Kario Oquendo explains why he came back to Georgia under new coaching regime
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Georgia Basketball has nine newcomers on its roster this season, but one face might be familiar to fans who watched last season is Kario Oquendo. The junior guard finished as the team’s leading scorer in 2021-22, averaging 15.2 points per game overall and 18.3 points per game in the SEC. Oquendo entered the transfer portal once the season was over but ultimately decided to come back to Athens. He explained some of the thinking behind that on Wednesday at SEC Basketball Media Day.
“The transfer portal, for me I knew that I had to make a decision based on basketball and my future,” Oquendo said. “Going into the transfer portal, I just wanted to see and my family wanted to see what else was out there and what would be the best situation for me.”
First-year head coach Mike White said that when Oquendo entered the portal, he and his coaching staff were quick to tell him that he was absolutely welcome back in Athens if he their goals aligned. They were honest and transparent however and absolutely understood if Oquendo decided to go elsewhere.
“I’ll never forget, I was out recruiting after a few of those conversations, and he actually called me and said, ‘You know, Coach, I’m actually thinking about coming back.’ At that point, it was a little bit of a surprise because, you know, if you listened to anyone else, we were hearing he might take off,” White said. “He wants to help Georgia get going. He wants to win, and he wants to make us a competitive program. He’s pushing himself every day to get out of his comfort zone, and he’s got a chance to be a really good player. He had a very good individual season of course. He knows there’s some stuff that he can continue to get better at. Daily, he’s working on it.”
“That was a lot of it,” Oquendo added to what White had to say about him wanting to help get Georgia going. “I think when you go out and you see anybody, they’re proud to be a Georgia Bulldog and they’re proud of their team. So, I think we just come in with that mindset, put the team first, don’t think about, like, personal accolades. And if we come in and we just put defense first, I think we can do it. We’ve got a pretty good team.”
Oquendo, who started all 31 games in which he played last season, is one of five Bulldogs returning from the previous regime. Another one of those, Braelen Bridges, shared how important having him back was.
“He’s a big factor in our team,” Bridges said. “Obviously he led the team in scoring last year and I was right behind him so the thing for us is, me and him buying into defense. We know our offense will be there.”
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Ultimately for Oquendo, his goals aligned with those of White and the coaching staff. Both parties are excited about the possibilities that come from working together in trying to turn Georgia Basketball around.
“It just felt more like home,” Oquendo said. “The coaches were definitely talking to me, and I liked what they were saying about how we were going to play, how they feel like we can have a good team, how they feel like they can build around me.”
Georgia officially tips off basketball season on November 7th with a home game against Western Carolina to open up the new regime. Mike White is working with a group of Bulldogs that will be fresh faces even to UGA fans with nine newcomers and just five returnees on the roster.
