Valdosta State at Georgia (exhibition)

WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum

WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.

ADMISSION: Free

With 10 newcomers, including nine true freshman, basketball coach Tom Crean is expecting even more from the five veterans back for his 2019-2020 squad.

Junior Rayshaun Hammonds could well be at the top of Crean’s list.

Coming off foot surgery, Hammonds is Georgia’s leading returning scorer at 12.1 points per game. But there's lot about his play that Crean is challenging the Norcross native to improve.

“He hasn’t been as consistent as he needs to be, and that’s got to happen for him,” Crean said at SEC Media Days. “The injury's not an issue. It’s more the intent and intensity he’s got to bring on a daily basis. For him to be productive for us, and for him to have a future after us, he’s got to be a very versatile player. He’s got to be a productive player, an efficient player.”

Hammonds appears to be taking his coach’s challenges to heart.

“He’s been hard on me, pushing me to make sure I get better every day,” Hammonds said. “It’s a process.”

Fortunately, the foot injury he suffered against Ole Miss is history.

With three months of rehab behind him, Hammonds admits the first few weeks felt kind of weird, considering the injury to his left foot affected his jumping and planning leg.

Now he can just focus on improving his game.

“I just want to be better at everything,” Hammonds said. “When I got hurt, my main focus was getting in shape—being better than I was last year.”

Crean said he expects Hammonds, along with freshman Toumani Camara, will help make up for some of the loss of Nic Claxton to the NBA.

“He and Toumani have to pick up a lot of what we’re losing with Nic (Claxton). If we’re sitting here today, talking about Nic, we’re probably talking about a preseason All-American and a potential lottery pick, if he’s back with us as a junior,” Crean said. “Obviously, he’s in the NBA, so we’ve got to make up for those things. Nobody has to be Nic Claxton, but making up for and doing some things will make him better.

“So Ray’s decision-making, his shooting, his ability to rebound, and his effectiveness defensively, are really, really important. And we’re going to expect more and more leadership from him because of those things. Not just for what he says, but how he does it on a consistent basis. That’s where his leadership has to grow.”

Hammonds said he’s determined to show his coach he’s ready to up his game.

“I’m still laid back, but I need to turn it up,” Hammonds said. “My goal this year is to be a better defender, better on the ball, and be a better rebounder—just try to help the team win. Whatever I can do to fill that gap is what I’m going to try and do.”

With 10 newcomers to get used to, Hammonds joked it initially took some getting used to. But from what he can tell, team chemistry is off to a good start. He reflected on what's expected of leaders:

“They’ve got to do things about class, on the court—just try to be good role models to them,” he said. “When I first got back this summer I won’t lie, it felt weird, because we had 10 new guys. Having a lot of young guys is different. They’ve got to learn how to do things, but I’m ready to do what I can to help them along with raising my game to a different level.”