University of Georgia Athletics
Bulldogs Take On Alabama A&M Wednesday
November 30, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 30, 2004
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Opening Tipoff
Georgia entertains Southwestern Athletic Conference member Alabama A&M in a Wednesday evening contest. The homestanding Bulldogs arrive at the game still seeking their first win of the season after losses last week to Western Kentucky and Nevada. The visiting Bulldogs are 1-2 on the season, with losses to Birmingham Southern and Fairfield before a win over Tuskegee. Most recently, AAMU won an exhibition contest Monday night over Oakwood College.
Ridiculous trivia of the day: Alabama A&M is the 10th all-time opponent for Georgia to have a Bulldog as its mascot. Others among the 40 such schools nationally include The Citadel, Drake, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, Samford, UNC-Asheville and Yale.
Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of this young season has been the consistent play from freshman Dave Bliss. The native Wisconsan leads the team in rebounding, ranks second in scoring and is the only regular shooting over 50 percent from the field. Bliss played 26 minutes against Nevada despite suffering flu-like symptoms throughout the day of the game.
Starting Over, For Sure
Normally, a coach needs three, sometimes four years to put his imprint upon a program. That's how long it usually takes to stock the roster with his own, hand-picked players.
Not so for Georgia under Dennis Felton.
He's needed scarcely more than one year to reach a point of almost complete roster turnover. The four seniors that so dominated the program in 2004 are gone.
Even the closest followers of Georgia basketball will likely need some help identifying the home team this season. Of the 20 players that could suit up for Georgia, 12 of them were not on last year's team. Nine of those 12 were not even on campus.
Starting Over & Starting Young
When Georgia coach Dennis Felton says, "I have to believe that we're the youngest team in the country," it's pretty hard to question him.
The average age of the 2004-05 Georgia team is 19 years, 175 days, ranging from 22-year-old walk-on Tommy Wainscott to the quartet of freshmen (Gaines, Toney, Evans and Bliss) that start the season at 18 years of age. Three more -- Gibbs, Waldrop and Greavu -- begin the season tonight still holding onto "teenager" status.
In addition to this team's youth, it also has fewer scholarshipped players than virtually every team in America. Of the 20 players currently in the program, just eight of them receive athletic grants-in-aid. The now-defunct "5/8 rule," which limited programs from signing more than five players in one year and eight in a 2-year period, contributed heavily to Georgia's current blight.
Through the history of Georgia basketball, at least since freshmen were eligible in 1973, a roster with 7-9 newcomers wasn't uncommon. Hugh Durham, Tubby Smith and Jim Harrick each had nine new players in a particular season. Each time, however, the inexperience of such a young team was buffered by at least two juco transfers.
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Gibbs Return & Other Highlights
> The unexpected return of redshirt freshman Corey Gibbs was perhaps the highlight of Georgia's loss to Western Kentucky. Though he's practiced just part-time with his teammates during preseason, Gibbs was inserted in second-half action and played eight minutes, capping a long, slow recovery from his third knee surgery in less than two years.
> Given Georgia's relative lack of cohesion at the young stage, a total of 15 turnovers -- particularly against such a quick, trapping defense -- is encouraging. These same Bulldogs committed an average of 17 turnovers during the 6 pre-season games in Canada and Athens.
Dogs Take Two Exhibition Wins
For the first time ever, Georgia played its two exhibition games against collegiate opponents. And the Bulldogs found the new arrangement to their liking.
On Nov. 7, Georgia defeated St. Francis of Xavier, a school in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, by a 69-64 count. Beating the X-Men was no small accomplishment. SFX has won three Canadian collegiate championships, most recently in 2001.
One week later the Bulldogs downed another program of championship caliber -- NCAA Division II heavyweight Kentucky Wesleyan by a 65-60 score. If Georgia can take anything from these two games, it might be its character. The Bulldogs overcame second-half deficits both times. Against SFX, they took the lead for good with 1:06 left; in the KWC game, the decisive lead change occurred with 6:54 remaining.
Canada Trip Yields 4-Game Split
Many of their UGA colleagues headed south to Jacksonville for Fall Break. The Hoop Dogs, however, set sail in a nearly opposite direction, going to British Columbia for a 4-day set of four practice games.
The NCAA defined this trip as a "foreign tour" and as such, a member school can make one every four years. No Georgia team since 1987 (trip to Tokyo) had played outside U.S. territory.
Actually, Georgia played its four games over a 3-day span. The Dogs dropped their first game, 82-63, to the University of British Columbia. The next day they defeated Trinity Western, 67-54, in double overtime. On their last day in Vancouver, the Dogs lost 74-69 to an E.A. Sports team of Canadian semipros before thrashing Douglas College, 73-47.
Frosh Starters Make History
The Western Kentucky game was just the second time at Georgia since freshmen became eligible in 1973 that three rookies started their first games together. Hugh Durham began his second season (1979-80) by starting three rookies on Opening Night: Dominique Wilkins, Terry Fair and Derrick Floyd. Perhaps the greater issue here is that Durham, like Felton, was coaching his second season when he deployed his freshman-dominate lineup.
The very next year Durham started multiple freshmen again: James Banks and Vern Fleming. No Georgia team did it again until last season, when Levi Stukes and Steve Newman started against Western Carolina.
The list of freshmen starters at Georgia follows:
- Jacky Dorsey, 1975
- Lavon Mercer, 1977
- Terry Fair, Derrick Floyd, Dom. Wilkins, 1979
- James Banks, Vern Fleming, 1980
- Litterial Green, 1988
- Charles Claxton, 1991
- Carlos Strong, 1992
- Jumaine Jones, 1997
- Rashad Wright, 2000
- Steve Newman, Levi Stukes, 2003
Dogs Hold Tryouts, Add Six
Sickness and injury made it difficult for Georgia to field a competitive practice in the early weeks of preseason. As a result, the Bulldogs held open tryouts at the Ramsey Student Center in late October, producing six new additions to the team:
- P.J. Bullock, 6-0 guard from Atlanta...transfer from App. State
- Blake Davenport, 6-5 forward from Dallas, Texas.
- Zack Smith, 5-8 guard from Canton\
- Tommy Wainscott, 6-5 guard from Dallas
- Julian Williams, 6-1 guard from Dacula.
- Matt Womack, 6-5 forward from Cumming
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