Georgia basketball off to a strong start with two first-year coaches

Georgia basketball season is in full force, and the Dawgs have new coaches for both the men’s and women’s programs. Despite having new leadership for both groups, they are off to a strong start.

The Dawgs can be a force on the hard court, so hopefully, these two new coaches will be what Georgia needs to sustain more success. Georgia’s women’s basketball team has had more success than the men in recent years but losing someone like Joni Taylor hurt.

However, coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson has done a great job so far and has been a great addition to the Dawgs, as the ladies are off to a 9-2 start. The men’s head coach Mike White has also helped the Dawgs get to 7-3, which is one more win than last year’s team had.

Georgia basketball starts its new era strong in both the men’s and women’s programs.

The men started strong with a win over Western Carolina and followed it up with an 81-71 loss to Wake Forest. Georgia followed that loss up with three straight wins over Miami of Ohio, Bucknell, and Saint Joseph’s. UAB gave the Dawgs its second loss of the season beating Georgia 87-73. That loss stung, but it’s still early in the season, and this group is figuring out the new system.

Georgia won the next three after that second loss with victories over East Tennessee, Hampton and Florida A&M. White and his Dawgs fell to Georgia Tech 79-77, which isn’t ideal, but that was a close game that Georgia came close to winning. This team is coming together slowly but surely, and the Dawgs have more fight in them than we’ve seen in a while.

The men’s next game will be a tough matchup against Notre Dame on Dec. 18 in Atlanta for the Holiday Hoopsgiving event. Their last game before Christmas will be Chattanooga in Stegeman Coliseum on Dec. 21. After the break, there will be one final non-conference game against Rider on Dec. 28, and SEC play will open against Auburn on Jan. 4.

Georgia women’s basketball team started the year out 7-0 after wins over Coastal Carolina, Alabama State, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin and Virginia Commonwealth. What a massive win to get over Tech and Wisconsin early on in the season — that should tell you what kind of group coach Abe has on her squad.

The Lady Dogs dropped a 86-80 game to Seton Hall for the first loss of the year but followed it up with a 78-58 win over Furman. North Carolina State got the best of the Lady Dogs, but the Wolfpack is one tough opponent. State beat Georgia 65-54whichit was a tough blow for the Lady Dogs.

Georgia rebounded with an 84-44 win over Mercer and will play Belmont next on Dec. 17. The Lady Dogs will participate in the West Palm Beach Invitational, taking on West Virginia on Dec. 20 and San Diego State on Dec. 21. Those three games will close out the Dawgs’ non-SEC portion of the season.

SEC Play begins on Dec. 29 against Alabama, and that will be the Lady Dogs’ final game of 2022. They will host South Carolina on Jan. 2 to start the new year. This article is our introduction to the new era of Georgia basketball, but stay tuned for more in-depth stories on both the men’s and women’s teams.

These two basketball teams have had a great start to the season, but the nitty-gritty is on its way. How both programs will handle SEC play is the biggest question. Georgia has talent on both rosters, but how will it stack up against the other stacked SEC opponents?