Mike White Era at Georgia

[jbcarol]

It's official: Georgia turns to rival Florida to hire Mike White as new men's basketball coach https://onlineathens.com/story/sports/college/bulldogs-extra/2022/03/13/mike-white-hired-uga-basketball-florida-gators-georgia-mbb

Georgia made a quick hire for its new men's basketball coach.

It's a surprising one from an SEC rival.

Florida's Mike White, who took the Gators to four NCAA tournament trips during seven seasons in Gainesville, was hired Sunday evening during an executive committee meeting of the Georgia Athletic Association.

 No immediate contract terms were released.

Second-year athletic director Josh Brooks hired White in hopes of elevating the Bulldogs men's basketball program. White had worn out his welcome in some corners at Florida at a program that won national championships under Billy Donovan. Florida went 19-13 this season and missed out on the NCAA tournament.

In picking White as its new coach, Brooks is betting that the 45-year old can get the Bulldogs back to the NCAA tournament.

"We are extremely excited to welcome Mike White and his family to Athens," Brook said in a statement. "We have witnessed Coach White to be a leader of men, as well as a proven winner with an impressive postseason body of work. We want to compete for national success in all 21 of our sports, and we believe that he is the coach that can build Georgia Basketball to a consistent winner on the collegiate basketball landscape."

White is taking over a Georgia program that went 6-26 last season—the most losses ever by an SEC team—and in last place in the conference in the fourth season under Tom Crean who was fired Thursday one day after a lopsided loss in the SEC tournament.

Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said in a statement that White informed him of his decision to leave for another job on Sunday afternoon.

[jbcarol]

Additional details finally emerge on Georgia hiring Mike White from Florida

After the news that Florida basketball head coach Mike White was hired away by Georgia on Sunday, additional details emerged regarding the shocking move. White had been extended through the 2027 season with Florida, and Georgia will pay Florida for the early buyout of his contract.

"Instead of being on the hot seat at Florida next season, White gets a new deal and a fresh start at UGA," stated ESPN's Pete Thamel. "He'd been extended through 2027 at Florida. UGA will pay Florida about $1.25 million in buyout money."

The move came as a surprise initially when reported on Sunday, but ultimately it appeared to be a best case scenario for both schools. White's time at Florida appeared to be coming to a head after a disappointing end to their 2021-22 season, and Georgia was in desperate need for a fresh start after firing Tom Crean just days before.

In White's seven seasons with Florida, the Gators have been an ever-present name in the NCAA Tournament. In his final season, Florida finished with a 19-13 record and a loss to Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament. Florida made four straight tournaments before this season, from 2017-2021, and the downwards turn for White's team appeared to be another factor in his decision to move on from the school.

In each of their four appearances in the NCAA Tournament during that time, Florida won at least one game, making them one of just six teams in the nation to do so. In 2017, Florida entered the tournament as a No. 4 seed and advanced to the Elite Eight before falling to a fellow SEC team in South Carolina.

"Mike White leaving Florida for Georgia shows just how badly he and his family wanted out. It had become really toxic with a vocal segment of the fanbase, and White didn't want his young kids affected by it at school and via social media."

--AP's Mark Long

"Mike White had won at least one game in four consecutive NCAA tournaments before this season — but Florida wasn't going to make it this year," said ESPN's Jeff Borzello. "And he wasn't Billy Donovan, so there was some tension there. There was speculation he could leave this offseason, so Georgia it is."

[jbcarol]

Georgia hires Mike White: Contract, negotiation details finally reported after Bulldogs poach Florida coach

"Sources: UGA reached out to Florida around noon today for permission to speak with Mike White. UGA did a Zoom with White and he informed Florida officials he's leaving a few hours ago. White told his team around 5 pm."

--Pete Thamel

Florida hired White to replace Billy Donovan in 2015, and he coached Florida to the Elite Eight in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. After that, the Gators made three more NCAA Tournament appearances under White, exiting in the Round of 32 each time.

White finished this season 19-13 overall with the Gators, including a 9-9 mark in SEC play. Florida went 3-5 in its last eight games, including an overtime loss to Texas A&M that knocked the team out of the SEC Tournament. For the first time since 2016, Florida failed to reach the NCAA Tournament. White finishes 142-88 overall with the Gators. Because of Florida's issues throughout its most recent season under White, some in the college basketball media wondered whether this was a good move by Georgia.

White began his head coaching career at Louisiana Tech, where he spent four seasons. He won three regular season championships with the Bulldogs and left with an impressive record of 101-40 with the program.

White replaces Tom Crean, whom Georgia fired after a 6-26 season. After four years with the Bulldogs, Crean finished 47-75 without a tournament appearance. Crean came to Georgia after taking a year off from coaching following a nine-year stint at Indiana.

[jbcarol]

Matt Zenitz
@mzenitz
·
18h
Another Georgia basketball freshman, Tyrone Baker, has also entered the transfer portal,
@On3sports has learned https://on3.com/db/transfer-portal/wire/football/2022/

Matt Zenitz
@mzenitz
 · 18h
Georgia basketball freshman guard Cam McDowell has entered the transfer portal, @on3sports has learned

https://on3.com/db/transfer-portal/wire/football/2022


The numbers are working out for White.

They always do.

[jbcarol]

Matt Zenitz
@mzenitz
·
2h
Another Georgia basketball player, sophomore forward Josh Taylor, has entered the transfer portal,
@on3sports
 has learned.

Fifth Georgia player to enter the portal in the last 24 hours.

https://on3.com/db/transfer-portal/wire/football/2022/

[jbcarol]

Latest wave of Georgia basketball players in transfer portal includes top scorer Kario Oquendo

Georgia's basketball roster is going over yet another major overhaul that now includes the top scorer from last season.

Guard Kario Oquendo on Wednesday became the most high-profile of what's now six Bulldog players to enter the transfer portal since Mike White was hired.

"He hasn't ruled those guys out," said Anthony Ricks, who is the director of Southeast Elite AAU team that Oquendo played for in high school. "He just wanted to see what the options are. It's a new situation."

Oquendo led Georgia at 15.2 points per game and was third on the team at 4.3 rebounds per game after arriving as a transfer from Florida Southwestern State.

He was the type of player that a new coach could build around with other pieces from the transfer portal. Oquendo scored 33 points against Texas A&M with 6 3-pointers, 28 against Mississippi State, tallied 26 against LSU and 25 against Auburn.

"Who knows what the aspirations are for some of these guys?" White said after he was hired.

Starting point guard Aaron Cook, the Gonzaga transfer, finished his college career this past season.

The six Georgia players in the transfer portal follow nine from Tom Crean's third Georgia team including top players Sahvir Wheeler, K.D. Johnson, Tye Fagan and Toumani Camara.

The only signee for 2022—forward JT Elder from Tuscson, Ariz.—is looking elsewhere after getting a release from his letter of intent.

White has landed one transfer in Longwood guard Justin Hill who averaged 14.2 points and 4.2 assists per game last season.

[jbcarol]

Matt Zenitz
@mzenitz
·
56m
Another Georgia basketball player, Jaxon Etter, has entered the transfer portal,
@on3sports has learned.

Averaged 5.1 points per game this season. Eighth Georgia player to enter the portal.

https://on3.com/db/transfer-portal/wire/football/2022

[jbcarol]

Georgia PF Tyran McMillan has entered the portal.

[jbcarol]

Matt Zenitz
@mzenitz
·
2h
Georgia basketball guard Noah Baumann has entered the transfer portal,
@on3sports has learned.

Averaged 8.1 points per game this past season.

https://on3.com/db/transfer-portal/wire/basketball/2022


The numbers are working out for Mike White.

They always do.

[jbcarol]

Jon Rothstein
@JonRothstein
·
5h
Source: Georgia's Mike White will hire Clemson's Antonio Reynolds-Dean as Associate Head Coach.

[jbcarol]

Georgia basketball's leading scorer withdraws from transfer portal. Kario Oquendo rejoins Bulldogs.

[jbcarol]

Marc Weiszer@marcweiszer
·
Georgia basketball lands a transfer guard who was a conference newcomer of the year last season
https://onlineathens.com/story/sports/college/bulldogs-extra/2022/04/01/georgia-basketball-uga-bullodogs-mike-white-transfer-portal-coaching-staff-moves

Georgia men's basketball has a new coach in Mike White who moved within the SEC after seven seasons at Florida.

Check here for updates on roster additions and subtractions, staff hires and other Bulldog basketball news.

April 18: Georgia basketball picked up its second transfer commitment of the offseason when guard Terry Roberts announced on a Monday afternoon...

Roberts led Bradley in scoring at 14.5 points per game and averaged a conference-leading 4.1 assists to go along with 4.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. The 6-foot-3 Roberts had transferred from Florida Southwestern State where Kario Oquendo also played.

Roberts, a North Amityville, N.Y., native was the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year last season as a junior.  He made 40 of 117 3-pointers and had 128 total assists with 95 turnovers.

Mike White also landed a commitment from Longwood guard Justin Hill.

[jbcarol]

Georgia basketball picked up a player out of the transfer portal from Alabama as Jusaun Holt announced his decision

Holt was the No.112 overall, No. 23 shooting forward, and the No. 6 player out of Georgia in the 2021 class. He was a 4-star that helped St. Frances win state championships in 2019 and 2020.

[jbcarol]

Georgia basketball adds to busy weekend with transfer commitment from North Texas sharpshooter

Mike White getting it done in Athens

Paul Harvey |

Georgia basketball is having a big Saturday of acquisitions as Mike White continues to work on rebuilding the roster for the 2022-23 season.

In a third commitment of the weekend, the Bulldogs landed a transfer pledge from Mardrez McBride out of North Texas. A native of Augusta, Georgia, McBride started his career in the JUCOs.

Georgia also landed a transfer pledge from Syracuse big Frank Anselem.

Bulldogs also landed a late commitment from a 4-star prospect via the class of 2022 in 6-foot-8 forward KyeRon Lindsay.

[jbcarol]

ICYMI: KyeRon Lindsay announced he is committing to Mike White and his Bulldogs. Originally a piece of UNLV's recruiting puzzle, Lindsay reopened his recruitment earlier in April to examine his options.

Now, the 4-star power forward will head to Athens:

[jbcarol]

Jon Rothstein
@JonRothstein
·
13h
Source: Georgia transfer Josh Taylor has committed to East Tennessee State.

[jbcarol]

After a month of having his name in the NCAA transfer portal, Jaxon Etter has decided to withdraw and remain at Georgia

Etter joins Kario Oquendo, Braelen Bridges, Jabri Abdur-Rahim and Jailyn Ingram as members of the 2021-22 squad remaining with the Dawgs for the 2022-23 season.

[jbcarol]

The Field of 68
@TheFieldOf68

Mike White left for Georgia on Selection Sunday. He was first contacted by Georgia ... on Selection Sunday?

He told @GoodmanHoops the full story of getting his new job here.

🎧 https://apple.co/2WmSs1m
🎥

https://youtu.be/E4XQZ4DVV1c

[jbcarol]

Chris Williams@CoachCBWilliams
·
28m
Pack your bags, we're headed abroad to the beautiful country of Italy!!! 🇮🇹

@UGABasketball will have the ultimate experience in Florence, Rome, Pompeii, & Sorrento while playing 3 games vs a few elite Italian professional teams customly curated by
@VIIRevive

#NoBarkAllBite 🐾

[jbcarol]

Mike White on concerns of Georgia spiraling after losses: 'Not worried about that at all'

by:
Griffin McVeigh
•

Georgia looked like they were going to coast to a victory on Alabama, nearly being up by 20 points at one point in the second half. But Mike White saw his team fall apart, with the Crimson Tide leaving Athens with a huge come-from-behind win. Nate Oats will head back to Tuscaloosa really proud while White is scratching his head a bit.

Wednesday marked the second loss in a row for Georgia and the third in four games.

"These guys will keep fighting," White said. "I'm not worried about that at all. This was a top-10 NET opportunity. It's not like we just gave up a lead to a mid-major opponent or an inferior opponent.

"I think our guys feel good about the way we play for 20, 25 (minutes) and the way we continue to fight down the stretch," White said. "We play with a lot of heart considering what's been going on around this facility the last few days... They swung away. Our guys play really hard. Just got to play better."

Georgia will be back on the court Saturday against South Carolina. Not too long ago, the Bulldogs were able to get a win in Columbia...

Mike White addresses Georgia's turnover issues against Alabama...

[jbcarol]

Mike White on what caused Georgia's second-half collapse: 'I wish I knew'
by:
Thomas Goldkamp
•

For a half, all was going well for Georgia basketball. The team led South Carolina 40-38 at the break and the tempo of the game was where the Bulldogs wanted it.

Everything flipped in the second half.

Georgia lost 72-62, scoring just 22 points after the halftime break. Nothing was working right. Even coach Mike White was at a loss for words:

"I wish I knew. I don't," White said. "I'm not sure I've got a great answer for you right now. Obviously by our body language, by the way we shot it down the stretch, our level of confidence, our level of swagger, whatever you want to call it, we didn't shoot it the way we needed to shoot it down the stretch."

After shooting 46.9% from the floor in the first half and 44.4% from 3-point range, Georgia completely fell apart in the second half.

[jbcarol]

Mike White not focused on postseason opportunities, sees improvement
by:
Dan Morrison
•

After losing to Auburn on Saturday, Georgia had officially lost seven of its last eight games. With that, making a postseason tournament seems less and less likely for head coach Mike White and the Bulldogs.

For now, though, White is focused on improving within the season and isn't looking ahead to postseason opportunities like the NIT. Instead, he's looking to get ready to take on the LSU Tigers.

"I'm just not focused on the postseason," Mike White said. "I'm focused on LSU and really breaking this film down as quickly as possible. Take three or four bullets that we can take that might help us Tuesday night, give us a better chance. LSU's playing as well as they have all season."

[jbcarol]

Marc Weiszer
@marcweiszer
Struggling Texas A&M gets well against cold-shooting Georgia basketball for Bulldogs 5th home loss in row

[jbcarol]

Georgia wins over Ole Miss in final game of season at Stegeman Coliseum

by:
Palmer Thombs

ATHENS, Ga. — Stegeman Coliseum's been good to Georgia this season, and the home court treated the Bulldogs right once again on Tuesday night. Mike White's squad beat Ole Miss in the regular-season home finale by a score of 69-66.

Noah Thomasson led Georgia in scoring as one of five UGA players to reach double-figures. Thomasson had 15 points and was joined by Russel Tchewa and Justin Hill with 11 each and Dylan James and RJ Melendez, both of whom scored 10.

The win for the Bulldogs is just their second in the last 11 outings. Georgia had started 4-2 in SEC play prior to losing six straight and nine of the next 10. In coming away victorious on Tuesday however, the Bulldogs do guarantee themselves no worse than a .500 season and match their win totals both overall and in SEC play from last season.

How It Happened...

[jbcarol]

Mike White explains decision to not opt-out of the NIT

by:
Sam Gillenwater
•

Not every program that missed the NCAA Tournament was interested in taking part in the National Invitation Tournament. However, Georgia wanted in because, as Mike White put it, his team is one that wants to take advantage of every chance that they have to take the floor.

White explained his team's position on the matter while speaking with the media on Monday. He started by saying that other teams may have decided to not play in the NIT based on their own respective rosters at this point of the year.

"It's probably based on their roster more than anything," said White.

Several teams opted-out of invites to the NIT before and following the announcement of the tournament field. That group includes a fellow team in their conference in Ole Miss. It also features the likes of Oklahoma, Indiana, Syracuse, St. John's, Memphis, and Pittsburgh.

As for Georgia, though, they want to play again in order to compete and for the love of the game. White says, because of that, they plan to be at or close to full participation when they start their appearance in the postseason against Xavier this evening in Athens.

"I just didn't get the feeling that we'd have guys who would just decline the opportunity. Heck, we had practice today not knowing if we'd even have another opportunity. Guys still got after it," White said. "We talked about it all year. We've got a team that likes to work, enjoys being between the lines and competing."

[jbcarol]

Mount St. Mary's transfer guard De'Shayne Montgomery commits to Georgia

by: Joe Tipton
•

Montgomery, a native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, ultimately chose Mike White and the Bulldogs over Mississippi State. He also considered Ole Miss and USC.

The 6-foot-4 freshman averaged 13.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game this season. He also shot nearly 54% from the field and 41% from three.