Georgia To Face Zags In NCAA Tournament

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia Basketball NCAA Tournament Game Notes
Georgia (20-12, 8-10 SEC) vs. No. 24/23 Gonzaga (25-8, 14-4 WCC)
Date: Thursday, March 20, 2025
Time: 4:35 p.m. ET
Venue: INTRUST Bank Arena (15,004)
Location: Wichita, Kansas
TV: TBS (Tom McCarthy, play-by-play; Debbie Antonelli & Steve Smith, analysts; AJ Ross, reporter)
Georgia Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
Nation Radio: Westwood One Radio (Ted Emrich, play-by-play; Casey Jacobsen, analyst; Tim Parker, producer)

The Starting 5...

The Georgia Bulldogs will return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 10 years on Thursday when they face No. 24/23 Gonzaga in a Round of 64 matchup of the Midwest Regional in Wichita.
The Bulldogs played nearly 60 percent of their games – 19 of 32 = .594 – against NCAA Tournament teams, with wins over teams seeded No. 1 (Florida), No. 2 (St. John's) and No. 3 (Kentucky).
Georgia is 20-12 on the season, the Bulldogs' 15th 20-win campaign but just the sixth time in 119 seasons that UGA reached 20 victories during the regular season.
The Bulldogs also secured their second straight 20-win campaign, just the fifth time the Bulldogs have put together back-to-back 20-win efforts.
Georgia played a nation-leading eight regular-season games versus AP top-10 foes. Over half of UGA's January & February outings – eight of 15 – were against the top-10, including five on the road.

The Opening Tip

Georgia will take on Gonzaga in Midwest Regional action of the NCAA Tournament at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita on Thursday at approximately 4:35 p.m. ET. The battle of the Bulldogs features Georgia as the No. 9 seed and Gonzaga seeded No. 8.

Georgia is making its first appearance in the "Big Dance" in 10 seasons.

The Bulldogs are 20-12, reaching the 20-win mark during the regular season for just the sixth time in 119 seasons (along with 1931, 1986, 1997, 2011 and 2015). Georgia also secured its second-straight 20-win effort, marking the fifth back-to-back 20-victory campaigns ever for UGA.

The Bulldogs did so by playing one of the nation's most challenging schedules. Just shy of 60 percent of Georgia's 32 games to date – 19 of 32 = 59.4 percent – were against NCAA Tournament teams. The Bulldogs played eight outings versus top-10 opponents, the most of any school in the country during the regular season, with five of those being on the road.

The Bulldogs' balanced offense features seven players who have led Georgia in scoring.

Freshman Asa Newell, an SEC All-Freshman honoree, paces the Bulldogs both in scoring at 15.3 ppg and on the boards at 6.8 rpg. Among SEC leaders, Newell is No. 15 in scoring, No. 10 rebounding, No. 2 in offensive rebounds (3.2 orpg), No. 3 in field goal percentage (.541) and No. 5 in double-doubles (seven). Silas Demary Jr. also is scoring at double-digit pace of 13.4 ppg the Bulldogs – including 19.8 ppg over the last nine games – and sports team-high averages of 3.1 apg, 1.7 spg and 31.3 mpg. He was named the SEC Player of the Week and a National Player of the Week after averaging 23.5 points in late-season wins over No. 3 Florida and at Texas.

Blue Cain contributed double figures in league play, upping his average of 8.2 ppg against non-conference competition by 2.0 ppg to 10.2 ppg versus SEC teams.

UGA's NCAA Tournament History

Officially, the Bulldogs are making their 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and their first since the 2015 season. Georgia has participated in two more editions of March Madness; however, those were lated vacated due to NCAA sanctions.

The Bulldogs' first invitation to the "Big Dance" was their most memorable. After finishing 9-9 in league play and entering the 1983 SEC Tournament as the No. 6 seed, the Bulldogs won three games in as many days to earn their first SEC title and NCAA bid.

A No. 4 seed, Georgia beat VCU on a last-second James Banks jumper to advance to the East Regional in Syracuse. There, the Bulldogs shocked the basketball universe by upsetting top-seeded St. John's (led by Chris Mullin) in the "Sweet 16" before besting North Carolina (and Michael Jordan) in the 'Elite Eight."

Georgia was the "other Cinderella" at the 1983 Final Four Albuquerque, falling to eventual champion N.C. State (and Jim Valvano) in the semifinal round.

Ironically, the Bulldogs' second-most successful NCAA run began in Albuquerque. In 1996, Tubby Smith's first season in Athens, Georgia defeated Clemson and upset top-seeded Purdue at The Pit in the first two rounds to advance to the "Sweet 16." The Bulldogs then lost to Syracuse in overtime in the West Regional semifinals in Denver.

Scouting The Zags

Gonzaga enters the NCAAs at 25-8. The Zags were 14-4 in WCC action, finishing second to St. Mary's before defeating the Gaels to capture their 20th WCC Tournament title in the 2000s.

Gonzaga's roster features five players scoring at a double-digit clip, led by Graham Ike at 17.1 ppg and followed by Khalif Battle at 13.2 ppg, Nolan Hickman at 11.0 ppg and Braden Huff and Ryan Nembhard both at 10.8 ppg. Ike paces the Bulldogs on the boards at 7.5 rpg.

Gonzaga leads the nation in both average assists (19.7 apg) and assist-to-turnover radio (2.09), largely due to Nembhard. He ranks first and second nationally at 9.8 apg – a full 1.1 apg more than any other player – and 4.28 assist-to-TOs.

All told, the Zags rank among the nation's top 5 in six major stats. In addition to the aforementioned assist tallies, Gonzaga is No. 2 in scoring offense (86.6 ppg), No. 3 in scoring margin (+17.0 ppg), No. 3 in field goal percentage (.500) and No. 3 in free throw percentage (.801).

Series History With Gonzaga

Gonzaga owns a 3-2 advantage in all-time meetings between the Zags and Georgia, with all five meetings occurring between 2002-14.

In the most recent meeting 10 seasons ago, No. 10 Gonzaga defeated Georgia, 88-76, in the NIT Preseason Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden.

The Zags started quickly, opening up a 21-8 lead at the 12:28 mark of the first half and never letting Georgia closer than seven points the rest of the way.

Charles Mann, Georgia's current Director of Player Personnel, scored a team-high 23 points for the Bulldogs.

Last Time Out

Despite 24- and 21-point performances from Silas Demary Jr. and Asa Newell, respectively, Georgia dropped an 81-75 decision of Oklahoma in the opening round of the SEC Tournament last Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Newell added a season-high 17 rebounds – the most by a Bulldog in a single game since current Portland Trail Blazer Toumani Camara's 17 against Montana in Dec. 2020 – to garner his seventh double-double, and Blue Cain equaled his season high with 17 points.

The back-and-forth affair featured no less than six ties and 10 lead changes, with Georgia on top for 17:58 and the Sooners leading for 18:29 of the contest.

After Georgia equaled its largest advantage of the night at 64-58 on a Cain 3-pointer with 8:26 remaining, Oklahoma answered with a 14-0 surge to take the lead for good. The Bulldogs gained possession down 76-71 with 45 seconds left but were unable to complete the rally.

"We fought, we did some good things, offensively and defensively not enough, obviously, to advance," head coach Mike White said. "But, as I said, this team's accomplished a lot, and we're ready to get a little bit of rest and move on to the next thing. I feel a bit of an opportunity right around the corner. I'm excited for Sunday, and we'll be prepared to go to battle.

White Leads Coaches With Wins In Every NCAA & NIT Appearance

Georgia head coach Mike White enters the NCAA Tournament with a combined 16-9 record in NCAA and NIT competition – 6-4 in the NCAAs and 10-5 in the NIT. More impressive, White is 9-0 in opening round games in the NCAA Tournament and NIT.

White is the only active power conference coach with more than five NCAA and NIT appearances and a perfect record in opening-round games and one of only six with multiple bids to those tourneys without a first-round setback as outlined below.

While at Florida, White was the only SEC coach to lead his teams to NCAA bids in every tournament between 2017-21, headlined by the Gators' 2017 "Elite Eight"run. In addition, Florida was projected as a single-digit seed for the 2020 tourney before it was canceled with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. White was one of only five coaches to win a game in each of those four NCAA tourneys from 2017-21 along with Bill Self, Mark Few, Jay Wright and Leonard Hamilton.

In the NIT, White has records of 5-3 at Louisiana Tech, 2-1 at Florida and 3-1 at Georgia, including an impressive list of road wins at Ohio State (2016 & 2024), Florida State (2013), GEORGIA (2014), Texas A&M (2015) and Wake Forest (2024).

White's postseason success dates back to his career as a four-year starter at Ole Miss. He helped the Rebels to their first back-to-back NCAA bids in 1997 and 1998 and added a third straight in 1999. White lists dribbling out the clock against Villanova for the first Ole Miss NCAA Tournament win ever during his senior season as the most memorable moment of his playing career.

Opening Round Perfection
Coach, Current School	NCAA	NIT	Tot.
Mike White, Georgia	4-0	5-0	9-0
Chris Beard, Ole Miss	5-0	0-0	6-0
Chris Collins, Northwestern	3-0	0-0	3-0
Hubert Davis, N. Carolina	2-0	0-0	2-0
Shaneen Holloway, Seton Hall	1-0	1-0	2-0
Jon Scheyer, Duke	2-0	0-0	2-0

There's "Brutal," And then There's This

Georgia played an almost unfathomable schedule, particularly in 2025. Of UGA's regular-season outings since the New Year began, nearly half of them – eight of 18 – were versus top-10 foes.

Georgia played 14 games against top-25 competition in the regular season – second most of any team in the nation as outlined below.

The Bulldogs played eight games versus top-10 foes in the regular season – the most of any team in the nation as outlined below.

The Bulldogs played five road contests against top-10 teams. The most of any team in the nation. In fact, only 18 of 364 D-I teams even played five games versus top-10 opponents during the regular season.

Prior to this season, Georgia had never played four ranked opponents in a row. The Bulldogs played five straight top-25 foes twice during SEC play this season.

Top-10 AP Opponents
Rk.	Team	Games
1.	Georgia	8
	Kentucky	8
3.	Alabama	7
	Auburn	7
	Mississippi St.	7
6.	Arkansas	6
	Colorado	6
	Missouri	6
	Vanderbilt	6
	West Virginia	6

Top-25 AP Opponents
Rk.	Team	Games
1.	Alabama	16
2.	Georgia	14
	Auburn	14
4.	Oklahoma	13
	S. Carolina	13
6.	Kentucky	12
	Mississippi St.	12
	Tennessee	12

Bulldogs Better Under White

Georgia has made considerable improvement under Mike White from both semantic and quantifiable perspectives.

From traditional "game notes" verbiage you will read:

• Georgia upped its regular-season win total by 10 victories in White's first campaign, the second-largest increase of any Power conference team that season.
• Last season, the Bulldogs earned their first postseason bid since 2017 and while advancing to the NIT semifinals, reached the 20-win mark for the first time since 2016.
• Georgia is currently ranked among the nation's top-40 teams in virtually every metric published, with a high of No. 32 by Bart Torvik.

From a numerical perspective, Georgia's progress has been even more impressive.

Among six of the most-utilized college basketball metrics, the Bulldogs have ascended an average of 184.0 spots during White's three seasons in Athens as outlined below.

The Metric Improvement
	21-22	24-25	DIFF
Torvik	193	32	+161
NET	223	33	+190
KenPom	219	34	+185
SOR	246	35	+211
BPI	208	38	+170
KPI*	225	38	+187
Avg.	219.0	35.0	+184.0

Paul Harvey's Take On the Bulldogs' Skid

The simplistically easy – and maddeningly overutilzied – narrative about Georgia's record from Jan. 15-Feb. 22 was:

• The Bulldogs lost nine of 11 games.

While that's factually accurate, more thorough examination reveals:

• Eight of those nine losses were to top-25 teams.
• Six of those losses were to top-10 teams.
• Five of those Ls were to top-10 teams on the road.

Stated Mike White: "People asked 'What's wrong with Georgia?' and 'What did you learn about yourself in these skids?' Well, we learned we're probably not a top-10 team. But we might be 11 or 21 or 31, which is still a really good team."

"And now you know the rest of the story. Good day!"

Mark The Date. February 8. When Silas Went From Good To Great

Sophomore Silas Demary Jr. has been a mainstay for Georgia since arriving on campus, starting 68 of 69 games. His only non nod was "Senior Day" last season. The Raleigh, N.C., native, has taken his game to another level in the past nine games.

In his first 60 games at Georgia prior to Feb. 8, Demary Jr. averaged 10.2 points with one 20-point performance (22 at No. 8 Kentucky last season).

In the last nine games – against No. 22 Mississippi State, No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 21 Missouri, No. 1 Auburn, No. 3 Florida, Texas, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma – Demary Jr. is averaging 19.8 ppg with four 20-point outbursts.

Demary Jr. has been the SEC's fifth-leading scorer since Feb. 8 as outlined below.

Much of the increased production has come from behind the 3-point arc. After averaging 0.8 3s per game while shooting 33.6 percent from 3-point range in his first 60 games, Demary Jr. has connected on 3.0 3s and shot 39.1 percent on 3-pointers in the last nine contests.

During that span Demary Jr. has also recorded career highs of 26 points versus Texas, seven assists against Mississippi State and 40 minutes played against Missouri.

SEC Scoring Leaders Since Feb. 8
Rk.	Player, School	GP	Pts.	Avg.
1	Tre Johnson, Texas	11	231	21.00
2	Josh Hubbard, Miss. St.	11	229	20.82
3	John Broome, Auburn	11	222	20.18
4	Mark Sears, Alabama	11	218	19.82
5	Silas Demary Jr., Georgia	9	178	19.78
6	Collin Murray-Boyles, S.C.	10	197	19.70
7	Walter Clayton Jr., Florida	12	214	19.45
8	Jeremiah Fears, Oklahoma	11	212	19.27
9	Chaz Lanier, Tennessee	11	198	18.00
10	Mark Mitchell, Missouri	10	179	17.90

Asa Ascends Among UGA's Top Scoring & Rebounding Freshmen

Asa Newell has joined Georgia's top-10 freshmen in scoring and rebounding among freshmen. He enters the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 4 in points and No. 6 in boards as outlined below.

During the Bulldogs' upset of No. 3 Florida on Feb. 25, Newell's 15-point, nine-rebound pushed him past from pretty impressive names. He inched ahead of two-time NBA Champion and current Orlando Magic standout Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in scoring and pushed three-time NBA All-Star Anthony Edwards off the rebounding ledger.

UGA's Top-Scoring Freshmen
Rk.	Player	Pts.	Season	GP	Avg.
1.	Jacky Dorsey	645	1974-75	25	25.8
2.	Anthony Edwards	610	2019-20	32	19.1
3.	Jumaine Jones	515	1997-98	25	14.7
4.	Asa Newell	489	2024-25	32	15.3
5.	Litterial Green	481	1988-89	31	15.5
6.	Cedric Henderson	433	1984-85	28	15.5
7.	KCP	422	2011-12	32	13.2
8.	Walter Daniels	404	1975-76	27	15.0
9.	D.A. Layne	381	1998-99	30	12.7
10.	Terry Fair	368	1979-80	27	13.6

UGA's Top-Rebounding Freshmen
Rk.	Player	Rebs.	Season	GP	Avg.
1.	Jumaine Jones	299	1997-98	35	8.5
2.	Jacky Dorsey	296	1974-75	25	11.8
3.	Terry Fair	271	1979-80	27	10.0
4.	Charlie Dorsey	223	1974-75	25	8.9
5.	Lucius Foster	220	1975-76	27	8.1
6.	Asa Newell	219	2024-25	32	6.5
7.	Trey Thompkins	206	2008-09	28	7.4
8.	Lavon Mercer	204	1976-77	27	7.6
9.	Cedric Henderson	199	1984-85	28	7.1
10.	Charles Claxton	190	1991-92	29	6.6

Blue Ups Production, Efficiency

Sophomore Blue Cain increased his offensive production by a significant margin when SEC competition began.

After contributing 8.2 ppg in Georgia's 13 non-conference games, Cain scored 10.2 ppg in league play. He did so by primarily improving his shooting percentages – from .375 overall and .310 from 3-point range in non-conference action to .438 and .368 versus SEC opponents.

Dogs' Defense Improves At Historic Level

The season before Mike White arrived, Georgia finished the year ranked No. 328 nationally in defensive efficiency according to kempom.com. As of Selection Sunday, these Bulldogs were No. 26 in that same metric.

Georgia's astronomical ascension of 302 spots over three seasons is the second-largest leap ever during the kenpom era, which began in 1997. Only UCF, which climbed 311 positions nationally – from No. 319 in 2015 to No. 8 in 2018 – has a larger three-year improvement than the Bulldogs during those 29 years as outlined below.

D-Up, D-Up, D-Up
School	Yr.	Rk.	Yr.	Rk.	Diff.
UCF	'15	319	'18	8	311
Georgia	'22	328	'25	26	302
Grand Canyon	'15	336	'18	50	286
Wofford	'07	324	'10	45	279
Harvard	'09	302	'12	29	273
Little Rock	'22	336	'25	67	269
Manhattan	'11	310	'14	46	264
McNeese	'21	353	'24	89	264
S. Utah	'17	349	'20	86	263
N. Colorado	'15	349	'18	94	255

Georgia Elite At Protecting The Rim

Georgia entered this week ranked No. 14 nationally in blocks per game, swatting an average of 5.3 opponent attempts every outing.

Individually, Somto Cyril is ranked No. 58 nationally – No. 7 among freshmen – at 1.7 bpg. Cyril has blocked three or more shots in seven games, including five in consecutive outings against Notre Dame and Buffalo.

Two more Bulldogs have five blocks in a game this season. Sophomore Dylan James notched five rejections in Georgia's upset of then-No. 22/20 St. Johns and freshman Asa Newell did so at No. 4/4 Alabama.

Asa Equals Ant For UGA's Most SEC FOTW Honors

Asa Newell was selected as the SEC Freshman of the Week for the fourth time this season on Feb. 10, tying Anthony Edwards for the most SEC FOTW certificates ever secured by a Bulldog.

Newell also was honored on Nov. 18 (after he averaged 13.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and 1.5 assists in a pair of wins over Georgia Tech and North Florida) Dec. 9 (after posting game-high tallies of 20 points and 11 rebounds in Georgia's 69-48 victory over Notre Dame in the SEC/ACC Challenge) and Jan. 13 (after he averaged 16.0 ppg and was Georgia's leading scorer in wins over No. 6/7 Kentucky and No. 17/16 Oklahoma).

That's just a portion of the accolades Newell has received.

On Feb. 7, Newell was named a top-10 candidate for the 2025 Kareem Abdul-Jabar Award by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The award annually honors the nation's top center.

Newell is the third Georgia player in the past nine years to be a top-10 candidate for one of the position player of the year awards, following Anthony Edwards (Jerry West Award in 2020) and Yante Maten (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award in 2017).

On Jan. 29, Newell was featured on The Athletic's Freshman All-America squad along with Cooper Flagg from Duke, Dylan Harper from Rutgers, Kasparas Jakucionis from Illinois and Tahaad Pettiford from Auburn.

Dogs Are "Stegtacular" At Home

Georgia's home court advantage? It's real and it's Stegtacular.

The Bulldogs were 15-3 in Athens this season, matching the program record for home wins in a single season. Georgia also won 15 home games during the 2013-14 and 2015-16 campaigns; however, those tallies include an NIT victory.

The Bulldogs posted a scoring margin of +16.0 at home, with 12 of 15 victories coming by double figures.

The Bulldogs won their first 11 home contests, building a 13-game home winning streak dating back to last season. After producing just eight double-digit home winning streaks in Georgia's first 116 seasons of basketball, the Bulldogs have produced three double-digit winning streaks at Stegeman during Mike White's three seasons alone as outlined below.

White's success at Stegeman is not confined to his UGA tenure. He was 7-1 in Athens as a visiting head coach, leading Louisiana Tech to a 2014 NIT victory at Stegeman and compiling a 6-1 mark at Florida from 2015-22.

With a 41-13 home mark since becoming Georgia's coach, White is a combined 48-14 (.774) in Stegeman. He is a perfect 27-0 versus non-conference competition at home with the Bulldogs.

Home Winning Streaks
Rk.	Season	No.
1.	1930-31 & '31-32	25
2.	1938-39 & '39-40	20
3.	1988-89, '89-90 & '90-91	15
4.	2001-02 & '02-03	13
5.	2023-24 & '24-25	12
	1997-98 & '98-99	12
7.	1984-85 & '85-86	11
8.	2023-24	10
	2022-23	10
	2007-08	10

Bulldogs' Beginning In Best since 1931

Georgia's 12-1 start to the 2024-25 campaign was the Bulldogs' third-best ever and their best in 94 seasons as outlined below.

Georgia also opened 1930-31 at 12-1 and eventually extended that to a 23-1 record before losing to Maryland in the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament and finishing 23-2. That campaign was the last of Coliseum namesake Herman Stegeman's 12 seasons as the Bulldogs' head coach.

Bulldogs' Best Beginnings
Rk.	Season	Rec.
1.	1930-31	23-1
2.	1923-24	13-1
3.	2024-25	12-1
4.	2001-02	11-1
	1996-97	11-1
	1929-30	11-1
	1947-48	11-1
	1920-21	11-1
9.	1995-96	10-1
	1994-95	10-1

Georgia Inks Another Top-15 Recruiting Class

Mike White announced on Friday, Nov. 15 that high school standouts Jackson McVey, Kareem Stagg and Jacob Wilkins inked papers to join the Bulldogs next season.

The trio was ranked No. 11 nationally by Rivals.com, as well as No. 12 by 247Sports.com, giving Georgia its third straight top-15 recruiting class of prep prospects. The Bulldog signees in the Classes of 2024 and 2023 were ranked No. 10 and No. 15, respectively, by both outlets.

McVey, is a 7-1, center from Ellijay, Ga., who is playing at Overtime Elite this season.

Stagg, is a 6-8, forward from Chesapeake, Va., who is in his second season at the IMG Academy.

Wilkins, a 6-9, forward from Loganville, Ga., and Grayson High School is the son of former Bulldog and hall-of-famer Dominique Wilkins.

Asa Equals Nique's Scoring Mark For Debuting Dogs

Asa Newell's 26-point outburst against Tennessee Tech in the season opener tied Dominique Wilkins for the highest offensive output ever by a Bulldog freshman in their collegiate debut.

When asked by media postgame if he knew of Wilkins' legacy, Newell quickly replied: "Yes, for sure. The human highlight reel. I've got a jersey of Dominique back at the crib."

Wilkins wasn't the only elite company Newell joined among the best Bulldog initial outings. Georgia's top-10 list of freshman debuts also includes current NBA stars Anthony Edwards and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as outlined below.

Top Debuts By Bulldog Freshmen
Pts.	Player	Opponent	Date
26	Asa Newell	Tennessee Tech	11/4/24
26	Dominique Wilkins	Troy State	11/30/79
24	Anthony Edwards	W. Carolina	11/5/19
19	Sahvir Wheeler	W. Carolina	11/5/19
19	Terry Fair	Troy State	11/30/79
18	Jeremy Price	Jacksonville St.	11/9/07
18	D.A. Layne	Mercer	11/13/98
17	Rayshaun Hammonds	Bryant	11/10/17
17	Sundiata Gaines	W. Kentucky	11/23/04
15	Kentavious Caldwell-Pope	Wofford	11/11/11

Six Dogs Were Top-100 Prospects

Georgia's 13 scholarship players includes a half-dozen Bulldogs who were ranked among the nation's top-100 prospects in their class.

Blue Cain, Silas Demary Jr. and Dylan James all were tabbed among the top 100 players in the Class of 2023. Their highest rankings featured Cain at No. 53 by On3.com, Demary at No. 56 by Rivals.com and James at No. 78 in the 247Sports.com composite.

Somto Cyril, Savo Drezgić and Asa Newell were featured among the top 100 prospects in the Class of 2024, with highs of No. 11 for Newell by On3.com, No. 43 for Cyril by 247Sports.com and No. 53 for Drezgić by On3.com.

Newell finished No. 14 in the 247Sports.com composite rankings, placing him alongside from impressive names. Newell is the fourth-highest signee for Georgia since 247 began its composite ledger in 2003, trailing only Anthony Edwards (No. 2 in 2019), Lou Williams (No. 6 in 2005 before declaring for the NBA Draft) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (No. 11 in 2011).

#CommitToTheGrades

The Bulldogs enjoyed their strongest academic semester ever during the fall of 2024, producing a team grade point average of 3.28. That was not only the program's highest mark ever, but also the second-highest GPA among UGA's nine men's athletic programs last fall.

All told, 12 Georgia players posted a 3.0 or higher in the fall. Tyrin Lawrence led the way with a 4.0, followed by four players between a 3.50-3.99 and seven between a 3.0-3.49.

JU Win Supplies Superlatives

The Bulldogs' fourth-best shooting performance ever topped a list of stellar stats in a 102-56 victory over Jacksonville on Nov. 30. The Bulldogs:

• Scored their most points under Mike White;
• Posted a red-host 66.7 field goal percentage that ranks No. 4 among UGA's best performances ever;
• Knocked down 14 3-pointers, matching UGA's sixth-most ever;

Georgia's field goal percentage (.667) also is the best effort by any SEC team this season.

White Leads Coaches With Wins In Every NCAA & NIT Appearance

The Bulldogs surge to the NIT semifinals last season improved Mike White's strong effort in postseason play. White is now a combined 16-9 in the NCAA and NIT – 6-4 in the NCAAs and 10-5 in the NIT.

While at Florida, White was the only SEC coach to lead his teams to NCAA bids in every tournament between 2017-21, headlined by the Gators' 2017 "Elite Eight"run. White was one of only five coaches to win a game in each of those NCAA tourneys along with Bill Self, Mark Few, Jay Wright and Leonard Hamilton.

In the NIT, White has records of 5-3 at Louisiana Tech, 2-1 at Florida and 3-1 at Georgia, including an impressive list of road wins at Ohio State (2016 & 2024), Florida St. (2013), GEORGIA (2014), Texas A&M (2015) and Wake Forest (2024).

White is the only active power conference coach with more than five NCAA and NIT appearances and a perfect record in opening-round games and one of only six with multiple bids to those tourneys without a first-round setback as outlined below.

White's postseason success dates back to his career as a four-year starter at Ole Miss. He helped the Rebels to their first back-to-back NCAA bids in 1997 and 1998 and added a third straight in 1999. White lists dribbling out the clock against Villanova for the first Ole Miss NCAA Tournament win ever during his senior season as the most memorable moment of his playing career.

Opening Round Perfection
Coach, Current School	NCAA	NIT	Tot.
Mike White, Georgia	4-0	5-0	9-0
Chris Beard, Ole Miss	5-0	0-0	6-0
Chris Collins, Northwestern	3-0	0-0	3-0
Hubert Davis, N. Carolina	2-0	0-0	2-0
Shaneen Holloway, Seton Hall	1-0	1-0	2-0
Jon Scheyer, Duke	2-0	0-0	2-0

COMPLETE GAME NOTES PDF

View the full game notes PDF.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Blue Cain

Silas Demary Jr.

Dylan James

Tyrin Lawrence

Asa Newell

University of Georgia Athletics