A forgettable ending to a season of notable progress for Georgia basketball. What's next?
College basketball doesn’t require long rebuilding projects anymore.
The transfer portal and NIL have changed that.
Rosters are flipped all the time.
Teams can go up and down and up again.
Mike White’s first three seasons as coach of Georgia basketball, which ended Thursday with an 89-68 stomping by Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament first round in Wichita, Kan., were marked by gradual improvement.
That could be lost by the butt-kicking the Bulldogs took by the Zags.
Especially for fans that may have shelled out more than $600 to fly to the game. Gonzaga jumped to a 27-3 lead. The game was pretty much decided by the time any fans that stayed home tuned in after getting off work.
It marked the most lopsided NCAA Tournament loss in Georgia history. Gonzaga made a season high 60% of its 3-pointers after sinking 12 out of 20.
Credit Asa Newell for not opting out of the second half to protect himself from injury since he’s expected to be NBA bound. The Bulldogs had 10 first-half turnovers and were 8 of 29 shooting and trailed by 21.
The game was reminiscent of the team that showed up in blowout losses at Tennessee, Florida and Alabama, not the team that won four straight to end the regular season and secure its March Madness spot.
Newell was on the floor until the final buzzer. He finished with 20 points and 8 rebounds.
What shouldn’t be lost is the big picture.
Georgia went from 6-26 before White took over to 16-16, 20-16 and the NIT semifinals to 20-13 and, at long last, getting the Bulldogs back in March Madness for the first time since 2015.
The season included wins over Florida and St. John’s and was enough that White's name was connected to the N.C. State coaching vacancy in media reports.
“I thought we could advance, I thought we would advance,” White, who lost his first NCAA Tournament first round game in five tries, said on Georgia’s postgame radio show. “I anticipated playing into this tournament and our guys did, too.”
White said he was as down as he’s ever been after an NCAA tournament or NIT loss.
Georgia’s goal now should be to make it back to the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2001 and 2002. That 2002 appearance was later vacated due to NCAA sanctions.
The last back-to-back tournament appearances without that asterisk came in 1996 and 1997 under Hugh Durham which included the high point in program history of a Final Four appearance that first year.
Matching that may seem too much but going further than it did this year would be more progress. That means getting a win in the tournament.
The Bulldogs tied for ninth in the SEC this season with Arkansas, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt.
What will the roster look like next year?
The 6-foot-11 Newell said before and during the season that he was looking to be one-and-done. He is projected as the No. 20 overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft by ESPN.com
“The college experience was amazing,” Newell said afterwards.
Yet, he said, the “next process is talking to my circle and praying to God.”
When the postgame press conference ended, he took the name plate in front of him off the dais and kept it.
Guard Silas Demary Jr. spoke of the next Bulldog team: “June 1, we’ve got to be locked in.”
Two other starters were asked about their futures:
Starting guard Blue Cain: "I'm gonna take it day by day but very grateful for the Georgia staff and I look forward to being back."
Forward Dylan James: "Getting back in the gym right now. That's all I can say. The future is, I can't. ... it's uncertain, but just getting back in the gym, getting better, working on my game's the main thing I'm worried about right now."
Georgia has the nation’s No. 19 ranked recruiting class by the 247Sports Composite with top 70 national prospects Jacob Wilkins from Grayson, Kareem Stagg from IMG Academy and 7-foot-1 Jackson McVey from Overtime Elite.
White has remade his roster each year he’s been at Georgia, mining the portal.
Only Demary, Cain and James returned last offseason. Seniors Dakota Leffew and Tyrin Lawrence are gone.
It’s a two-way street between player and program for others in deciding what is the right fit.
Playing time and NIL deals are, of course, factors.
White has a new recruiting pitch now for those in the portal.
“We just went to the NCAA Tournament,” he said. “We’re trying to advance as opposed to these past few years, it’s been, ‘We’re hoping to get to the tournament.’ We need your help. These guys got it done.”
Nathan Giese of USA Today Sports Network contributed to this report
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Rough ending shouldn't overshadow Georgia basketball's season of progress
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