Georgia had a very good basketball season. The Bulldogs finished second in the SEC, won 20 games for only the 12th time and even notched a postseason victory, albeit it in the NIT rather than the NCAA tournament.
But there were no balloons and confetti dropping from the ceiling of Stegeman Coliseum and certainly no nets to cut down anywhere. There is a general appreciation for how the season turned out, especially after having lost the SEC’s most valuable player to the NBA draft as a sophomore (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope).
But neither is anybody claiming Georgia has finally arrived as a program.
“I thought that this team certainly made a lot of progress,” Bulldogs coach Mark Fox said shortly after the season-ending 79-71 home loss to Louisiana Tech in the second round of the NIT on Saturday. “You know, they were a lot more fun to coach than the NCAA team was, to be honest with you.
“They are committed to doing it the right way. They are committed to trying to win and get better and our summer approach will be critical to how good next year’s team is.”
Such optimism is natural since most of this team will return. Only senior center Donte Williams, a productive defensive player, graduates. Otherwise 11 lettermen who played regularly will all be back, including leading scorers Charles Mann (13.9 points per game) and Kenny Gaines (13) and leading rebounder Marcus Thornton (6.1).
Nemanja Djurisic, utilized as a sixth man coming off the bench this season, will step in for Williams. Juwan Parker, J.J. Frazier and Cameron Forte proved to be capable scorers in reserve and the Bulldogs are excited about the prospects of Kenny Paul Geno, Houston Kessler and others.
Meanwhile, Fox is out beating the bushes for another big man to bolster the front line. The Bulldogs have two scholarships to use after junior John Cannon abruptly quit the team before the SEC tournament due to lack of playing time.
“We need to add some size for sure,” Fox said.
And there’s the rub. While Georgia made headway this season, it still has a long way to go to compete with the elite teams in the conference. The Bulldogs played four games against the three SEC teams that received NCAA tournament berths this year: Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee. They lost all four by an average score of 72-52.5.
So even with the continued development of returning players, Georgia still has to make up a talent deficit.
“Fox has done a great job and he’s a good coach, but he’s got to put some players in there,” said Hugh Durham, the Bulldogs’ all-time winningest coach. “The only thing saving Georgia right now is the other people (in the SEC) aren’t very good.”
The Bulldogs were 6-6 in non-conference play this season and 12-6 in the SEC.
Attention now turns to Athletic Director Greg McGarity. Fox has two years remaining his contract, which will expire on March 31, 2016. He is 85-77 after five seasons at Georgia and has led the Bulldogs to one NCAA tournament (2011) and one NIT.
Does McGarity extend Fox’s deal now or stand pat and wait to see what happens next season?
“Mark and I have not been able to spend any quality time together yet due to his recruiting schedule,” McGarity said Monday. “That’s where all of his efforts are focused right now: recruiting. At some point in time we’ll have a discussion and talk about the season and everything else regarding our program.”
But the arrows are definitely pointing up. The Bulldogs feel like they not only will be in hunt for an NCAA bid next season, but can contend for the conference championship as well.
“We progressed a lot this year and we know the sky is the limit,” said Mann, who will be a junior next year.
Said Fox: “I thought (the players) restored a great deal of pride in Georgia basketball. To win 20 games, to finish second in the SEC, to advance in the postseason, I think they did some things they should feel good about and we all should feel good about it.”
Staff writer Tim Tucker contributed to this report.
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