University of Georgia Athletics
Strength In Numbers For Freshmen
November 12, 2015 | Men's Basketball
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By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
There is strength in numbers, and company in good times and bad. Like when you're one of the five freshmen on the Georgia men's basketball team and the inevitable mistakes you make are just one or two more on the pile.
"You're not the only one that's going to get chewed out, so it's nice to have other people with you," 6-foot-8, 250-pound freshman forward Derek Ogbeide said midway through the preseason. "As opposed to coming in by yourself, you have other people that know what you're going through.
"I've got four other guys that know exactly what I'm going through. We all discuss how hard this is and we're working to get better at it."
Four of the freshmen are expected to challenge for significant playing time this season: 6-4 guard William Jackson II (the first Athens player to sign with the Dogs in more than 20 years); 6-6 forward E'Torrion Wilridge; 6-9 forward Mike Edwards; and Ogbeide. Georgia's fifth freshman is 6-6 forward Connor O'Neill.
For Ogbeide, who recently suffered a minor shoulder injury, his chance to contribute may have to wait a little while. For the rest, that chance comes in Friday night's season opener (7 p.m. at Stegeman Coliseum) against the Chattanooga Mocs.
All four played at least 18 minutes in last Friday's exhibition game against Armstrong State. There were several stretches when coach Mark Fox put the four freshmen on the court together.
"I played them in the first half as a group because I wanted to challenge them, and I wanted to leave them out there to say, it's on you guys as a unit, as young guys," Fox said after the 59-41 win. "And they responded pretty well. Our freshmen have to be a part of this team for it to be good. And we needed to challenge them."
It worked against the Pirates, but don't expect Fox to regularly put all the freshmen out there.
"I don't know if you'll see a lot of that during the regular season, but they handled it pretty well," he said.
The freshmen have been challenged since they arrived. Their strength and conditioning work has been immense, perhaps most impressively with Ogbeide, though Edwards also doesn't have the body, especially the arms and shoulders, of a typical first-year player. Both Edwards and Ogbeide said they have put on at least 10 pounds of muscle since the summer -- Edwards is now 225 pounds and Egbeide is at 250.
And on the court, Fox and his staff weren't just bringing new guys into the squad, they were preparing them to play right away. That showed in the exhibition, which, while far from flawless, did provide a glimpse at what "Turtle" Jackson, Wilridge, Edwards and Ogbeide can bring to the table. And what's interesting is that they all bring something different.
Jackson is a point guard with great speed and athleticism, capable of explosive plays at both ends.
"He definitely has a lot of skill when it comes to the perimeter and he attacks the basket really well, too," junior forward Yante Maten said of Jackson. "He may not be the biggest, but he can still makes some moves and get to the basket. He has a really good IQ for the game."
Wilridge has good size, range and athleticism, which certainly showed on his baseline drive and highlight-reel windmill dunk in the exhibition. Edwards, who led Georgia with 11 points in the exhibition, appears capable of doing everything you'd want a power forward to do.
"Mike, obviously, can really run and jump, and has great length," Fox said Thursday. "I think he is off to a good start."
And Ogbeide, who had a game-high 10 rebounds in the exhibition, will be a powerful, physical presence in the paint at both ends of the court. But he won't be a lumbering Bulldog on the floor.
"Derek has quick feet, explosive quick feet," Fox said after the exhibition.
The freshmen won't have to lead this team, which is looking for a third straight 20-win season, senior preseason All-SEC guards Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines will carry much of that load. But the more the rookies can contribute, and the sooner they can do it, the better the Bulldogs will be.
Fox expects a lot from this freshman bunch, but the veteran coach also knows that they're still freshmen.
"They're going to be up and down. They have so much to learn and so much they have yet to experience," he said. "They're going to see defenses that they don't even know exist at this moment. They might see one tomorrow they don't even know exist."
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
