A year in review The new era of Georgia basketball

Bo Underwood

When the 2022-23 Georgia basketball season tipped off in November, so did a new chapter in program history. Both of the school’s basketball teams welcomed new head coaches from the sunshine state. Former Florida head coach Mike White was brought in on March 13th to lead the men’s team, and Katie Abrahamson-Henderson came from the University of Central Florida on March 26th to coach the women’s team.

Abrahamson-Henderson spent two years of her playing career as a Bulldog herself, and her return to Athens marked a homecoming for “Coach Abe”.

“This is a dream come true,” Abrahamson-Henderson said in March after her hiring was announced. “I am thrilled to return to Georgia as the head coach at one of the premier women’s basketball programs in the country.”

As is common in the age of the transfer portal, the hiring of new coaches meant that both programs’ rosters were immediately shaken up — almost beyond recognition. The women’s team swapped out nearly half its roster. Seven players entered the transfer portal, and a glut of graduate transfers and freshmen — many of whom previously had ties to UCF — swooped in to take their place.

“When I left, it was really hard [to build a roster],” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “I got here and I didn’t know who was staying versus who wasn’t staying. I didn’t know what our scholarship situation was. Then some things opened up [with former UCF players Diamond Battles, Brittney Smith and Alisha Lewis], and they decided they wanted to come here and play again, which was big for our culture.”

The men’s team had six players transfer into the program and a flurry of others who left either via graduation or the portal. At the start of their season, the Bulldogs sometimes ran 11- or 12man rotations as White figured out the bells and whistles of his almost all-new lineup.

“A lot of it is trial and error, and communicating with our guys honestly and consistently,” White said of the team’s rapidly evolving rotation. “Preaching that if we win, we all win. Everyone in college basketball, for the most part, wants a larger role. The guys that aren’t starting want to start, and the guys that are starting want to lead us in scoring. We [had] to settle in, sacrifice and figure out how big our rotation is going to be.”

Both teams started off relatively well in non-conference play, with the women’s team posting an 11-3 record and the men going 10-3. The men’s team had been learning on the fly what its rotation and identity would be but came to a turning point of sorts after a hard-fought loss to Georgia Tech in December.

“That month after Georgia Tech is the month that this group really grew the most and really took advantage of extra gym time and lack of academic commitments. I’m proud of the growth that we had that month,” White said. “We’re the most improved defensive team in the country. These guys have laid it down every day on the court to become a good defensive team.”

The men’s team continued to improve defensively as its season progressed, though defense was a hallmark for the women’s team essentially from the jump. Georgia led the SEC in steals and turnovers forced, and were defensive pests all season. Its finest defensive performance came in January, when Georgia held Mississippi State to just 34 points on an abysmal 27% shooting and swiped 11 steals.

“Getting a new job, if you can bring in your culture kids — the type of kids who play the type of style you like to play — it is very beneficial,” Abrahamson-Henderson said of the team’s ability to quickly build an identity as a tough defensive team.

Although the men’s team had a promising start to its SEC schedule with a win over Auburn, the team struggled mightily in mid-January, dropping six of seven games. This likely put any NCAA Tournament hopes it might have had on ice. Georgia posted lackluster shooting performances in its games against Tennessee and Texas A&M, and were gashed defensively by Vanderbilt and in a rematch against Auburn.

This rough stretch for the men’s team culminated in a 49-point thrashing at the hands of top-ranked Alabama, a 32-point implosion against Arkansas and a 22-point collapse against Missouri. The team’s struggles can be partially chalked up to injuries — like the absence of guard Terry Roberts due to a concussion— but mostly to undeniably poor play on both ends of the court. Whatever the case was, the Bulldogs’ inexperience playing together and lack of a clear offensive identity was beginning to show, despite the strides they had taken on defense.

As the men’s team struggled in conference play, the women’s team started to peak at the perfect time. The Bulldogs went on a five-game winning streak and a stretch where they won seven of eight games against SEC opponents. The team’s defense continued to be its calling card, but Abrahamson-Henderson noted improvement in other areas as well — namely on the boards.

“When we played LSU, they were getting all the offensive rebounds, and we weren’t going in there,” Abrahamson-Henderson said.

“Those are the things we really worked on.”

As March approached, both teams were preparing for postseason play with the SEC tournaments quickly approaching. The women’s team finished the regular season with a 20-10 record — going 9-8 in conference play — while the men’s team won’t play its final regular season game until March 4.

Each team has had its fair share of ups and downs throughout the season, which is par for the course when dealing with a new head coach and a roster makeover. Though not at the top of the conference, both programs have established themselves as hard-nosed, tough teams who fight for all 40 minutes. If they continue to build on that, the future could be bright for both teams.

“I’m blessed to be here,” White said. “I love it here and we’re excited about building something special here... I’m fired up about the Georgia Bulldogs.”