Coming on the heels of an impressive run to the NIT semifinals after an up-and-down regular season, Georgia heads into a crucial offseason for Mike White and the Georgia program.
The Dawgs finished up the year 20-17 (6-12 SEC), a year in which Georgia looked far improved from White's first season in 2022/23 but one in which Georgia finished with the exact same SEC record as the year before.
Georgia has some things for fans to be excited about, but exactly how Mike White navigates this offseason will dictate how Year 3 goes for him.
How hard will the Georgia roster be hit by the Transfer Portal? What players with the Covid-year elect to comeback? Can Georgia add another player to the 2024 recruiting class to pair with the five-star they already have (more on that in a bit)? Can Georgia land needed re-enforcements themselves in the portal?
How Georgia answers those questions will determine whether the program really can take the next step and contend for an NCAA tournament spot next year. While we do not know those answers yet, this article will give you a glimpse at exactly decisions there are to make.
With all of that being said, and almost immediately after the end of Georgia's season, let's take a look at an early roster outlook heading into next year for Georgia:
Out of Eligibility
C Russel Tchewa
G Noah Thomasson
G RJ Sunahara
A group of former transfers, Tchewa, Thomasson, and Sunahara all expired their eligibility this season. Thomasson ended up as Georgia's leading scorer for the year, averaging 13.1 PPG for the season after a strong 2nd half.
He also averaged 2.8 RPG and 1.6 APG while shooting 40.9% from the field and 34.2% from three. He averaged 14.7 PPG across Georgia's final 15 games of the season. Thomasson also led the team in minutes per game.
Tchewa averaged 7.4 PPG and 6.3 RPG on the year, serving as Georgia's starting center. Tchewa shot 55.4% from the field and also had 19 blocks on the year.
A former Division II National Player of the Year, Sunahara made the jump up to the SEC where he averaged 2.0 PPG and 1.6 RPG on 61.9% shooting this year for Georgia in 16 games (11 starts).
While these players are leaving, it does show that you Georgia will be losing at least these three players for sure. So we know that Georgia will need to replace at least two starters, one of them being their starting Center and the other a guard who led them in scoring.