South Carolina at Georgia
WHERE: Stegeman Coliseum,
WHEN: Saturday, 2 p.m.
RECORDS: Georgia 6-18, 1-10; South Carolina 13-10, 4-7
TV/RADIO: SEC Network (Roy Philpott, Mark Wise); Georgia Bulldog Radio Network (Scott Howard, Mark Slonaker, Adam Gillespie).
In a season when the results have not been what head coach Tom Crean or Georgia fans had hoped, sophomore guard Kario Oquendo continues to impress.
Entering Saturday’s game against South Carolina (2 p.m., SEC Network), Oquendo has actually been a bright spot for the Bulldogs, flashing an ability to be one of the league’s most exciting players, while leading his team in scoring at 16.7 points per game.
That’s 5.2 points more than what he averaged during the non-conference portion of Georgia’s schedule.
“I feel like I’ve been getting a better understanding of the offense,” Oquendo said. “But I’m also getting more comfortable. I think around the half-season mark is when I got really comfortable in my role as far as what I came here to do. I’m just trying to put us in the best position to win.”
Oquendo is certainly doing his part there.
After scoring 21, 22, and 28 points in Georgia’s first three conference games against Texas A&M, Kentucky, and Mississippi State, a minor knee at Stegeman Coliseum against Vanderbilt briefly left him sidelined.
Oquendo missed the following game at Auburn and only played 15 minutes against South Carolina, before returning back to full health against Alabama.
The Titusville Florida native would suffer a broken nose on Jan. 29 at Vanderbilt. But in Georgia’s most recent three games, he appears to be back at full strength.
After scoring 17 points against Arkansas, Oquendo poured in 28 points against Auburn before leading the Bulldogs with 22 points their loss earlier this week at Florida.
“That first game against South Carolina, I was trying to come back, but I was still injured,” Oquendo said. “I was trying to fill it up.”
Crean likes what he’s seen.
“He had the two injuries, so maybe the consistency has not been there. But now that his health is right, he’s done a fantastic job,” Crean said. “He continues to improve. He works extremely hard; he’s understanding the game better all the time. When he comes in like he did last Saturday, and Wednesday against Florida with a defensive mindset where it’s really about locking into who he’s guarding and the awareness that he has defensively, he’s really good.”
At 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, Oquendo qualifies as one of the bigger guards in the SEC.
Grades his senior year in high school forced him to go the junior college route at Florida Southwestern State. But after getting his academic affairs in order, Division I schools started paying attention.
Oquendo chose Georgia over Marquette and Oregon.
“He’s had an interesting background. He wasn’t eligible out of high school, so he went to junior college. If he was eligible out of high school, he’s a national level recruit,” Crean said. “He’s learning all the time. He’s basically played one year of college basketball in junior college and got that year back. So, we’re looking at a guy who's basically a freshman, with the Covid rules. His upside is tremendous, there’s no doubt about that.”
Of course, Georgia’s record (6-18, 1-10) is something Oquendo wishes was different. Oquendo’s teams did not do a lot of losing in high school and junior college.
“Coming in I knew it was going to be hard with a new team and knowing everybody would have to get comfortable in their roles,” Oquendo said. “I only had one losing season in high school—my second year—but every other year we made the playoffs.” However, Oquendo said he refuses to be discouraged.
During an earlier interview, Oquendo expressed that yes, he does harbor professional dreams. If he wants those dreams to one day come true, he knows giving top effort will get him noticed, even if the team’s record does not reflect his success.
Crean believes those NBA dreams can become a reality.
“It’s one reason we signed him,” Crean said. “It was one reason he was attracted to us, because of the success we’ve had with bigger guards, whether it be Anthony Edwards or the guards we had at Indiana and Marquette,” Crean said. “No question about it that I think that he does.”
