UGA Men’s Basketball: Bulldogs Look To Continue Winning Ways

 

 

2019-20 STATISTICS	GEORGIA	SOUTH CAROLINA
Points Per Game	75.6	71.8
Opp. Point Per Game	74.4	67.5
Scoring Margin	+1.1	+4.3
Field Goal Pct.	.448	.436
Opp. Field Goal Pct.	.448	.389
3-Point Pct.	.301	.316
3-Pointers Per Game	7.0	5.9
Opp. 3-Point Pct.	.323	.295
Free Throw Pct.	.698	.618
Free Throws Per Game	14.1	13.5
Rebounds Per Game	38.3	37.3
Opp. Rebound Per Game	36.2	34.7
Rebound Margin	+2.1	+2.5
Assists Per Game	13.6	14.0
Turnovers Per Game	15.2	13.5
Assist-to-Turnover Ratio	0.90	1.04
Turnover Margin	-1.5	+2.4
Steals Per Game	7.5	7.9
Blocks Per Game	3.5	4.3

 

• Anthony Edwards’ 511 points is the third-most ever by a UGA freshman and is only four points away from the current No. 2 tally, 515 by Jumaine Jones.
• Tyree Crump has 171 3-pointers, one shy of UGA’s top-10 career leaders in successful shots from behind the arc. The current No. 10 is Jody Patton.
• Sahvir Wheeler’s 118 assists represent the second-most ever by a UGA freshman. He is 15 passes-to-baskets shy of Litterial Green’s UGA freshman record.
• UGA has drawn 144,047 fans at home this season, 4,653 off its total attendance record of 148,700 set last season. Both of UGA’s remaining home dates are sold out.
• Georgia’s celebrated freshman class – ranked among the top-10 groups nationally by every recruiting service – features five of the nation’s top-100 prospects.

 

Riding the momentum of back-to-back SEC wins, Georgia remains on the road on Wednesday evening to face South Carolina for the second time in as many weeks.

The Bulldogs, Kentucky and Texas A&M were the only three SEC programs to go 2-0 last week.

Last Saturday, Tyree Crump’s 35-foot, buzzer-beater lifted the Bulldogs to an 80-78 victory at Vanderbilt. Last Wednesday, Toumani Camara, a 56.1 percent free-throw shooter entering the game, connected on 10-of-12 attempts at the line, including 7-of-8 in the final minute, to help Georgia upset No. 13/12 Auburn, 65-55, in Athens.

Anthony Edwards, who averaged 18.5 points in those victories, was named SEC Freshman of the Week for a school-record third time this season on Monday. Edwards, one of only two freshmen included on the 20-player late-season Wooden Award Watch List, is the nation’s top-scoring freshman at 18.9 ppg. The Atlanta native has reached double figures in the scoring column in 23 of 27 games to date, with 11 20-point outings and two 30-point performances.

Georgia is now 14-13 overall, as well as 4-10 in SEC play. Two weeks ago, South Carolina raced to an early lead and kept the Bulldogs at bay the rest of the evening en route to a 75-59 win.

Tyree Crump is…
• 1 3FG from No. 10 Jody Patton
• 9 3FGs from No. 9 Bernard Davis
• 25 3FGAs from No. 7 Dustin Ware
• 6 FTs from joining the top-10 in FT pct.

Among UGA’s Freshman Leaders – Anthony Edwards is…
• 4 points from No. 2 Jumaine Jones
• 135 points from No. 1 Jacky Dorsey

Among UGA’s Freshman Leaders Sahvir Wheeler is…
• 15 assists from No. 1 Litterial Green

Georgia currently owns a slim a 58-57 lead in the all-time series with South Carolina; however, the Gamecocks possess a 35-19 advantage in games played in Columbia.

Just two weeks ago in Athens, the Gamecocks started quickly and led throughout a 75-59 win at Stegeman Coliseum.

Freshman Rodney Howard was a bright spot for the Bulldogs. After playing just 34 minutes – with three DNPs – and grabbing seven rebounds in Georgia’s first 10 SEC outings combined, Howard collected a team-high six boards in 13 minutes of PT versus the Gamecocks.

In last season’s matchup in Columbia, Georgia dropped a 66-46 decision despite a pair of double-double outings from Nicolas Claxton and Derek Ogbeide.

Georgia led 13-12 just under six minutes into the game before the Gamecocks exploded on a 17-2 spurt. The Bulldogs trimmed a 23-point halftime deficit to 10 three times in the second half but could get no closer.

South Carolina sports records of 16-11 overall and 8-6 in the SEC. The Gamecocks opened league action 0-2 before rallying to win eight of their next 10 outings. South Carolina has since dropped its last two games, close decisions to Mississippi State and LSU.

AJ Lawson and Maik Kotsar are the only Gamecocks to start every game. Lawson leads three double-digit scorers at 13.7 ppg, while freshman Jermaine Couisnard adds 12.2 ppg and Kotsar chips in 10.9 ppg and a team-high 6.5 rpg.

Tyree Crump gathered a missed free throw, dribbled just past mid-court and connected on a 35-foot 3-pointer as time expired to lead Georgia to an 80-78 win over Vanderbilt last Saturday in Nashville.

Despite trailing for 35:38 of the contest, the Bulldogs remained within striking distance.

Georgia trailed 72-65 before Jordan Harris, who finished with a season-high 17 points, hit a 3-pointer with 3:31 remaining to ignite a 15-6 run to end the game.

After the Bulldogs pulled within 74-73, Vandy regained a 78-73 advantage with 22 seconds left. A layup and two free throws from Sahvir Wheeler made it 78-77 with just six ticks on the clock.

After Scotty Pippen Jr. missed a pair of free throws, Crump came in from behind the 3-point line to gather the rebound and knocked down the straight-away bomb that cleared the net after the final horn sounded.

South Carolina is one of five two-time opponents for the Bulldogs. Georgia always matches up on a home-and-home basis with the Gamecocks as well as additional rivals Auburn and Florida. This season, Texas A&M and Kentucky are the Bulldogs’ rotating opponents to play twice in league play.

To date, Georgia split its meetings with Auburn and Texas A&M and dropped both matchups with Kentucky. The Bulldogs are yet to face Florida for the second time, with that rematch set for next Wednesday in Athens at a sold-out Stegeman Coliseum.

Georgia improved to 11-4 at home this season with last Wednesday’s upset of No. 13/12 Auburn. The Bulldogs are averaging 79.8 points per game at Stegeman Coliseum – more than 10 points per game than their average at other venues – and sport a healthy scoring margin of +9.8 in Athens.

Fan support has been a major contributing factor to the Bulldogs’ success in Athens.

Last Wednesday’s crowd was the Bulldogs’ ninth 10,000-plus count of the season, matching the 2002-03 campaign for the most in school history.

Georgia’s average home attendance this season is 9,603, which is on pace to be the second-best tally in program history (trailing only 9,857 in 2002-03).

And while the Bulldogs will fall just shy of the average attendance record, they are set to establish a new total attendance mark for the second-consecutive season.

A year ago, 148,700 fans came through the Stegeman turnstiles to break the previous record by more than 9,000.

Georgia’s total attendance this season is 144,047. That’s 4,653 shy of the current record with two home games left – a couple of sellouts against Arkansas and Florida.

Tom Crean has credited fan support as an integral part of UGA’s home success, most notably after a December win over SMU.

“We don’t win this game without this crowd,” Crean said bluntly in his postgame press conference. “We do not win this game without this incredible, passionate, stick-with-us, not let us drop crowd. I reminded the players a few times that we’re sitting here in basically a sold-out game, and these fans are not giving up on you, so don’t give up on yourself. I’m extremely proud of how we found a way to win, and I’m unbelievably thankful for our fans.”

And after Auburn win, Crean opened his postgame radio show with: “The fans were here and on their feet. The win is awesome, there’s no question about it and I’m happy for our team. But the bottom line is: that shows we’re building a program. We are going through growing pains and hard days. We are going through adversity. But you don’t get a program built if you lose momentum with your fans. They are staying with us, and I’m so thankful for that. To have everybody here like that supporting us on a Wednesday night means an awful lot. So thank you Dawg Nation, from the bottom of my heart and all of this team.”

Tyree Crump is one 3-point field goal and six free throws away from joining Georgia’s top-10 career leaders in made shots from behind the arc and successful conversion at the charity stripe as outlined below.

The Bainbridge, Ga., native has made 171 3-pointers in his Georgia career, one away from the current No. 10 effort of Jody Patton.

Crump has converted on 119-of-149 trip to the line, 79.9 percent. With six more made three throws – and maintaining that shooting percentage – Crump will reach the minimum of 125 free throws to qualify for Georgia’s career records. Crump’s current effort would place him at No. 7 on the career list.

UGA Career 3FGA Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Seasons	3FGAs
1.	261	Levi Stukes	2003-07	683
2.	231	D.A. Lane	1999-01	583
3.	215	Litterial Green	1989-92	544
4.	213	Ezra Williams	2001-03	582
	213	Kenny Gaines	2013-16	569
6.	204	J.J. Frazier	2014-17	576
7.	194	Dustin Ware	2009-12	536
8.	193	G.G. Smith	1996-99	500
9.	184	Bernard Davis	1991-94	453
10.	172	Jody Patton	1987-91	387
11.	171	Tyree Crump	2016-19	511
UGA Career 3FG Leaders
Rk.	No.	Player	Seasons	FT-FTAs
1.	.841	J.J. Frazier	2014-17	450-533
2.	.831	Dick McIntosh	1966-68	162-195
3.	.828	Juwan Parker	2014-18	227-274
4.	.822	Jerry Epling	1968-70	221-269
5.	.804	Jimmy Pitts	1963-65	344-428
	.804	Dustin Ware	2009-12	201-250
7.	.791	D.A. Layne	1999-01	246-311
8.	.787	Joe Ward	1984-86	159-202
9.	.784	Willie Anderson	1985-88	221-282
10.	.777	Terrance Woodbury	2006-09	161-207

 

Through games of Feb. 24, Anthony Edwards and Sahvir Wheeler were among the nation’s top freshmen in scoring and assists, respectively, as outlined below.

Edwards was the top scorer among all Division-I freshmen and one of only four included among the top-100 scoring leaders.

Wheeler sported the sixth-best average assists tally by a freshman.

UGA’s Top-10 Freshman Scoring Averages
Rk.	Player, School	G	Avg
52.	Anthony Edwards, Georgia	27	18.9
82.	Vernon Carey, Duke	27	17.9
89.	Landers Nolley, Va. Tech	29	17.6
98.	Joe Pridgen, Holy Cross	27	17.4

 

UGA’s Top-10 Freshman Assists
Rk.	Player, School	G	Avg
40.	Nico Mannion, Arizona	27	5.4
41.	Yuri Collins, Saint Louis	27	5.3
71.	Rylan Jones, Utah	26	4.7
72.	Sean East, UMass	27	4.7
78.	Tyger Campbell, UCLA	28	4.6
86.	Sahvir Wheeler, Georgia	26	4.5
91.	Isaiah Stevens, Colorado St.	29	4.5
96.	Mark Freeman, Tennessee St.	27	4.4
96.	Ellis Magnuson, E. Wash.	27	4.4

 

The Bulldogs’ celebrated freshman class – a consensus top-10 group according to every major scouting service – was vital in the Georgia’s Feb. 19 upset of No. 13/12 Auburn.

Anthony Edwards scored 18 points, while Sahvir Wheeler and Toumani Camara added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Anthony Edwards joined Georgia’s top-10 season scoring efforts by a freshman in just the season’s 18th game at No. 15 Kentucky.

Over the next four outings, Edwards ascended all the way up to the No. 4 position. He is now No. 3 as outlined below.

The Atlanta native’s 16 points at Rupp Arena on Jan. 21 pushed him past the previous No. 10 freshman effort by Eric Marbury. He moved to No. 9 against Ole Miss to No. 8 at Missouri to No. 6 versus Texas A&M and to No. 4 at Florida. Edwards inched to No. 3 during the Auburn game on Feb. 19.

Edwards’ current scoring pace of 18.9 ppg would be the second-best in UGA history and would put him at 586 points at the end of the Bulldogs’ 31-game regular-season slate. UGA’s Top-10 Freshman Scorers

UGA’s Top-10 Freshman Scorers
	Player	Pts.	Year	G	Avg.
1.	Jacky Dorsey	646	1975	25	25.8
2.	Jumaine Jones	515	1998	35	14.7
3.	Anthony Edwards	511	2020	27	18.9
4.	Litterial Green	481	1989	31	15.5
5.	Cedric Henderson	433	1985	28	15.5

 

Sahvir Wheeler’s eight assists against Alabama on Feb. 8 gave him exactly 100 passes-to-points this season.

Wheeler became just the sixth Georgia freshman to record 100 assists and the first to do so in just over a decade, since Dustin Ware did so during the 2008-09 season.

Wheeler has since climbed to the No. 2 spot among Georgia’s freshman assist leaders – 15 off the school record – and his average of 4.5 apg is better than any other freshman Bulldog ever as outlined below.

Wheeler’s current pace would give him 140 assists at the end of the regular season.

UGA’s Top-10 Freshman Assists
	Player	Pts.	Year	G	Avg.
1.	Litterial Green	133	1989	31	4.3
2.	Sahvir Wheeler	118	2020	26	4.5
3.	Dustin Ware	108	2009	32	3.4
4.	Moses White	105	2000	29	3.6
5.	Rashad Wright	103	2001	31	3.3

 

Toumani Camara, who moved into the Bulldogs’ starting lineup in the 10th game of the season against SMU, has seen a massive up-tick in his production over the last 21 outings.

The freshman more than doubled his playing time from the first six games and has also increased his scoring and rebounding by huge chunks as outlined below.

During that span, Camara also posted career highs of 16 points vs. Georgia Southern, nine rebounds vs. Austin Peay and 34 minutes of playing time vs. SMU.

After notching one double-digit output in the Bulldogs’ first 16 outings, he has done so five times in Georgia’s last 11 contests.

Camara’s Increased Efforts
Stat	First 6	Last 16
Points per game	4.0	7.1
Rebounds per game	2.5	4.7
Minutes per game	13.2	26.7

 

Tyree Crump continued a familiar theme to his scoring this season, with 44 of his 61 field goals (72.1 percent) being 3-pointers.

More than two-thirds of Crump’s made shots from the floor at Georgia have come from 3-point range.

He has connected on 171 3s as a Bulldog, which accounts for 69.5 percent of his total 246 made field goals.

Georgia is 5-2 this season in games decided by four points or less. That’s a dramatic difference last season when UGA was 0-6 in such outings, with all six setbacks coming to NCAA tourney teams.

Georgia’s non-conference effort in 2018-19 featured four- and two-point setbacks to Temple and Arizona State, respectively. The Bulldogs also dropped four consecutive extremely excruciating losses by a combined nine points to LSU (83-79), Mississippi State (68-67), Ole Miss (72-71) and Auburn (78-75).

This season, Georgia defeated Georgia Tech (72-68), Chaminade (80-77), SMU (87-85) and No. 9 Memphis (65-62) before suffering setbacks against Missouri (72-69) and Alabama (105-102). Georgia earned its fifth victory in a tight game by besting Vanderbilt (80-78) on Tyree Crump’s buzzer beater.

Former Bulldog Willie Anderson was enshrined in the State of Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in Macon on Feb. 22.

Anderson was one of eight inductees, a class that included UGA baseball great Jeff Treadway. He is Georgia Basketball’s third representative in the hall, joining coach Hugh Durham and Alec Kessler.

Anderson blossomed into one of the country’s most diverse talents in the late-80s and was a two-time, first-team All-SEC honoree. As a junior, he averaged 15.9 points, 5.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game in 1986-87. In his final season, Anderson averaged 16.7 points, 4.0 assists and 1.9 steals while leading the Bulldogs to a 20-win finish.

Anderson was drafted by San Antonio Spurs with the No. 10 overall pick of the 1988 NBA Draft and earned a spot on the first team of the NBA’s All-Rookie team in 1989. He went on to play nine seasons in the NBA, the first seven with the Spurs followed by stints with the Raptors, Knicks and Heat.

Anthony Edwards was selected as SEC Freshman of the Week for a school-record third time on Monday (Feb. 24), marking the fourth SEC FOTW honor in 16 weeks this season for the Bulldogs.

Edwards also was tabbed on Feb. 3 and Dec. 1, while Sahvir Wheeler was honored on Dec. 23.

Last week, Edwards averaged 18.5 points in wins over Auburn and at Vanderbilt.

Edwards won on Feb. 3 after averaging 26.0 points and 12.5 rebounds in Georgia’s outings against Missouri and Texas A&M. He became the first Bulldog freshman to post consecutive double-doubles since Jumaine Jones in 1997-98.

Edwards was first honored – and also was tabbed National Freshman of the Week by CBSsports.com – following the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. Most notably, he poured in 37 points against No. 3 Michigan State on Nov. 26, including 33 points in the second half. Edwards’ effort represented the most points by a Bulldog freshman since Jacky Dorsey’s 41 versus LSU on Jan. 20, 1975.

Wheeler was selected after he scored layups in the final five seconds of both the first and second overtime periods of UGA’s versus SMU. He scored with four seconds remaining in the first OT to tie the score. In the second extra session, Wheeler’s layup with 1.9 seconds left supplied Georgia with the victory.

Sahvir Wheeler returned to the court against Texas A&M on Feb. 1 after missing a Jan. 28 game at Missouri.

Wheeler, who leads Georgia in assists and is third in scoring, suffered an upper body injury in practice on Monday, Jan. 27, before the team departed for Columbia.

He played three of his best games of the season immediately after his return.

The Houston native had a strong linescore against the Aggies, with nine points, five assists, four boards and two steals. Wheeler followed that with 16 points and four assists at Florida. Against Alabama, he recorded career-high tallies of 24 points and eight assists (for the third time this season) in a career-most 42 minutes of playing time.

In his 61 games played as a freshman and sophomore, Rayshaun Hammonds had two 20-point performances, four double-figure rebounding outputs and two double-doubles.

In the first 23 games this season, Hammonds notched five 20-point outputs, six double-digit rebound counts and four double-doubles.

Freshman Christian Brown made an immediate impact off the bench in Georgia’s road games at Florida and Texas A&M.

At Florida on Feb. 5, Brown scored six points in five minutes, connecting on 2-of-3 3-point attempts.

At Texas A&M on Feb. 15, Brown contributed eight points in eight minutes, making 3-of-5 shots from the floor and converting on his two attempts at the line.

Anthony Edwards was named to updated Watch Lists for the Wooden and Jerry West Awards released in early February.

On Monday, Feb. 3, Edwards was the only SEC player and one of just two freshmen featured on the new top-20 list of candidates for the Wooden Award.

On Tuesday, Feb. 4, Edwards was one of two freshmen and four SEC players on the top-10 list for the West Award, which is given to the nation’s top shooting guard.

Sophomore Tye Fagan scored 14 points at No. 15 Kentucky on Jan. 21 by connecting on all six of his shots from the field (including a 3-pointer) and one attempt at the line.

Fagan has now scored in double figures three times this season and has done so in an extremely efficient fashion. In that trio of contests, Fagan has connected on 81.0 percent (17-of-21) of his shots from the floor.

Fagan recorded his first double-digit scoring output with 11 points against Dayton in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. He connected on 5-of-5 shots from the field, including his only 3-point attempt, against the Flyers.

The sophomore from Logtown paced Georgia with 15 points at Arizona State on Dec. 14. Fagan did most of his damage in the second half in Tempe with 11 points in 10 minutes.

Before that, Fagan’s top offensive performances were early last season. He notched eight points in three of the first four games of his freshman year.

Freshmen Toumani Camara, Anthony Edwards and Sahvir Wheeler all started for the Bulldogs at No. 5 Auburn on Jan. 11.

That marked the first time Georgia started a trio of freshmen in a decade and 11 days.

To find the last contest when three first-year Bulldogs got the nod you have to venture back to a date with Kennesaw State on New Year’s Eve in 2008 when Travis Leslie, Trey Thompkins and Dustin Ware all started.

Four members of the Bulldogs’ top-10 recruiting class have started this season. Rodney Howard did so against N.C. Central and Arizona State.

For a second-straight season, Georgia endured a brutal stretch to open SEC play.

The Bulldogs began league action by facing six straight 2019 NCAA Tournament teams – Kentucky, Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Kentucky (again) and Ole Miss.

Tom Crean has undergone some serious hazing from the scheduling Gods since arriving in Athens. A year ago, Georgia opened SEC play with consecutive Saturday road trips to the defending league co-champions from the previous year – Tennessee and Auburn.

While most of the SEC opened league play on Saturday, Jan. 4, Georgia was earning a historic road win at No. 9 Memphis.

That was: 1) just the second road victory over a ranked non-conference foe in Georgia Basketball history; and 2) just the second road win over a ranked foe by any SEC team this season…South Carolina’s upset of No. 9 Virginia on Dec. 22 being the other.

The victory also represented UGA’s first:

• win over a top-10 foe since defeating No. 10 Kentucky, 77-70, on Jan. 8, 2011.
• road win over a top-10 opponent since beating No. 5 Kentucky, 65-57, at Rupp Arena on Jan. 17, 2004.
• road win over a ranked, non-conference foe since topping No. 7 Louisville, 73-70 in overtime, on Dec. 29, 1977.

Georgia’s freshman class features five of the top-100 prospects from 2019 and was consistently ranked among the nation’s top recruiting classes – No. 5 by ESPN.com, No. 6 by rivals.com and No. 10 by 247Sports.com.

Headlining the quintet is Anthony Edwards. The Atlanta native, who tabbed the nation’s best prospect by some, announced his commitment on national television on Feb. 11. He is the Bulldogs’ highest rated recruit ever.

Dominique Wilkins was the most hyped recruit in Georgia history in 1979. Individual rankings for that class are believed to be unavailable, but it also featured future stars such as Ralph Sampson, Isiah Thomas, James Worthy, Clark Kellogg and Sam Bowie.

In the internet age, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is the highest ranked player in the 247Sports.com composite to enroll at Georgia at No. 12 in 2011. Louis Williams signed with the Bulldogs as the No. 6 prospect in the nation in the 2005 composite but opted to enter the NBA Draft.

The Bulldogs’ highest recruiting class ever was No. 2 in 1992 when UGA inked four top-100 prospects – Shandon Anderson, Terrell Bell, Pertha Robinson and McDonald’s All-American Carlos Strong – in the fall and added then added Cleveland Jackson, the National JUCO Player of the Year, in the spring.

Additional top classes at Georgia include those in 1979 and 1980 which featured four McDonald’s All-Americans between them – Wilkins and Terry Fair in 1979 and Vern Fleming and James Banks a year later.

The Bulldogs’ class of nine freshmen – seven scholarship and two walk-ons – ranks as the third-largest in D-I hoops.

Navy, TCU and Utah sport a nation-leading 11 freshmen on their rosters. Air Force has 10 freshmen. In addition to Georgia, Louisville also has nine freshmen.

On this list, “freshman” is defined as a player who is a freshman eligibility wise and competing at that school for the first time this season…so there are some redshirts.

Anthony Edwards and Sahvir Wheeler poured in 24 and 19 points, respectively, in the season opener against Western Carolina on Nov. 5 – the second- and third-most points ever by a freshman in their Bulldog debut.

Since NCAA rules changed to allow freshmen to compete in basketball in 1972, 23 Bulldogs have scored in double figures during their first collegiate contest.

Edwards came within a bucket of Dominique Wilkins’ school record against Troy on Nov. 30, 1979 as outlined below.

Top Tally Debuts By UGA Freshmen
Year	Player	Points
1979	Dominique Wilkins	26
2019	Anthony Edwards	24
1979	Terry Fair	19
2019	Sahvir Wheeler	19
1998	D.A. Layne	18
2007	Jeremy Price	18
2004	Sundiata Gaines	17
2017	Rayshaun Hammonds	17
2011	Kentavious Caldwell-Pope	15

 

Anthony Edwards’ 24 points against Western Carolina were the most by a Bulldog in an opener in nearly two decades – since Ezra Williams’ 26 versus Furman on Nov. 16, 2001.

You may have noticed Georgia’s roster has gone away from listing traditional basketball positions of guard, forward and center.

Tom Crean is a proponent for “position-less” basketball so players are now simply listed as the position “B”…which stands for “Basketball Player.”

“That’s what they are,” Crean said. “It’s not valid to call them centers and forwards and things like that with the way that we’re trying to play. They’re being trained as basketball players, every day. If you came out there to practice (6-11) Rodney Howard, a lot of times is doing the same things that (5-10) Sahvir Wheeler’s doing in the sense of how we train ball handling, driving, shooting…all those type of things. That’s what we’re recruiting. We’re recruiting basketball players.”

The Bulldogs signed four standouts to letters-of-intent during the NCAA’s early signing period, Tom Crean announced on Nov. 18.

Georgia’s incoming recruiting class was listed at No. 24 nationally in the 247Sports.com composite rankings.

Two in-state prep prospects – Kadarius “K.D.” Johnson from Decatur and Josh Taylor from Norcross – and a pair of Eastern Florida State College teammates – Jonathan Ned and Mikal Starks – will play for the Bulldogs beginning next season.

Georgia’s 31-game regular-season slate includes 14 games against teams featured in the last preseason edition of ESPN.com’s Bracketology released on Nov. 4.

The Bulldogs will host games against seven teams in the predicted field and take on six more away from Stegeman Coliseum.

In Athens, Georgia will entertain Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia Southern, Kentucky, N.C. Central and Tennessee.

The Bulldogs met Dayton and Michigan State in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational and will play road games at Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU and Memphis.