University of Georgia Athletics
Millender Has Earned Every Opportunity
January 26, 2026 | Men's Basketball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Marcus Millender has been called "Smurf" since pretty much the moment he was born.
"I was just a newborn, and I had on the little beanie hat that infants wear, and it was just way bigger than my head," the Georgia men's basketball junior said. "My parents told me, my mom and my dad, that I just looked like a Smurf, so from then on, the Smurf nickname just stuck with me."
The 5-foot-11 guard from Houston, Texas, was a three-star prospect coming out of Clear Brook High School. He started his collegiate career at South Alabama and played one season at UT-San Antonio before transferring to Georgia. One of the things that Millender is proud of in his career is that he's earned every opportunity that he's gotten along the way.
"I definitely take a lot of pride in where I am now," he said. "That's why I'm always in the gym. I have built a strong faith in the man above, God, so I take pride in just being the best version of myself every day."
As a freshman at South Alabama, Millender started 15 games and averaged 9.7 points, 3.3 assists and 2.9 rebounds a game. At UTSA as a sophomore, he started 28 games and averaged 14.9 points, 3.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds and a team-high 1.7 steals.
Playing for the Bulldogs, Millender has come off the bench in every game and is third on the team in scoring with 11.7 points per game, while leading Georgia with 3.5 assists.
"I see him putting up shots after practice every day. I see him putting up shots, working out, working really hard," Georgia center Somto Cyril said. "There have been a lot of games where he really helped us pull away or pull off a win, like against Xavier."
In Georgia's 78-77 win over Xavier on Nov. 21 in the Shriner's Children's Charleston Classic, Millender hit the game-winning 3 with 11 seconds left.
Average-sized in real life, Millender is a little man on the basketball court, with Cyril a full foot taller. Millender sometimes wishes he were taller than he is, but then he wouldn't be the same player.
"I wish I was 6-6, 6-7, 6-8, whatever, but you know, everything happens for a reason, and God blessed me with the ability that I have," he said.
Millender, like teammate Jeremiah Wilkinson, who's 6-1, can make a lot of plays on the perimeter — he hit a season-high five 3-pointers in Georgia's 104-100 overtime win against Auburn on Jan. 3 — but he's also not afraid to attack the basket and go up against the giants inside. Millender made it to Georgia by being an aggressive, confident and versatile player, one unafraid of any challenge.
"I'm just out there trying to be the best version of myself at all times. If that's distributing the ball, if that's scoring, if that's picking up (my man on defense) 94 feet, playing defense on the best player, that's what I'm going to do," he said.
Millender is playing some of his best basketball against the best competition. In non-conference games, he averaged 10.6 points, 4.2 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 21.7 minutes per game. In SEC play, his numbers are 15.8 points, 2.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 28.7 minutes a game. He scored a season-high 24 in the win over Auburn and followed that with 18 at Florida in the next game.
"I think anybody would want Smurf as their teammate," Cyril said. "Not just because of how he plays on the floor, but the way he is outside the floor. He's one of the guys that holds us together; he's a leader. He stays positive all the time, and he's a hard worker."
Staff Writer
Marcus Millender has been called "Smurf" since pretty much the moment he was born.
"I was just a newborn, and I had on the little beanie hat that infants wear, and it was just way bigger than my head," the Georgia men's basketball junior said. "My parents told me, my mom and my dad, that I just looked like a Smurf, so from then on, the Smurf nickname just stuck with me."
The 5-foot-11 guard from Houston, Texas, was a three-star prospect coming out of Clear Brook High School. He started his collegiate career at South Alabama and played one season at UT-San Antonio before transferring to Georgia. One of the things that Millender is proud of in his career is that he's earned every opportunity that he's gotten along the way.
"I definitely take a lot of pride in where I am now," he said. "That's why I'm always in the gym. I have built a strong faith in the man above, God, so I take pride in just being the best version of myself every day."
As a freshman at South Alabama, Millender started 15 games and averaged 9.7 points, 3.3 assists and 2.9 rebounds a game. At UTSA as a sophomore, he started 28 games and averaged 14.9 points, 3.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds and a team-high 1.7 steals.
Playing for the Bulldogs, Millender has come off the bench in every game and is third on the team in scoring with 11.7 points per game, while leading Georgia with 3.5 assists.
"I see him putting up shots after practice every day. I see him putting up shots, working out, working really hard," Georgia center Somto Cyril said. "There have been a lot of games where he really helped us pull away or pull off a win, like against Xavier."
In Georgia's 78-77 win over Xavier on Nov. 21 in the Shriner's Children's Charleston Classic, Millender hit the game-winning 3 with 11 seconds left.
Average-sized in real life, Millender is a little man on the basketball court, with Cyril a full foot taller. Millender sometimes wishes he were taller than he is, but then he wouldn't be the same player.
"I wish I was 6-6, 6-7, 6-8, whatever, but you know, everything happens for a reason, and God blessed me with the ability that I have," he said.
Millender, like teammate Jeremiah Wilkinson, who's 6-1, can make a lot of plays on the perimeter — he hit a season-high five 3-pointers in Georgia's 104-100 overtime win against Auburn on Jan. 3 — but he's also not afraid to attack the basket and go up against the giants inside. Millender made it to Georgia by being an aggressive, confident and versatile player, one unafraid of any challenge.
"I'm just out there trying to be the best version of myself at all times. If that's distributing the ball, if that's scoring, if that's picking up (my man on defense) 94 feet, playing defense on the best player, that's what I'm going to do," he said.
Millender is playing some of his best basketball against the best competition. In non-conference games, he averaged 10.6 points, 4.2 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 21.7 minutes per game. In SEC play, his numbers are 15.8 points, 2.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 28.7 minutes a game. He scored a season-high 24 in the win over Auburn and followed that with 18 at Florida in the next game.
"I think anybody would want Smurf as their teammate," Cyril said. "Not just because of how he plays on the floor, but the way he is outside the floor. He's one of the guys that holds us together; he's a leader. He stays positive all the time, and he's a hard worker."
Assistant Sports Communications Director 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.
Players Mentioned
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