ATHENS — Most of the 3,458 fans who showed up at renovated-yet-again Stegeman Coliseum on Friday night for Georgia’s basketball exhibition came to get a look at Georgia’s new five-star addition, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. But it was another rookie who caught everybody’s eye.
Nemanja Djurisic, a freshman from South Kent, Conn., by way of Podgorica, Montenegro, was impressive in his Georgia debut. The 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward was in the starting lineup and led the newbies with 12 points and four rebounds in just 15 minutes as the Bulldogs eased past Morehouse 74-50.
“Nemi is a very skilled player,” Georgia coach Mark Fox remarked afterward. “He shot it well in the first half. He’s really skilled. But I knew I was going to play a lot of guys, and there’s some guys I want to do things a little better. And when they do they’ll start.”
Djurisic wasted little time making his presence known. He made the first shot of his career, a 3-pointer at the 16:18 mark of the first half.
“It was a beautiful moment,” Djurisic said. “My first shot went in, and then my emotions went out. It was great to hear the Bulldogs say my name.”
Djurisic was one of five first-year players Georgia was breaking in before they play for real Friday night against Wofford. Among them was Caldwell-Pope, the McDonald’s All-American from Greenville who came in rated as the No. 3 shooting guard in America.
Georgia’s fans had to wait to see him — he didn’t come in until the 16:18 mark of the first half — and didn’t score until three minutes after that. He finished with six points on 2-of-9 shooting and came up short on his first chance to dunk off a fast break.
“I feel real relieved,” Caldwell-Pope said. “It was my first game. I was real nervous, and my shot was not falling. I think I was pushing myself a little bit, but I felt like I played defense better. I’ll probably be more comfortable next time.”
Caldwell-Pope also had four rebounds, two steals, two assists and four fouls.
Said Fox: “He won’t think he played well, but I thought he did a lot of good things. He had some teachable moments. He’s such a competitive kid, and he wants to be so good. There’s a lot of things he can improve on, but he’s extremely coachable.”
The star of the night was veteran guard Gerald Robinson, a senior who already has earned his degree. He had 20 points and six assists in 20 minutes.
“It was a good first outing for us,” Fox said. “We got a lot of guys a lot of experience that they needed. We got a lot of things on tape that we’ll like. We got a lot of things on tape that we won’t like. The key will be getting better from here.”
Shawn Allen led Morehouse with 11 points.
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