ATHENS -- The Georgia men's basketball team will complete its home schedule against LSU on Wednesday night in search of a victory that would give the Bulldogs a 20-win season two years after a 20-loss season.
Such a milestone would represent a symbolic return on investments made in the program in recent years -- the construction of a new practice facility in 2007, the hiring of a new coach in 2009 and the renovation of Stegeman Coliseum last year.
"There may be an institution -- but I don't know where it is -- that in the last five years has made more of a commitment to its football and basketball programs than we have," UGA President Michael Adams said at a meeting of his athletic association's board of directors last week. "We are serious about being major players in all of our 21 sports, but in football and men's basketball, we have a special interest because that is what pays the bills."
Georgia recently completed a $33 million expansion of its Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall football headquarters, but the old football school does appear to be taking its basketball seriously, too. And the investment appears to be paying off.
Home attendance is up 20 percent from last season to the highest level in seven years, and optimism permeates the program -- from coach Mark Fox's radio call-in show to the locker room.
"This is the first time in a long time I've felt like we have a very strong future," a caller, "Mike in Columbus," told Fox on Monday night.
"I feel like [the program] is going to keep growing," junior forward Travis Leslie said before practice Tuesday. "We're going to keep getting better and better until hopefully one day we will compete for a national championship."
For now, Georgia (19-9, 8-6 SEC) can inch closer to an NCAA tournament at-large berth by beating LSU (11-18, 3-11) in Stegeman Coliseum. Tipoff is 8 p.m.
The Bulldogs most recently won 20 or more games in 2001-02, but that season's 22-10 record was reduced to 11-10 when half of the victories were vacated because of NCAA sanctions. Georgia's most-recent 20-win season that stands in the record book was in 1997-98 (20-15). Since then, the Bulldogs have had three 20-loss seasons, including 12-20 (3-13 SEC) in 2008-09.
"A 20-win season would be important for us," Fox said Tuesday. "It would show progress, and it would be an accomplishment."
It probably would mean the most to Chris Barnes and Jeremy Price, the team's only seniors. They will be honored before Wednesday night's home finale in what Barnes said will be "an emotional time."
"When we first came here, we talked about changing the program around," Barnes said. "We've been through a lot, on the court and off the court. ... Now people look at Georgia as a good team."
Said Price: "A lot of things have gotten better since I came here. I feel like I was part of the change, part of the program being on the up[swing]. I definitely feel good about it."
The 47-year-old coliseum got a facelift with last year's $12 million renovation, which widened and brightened the concourse and added a dramatic glass façade. The project was intended to improve the fan experience -- and make a statement.
"I don't think anyone could argue [against the fact] that the Stegeman renovation was a program changer for perception," UGA athletic director Greg McGarity said last week.
Georgia's average home attendance in the 10,523-seat coliseum this season is 8,224, up from 6,834 last season. Since the start of league play in January, six of seven SEC home games sold out of nonstudent tickets and four sold out of student seats as well. Georgia hasn't had this many sellouts in a season since 2002-03, Jim Harrick's last season as coach.
On the court, the program's turnaround remains in its early stages.
The Bulldogs likely need at least one more victory to make the NCAA tournament. Although LSU coach Trent Johnson said Monday that Georgia has "probably locked up" a bid "as we speak," Fox isn't assuming that would be the case even with a victory over the Tigers.
"I won't relax with just a win [Wednesday]," Fox said. "Would it do it? Maybe. But I won't relax with just one win if we get in that spot."
The Bulldogs close the regular season at Alabama on Saturday, then move on to the SEC tournament in Atlanta next week.
On Fox's radio show, "Scott in Grayson" prefaced his praise of the coach by saying: "I know you probably get tired of hearing it every week, and I know you probably think we're dopey for continuing to say it, but having watched the disintegration of the program in the mid-2000s, to be where we are ... that's just a great place for the program to be."
Said Fox to another caller: "I think we've made a great deal of progress, but as I've said before, I think we still have a long way to go."
Progress report
Georgia men's basketball records and average home attendance over the past five seasons:
Season Overall rec. SEC rec. Avg. attend.
2006-07 19-14 8-8 7,336
2007-08 17-17 4-12 7,823
2008-09 12-20 3-13 6,678
2009-10 14-17 5-11 6,834
2010-11* 19-9 8-6 8,224
* Two regular-season games and postseason play remain.
