Basketball team will be "process driven"
GREENSBORO – Georgia basketball coach Mike White dropped some knowledge while speaking to the UGA Athletic Board Thursday morning at the Ritz-Carlton Reynolds Lodge at Lake Oconee.
He’s about to add another player to his roster.
“We just filled our last scholarship 48 hours ago, which will be public pretty soon,” White told the board.
Although White cannot talk about potential student-athletes until they are signed, possible additions include Serbian-born point guard Savo Drezgic out of DME Academy in Daytona Beach.
Drezgic is a member of the 2025 class but may reclassify for next year.
Another name to watch is shooting guard Jordyn Kee of Legacy Early College in Greenville, S.C.
Currently, Georgia sits with 10 players on scholarship with three to give.
The Bulldogs hold their first meeting and summer practice in early June.
“I’m excited here for practice in a couple of weeks, I really am,” White said. “I could not be more excited. I’m as driven as I’ve been, as focused on summer practice as I’ve ever been because I think we’ve got a chance to be very good.”
Georgia’s third-year coach also told the board he’ll focus on this year’s team being “process driven” instead of one driven by results.
“Last year was the first year I got away from that in about a decade. We had some guys we got out of the transfer portal that was all about ‘Coach, we’re going to the tournament, we’re going to the tournament. That’s all I want to hear, let’s focus on that, let’s talk about that,’” White said. “So, we experimented with the concept we are getting to the NCAA Tournament – period. We’re going, done, and we talked about it every day. In my opinion, it backfired a little bit. We’re going to get away from that this year. I want to get back to being the best team in the country at today’s practice and the results will take care of itself.”
But while White won’t be talking about it, his goals for the program have not, and will not, change.
“The goal of the University of Georgia is to win the national championship and to get to tournaments. But we’ve got to go back 100 percent to just talking about the process rather than we are going to the tournament,” Whtie said. “Because when you hit some adversity, the SEC, at times again in today’s day and age, with the ability to two months from now... Mentally, as a 20-year-old who’s not getting exactly what he wants to get out of this, I can jump in the portal.
“On Jan. 15, after your second straight loss, it might be a little bit easier to have one foot in that portal mentally, as opposed to having an incredible practice and let’s focus on the next one. We’re getting back 100 percent to process building.”
