The Georgia basketball team is back on campus, gearing up to make another run to March with a roster that had departures expected and unexpected and another wave of newcomers added to the mix.
Players moved into their new digs last week and are working out in the Bulldogs’ practice gym.
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The team includes two scholarship seniors, four juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen.
“I like our depth,” coach Mike White said. “I like the balance in terms of the classes. This will be a much older team, much more experienced team than a year ago. I like the three freshmen that we’re bringing in, complemented by the five guys that we got out of the portal.”
Georgia knew it would lose forward/center Asa Newell, the top recruit since White was hired, to the NBA draft and ended up having to replace second-leading scorer and assists leader Silas Demary Jr.
He transferred to UConn after having a long sit-down talk with White the Monday after Georgia was knocked out by Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament first round.
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Demary told him a few days later he was going in the portal.
“I’m rooting like crazy for him to have success this year,” White said.
The newly constituted Bulldogs won’t take a step back. At least based on the early NCAA Tournament projections of ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, who puts Georgia as a No. 10 seed after the Bulldogs reached March Madness for the first time since 2015.
Georgia has two top 75 ranked transfers, according to ESPN’s Jeff Borzello, in 6-foot-9 forward Kanon Catchings (No. 67) from BYU and Jeremiah Wilkinson (No. 75) from Cal who is listed at 6-foot-1.
Wilkinson averaged 15.1 points per game last season as a freshman and 19.5 in the final 14 games after moving into the starting lineup. He scored 19 points in 27 minutes off the bench in a 98-93 loss at Missouri on Dec. 3.
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“He’s very athletic,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates, who watched Wilkinson during AAU games, told the Athens Banner-Herald. “Will fit in tremendously in the SEC. Will see immediate success as a starter and will cause a lot of defense’s problems. From a scoring standpoint, he can score at all three levels. At the rim, he’s athletic enough. Had more dunks than any kid probably about 6-foot or shorter. Mid-range jump shots and 3s. A very good player, very good defender as well.”
White said Catchings “shoots it like a two guard. Good ball security guy, too. One of these guys, he’s going to be really aggressive. He’s going to fire it up, and we’re going to welcome that. We’re going to embrace that.”
Catchings was 43-of-123 on 3-pointers while averaging 7.2 points per game and starting 15 of 31 games. He saw his playing time dwindle late in the season but scored 23 points in an overtime win against Baylor and 17 in an overtime loss to Ole Miss before February.
“He’s a guy that can fill it up, that can score big numbers in a hurry,” White said. “Talented, versatile defender, too, with length and a competitive streak.”
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Georgia ranked last in the SEC in assist/turnover ratio and 298th nationally last season at 0.96. The Bulldogs also ranked second to last in the SEC in turnovers per game with 12.9.
So, White was asked, what does Georgia have at point guard now?
“Boy, Jordan Ross is very good,” he said of the Saint Mary’s transfer. “Played off the ball more with three-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio, arguably their best defensive guard on a top-ten defense in the country. A guy that’s won a lot at every level. I’ve got a lot of confidence in him.”
The 6-foot-3 Ross had 90 assists to 27 turnovers while averaging 8.3 points and 3.1 rebounds.
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Georgia also added Marcus “Smurf” Millender, a 5-foot-11 transfer from UT-San Antonio who averaged 14.9 points and 3.3 assists per game last season.
“Jeremiah Wilkinson, Smurf Millender, both those guys are a little different,” White said. “Both those guys have more of a scoring mentality. But I think you’ve got three guys that can play the point at any given time. With those two guys being, again, a little bit different than Jordan, where I think Jordan’s emphasis, Jordan steps on the floor wanting to help guys around him get better, get guy shots.”
As for the freshmen, Jacob Wilkins brings his own highlight reel clips like his father, former Georgia and NBA great Dominique Wilkins.
“Just a really talented, high-ceiling guy,” White said.
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White called 6-8, 230-pound forward Kareem Stagg “one of the more underrated guys in the class.”
“I think he’s really talented, can play a couple different spots up front,” White said.
Jackson McVey, at 7-foot-1, projects as a “a stretch center that can block shots and make 3’s.”
Guard Blue Cain is Georgia’s top returning player, while forward Dylan James and center Justin Abso also return. Wofford transfer guard Justin Bailey is the other transfer addition.
Keeping 6-foot-11, 260-pound Somto Cyril from jumping in the transfer portal was big for the Bulldogs.
“Somto is huge, and it was a huge get getting him back,” White said. “We really like Sonto, his upside, his ceiling. He’s part of us. When you get a guy now to return for the second year, those guys are outliers now, right? He’s entrenched in the culture and our program. I think Somto’s got a chance to be a really good player.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Mike White’s insight on Georgia basketball roster for upcoming season
