Do you want to be coached like a freshman or coached like a player?

That very question was posed by head coach Tom Crean to freshmen Tye Fagan, JoJo Toppin, and Amanze Ngumezi the first day they set foot on campus as members of Georgia’s basketball program.

“Coached like a player,” Fagan quickly responded during an interview Monday at the team’s basketball facility.

“When you come to college, there’s no level of pity or sorrow if you make a mistake. There’s no 'Oh, he’s just a freshman.’ That could cost you a game,” Fagan said. “That’s why I want him to coach me like a player—because when the game comes, I’ll be ready on the court.”

That’s always the answer Crean hopes to hear.

“That always gets their attention,” said Crean, who has asked that same question to freshmen dating back to his years at Marquette, later at Indiana, and now at UGA.

“They always want to be coached like a player, but at the end of the day, I’ve got to remember they are freshmen and they are learning different things,” Crean said. “When it comes to picking things up, competing, trying to have a voice, not being afraid—those guys are definitely not afraid of spending extra time in the gym. Those guys have done that.”

Crean, along with assistants Chad Dollar, Amir-Abdur-Rahim, and Joe Scott, met with the media Monday afternoon.

They were joined by a trio of players, Nic Claxton, Turtle Jackson, and Fagan, who represented Georgia’s four-man freshman class.

“The biggest thing for me coming here was the development that Coach Crean brings to players, because you’ve seen what he’s been able to do for former players. And I feel he will be able to do the same for me,” said Fagan, who led Upson-Lee to back-to-back state championships, averaging 25 points per game his senior year. “He’s changing the culture of this basketball program and I want to be a part of that.”

So far, so good.

Fagan feels in the short time he’s been on campus, he’s adapting as well as he hoped he would.

“Even better, I’m very comfortable, because I feel I’m learning at a fast pace,” he said. “I feel I’m ahead of the learning curve, I feel I’m picking up things fast. I’m just working hard every day.”

Crean can vouch for that.

“I think all three freshmen have been fantastic. JoJo got banged up a little bit the other day, so he’s been out a few days with the basketball, but Amanze, JoJo, and Tye—they got better in the spring. We recruited Tye in the spring, so we had a chance to see that a little bit more,” Crean said. “JoJo had a couple of things when we first met him, and Amanze had a couple of things when we first met him, and those guys did a very good job of that before they got here.”

NOTES: Crean said that operations coordinator Matt Bucklin has left the program to become the Director of Operations at Clemson. “It’s a move up for him in his eyes. You never like to lose good people, but he did a fantastic job,” Crean said. “The three-plus months that we got to spend with him showed just how much he loved Georgia and how committed he is to have us be successful. We wish him the best.”

Crean said freshman Ignas Sargiunas of Lithuania will join the team in time for the start of classes in August.