on his feet and he runs the floor extremely well," Fox said. "We're excited about adding a player of his size and potential.

"Two of our needs that we wanted to address with this class were length and scoring ability. We feel like we've certainly addressed those needs well with two long, athletic players in Tim Dixon and John Florveus, and we also added a great shooter who can score from the perimeter in Kentavious. We believe they will all fit our system very well. All three of these young men come from great families and we're looking forward to having them join our program."

Ladies Basketball

Erika Ford, a 5-9 guard from Chattahoochee High School in Alpharetta, Ga., has inked a letter-of-intent to play basketball collegiately for the Georgia Lady Dawgs, head coach Andy Landers announced today.

Ford signed her papers during the first day of the NCAA's early signing period, which runs from November 10-17.

Ford, a three-year starter at Chattahoochee, has been rated as the nation's No. 55 overall prospect and the No. 8 guard by the All Star Girls Report.

"Erika is someone who has been our our radar for quite some time," Landers said. "We're extremely please that she is going to be part of our basketball program. Erika has terrific athleticism, great quickness and tremendous defensive abilities, along with an aggressive slashing offensive game."

Ford was named all-state for Class AAAAA as both a sophomore and a junior. She topped 1,000 career points as a sophomore and helped Chattahoochee's volleyball team to a runner-up finish in the Class AAAA state tournament.