South Plains Duo Still Ticketed for Georgia
Ever since controversy began to swirl around Jim Harrick's Georgia Bulldog program last month, South Plains Head Coach Steve Green has been fielding phone calls from curious Division I coaches about his pair of sophomore big men.
Cassiano Matheus, a 6-10 center, and Marcus Jackson, a 6-8 power forward, signed in the fall with Georgia. JUCO Junction has been on top of the story over the past month, and we caught up with Coach Green on Tuesday to see if anything had changed since Harrick's recent resignation at UGA.
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"They still both want to go to there," Green said. "They like Georgia and the SEC and they think it's a great opportunity for them."
Matheus and Jackson anchored a frontcourt for a South Plains squad that made back to back appearances at the NJCAA Tournament in 2002 and 2003.
Matheus, a native of Brazil, averaged 8.6 points and 5.6 rebounds for the Texans, shooting 58 percent from the floor.
Jackson, a rugged big forward from Peoria, Ill., averaged 7.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game for South Plains. He shot 62 percent from the field.
Green said that Matheus and Jackson won't entertain any offers until there's some resolution with the situation at Georgia.
He expects both players to speak with the new head coach at Georgia. There's usually a spate of hirings following the Final Four, which is taking place this weekend in New Orleans.
So something could break soon regarding the South Plains duo.
Green envisions both players following through on their commitments to Georgia unless a couple of scenarios play out.
"If the coach that Georgia hires doesn't want them or if the NCAA slaps Georgia real hard, that could change things," he added.
JUCO Junction will stay on top of this story until some kind of resolution is achieved, so stay tuned.