What's next for the Bulldogs?
There will be no such thing as a break for head basketball coach Mike White.
With the transfer portal open, White and his staff are hitting the ground running as they start putting plans together for next year.
“It’s going to happen very quickly,” White said after his team’s 84-67 loss to Seton Hall in the semifinals of the NIT. “I don’t have a day or time on it, but it will be very soon. Our mindset was on potentially advancing and playing for a championship. But we’ll have those discussions as a staff tomorrow morning.”
There are a lot of questions still to be answered.
The careers of graduates Noah Thomasson, Russel Tchewe, and RJ Sunahara are complete.
They likely will not be the only ones.
With the NCAA transfer portal open, the big question now for White is how many players could potentially leave.
Decisions will soon be made.
That includes freshman guard Silas Demary Jr. who acknowledged during Tuesday night’s game Zoom he’ll be taking some time off to consider his future.
“I’m going to decompress. We’ve been playing basketball since June, so honestly, I’m going to take some time away, relax, and rest my body. It’s been a long season,” Demary Jr. said. “Obviously, I’ve got to have those conversations but I’m going to take my time and make sure I do what’s best for me.”
The Bulldogs have five-star forward Asa Newell joining the program in June, but more help will be needed.
For example, the Bulldogs would like to become bigger, and more athletic to better defend the rim.
With Tchewa and Thomasson moving on, it’s also expected that Georgia will look to sign a new center, as well as a point guard.
White was asked what characteristics he’ll be looking for from potential portal additions.
“Resiliency, and mental toughness. At times we displayed it at a really high level. Other times, when it wasn’t going for us early, it wasn’t where it needed to be,” White said. “We had three or four big leads there in conference play that we weren’t able to hold on to. Again, examples of mental toughness that moving forward we can reference as we build to where we want to get to.”
White is expected to meet with each member of the team to assess their season and gauge their interest in returning before any decisions are made.
“We’ll recover, but we’ve got to do it quickly. We’ve got work to do, we’ve got meetings to have,” White said. “But the way we played down the stretch has got me ready for practice in June. I’m excited to find out what our roster is going to be, what it’s going to look like.”
It will be interesting to see what happens.
Seniors Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Justin Hill, Matthew Alexander-Moncrieffe, and Frank Anselem-Ibe each have a Covid year of eligibility remaining.
Meanwhile, juniors RJ Melendez and Jalen DeLoach, along with freshmen Blue Cain and Dylan James each played key roles.
Whatever happens, Thomasson feels the program is in good hands.
“We came a long way from June to now in April. I said yesterday, I wouldn’t have picked a different school. I’m very thankful for the coaching staff, the administrative staff, the higher-ups at Georgia,” Thomasson said. “Anybody that’s in the portal and Georgia reaches out to you, this is a special place to be. This was the best decision of my life. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
