Georgia basketball is trending up under the direction of Mike White. Can a quartet of returnees bring the Bulldogs a tournament run?
The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Georgia basketball.
While Georgia basketball has made the NCAA tournament two years in a row, they haven’t exactly succeeded once they’ve arrived there. In the 2024-25 season, Georgia fell behind 27-3 against Gonzaga in the first round en route to a 21-point loss, while last season saw the Bulldogs give up a 23-0 run to Saint Louis in what turned out to be a 25-loss and second straight departure from the round of 64.
This year, however, will be different. Maybe. If Georgia basketball can use their continuity to their advantage and lean on a solid backcourt, there is a real chance for a breakthrough in Mike White’s fifth year. That’s not to downplay what he’s already done in Athens: the Bulldogs have now made consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament for only the second time in the 21st century.
At point, it’s Smurf Millender returning to anchor the lineup. Millender led the Bulldogs last season with 4.1 assists per game after transferring in from UTSA. Though not the tallest, he’s a great creator on offense and a solid perimeter defender. Freshman Donovan Williams Jr. will back up Millender at point and can benefit from learning from a veteran before possibly taking the starting job next year.
Returnee Blue Cain will be Millender’s starting partner in the backcourt after a solid junior season. Cain is an electric scoring guard, and the two will be one of the better guard duos in the SEC. Behind Cain will be Freddie Dilione V, who transferred in from Penn State. He’s no stranger to the conference, having started his career at Tennessee, and will operate in a sixth-man role, most likely.
The wing is a bit complicated, with returnee Kanon Catchings starting, but Saint Louis transfer Brady Dunlap and freshman recruit Mading Kuany will battle for playing time as well. The lanky Catchings made 32 starts last season and was fourth on the team in minutes per game. He’ll be a big contributor on offense. Dunlap is a sharpshooter who coincidentally scored 11 points against the Bulldogs in the NCAA tournament, while Kuany is a slender scorer who has an inside track to minutes as a freshman.
At power forward, the final returnee Kareem Stagg will likely start after showing promise last season as a freshman. Stagg made nine starts last year and had a career-high 11 points in a win over South Carolina. Behind him in the rotation will be freshman Hakeem Weems from IMG Academy.
Ole Miss transfer James Scott will take the place of Somto Cyril at center. Scott is a great rim defender, though he likely won’t produce a ton of points on the offensive end. Behind him in the depth chart are St. Bonaventure transfer Andrew Osasuyi and freshman David Ugonna Ike. Both will almost certainly see some degree of rotational minutes.
Georgia basketball is back. Maybe. But we always bet on Mike White here at CBB Review, and with 82 combined starts returning, the question isn’t ‘why?’, but rather ‘why not?’
Head coach: Mike White (16th season overall, 5th at Georgia)
2025-26 record: 22-11 (10-8)
2026 postseason finish: Lost to Saint Louis (102-77) in first round of NCAA tournament
Notable departures:
- Jeremiah Wilkinson (17.4 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.7 APG, 35.7 3P%)
- Somto Cyril (9.3 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 0.6 APG, 2.2 BPG)
- Jordan Ross (6.7 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 2.3 APG)
- Jake Wilkins (4.9 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 0.4 APG)
- Dylan James (4.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 0.5 APG)
- Justin Bailey (4.2 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 0.7 APG)
Notable non-conference games:
- at North Carolina (Nov. 13)
- at Georgia Tech (Nov. 20)
- Cincinnati OR UCF (Nov. 26) – ESPN Events Invitational
- Cincinnati OR UCF (Nov. 27) – ESPN Events Invitational
- vs. Boston College (Dec. 1)
- vs. Duke (Dec. 8) – Madison Square Garden
Projected Rotation
PG: Smurf Millender (5-11, 175, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 12.0 PPG, 4.1 APG, 2.8 RPG, 0.8 SPG, 38.6 3P%, 0.9 SPG
SG: Blue Cain (6-5, 195, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 13.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.6 APG, 90.7 FT%, 1.4 SPG
SF: Kanon Catchings (6-9, 220, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 11.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 1.2 APG, 37.6 3P%
PF: Kareem Stagg (6-8, 230, So.)
2025-26 stats: 4.8 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 0.6 APG
C: James Scott (6-11, 225, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 3.9 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 0.6 APG, 1.3 BPG, 72.9 2P%, (Ole Miss)
6: Freddie Dilione V (6-5, 190, Sr.)
2025-26 stats: 14.0 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 2.2 APG (Penn State)
7: Brady Dunlap (6-8, 200, R-Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 7.0 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 0.9 APG, 45.1 3P% (Saint Louis)
8: Andrew Osasuyi (6-10, 210, So.)
2025-26 stats: 3.7 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 0.2 APG (St. Bonaventure)
9: Donovan Williams Jr. (6-2, 190, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 235 ranked recruit
10: Hakeem Weems (6-9, 215, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 258 ranked recruit
11: David Ugonna Ike (7-0, 250, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 121 ranked recruit
12: Mading Kuany (6-6, 190, Fr.)
247Sports Composite No. 167 ranked recruit
13: Kemo Millender (5-11, 165, Jr.)
2025-26 stats: 9.5 PPG, 1.9 RPG, 1.9 APG (New Mexico Junior College)
Georgia basketball team MVP: Blue Cain
Fun fact: Cain’s first name comes from his dad’s golf career, as the elder Cain played for Duke and decided to name his son after the school’s colors. Now at a red school, Blue is the heartbeat of Georgia’s offense. A rarity in this era of college basketball, this marks Cain’s fourth year with the Bulldogs. Last season, he started all 33 games in the backcourt and was second on the team with 13.1 PPG, behind just Jeremiah Wilkinson. Now, Wilkinson has transferred across the conference to Arkansas, and Cain is the de facto top offensive option.
Cain has the ability to heat up on offense seemingly in an instant. If you need proof, just take a look at his game logs: 22 points against Cincinnati last season, 20 on the road against Oklahoma, and another 20 in a road victory over Kentucky. In a win over LSU as a sophomore, Cain was just two assists away from a triple-double. His defense is above-average, and his offense is above his defense. That’s a pretty good space to be.
Georgia basketball make-or-break player: James Scott
The lone transfer expected to be included in the starting lineup, Scott is an ultra-efficient rim protector who has spent time at College of Charleston, Louisville, and most recently Ole Miss. Georgia basketball desperately needed a large presence in the paint in the offseason, and they’ve got it in Scott. He led the Rebels with 1.3 blocks per game and was tied for tenth in the SEC with 46 total blocks on the season.
Offensively, Scott only averaged 3.9 points per game last year, but we can blame Chris Beard for that. The season prior at Louisville, Scott saw more minutes (23.6 MPG as opposed to 17.9 last season with Ole Miss) and averaged 7.1 PPG on a 75.5 FG% clip, almost exclusively around the rim. Used correctly, Scott can average around 8.0 PPG to go along with 7.0 RPG and 1.5 BPG in the Georgia basketball scheme.
Key statistic: Blocks per game
Georgia basketball was elite at sending shots back last season. The Bulldogs ranked third nationally with an average of 6.0 blocks per game, one of three teams with a clip of six or more blocks per game in D-I basketball. Both teams that joined Georgia in the six-block club, Virginia and Michigan, made the tournament, as did 10 of the top 17 shot-swatting teams in the country, so there’s at least some correlation to team success from a defense that can send back shots.
One problem for Georgia, however, is that Somto Cyril, who led the team with 2.2 BPG, and Justin Abson, who was second with 1.6 BPG, both are gone. Cyril transferred to Miami and Abson is out of eligibility. Who’s left to lead the block party? The aforementioned Scott will play a big role with the Bulldogs at-the-rim defense, and back-ups Osasuyi and Ike could also be threatening in the paint on defense. White has clearly addressed the losses of Cyril and Abson, and while Georgia basketball might not average six blocks per game again, they should be in the top-25 nationally at least in that stat category.
Georgia basketball 2026-27 projections
Projected conference finish: 11th in the SEC
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen appearance