WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum

WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.

RECORDS: Georgia 2-1, Bucknell 2-1

TV/RADIO: SEC Network (Jonathan Yardley, Mark Wise); Georgia Bulldogs Radio Network (Jeff Dantzler, Chuck Dowdle, Adam Gillespie

THE GAME: The contest with Bucknell is an opening round game in the Sunshine Slam that picks up Monday in Daytona Beach. On Monday, Georgia will play St. Joseph’s and either South Florida or UAB on Tuesday.

Jaxon Etter figures it was just a day or two before Georgia’s season-opener against Western Carolina.

Head coach Mike White concluded a normal practice and afterward asked the team to meet him in the film room.

Again, nothing unusual. The Bulldogs held what Etter described as a “goals meeting,” where each team member stood up and said what they hoped to get out of the season that was about to get underway.

Etter was the last to stand.

“I said my little spiel about dreaming to be on a Georgia team, and Coach (White) said ‘OK, you’re on scholarship,'” Etter said.

It was at that point that his jaw practically hit the floor.

“Everybody mobbed me,” Etter said. “It was what I’ve been dreaming about for the last couple of years. This made it even better.”

In college athletics, few stories are better than walk-ons who prove everyone wrong to ultimately earn a scholarship after being told they weren’t quite good enough.

In football, Stetson Bennett is a prime example. On the Bulldog basketball team, it’s Etter, whose only desire when he graduated from Etowah High was to somehow earn a spot on the Georgia basketball team.

That dream came true in 2019 when Etter earned a spot as a walk-on, a tag he carried with him for the next three years before White made his dreams of a scholarship come true.

“I love him. I love all our guys, but Jaxon is as accountable a player as I’ve ever coached,” White said. “If you asked him to try and run through a wall, he’d run through a wall for Georgia basketball, for his teammates. He’s awesome.’

Teammate Jusuan Holt concurred.

“We were very happy. It means a lot to a lot of people,” said Holt, who ironically went to the same school (St. Francis) where Etter’s dad serves as principal. “We’re in the gym, and every day we see him working hard. He deserves it.”

A scholarship to play for the Bulldogs almost did not happen at all. Shortly after the coaching change, Etter placed his name in the transfer portal, before White helped convince him to stay in Athens.

Both parties are glad he did. And now he's on scholarship.

“He was thrilled, obviously, but his teammates were even happier for him, which made this staff ecstatic,” White said. “Everyone in the room knows the value he brings to our program in so many ways. It’s an honor to coach him. I know exactly what he’s going to do this afternoon: he’s going to block out, he’s going to close out, he’s going to talk, he cares, he’s going to cut hard. He’s going to be successful. He’s a big part in what we are doing, and after a couple of months of practice, it was an absolute no-brainer that he’s earned a scholarship.”

The emotions of that day two weeks ago remain fresh in Etter’s mind.

“I couldn’t even express an emotion. I was crying, I was laughing, every emotion on the board was available at the time,” Etter said. “It was super awesome to just see how joyful my teammates were for me. That was the coolest part.”

The moment was filmed for posterity, but so far, the only people who have seen the video have been family and close friends.

Tooting his own horn has never been Etter’s way.

“Coach White is just an awesome, awesome dude, and he approached me afterward and said we videoed it, but we’re not going to put it out ourselves. He said we want the attention to be on you, and we want you to decide how that’s going to be exposed,” Etter said. “I just sent the video to the people who meant the most to me, that’s how I felt about it. I’m not a huge spotlight guy. I didn’t care for it to be thrown out there as soon as possible, I guess. But now that more people have found out, the video is cool.”

So is the fact that “walk-on” is no longer the title associated with his name.

“I will embrace former walk-on 1,000 percent,” Etter said.

Mathew-Alexander Moncrieffe’s ankle is improving, but White Thursday remained unclear if the Oklahoma State transfer will play Friday night against Bucknell.

“He’s Better. He got more reps (Wednesday); I’d say he’s hopeful. We’ll see what he does and hold our breath in practice today,” White said. “I told the managers no contact, don’t breathe on him. He’s important, he plays hard and has had a good fall. Hopefully, he’s back to 100 percent soon.”

Moncrieffe has not played since suffering the injury in the first half of the opener against Western Carolina.

Bucknell is 2-1 in the young season and sports some eye-catching team statistics.

The Bison score an average of 84.0 points per game, but the efficiency with which they do so is even more impressive. Bucknell is shooting 55.4 percent from the field as a team, including an even 50.0 clip from 3-point range.

As of Thursday, those percentages ranked No. 11 and No. 3 nationally, respectively. In effective field goal percentage, which gives extra weight to 3-point shots to provide a more complete assessment of a team’s shooting efficiency, Bucknell ranked No. 5 nationally at 65.5.

The Bison are averaging 11.3 makes from behind the 3-point arc per game.

Four of Bucknell’s five starters average double digits – Xander Rice at 15.7 ppg, Andre Screen at 15.0 ppg, Elvin Edmonds IV at 11.3 ppg, and Alex Timmerman at 10.3 ppg. Timmerman paces the Bison on the boards at 6.0 rpg.