Things have been trending in a solid direction for Georgia basketball in recent years, even if they aren’t making the same national headlines as some other SEC programs. Mike White is fresh off his third-straight 20-win season and just got the Bulldogs into the Big Dance for a second year in a row. There’s certainly been notable progress in his first four seasons in Athens even if Georgia is looking to make that push into more relevance.
Last year’s 22-win campaign was built on a relatively young team, though several pieces found other homes in the transfer portal. Leading scorer Jeremiah Wilkinson fled to Arkansas while important players like Somto Cyril and Jordan Ross are also gone. Fortunately, Georgia returns three players who were double-digit scorers from last year in Blue Cain, Kanon Catchings, and Marcus Millender.
New youth refills the depth on the team with a number of freshmen, though none of these 3-stars really jump off the page. The transfer portal allowed some experience to fill some of those other absences and the best scorer of that group is Freddie Dilione V from Penn State. The Bulldogs also grabbed a pair of frontcourt players from the A-10 in Brady Dunlap from Saint Louis and Andrew Osasuyi out of St. Bonaventure.
Big time help in the paint
It’s a different frontcourt weapon that has our attention in James Scott because of his importance for this next season. A 6-11 forward out of Fayetteville, North Carolina, Scott is heading to his fourth team in four years. He was a solid bench piece at Charleston as a freshman before following Pat Kelsey to Louisville as a starter, putting up 7.1 points and 6.1 rebounds while making 78% of his 2-pointers. Scott then spent last season at Ole Miss and had a less impressive contribution.
This may sound bizarre but no player over the last thirty years has a better career 2-point field goal percentage than what Scott has put up in his first 105 games. His numbers have never jumped off the page but at his core he’s an efficient and effective weapon around the rim. He has the potential to be a massive piece of the puzzle for Georgia on both ends and really needs to step into the shoes vacated by Cyril as the clear 5 in this lineup.
The current state of this Bulldogs lineup looks like a team that can certainly get to a third straight NCAA Tournament, especially if Cain and Millender continue their brilliant in the backcourt. A lot will depend on these new faces and how dependable Scott can be in the frontcourt. At his best, he’s a guaranteed bucket around the rim who can impact the game on defense. If he takes a step forward in his fourth season, perhaps the Bulldogs as a whole take a big step too.
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