ATHENS — It’s going to be anything but your average Senior Day for Georgia basketball on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs will play host to No. 17 Tennessee at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Stegeman Coliseum (SECN). Beforehand, UGA will honor its seniors on the occasion of playing the final regular-season home games of their careers.
But just who and how many seniors actually will play their final home game is a confusing topic. Coach Tom Crean said graduate guard Aaron Cook is participating in the ceremony and, as a fifth-year player, already definitely is playing in his final Georgia home game. Jonathan Ned, who technically could return but is choosing not to, is also participating. He thinks P.J. Horne, sidelined all season with a knee injury, is also being feted and moving on.
Then there are Braelen Bridges and Jailyn Ingram, graduate transfers who could move on or come back.
In all, Georgia has six seniors or graduates on its roster, all of whom could come back – or not. Before Monday’s practice, Crean wasn’t sure which ones would participate.
“It’s their option,” the Bulldogs’ fourth-year coach said. “They have the option to come back because of the COVID-19 rules from a year ago. Same thing with Jailyn Ingram. I’m sure he’ll get a redshirt; I don’t know how he wouldn’t. That’s their choice, not to do that.”
Or to do it. Your guess is as good as Crean’s at this point.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the mood is not very celebratory. They’re trying very hard not to become Crean’s second team in four years to lose 16 conference games in a season. His first Georgia squad went 2-16 in league play. This one is 1-15 (6-23 overall) and will be a heavy underdog against the Volunteers (21-7, 12-4 SEC), who just knocked off No. 4 Auburn on Saturday in Knoxville.
The Bulldogs’ final shot at securing another conference win will be on the road Saturday against Missouri (10-19, 4-12). Georgia hasn’t won just one SEC game in a season since 1956.
Hence, Crean wasn’t very feeling nostalgic when asked what the current set of seniors has meant to the Bulldogs’ program.
“I’m not there yet,” he snapped. “Because we have a game and I’m not in a reflective mode until the season is over. Right now, I’m in a proactive mode of how we get ready for Tennessee. The end of the year is another story, but right now it’s hard for me to go there.”
Georgia’s seniors mostly have played quite well. Cook has been particularly solid, both in performance and just being ready to play.
The “Super Senior” from St. Louis will participate in his 162nd college basketball game Tuesday. That’s the third most in NCAA Division I history. The 6-foot-2 guard played in 103 games in four seasons at Southern Illinois (2016-20), including a redshirt campaign with six contests in 2019-20. He saw action in 30 games last season as Gonzaga made a run to an NCAA runner-up finish. And now has played in 28 more at Georgia.
Before this season, Ohio State’s David Lighty held the NCAA record with 157 games played, and only 13 players in history had logged 150. But those numbers have grown exponentially this season with players awarded extra eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cook won’t be able to catch the two players in front of him. Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon has played in 171 already and is still going strong, and USC’s Chevez Goodwin is at 167. Mississippi State’s Garrison Brooks is tied with Cook with 162 games played.
But Cook is playing as well as any of them. The Bulldogs’ primary point guard has recorded 11 assists in the last two games to move to No. 3 all time in a single season with 156. Thirteen more and he’ll move past Pertha Robinson (1995) into the No. 2 spot.
“Aaron has done a really good job,” Crean said. “He’s come in and worked extremely hard, spends a ton of time in the practice gym, even when we’re not practicing. He’s a total gym rat, works extremely hard, is very intense, and he’s been a benefit to our team.”
Georgia’s other seniors have been solid, too. Bridges now has the second-best season field-goal percentage ever by a Bulldog (.637), just ahead of Bob Lienhard (.632 in 1970) and just behind LaVon Mercer (.643, 1979). And Noah Baumann’s 41% 3-point shooting percentage ranks No. 10 among Georgia’s single-season leaders.
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