ATHENS — Georgia basketball coach Mike White is not one to make headlines with his comments, but as long as the Bulldogs make headlines in the NCAA tourney that plays fine for UGA fans.
White met with the media on Monday to provide an update on his team, which like most others on college basketball, has had significant turnover via the transfer portal.
“Really hard-working group, really different team than last year’s team,” said White, who led Georgia into the NCAA tournament last season for the first time in 10 years. “For the most part, our guys that we signed out of the portal are what we thought.”
The Bulldogs’ transfer class of five players was rated 34th by 247Sports, but White likes the team chemistry and ESPN’s Joe Lunardi thinks enough of Georgia to pencil them into his NCAA bracketology field.
Jordan Ross (6-foot-3, guard St. Mary’s), Smurf Millender (5-11, guard, UTSA), Jeremiah Wilkinson (6-1, guard, Cal), Kanon Catchings (6-9, forward, BYU) and Justin Bailey (6-3, guard, Wofford) have brought the right work ethics and skill sets to make for an exciting open court team.
White said Millender brings great speed and shooting to the lineup, as well as a strong assist turnover ratio distributing the ball, while Wilkinson brings great athleticism and scoring ability to the backcourt.
Bailey, another guard, is a catch-and-shoot player who brings defensive intensity to the floor.
“We’ve got good ball handling, good passing, good shooting, a little bit of experience,” White said. “We’re not overly old, but significantly older than last year’s team, of course. But those guys all had moments and practices from the summer to the fall where they’ve shined in different ways.”
Georgia brings back, most notably, Blue Cain, Somto Cyril and Dylan James, and has an incoming freshman class that includes Kareem Stagg (6-8, forward), Jake Wilkins (6-9, forward) and Jackson McVey (7-1, center).
White, entering his fourth year leading the program, said the most important facet to building another NCAA tournament team is in place.
“Winning habits, just matching the culture that we had last year — last year’s group was so resilient,” White said. “We’ve got a ways to go. We’re going to hit some adversities. How are we going to respond to all those adversities? The work ethic is there. I’m convinced this group is really, really going to work.”
White makes no secret of the challenge to replace what first-round NBA draft pick Asa Newell brought to the floor.
“We’ll see how this group rebounds; last year’s group, we were physically imposing at times,” White said. “I think this group will score easier. I think we’ll be fun to watch. We’ll play fast. We’ll shoot a lot of threes. A lot of ball handling. It’ll be the best passing team I’ve had in a while.
“I think we create some turnovers and defend at a high level, but defend differently — we won’t pack it in, and we won’t be quite as long and big.”
White said Georgia basketball is where it needs to be, from a progress standpoint, after taking a more aggressive approach to the level of competition he put the team under in the summer.
“We were able to stay pretty healthy,” White said. “We got a lot done offensively and defensively.”
The Bulldogs are less than a month away from putting their team on the floor against Georgia State in an Oct. 15 exhibition game at the GSU Convocation Center in Atlanta before the Oct. 26 exhibition game at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens against Troy.
Georgia will open the season against Bellarmine on Nov. 3.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
