Georgia men’s basketball head coach Mike White and sophomore guards Silas Demary Jr. and Blue Cain met with the media on Monday, Sept. 16 to discuss the offseason and look ahead to the season. Here are some takeaways from their comments.

Sophomores making the leap

Demary and Cain are two of just six returning players from last year’s roster after nine Bulldogs either graduated or transferred. In today’s day and age, transfers are more common than ever and something that Demary and Cain both admitted they had to consider before ultimately deciding to stay with the Bulldogs.

“We definitely leaned on each other a lot during the whole decision process,” Cain, who arrived at the press conference having recently gotten rid of his distinctive ponytail, said. “I think Silas said it [earlier], I was his roommate last year. You know, [returning forward Dylan James] and I have [also] become real close.”

Demary said he felt like Georgia was home to him and that it was the best situation for him. As one of the three main returners on the team next to Cain and James, he noted his desire to step up as a leader in the locker room.

“Where I feel I’ve grown the most is just being one of the leaders on the team,” Demary said. “Being able to be a vocal leader. Using my voice more, even on bad days where I feel like I’m not feeling the best, just using my voice and just being impactful day in and day out.”

White echoed the same sentiment when asked about Demary’s leadership.

“He’s trying his best to lead by example,” White said. “He’s such a competitive guy defensively and on the glass, he’s one of the better guards in the league in those areas…[He leads] on the court with his voice. He’s a guy like [Clemson transfer RJ Godfrey], you know what you’re getting every day, and he had a really good freshman year. We’re hopeful he can have [an even] better sophomore year.”

It’s starting to mean more

The SEC saw eight of its teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament last year, tying a record from the year before. Georgia was one of two teams to qualify for the NIT, where it advanced to the semifinal before losing to eventual champion Seton Hall. White noted how competitive the SEC has gotten and said there’s not a weak team in the conference.

“I’ve been around this league for a long, long time, since I was 18 years old,” White said. “My goodness, it’s the best it’s ever been. And I say it every year, it’s continuing to get better. January, February, I think we’ll be talking about double digit teams getting in the NCAA Tournament. There’s not a program, there’s not a team in our league that I can point at and say, ‘Well, we’ll be able to catch our breath when we play those guys this year.’ And I don’t think people will be able to say that about us either.”

“I think there’s gonna be a ton of parity. I don’t know that we’re one of the best teams in our league. We’ve got a big jump to make before we can say that, but I do think we’ll be even more competitive than a year ago. Hopefully we can win some close ones. Hopefully we continue to just get better and again, just become our best version, and see where that takes us.”

With just a month left until the first scrimmage, Demary was asked about what he wants to see from the team until then.

“I definitely want to see us get after it on the defensive end,” Demary said. “I feel like sometimes we lack [in that area], but that’s because we’ve done so much offense. But I think once we start employing more drills and defensive things, I feel like that’ll ramp up a lot.”

The blue chip

Georgia’s most high-profile get of the offseason was consensus five-star freshman forward Asa Newell, who attended the prestigious Montverde Academy. His older brother Jaden is a returning Bulldog, and now the rest of the team has gotten the chance to see what the younger Newell can do.

“Asa Newell, very high motor,” White said. “A big time mover at 6-foot-11 laterally, and the way he changes ends, plays with a lot of energy. He had a really good summer.”

That high motor was the exact same thing that Demary and White brought up when asked about Georgia’s heralded new recruit.

“I definitely think he lives up to [the five star level],” Cain said. “He has a crazy motor, plays crazy hard, and then he’s way more skilled than what I thought. He’s a great player.”

“His motor is non stop,” Demary said. “He’s always going no matter what. He’s always getting offensive rebounds, always blocking shots. So this motor has definitely been a thing that stuck out to me most.”