Georgia basketball cannot catch a break with 10th player in portal

Add another Georgia basketball player to the transfer portal list as Noah Baumann becomes the 10th male player to announce his departure.

The Dawgs haven’t had a solid start to the Mike White era as players continue to leave. Do we suggest that this isn’t the right hire or if it’s for the best? Are all 10 of these players unhappy with where the program is heading? Do they miss Tom Crean, or is it just expected in today’s collegiate athletics climate?

It’s doubtful that any of those questions will get answered, but one must speculate as the Dawgs now have double-digit players in the transfer portal.

Georgia basketball cannot catch a break with the number of transfers.

Baumann transferred to Georgia from Southern California, and he was a significant contributor for the Dawgs, starting 20 of the 31 games. He averaged 8.1 points a game, 3.5 rebounds with 107 total, and was the guy the Dawgs relied the most on to shoot the three. Baumann made 59 3-pointers last season, which led the team.

Baumann originally started at San Jose State before transferring to Southern Cal, and then he ended up in Athens. With him transferring twice before, one would think Baumann wouldn’t do it again, but I guess not. Maybe the new head coach isn’t his cup of tea, and he feels like another school would help him more.

He is a great shooter who helped the Dawgs a ton this season, and this announcement does come as a bit of a surprise. It also makes those questions we asked above even more prevalent. Why are these players leaving?

Georgia could use his experience next season, and while that could still happen, it isn’t likely.

The others that have transferred out of the program have been Dalen Ridgnal, who recently announced he is heading to Missouri State. Camron McDowell, Tyrone Baker, Christian Wright, Kario Oquendo, Josh Taylor, Jonathan Ned, Tyron McMillan and Jaxon Etter are also in the portal out of the Georgia men’s basketball team.

While White discussed transfers back in March, it’s still a head-scratcher why all of these players are dipping on Georgia when he is a proven winner. Did they want a different coach? Time will tell if that is the case and if that specific school signs them, but for now, it’s still odd that 10 players would leave the program.

Georgia has already seen so much turnover from its men’s basketball team that hiring a new coach was supposed to be a happy moment. While it is, this turnover that continues to happen raises a lot of suspicions.

There could be more turnover as guys like Braelen Bridges, Jabri Abdur-Rahim and Jailyn Ingram could leave too. According to 247Sports, those are the only three left on scholarship.

Three scholarship athletes remain for the Dawgs, and that is sad. There is no reason for this, and it continues to raise questions as to why the university has such a tough time keeping kids on the basketball team.

Justin Hill committed to the Dawgs on April 1, so he will join the team, but even with him coming to Athens, there are nine scholarship spots open for White to do something with and find talent in the transfer portal.

Will White fail before even getting his time in Athens going? What will he do, and how does he find a way to either keep the three remaining on the team or find a way to bring in a couple of them back from the portal?

Georgia basketball didn’t need this much turnover, yet they are in the second week of April with nine spots open on its roster. The Dawgs’ new staff have a lot of work to do, and White has his work cut out for him already.