Georgia Basketball sets hopes high ahead of 2023-24 season

ATHENS, Ga. — Hopes are high within the Georgia Basketball program ahead of the 2023-24 season. Entering year two under head coach Mike White, the Bulldogs have added nine new players to their roster of 13, and White isn’t afraid to talk about the potential of playing in the postseason with this team.

“We want to go to the NCAA Tournament. Georgia wants to go to the NCAA Tournament. These guys want to go to an NCAA Tournament. So I’ve probably talked about that goal more so with this team, to be totally transparent with you, than I have in a long time,” White said prior to the first day of official practice. “I left it alone as a head coach really the whole time I’ve been in it. This year we’ve actually talked about it a little bit — like, ‘Hey, what’s the goal for this program?’ It’s to break through and to get back to a tournament.”

Georgia hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2015. The Bulldogs last played in the postseason in NIT in 2017. That means that even the oldest members of this UGA team were in middle school the last time postseason play was a thing in Athens.

Asked why it was that he felt comfortable to address a big goal like that with this team in particular, White said it’s because of the maturity. Georgia has three graduate transfers on this year’s squad. Three more players were on the team last year and are seniors. Even the freshmen have impressed White with their ability to act like they are older than they actually are.

“I mean, it would be a huge accomplishment,” one of those freshmen, Blue Cain, said. “It’s definitely the goal, but Coach White wants us to win the day. So, we’re more focused on winning the day each day, and then it’ll take care of itself.”

“It’s a long season. We’ve just got to take it day by day,” RJ Melendez, who played in the NCAA Tournament last season at Illinois, added. “We have to make sure that for these big games that we’ve got early in the season, we lock in early and don’t make mental mistakes because if we mess up early in the season it could affect a bid in the tournament. But we’ve got to go day by day, game by game, and I feel like the coaches have really good plan for us and we’ve got a really good team.”

All that being said, White, who made the NCAA Tournament four times at Florida and advanced to at least the Second Round in each appearance, understands there’s tons of time between now and March. Making the NCAA Tournament doesn’t happen based on play in November and December. Georgia will have to hold its own in the non-conference schedule – one that’s tougher this year than it was last – but the Bulldogs’ season will largely be defined by what they do against their SEC competition. White knows that, and knows that the process to build towards playing in the postseason is the most important thing right now.

“Now, 95 to 99% of the time, we need to talk about that process in order to get there,” White said. “How are we going to shoot free throws at a higher rate? How are we going to respond to one another and communicate effectively, all of those type things. How are we going to be a top upper tier, upper half defensive efficiency team? How do we get our assists up and turnovers down? And that’s all process-driven stuff that we’ll work on today. But ultimately, if we’re not trying to get to the tournament we’re wasting time in this league. And obviously the teams in this league that get to the tournament have a chance to make a run, and we want to be there one day.”

Fans that want to see the team in action will have to wait a little longer – that is unless you’re a UGA student. A student-only Stegmania takes place Friday night as a “test-run” for the re-opened Stegeman Coliseum before other events take place under the renovated roof.

Georgia’s home opener is set for Friday, November 10th against Wake Forest, but the Bulldogs will hold an exhibition against Eastern Kentucky, the preseason pick to win the Atlantic Sun Conference according to ESPN, on October 30th. Tickets will be $5 and go on sale October 16th with seating for the game on a first-come, first-served basis. All proceeds will go to benefit the American Red Cross of Georgia’s disaster relief efforts due to the recent impact of Hurricane Idalia on parts of South Georgia.