Putting Georgia basketball's historically bad season into perspective
Just like that, the 2021-2022 Georgia basketball season ends following a first-round exit in the SEC Tournament.
Entering the season, expectations for the Bulldogs were low, but even the most pessimistic Georgia fans knew that the team had enough talent to bring the Dawgs to the middle of the pack in the SEC.
However, no one expected the Bulldogs to look like this.
The University of Georgia began its basketball program during the 1905-1906 basketball season. This season, the Bulldogs broke a program record for the most losses in a single season with 26.
Heading into the season, Georgia’s roster underwent a massive overhaul from the previous season.
The Dawgs lost eight different players to the transfer portal, including Sahvir Wheeler, Tye Fagan, and KD Johnson.
In an effort to rebuild the roster, Tom Crean and the Bulldogs brought in 10 new players (five through transfer portal, five through high school/junior college).
Despite bringing in seasoned veterans and highly-touted recruits, such as Aaron Cook and Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Georgia couldn’t find chemistry with this new roster.
Then, the injuries started…
Before the season even began, the Bulldogs lost their only returning starter in P.J. Horne.
Horne tore his ACL in practice.
Georgia’s front-court got even weaker when Jailyn Ingram, a graduate transfer from FAU, tore his ACL in Georgia’s 69-58 victory over the Jacksonville Dolphins.
After starting the season 2-5, the Bulldogs faced their toughest competition yet December 1st when the Dawgs took on the No. 18 Memphis Tigers.
The Tigers had two top-eight ranked recruits in the On3 Sports’ 2021 recruiting cycle, Emoji Bates and Jalen Duren.
With the national spotlight on Memphis, Georgia’s sophomore guard from Titusville, Kario Oquendo had his coming-out party.
Oquendo dropped 24 points on the Tigers while throwing down some highlight-reel dunks.
The Bulldogs’ victory over the Tigers would go on to be their only ranked win of the season.
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The Bulldogs got off to a rough start in SEC play, losing their first six games of conference play by a combined 63 points. However, on January 25th, the Dawgs had a record of 5-14 and were tasked with facing the 13-6 Alabama Crimson Tide.
Still upset after a 33-18 loss in the National Championship in football, Tide fans filled up Stegeman Coliseum in hopes of a satisfying revenge game against the Bulldogs.
Once again, the team had its back against the wall.
The Bulldogs fought through theadversity to get an upset win over Alabama.
Following its 82-76 home victory over the Crimson Tide, Georgia limped to the finish line
Georgia basketball lost its last 12 contests, 7 of which were double-digit losses.
The contests ranged from the heartbreaking 74-72 loss against the No. 1 Auburn Tigers, to their 86-51 blowout loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores in the SEC Tournament.
Georgia’s biggest critics could not have predicted this level of inefficiency.
Looking forward to the future, there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Georgia basketball program.
Freshman guard Christian Wright showed flashes of stardom throughout the season. Oquendo provided a much-needed source of explosiveness and scoring for the Bulldogs this year.
Still, Georgia fans expect to see roster adjustments and culture changes after this season.
Despite all of the disappointment that this season was riddled with, it’s hard to ever be too pessimistic as a Georgia basketball fan
Yes, I know that you just saw the worst Georgia basketball team in over a century.
Yes, I know that the KD Johnson jersey that you bought may not have aged too well.
However, if there’s one thing that this season taught us, it’s that even in the darkest times of the program, the passion of the Bulldog fanbase is unrivaled.
No doubt they will expect greatness in the next hire to replace Crean, who is expected to part ways with Georgia now that the season is over.
