Georgia basketball program adds third signee for 2017 class

Georgia picked up the third basketball signed for its recruiting class of 2017.

Teshaun Hightower, who played this past season at Mount Zion Prep in Baltimore but is originally from Lithonia, signed his national letter-of-intent to play for the Bulldogs early Wednesday. This makes it official for Hightower, who originally announced his commitment to Georgia on Jan. 16.

“We’re excited to add another talented Georgia native to our roster,” Georgia head coach Mark Fox said. “Teshaun has great speed and quickness and the versatility to play a couple of different positions.”

Wednesday marks the first day of the spring signing period.

Hightower joins Rayshaun Hammonds and Nicolas Claxton as a part of this recruiting class.

Georgia has been recruiting Hightower for a while now, dating back to when he was in high school at Collins Hill. Hightower's squad faced off against Hammonds' Norcross team in the playoffs, with Collins Hill getting the win. That was when Fox said he noticed how good Hightower could potentially be.

“He’s been committed to us for a couple of months now. I think we obviously had a chance to see him. He actually beat Rayshaun Hammonds in the playoff a year ago. … That’s where he really jumped on our radar.”

As a senior at Mount Zion Prep, Hightower averaged 19.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game and helped lead his team to a 25-10 record.

With three players signed, Georgia still has room for one more prospect in the recruiting class of 2017. The Bulldogs are losing four seniors on scholarship to graduation in J.J. Frazier, Kenny Paul Geno, Houston Kessler and Brandon Young.

This story was originally published April 12, 2017 at 10:35 AM with the headline "Georgia basketball program adds third signee for 2017 class."