The transfer portal has completely changed the face of all college athletics, but perhaps none more than college basketball. Every offseason, countless players move in and out of programs, making year-to-year rosters more fickle than ever. Georgia men’s basketball is no exception, as the Bulldogs are tasked with replacing nine guys from last year’s team.
With this rate of turnover, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for coaches to build a defined culture in the locker room. The veteran presences who usually keep that kind of thing intact are becoming more and more rare as transfers become more common.
“Every year is a different team, different challenges and different personalities in the locker room,” head coach Mike White said Monday. “We spent a lot of time talking about it. We’ll have a meeting here at 3:15 where we’ll talk about culture and growth and process. Whether or not we’re going to the tournament this year, whether we’re going to the NIT, all that stuff we won’t talk about.. We’ll just talk about getting better today, and what does that look like?”
The good news for Georgia is that it returns three of its starters from last season in guards Silas Demary Jr. and Blue Cain, and forward Dylan James. Though the three were just wide-eyed freshmen a year ago, they’re now among the elder statesmen in the room when it comes to team tenure. That shared bond has produced a camaraderie among the three.
“I would say, our relationship is great,” Demary said. “Me and Dylan live together off campus, and Blue, I was his roommate last year, so we all have a great relationship. For us, our biggest thing is just about our growth, growing every day. Our new mantra is growth, so we’re just trying to preach that to the younger guys and the new guys that came in.”
It’s a lot to ask of three sophomores to be the torch-bearers when it comes to establishing a sense of culture and unity within the locker room. Luckily for them, Georgia has brought in a nice mix of new blood and veterans. Among Georgia’s most high-profile transfers are junior forward RJ Godfrey, who played for a tournament team last year at Clemson, senior forward Tyrin Lawrence, formerly at Vanderbilt and graduate guard Dakota Leffew from Mount St. Mary’s.
From the outside looking in, it appears that the upperclassmen transfers are already starting to click and make an effort to connect with their new teammates.
“On weekends, RJ invites guys to his house to watch games,” Demary said. “I think last week, some of the guys were over there watching the fight. So I think this team, we’re a lot more close and a lot more close-knit. So I definitely think the culture’s going in the right direction.”
While it’s important to mesh together off the court, it hardly matters if the results on the court aren’t there. White was asked about what he’d like to see from his revamped squad in terms of style of play.
“I’d like to play a little bit faster,” White said. “We played a little bit faster the previous year [in 2022-23]. I think this team, offensively, can be a little bit less call heavy. And I think this team could have more success with some continuity stuff, playing downhill, screens off the ball, screens on the ball, picking our spots where we will play really fast at times.”
The Bulldogs have also made an effort to bring in some younger talent in addition to the more experienced transfers. Five-star freshman Asa Newell joins his older brother Jaden in Athens, and Serbian freshman guard Savo Drezgić is now a Bulldog after playing at prep school DME Academy in Florida.
“I think this year we’re a lot younger,” Cain said. “Last year we were a little older [in terms of the roster makeup], but this year we’re just a lot younger. [It’s a] good group of guys this year.”
Teammates have already raved about Newell and Drezgić, with Cain and Demary both complimenting the former’s high motor and skill for his size. White talked about what has set Drezgić apart from his teammates thus far in the offseason.
“Savo is a terrific passer, competitor,” White said. “He’s got that European experience, playing against high level professionals over there for quite some time, to where he’s mature beyond his years. Really high basketball IQ, big body point guard, again with a high level ability to pass the ball and make his teammates better.”
Georgia is coming off a 20-17 regular season in 2023-24 where it advanced to the NIT semifinal. If this year’s retooled roster can put it all together and establish its own brand of basketball on the court and a solidified culture off of it, there should be plenty of room for the Bulldogs to improve on last year’s win total.
“It’ll be very interactive,” White said. “We’ll ask guys questions, get those guys talking about what’s important, and how do we get better today, offensively, and how do we shoot it better? How do we get connected defensively? Just that growth process is a big part of what we talk about to promote that culture. That’s what we’re looking for with this team and with next year’s team.”
