Brief Story Of George Bryant's Idolized Basketball

George was born on May 2, 1990 in Palmdale, California. George is son the of Paul George Sr. and Paulette George. He grew up with two older sisters: Teiosha, who played basketball at Pepperdine, and Portala, who played volleyball at CSU-San Bernardino.Although George idolized Lakers star Kobe Bryant,he grew up rooting for the Los Angeles Clippers. George spent most of his free time playing basketball at the park or one-on-one against his older sister Teiosha. He did not play organized basketball until his freshman year at Knight High School. He played for the varsity basketball team his last three years of high school under head coach Tom Hegre. George played for Pump and Run of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) with future UCLA Bruins Jrue Holiday and Malcolm Lee. George went Knight High School in Palmdale, California. As a sophomore, he began the season on the JV team, but was moved up to the varsity after the season started.During his junior year, he was the only non senior on the varsity team starting
lineup. Recruiters began noticing George during the summer of 2007, while he competed in AAU tournaments. Sensing George’s potential, his coach handed him a leading role his senior season. That year, George led Knight to the Golden League championship, and was named the Golden League Most Valuable Player, the Antelope Valley Press Player of the Year, and a member of the Daily News 2007-08 All-Area Boys’ basketball team. He ended his senior year averaging 23.2 points and 11.2 rebounds.
Despite his accomplishments, George was not considered a major prospect by colleges. Rivals.com labeled him as a three-star recruit and ranked him 20th among a class of California prospects that was highlighted by Jrue Holiday and DeMar DeRozan. George verbally committed to Santa Clara, the first school that offered him a scholarship, but he later de-committed from them because his high school coach thought he should keep his options open.After a positive experience attending Teiosha’s Midnight Madness event at Pepperdine University, George committed to Pepperdine on August 9, 2007. Midway through his senior season, he de-committed from Pepperdine after coach Vance Walberg resigned from the program. He ultimately chose Fresno State over offers from schools like Georgetown and Penn State because of greater opportunities for playing time.

George played two years at California State University, Fresno, more commonly known as Fresno State. In his first game with the Fresno State Bulldogs, he scored 14 points in a winning effort against Sacramento State. The following game, George recorded 25 points and 10 rebounds in a losing effort against Saint Mary’s. Despite the loss, he made an impression with his one-handed slam dunk over Mickey McConnell that earned him SportsCenter‍ ’s number 1 “Play of the Day” for November 18, 2008. On February 9, 2009, he scored a then career-high 29 points to lead the Bulldogs to an 88-82 victory over Boise State. In the 2009 WAC Tournament, the Bulldogs were matched up against Hawaii and advanced to the quarterfinal against the top-seeded Utah State Aggies. During the game, he forced a career-high 5 steals and finished with a team-high 16 points; however, despite his effort the Bulldogs lost, 85-68. With a 13-21 record, the team failed to qualify for the 2009 NCAA Tournament. On March 31, 2010, George announced that he would forgo his final two seasons of college eligibility at Fresno State and enter the 2010 NBA draft.
He made his first appearance on a 2010 mock draft on Draft Express a month into his sophomore season. By May 2010, mock drafts such as Draft Express, ESPN.com, and The Hoops Report predicted that George would be selected 12th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies. Two days before the draft, Marc J. Spears from Yahoo! Sports wrote an article about an anonymous Eastern Conference scout stating that “in five years, Paul George will be the best player to come out of this draft”. Hoping to draft Derrick Favors, the Pacers had discussed a draft trade with the Nets that would have sent Danny Granger and the 10th pick to the Nets for Devin Harris, Yi Jianlian and the 3rd overall pick, but the deal fell through. George was invited to sit in the green room during the draft and was selected tenth overall by the Indiana
Pacers.