Blue Cain, top-50 player in Class of 2023, commits to Georgia
Georgia Basketball is on a roll. After the commitment of 7-foot-0 USF transfer Russel Tchewa earlier this week, the Bulldogs have added yet another player to their team for 2023-24. Blue Cain, 2023 four-star and a top 50 player according to On3’s in-house recruiting rankings, chose Georgia Wednesday afternoon over Virginia, Florida and Penn State.
Cain’s commitment moves Georgia into the top 20 of On3’s basketball team rankings. The Bulldogs rank third in the SEC.
Cain, a shooting guard from Knoxville, Tenn. who played this past season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., is ranked No. 70 in the country, No. 12 among players at his position and No. 7 in the Sunshine State according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He’s even higher according to the in-house On3 rankings at No.47, No. 9 and No. 4 respectively.
Prior to transferring to IMG for his final year of high school, Cain played two seasons on the varsity team at Knoxville Catholic. As a sophomore, he poured in 15.7 points per game before upping that average to 19.7 as a junior in 2021-22. He also had 5.7 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game helping lead the Irish to the Division II-AA State Championship Game while earning a spot on the All-State Tournament team.
Cain came onto the scene as a recruit at the National Basketball Players Association event in Orlando, Fla. There he was one of 10 players named to the even’t All-Star Team averaging 10.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.4 steals, while hitting 53.4 percent of his shots from the floor, and his team won the tournament.
Cain signed with Georgia Tech earlier in the process. He got out of that National Letter of Intent after the Yellow Jackets fired head coach Josh Pastner after the 2022-23 season. Cain originally chose the Yellow Jackets over Yale, Tennessee, Syracuse, South Carolina and others.
Cain is Georgia’s fourth addition in the Class of 2023 alongside Silas Demary, Dylan James and Mari Jordan. Cain, Demary and James are all top-100 recruits according to the On3 Industry Ranking.
The Bulldogs have also added RJ Melendez (Illinois), Jalen DeLoach (VCU) and Russel Tchewa (South Florida) by way of the transfer portal to join returnees Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Jusaun Holt, Frank Anselem-Ibe, Justin Hill and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe.
Georgia went 16-16 this past season, their first under Mike White’s direction. It was an improvement of 10 games from the previous season, the second-largest regular season increase among Power Five teams.
Scouting Report
Blue Cain has a smooth feel for the game. He plays at his own pace and doesn’t get rushed to get where he is going. Cain has a solid handle as a secondary ball-handler. He shows a confident pull-up jump shot in the half-court and consistent form in catch-and-shoot situations. You would like to see him continue getting stronger and play with more urgency at times, but he has feel on the ball, explosion at the rim, and does take contact well in the paint. Cain’s father, Chris, played golf at Duke, thus where his name Blue came. – On3
