All eyes on Silas Demary as Georgia Basketball offseason arrives

All eyes are on Georgia Basketball’s Silas Demary and the decisions he has to make this offseason after an impressive freshman season in Athens. With the Bulldogs losing to Seton Hall in the semifinals of the NIT on Tuesday, that’s it for the 2023-24 team. Attention turns quickly to shaping the group for next season, and Demary could be the centerpiece on which things are built around.

A Freshman All-SEC selection, Demary started 36 games for Georgia this season – every one but one in which an all-senior lineup got the starting nod to recognize the group at Stegeman Coliseum. He didn’t lead the team in scoring, rebounds or assists, but there was no doubt that Demary belonged in one of the nation’s top leagues, averaging 9.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game in his first season.

“I can’t sit here and tell you he’s just gotten so much better throughout the year. I thought he was really good the first week of practice,” Georgia head coach Mike White said of Demary ahead of the SEC Tournament. “He’s got high-level mental and physical toughness and leadership skills. He’ll grow in that area I think organically when he’s not the youngest guy on the court. It’ll happen for him, but he’s leading us right now at times, and what he says holds weight.”

“I would say that he’s probably even still a little bit underrated ’cause he does a lot of things too,” White added. “You know, he made the SEC All-Freshman team probably because of minutes played and points scored and averages and so on and so forth, but there’s a lot of stuff he does that doesn’t show up, and that’s why he does play a lot of minutes. He’s a winning player. I’m proud for him.”

Demary’s teammate Noah Thomasson might disagree with White in the fact that he believes the freshman did get significantly better. That’s not to say that Thomasson wasn’t high on the Raleigh, N.C. native and Combine Academy product coming into Georgia. At SEC Media Days, Thomasson said that both Demary and fellow freshman guard Blue Cain were mature beyond their years, acting like juniors and seniors despite being just a matter of months into college. Reflecting in those comments made in October now in April, Thomasson doubled down.

“I know that when I’m not here and I’m done playing College Basketball, Georgia’s going to be in good hands with Blue and Silas. They’re growing every day, and I’m proud of them,” Thomasson said. “They’re confident every day. I said it in Birmingham and I’ll say it again: they’re freshmen but they carry themselves like juniors and seniors. They’re big time players and they keep making big time plays for us. They helped us a lot throughout this whole season.”

As for Demary, he did a little bit of reflecting too, but his thinking is far from over. Admitting that he needs to take some time away from the court after the long season, the freshman – in a world in which it’s as easy to transfer elsewhere as ever before – said he’s going to ‘figure out what’s next’ for himself and his team.

“Definitely going to decompress,” Demary said. “Obviously we are playing basketball since June. Honestly just take some time away and relax and rest my body. It’s been a long season. So obviously going to have those conversations, but obviously just going to take my time and just make sure I do what’s best for me.”

“Honestly, I feel like I had a great freshman year, confidence-wise,” he added. “Even “Noah to my left, I was picking his ear every day. He was leading me. I mean, I feel like I had a great freshman year just thanks to everybody that I was around … I feel like there was a lot of adversity at times, just with the team and us figuring out how to play with one another. A lot of new faces coming in. Early on I was kind of quiet, learning from the older guys, and guys got on me that I need to use my voice, because if I want to be one of the leaders on the team and guys listen to me, I got to voice what I wanted to be seen.”

Demary can be that leader Thomasson and others pushed him to be if he decides to return. At times – Tuesday night included – he’s shared comments that show an understanding that the success of this season can be a springboard for 2024-25.

Georgia has five-star plus+ forward Asa Newell signed in the Class of 2024 and opportunities to add more in the transfer portal with at least a pair of open spots. There won’t be Thomasson or Russel Tchewa, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder respectively, but with Demary running the show and the right pieces around him, the Bulldogs can build on their strong finish and run in the NIT. However, until he makes an announcement of sorts though, there’s going to be hand wringing happening in Athens surrounding Demary’s ‘decompression,’ anxiously awaiting official news of his return.