Silas Demary takes aim at improving shooting and becoming a leader
Silas Demary meets with the media to discuss his role of becoming a leader and improving shooting
Mike White’s highest-rated frontcourt recruit in his 14 years as a head coach got off to a strong start the first time he took the floor for Georgia basketball against an opposing team.
Asa Newell, a five-star freshman from Montverde (Fla.) Academy, scored a team-high 20 points in an 86-59 exhibition win at Charlotte Saturday.
Newell threw down a one-handed dunk on a pass from Mount St. Mary’s transfer Dakota Leffew and a jammed off a feed from Savo Drezgic.
“Asa’s a hard-playing guy,” coach Mike White said Monday. “He really changes ends of the floor. Intense, flew after rebounds on the offensive glass. Sat in his stance defensively and really exerted a lot of energy. He’s a talented guy that just plays hard.”
The 6-foot-11, 220-pound Newell is drawing NBA first-round draft pick projections.
White’s highest-rated recruits at Florida were all guards in five stars Scottie Lewis, Andrew Nembhard and Tre Mann who were NBA draft picks.
Lewis was the No. 7 ranked player in 2019 in the 247Sports Composite who was a second round draft pick of the Hornets. Mann and Andrew Nembhard play now for the Hornets and Pacers, respecitively.
Mann was a first-round draft and ranked as the No. 21 overall recruit in 2018. Nembhard, who transferred to Gonzaga, was the No. 23 recruit in 2018.
Newell is ranked as the No. 15 overall player nationally in the 2024 class.
“He’s super-talented, he’s driven,” White said. “It’s really important to him to maximize his potential, and he’s unique. He’s special in that he’s not just a talent. He’s a talented kid who plays really hard, who plays the right way, who takes good shots, who is just as focused on rebounding and defending as he is points and touches and all those things. He’s a winning player. It will translate to games.”
Newell is seen as an elite runner of the floor but he still needs to get to his spots faster.
“Asa, he’s extremely talented,” Vanderbilt transfer Tyrin Lawrence said. “He can shoot, he can finish on the inside, defend on the perimeter and on the inside. So Asa brings a lot to the table. I didn’t know him before this, but I’m just glad to see – I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, but he’s not all hype. So whatever you heard about Asa is true.”
Newell and the Bulldogs have one more exhibition against UCF on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. in Stegeman Colisuem before the real games begin
