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Georgia basketball embarks on mission to get to know itself again

Jeremy Johnsonby: Jeremy Johnson5 hours agoJeremyO_Johnson
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Georgia head coach Mike White after Georgia’s game against Kentucky University at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga., on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Olivia Wilson/UGAAA)

Georgia basketball is a month away from playing organized games. The Bulldogs will soon be back on the basketball court for the official start of practices.

Georgia enters the new season with a lot of new faces. There are only six players who were on the team last season. Four of those players saw significant time. Georgia added five transfers and three freshmen.

It’s safe to say, Georgia has a lot of learning to do about itself before the season kicks off. Head coach Mike White expects the 2025-2026 team to look and play differently than the one that made the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 10 years.

Georgia expects to be a quicker and faster-paced team this season.

“I think this group will score easier,” White told reporters on Monday. “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’ll pack it in, and we won’t be quite as long and big with the same positional size we had last year. Can we hold our own in the glass will be something we’re working toward.”

Georgia reshaped its team during the transfer portal window

White understands where college basketball is. There is a lot of transition regularly. He is rolling with it. This year’s roster came together on the fly.

When they began the transfer portal period, they had one vision. As players became available and targets landed in the program, White felt the Bulldogs’ staff made a conscious decision to change their playing style as they courted portal targets.

“It’s a landscape and it gives you opportunities,” White said. “It’s exciting, you know you’ve each year you look at your team and you play your strengths and your weaknesses. In fact, you pivot really during portal season. You know, when you get this guy, it leads you to potentially get this guy, and before you know it, hey, let’s evaluate how we could finish up portal season with these last two or three guys and complement the current roster that we have. So it’s literally within weeks, within days, we made some playing style decisions there at the bottom of the ninth in the in the portal season.”

Returning players setting the pace

Georgia has seen the development of juniors Blue Cain, Dylan James and sophomore Somto Cyril as leaders and players.

James has earned the nickname ‘Everyday Dill’. James credits Cain as the most consistent piece of Georgia’s team.

Cain stayed with Georgia as many faces left the program after last season.

“I really value loyalty,” Cain said. “The staff’s been nothing but loyal to me since day one. So I just want to reciprocate it back to them.”

Georgia is set to open with an exhibition against Georgia State in Atlanta on Oct. 15. The next month will be about building chemistry.

“We have so many new guys; in today’s day and age, chemistry is always something you need to focus on,” James said. “Chemistry with this year’s team is definitely something that we’ll need to focus on over the next month.”

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