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LOCATION: Athens, GA
CONFERENCE: Southeastern (Eastern Division)
LAST SEASON: 15-15 (.500)
CONFERENCE RECORD: 6-10 (4th)
STARTERS LOST/RETURNING: 4/1
NICKNAME: Bulldogs
COLORS: Red & Black
HOMECOURT: Stegeman Coliseum (10,523)
COACH: Jim Harrick (Morris Harvey '60)
record at school First year
career record 403-182 (19 years)
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ASSISTANTS: James Holland (USC-Spartanburg '85)
Michael Hunt (Furman '85)
Reggie Rankin (Ohio '89)
TEAM WINS: (last 5 years) 18-21-24-20-15
RPI (last 5 years) 71-26-27-45-79
1998-99 FINISH: Lost in NIT first round.
ESPN.com Clubhouse
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The end came shockingly quickly for Ron Jirsa. Then again, maybe it didn't come soon enough. When Georgia athletic director Vince Dooley fired Jirsa after the Bulldogs' embarrassing first-round ouster (Clemson 77, Georgia 57) in the NIT last March, the move was surprising, but not all that surprising. Jirsa was the man annointed by Dooley just two years before as the successor to Tubby Smith, who had turned the program into what appeared to be a perennial NCAA Tournament entrant in his only two seasons. Though Jirsa had never been a head coach at any level, he took over for Smith when the latter left for Kentucky. Important memo to athletic directors: Be wary of the player's choice when looking for a coach. Jirsa was a clear-cut favorite of the Georgia players, present and future. Rumor had it that G.G. Smith, the gutty point guard and son of Tubby, would have packed his bags for Lexington had Jirsa not been hired. And then-incoming recruit Jumaine Jones quietly let it be known that he might not show up in Athens if Jirsa weren't the man. Clearly, Jirsa was favored by the players because he's a kind and decent human being. But nice guys don't always make good head coaches. In Jirsa's first year, he took a team that Smith had guided to 24 wins and an NCAA Tournament trip and turned it into one that needed an extended NIT run to win 20. Georgia fans spoiled by Smith's accomplishments weren't too thrilled by that, but they were willing to look to the future. After all, last year, the Bulldogs returned four senior starters and the gifted Jones, then a sophomore.
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Blue Ribbon Analysis |
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BACKCOURT C BENCH/DEPTH D
FRONTCOURT C INTANGIBLES C+
Jim Harrick inherits an average-at-best team from former coach Ron Jirsa. Georgia fans can only wonder what the Bulldogs would have been in for this season had Jirsa stayed. If he couldn't coax more than 15 wins a year ago out of a veteran team that included four seniors and Jumaine Jones, this season could have been a real disaster. That's where Harrick comes in. His record and national championship would strongly suggest he knows what's going on. But his success at other schools came with players he had recruited. Save junior college transfers Shon Coleman and Anthony Evans, Harrick hasn't been able to sign his own players and put his personal stamp on the program. Harrick will have to work with what he was given. That wasn't much, but there's nothing he can do about it. He'll just try to convince the inexperienced Bulldogs to band together in hopes they can overachieve. "None of these kids have played much (on the Division I level) except for D.A. Layne," Harrick said. "But I think they're hungry to be successful. They've been very receptive to me. I'm quietly optimistic." Unless previously little-used center Robb Dryden develops into the second coming of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and guard D.A. Layne does his best Michael Jordan impersonation, the Bulldogs could have a tough year. Look for them to battle with South Carolina to avoid last place in the SEC East. |
Incredibly, Georgia was worse, though the 'Dogs got off to an 9-3 start. The only losses were to North Carolina and in overtime to Georgia Tech and Fresno State. Georgia fans had reason to be encouraged. Then came the SEC season. Georgia won its first two league games and three of its first four before the bottom fell out. A loss at Arkansas on Jan. 16 started a five-game losing streak. The 'Dogs won just three more games the rest of the season and limped into the NIT, where they were a great warm-up act for Clemson. Dooley was in Clemson to watch that debacle, and word is that by the time he put the keys in his rental car after the game, Jirsa was gone. Even the most avid Jirsa hater thought the embattled coach might get another year. Dooley didn't agree. Jirsa, as you might expect, took the news of his firing hard. Dooley's reasoning was that the program was going nowhere fast. The Bulldogs, he said, needed a veteran coach. Georgia fans wondered why he hadn't thought of that two years before. Talk about your about-faces. Though Dooley talked with some of the current hot young coaches, he went out and found one of the most experienced head coaches he could get, 60-year-old Jim Harrick, who had built winners at Pepperdine, UCLA (where he won the 1995 national championship) and Rhode Island. Harrick had been in the business 19 years and racked up more than 400 wins. By Dooley's measuring stick, this was the man Georgia needed. Harrick obviously agreed with that opinion, for about 24 hours. Then he shocked the red and black socks off of Georgia fans by announcing that he had changed his mind and was returning to Rhode Island. Lucky for Harrick that Dooley was out of town when the coach dropped his bombshell. Had Dooley been close to his Rolodex, he would have speed-dialed Appalachian State coach Buzz Peterson and the re-opened search would have been over in a couple of hours. But before Dooley could get back to Athens, Harrick changed his mind again. This time, he was coming to Georgia. No kidding. What Harrick found in Athens might have sent him packing again had he not already changed his mind once before. Not only had Georgia lost four dependable seniors in G.G. Smith (8.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 116 assists, 41 steals), Michael Chadwick (9.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 64 assists, 27 steals), Ray Harrison (9.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 78 assists, 31 steals) and Jon Nordin (4.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, .433 percent three-point shooting), it also lost the services of Jones (18.8 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 35 assists, 32 steals, 21 blocked shots), who decided warming the bench for an NBA team would be more desireable than getting his head kicked in night after night at Georgia. Georgia suffered still more personnel losses when two of Jirsa's recruits were unable to get in school and a third asked out of his commitment and signed with UNC Greensboro. Had Harrick, who piled up the frequent flier miles in a hurry, not been able to sign junior college forwards Shon Coleman and Anthony Evans in April, Georgia might have started this season with nine scholarship players, most of them unproven. That number might have been eight had Harrick not done a major sell job on freshman recruit Ezra Williams, who had considered transferring after Jirsa's ouster. Harrick starts his first year in Athens with only one player, 6-0 sophomore guard D.A. Layne, who has done any serious damage in college. And even Layne, who made the SEC's All-Freshman team a year ago, has yet to prove himself over the long haul. Despite it all, Harrick is undaunted. His players took an immediate liking to him and participated diligently in offseason conditioning. "We've got a great group of young guys who work extremely hard," Harrick said. "They don't have a lot of experience. But they're great on desire. "A lot of what happens this season depends on how they develop as a team. I've seen marvelous things done with guys who play as a unit. It goes back to the old saying. It's amazing what can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit." Harrick will no doubt get the ball in the hands of Layne as much as possible. As a freshman, Layne (12.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 62 assists, 26 steals) took the SEC by storm as a three-point shooter (.412 percent, 75 of 182). Despite his shooting skills, Layne is likely to become Georgia's starting point guard, which wouldn't be a bad thing. "He's an impressive player," said Harrick, who has watched Layne's exploits on film. "He's the only one of this group who has played. He's a guy that really knows how to play basketball." Beyond Layne, Harrick isn't sure who will be on the floor at any given time. Logic would suggest that either 6-5 Adrian Jones, the oft-injured junior who took a medical redshirt last year, or the 6-4 Williams, from Marietta (Ga.) High School, will get strong looks at shooting guard. Williams comes to Georgia with solid credentials. "I saw him in a couple of all-star games," Harrick said, "and I'm confident he can come in and help us. He's a great shooter and can get to the basket. He's fundamentally very sound." Jones got a chance to shake some rust off his game when he toured Japan with a team of SEC all-stars in August. The bad news is that Jones shot the ball miserably (.214 percent from the field, .143 percent from three-point range) in five games against the Japanese national team. Two other returning players will get a chance to help in the backcourt. Shawn Fields (2.2 ppg, 1.0 rpg), a 6-3 sophomore, played in just 20 games last season after becoming eligible in the second semester. Terrence Edwards, a 6-1 sophomore, probably won't be available for a while. He also plays football, which means that Harrick can't expect him until the start of SEC play. The football 'Dogs will probably play in a major bowl game, which will keep Edwards busy until January. Edwards (1.9 ppg, 1.0 rpg) played in 14 games last season and evolved into a defensive stopper because of his quickness. Often, Jirsa used him as a defensive replacement for Smith. Moses White, a 5-11 freshman from Rickard High School in Tallahassee, Fla. and Notre Dame (Mass.) Prep, will back up Layne at the point. Two years ago, White was the third-rated point guard in talent-rich Florida behind Keyon Dooling (Missouri) and Ted Dupay (Florida). White averaged 16.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 7.0 assists in his final season at Rickard. The key to Georgia's season could well lie in the massive hands of 7-1, 240-pound center Robb Dryden (3.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg). The redshirt junior seemed to be on the verge of breaking through when he scored 24 points in Georgia's victory at Texas last November. But Jirsa used him just 11.3 minutes per game as the 'Dogs' offense deteriorated into a fire-it-up free for all. Harrick plans on getting a lot more use out of Dryden. The truth is, he doesn't have much choice. Dryden won't amaze anyone with his quickness, but he does possess some offensive ability and a soft touch around the basket, skills Harrick can use. "I think Dryden's got good talent," Harrick said. "It's my job to get him to play at the highest level. I don't know if Robb can do that immediately. But over the course of two years, he's got a chance to be consistent." Junior-college transfers Coleman and Evans have a chance to be major contributors in their first seasons. Coleman, a 6-7 junior, comes to Georgia by way of Indiana Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa. Indian Hills won two junior college national championships in Coleman's career. Coleman, who led Indian Hills in scoring (15.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.8), was a commodity late in the spring signing period. Kentucky, which also found itself short on bodies, recruited him, as did a couple of ACC schools. "One of our big questions is can Coleman step out to the perimeter," Harrick said. "If he can, I'd play him outside." Evans, a 6-7, 240-pound junior, will definitely play inside. That's where he did his damage at Neosho County (Kansas) Community College, where he averaged 23 points and nine boards. Evans, a native of Decatur, Ga., was also heavily recruited last spring and even visited Georgia's SEC East rival Tennessee before deciding on the 'Dogs. Badi Oliver, a 6-8 senior, will have to play a lot in the frontcourt. More athletic than skilled, Oliver (2.7 ppg, 2.3 rpg) managed to shoot .517 percent (30 of 58) from the field as a junior. He's a good finisher in transition and can get his hands on rebounds and loose balls and convert them into garbage baskets. Another player who could enter into the frontcourt mix is 6-8 freshman Ryan Lewis, who redshirted last season. Two years ago, he averaged 12.7 points, 13.0 rebounds and 7.1 blocked shots at Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, Fla.
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