Wofford Makes First Ever Trip to Stegeman on Sunday

Dec. 17, 2004

2004-05  Georgia Basketball
GAME 7: Georgia Bulldogs vs. Wofford Terriers

Date: Dec. 19, 3:06 pm ET; Site: Athens, GA; Arena: Stegeman Coliseum
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (74 stations for basketball), broadcast by Scott Howard (Play-by-Play) & Jeff Dantzler (Color).
Local stations: WSB-AM (750) in Atlanta & WNGC-FM (106.1) in Athens
Television: Live regional telecast by Comcast Sports Southeast (Matt Stewart, Sonny Smith)
Internet Broadcast: Audio & Video coverage provided by GXtra on georgiadogs.com

Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
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Opening Tipoff

Southern Conference member Wofford pays its first-ever visit to Stegeman Coliseum for a Sunday afternoon contest. This will be the sixth all-time meeting between these two schools but the first since 1927. Georgia won all five meetings during a six-year span that covered the 1920-27 seasons.

It’s been eight days since the Bulldogs last took the floor in competition. On Dec. 11 they edged Pac-10 foe Oregon State 76-72 in overtime at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl Classic for Kids in Atlanta. Since then, they’ve taken Fall Semester final exams.

It’s even been five days since Georgia last worked out on its home floor. Because of the setup for UGA’s Fall Commencement ceremony, which took place Saturday, the Bulldogs spent much of their practice time last week at the Ramsey Student Center.

For Wofford, Sunday’s game will be its second in as many days. The Terriers also took final exams last week, but they will return to action Saturday with a road game at Charleston Southern. Georgia will be their third SEC opponent this season. They lost a 6-point decision at Tennessee on Nov. 29 and won 85-78 at Auburn a week later.

Leftovers from the OSU Game

The game represented the second straight time in which Georgia overcame a double-digit deficit in the second half.

Sundiata Gaines extended this game with a 15-foot jump shot at the end of regulation. It marked the first time a Georgia player had made any kind of buzzer-beating shot since Jonas Hayes won a game at Colorado in December of 2002.

Georgia’s two sophomore starters, Levi Stukes (31 points) and Steve Newman (16) both got career scoring highs in this game.

More details and a boxscore follow later in this notes package.

Odds & Ends

Not even Rashad Wright played as much at point guard in the first days of his freshman year as Yata Gaines thus far. Wright shared the position with Adrian Jones, at least through the pre-conference portion of the 2001 schedule. Gaines, meanwhile, leads the current Bulldogs in assists, minutes, steals, free throws and free throw attempts. He also ranks first among all SEC players in steals with 3.33 per game.

With a win Sunday, Georgia could post its first 3-game win streak since late last season, when the Bulldogs swept Kentucky, Florida and Tennessee at home.

With a team percentage at 56.8, the Bulldogs obviously need to sharpen their aim from the free throw line. Not only does that figure rank 12th in the SEC, it’s also the only percentage by any Georgia team of the past 45 years to be under 60 percent.

Stukes Wins SEC P-O-W Award

Sophomore guard Levi Stukes, whose career-high 31 points led Georgia to its overtime victory against Oregon State, was named Monday as the SEC’s Player of the Week. In both of Georgia’s comeback wins last week, Stukes played key roles. Against Gardner-Webb he scored 10 of his 15 points in the final nine minutes, including the go-ahead free throws with 1:09 left. Stukes becomes the16th Georgia player to win the P-O-W award since its inception in 1985. Three former Bulldogs were multiple winners, led by 4-time recipient Ezra Williams.

Sikes Dismissed, Seven Left

Georgia head coach Dennis Felton last week announced the dismissal of sophomore forward Marcus Sikes from the team. Sikes had been on indefinite suspension since mid-September for disciplinary reasons. His dismissal reduces the number of scholarship players on Georgia’s roster to seven.

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 18 players that could suit up for Georgia, 11 of them were not on last year’s team. Nine of those11 were not even on campus.

GEORGIA BULLDOGS (3-3 overall)
Head Coach: Dennis Felton (19-17 in second season at Georgia)
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	Hometown	PPG	RPG
F -	15	Steve Newman	6-8	230	So.	Orlando, Fla.	8.2	3.3
C -	44	Dave Bliss	6-10	240	Fr.	Wausau, Wis.	6.8	6.5
G -	25	Channing Toney	6-4	195	Fr.	Snellville, Ga.	8.2	3.3
G -	2	Sundiata Gaines	6-1	180	Fr.	Jamaica, N.Y.	13.5	3.5*
G -	14	Levi Stukes	6-1	180	So.	Randallstown, Md.	15.2	2.8
Top Reserves
F -	34	Corey Gibbs	6-6	240	RFr.	Lithonia, Ga.	4.0	5.7
G -	3	Kevin Brophy	6-1	180	Fr.	Melbourne, Australia	1.8	1.3

WOFFORD TERRIERS (6-2 overall, 1-0 in SoCon play)#
Head Coach: Mike Young (29-39 in third season at Wofford)#
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	Hometown	PPG	RPG
F -	21	Howard Wilkerson	6-6	250	Jr.	Eden, N.C.	15.3	8.5
C -	32	Sam Daniels	6-9	240	Sr.	Asheville, N.C.	8.5	4.3
G -	2	Adrien Borders	6-0	170	Sr.	Lilburn, Ga.	12.5	3.0
G -	15	Byron Fields	6-2	170	Jr.	Cincinnati, Ohio	6.3	2.9
G -	20	Eric Marshall	6-4	185	So.	Grovetown, Ga.	8.9	2.0
Top Reserves
F -	31	Tyler Berg	6-9	240	Jr.	Mt. Holly, N.C.	6.5	3.1
G -	33	Drew Gibson	6-2	175	Fr.	Los Angeles, Calif.	6.1	2.8
*Assists Per Game #Neither stats nor W/L record includes Dec. 18 game at Charleston Southern.

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 -- won’t lose their “teenager” status until next year.

In addition to this team’s youth, it also has fewer scholarshipped players than virtually every team in America. Of the 18 players currently in the program, just seven 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.

Have Snorkel & Sunscreen, Will Travel

The 2005-06 season will certainly tip off in grand style for the Bulldogs. They’ve signed on to participate in the 2005 Paradise Jam, which will be played on campus at the University of the Virgin Islands on St. Thomas. The 8-team tournament is slated for the opening weekend of the regular season: Nov. 18-21, 2005.

Edmonds, Wash.-based Basketball Travelers, Inc. -- the same company which arranged Georgia’s trip to Vancouver this year -- annually produces the Paradise Jam tournament.

Frosh Starters Make History

The Western Kentucky game 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

University of Georgia Athletics