The University of Georgia has finally snapped its decade-long streak of missing the NCAA Basketball Tournament… The Big Dance … the Madness in March.
And for the first time since 2015 the Bulldogs will play in ‘The Tournament’ Thursday in a game which will be a dogfight when No. 9-seed UGA faces the No. 8-seed Bulldogs of Gonzaga.
The Tournament has not been kind to teams from Georgia, but it hasn’t been terrible either.
The Bulldogs have not won an NCAA Tournament game since 1996. Georgia Tech was the runner-up in 2004 behind UConn but its latest NCAA Tournament victory was in 2009-10. The Yellow Jackets lost in the first round in 2020-21 under Josh Pastner.
But there have been some hilariously good upsets.
Georgia State defeated No. 3-seeded Baylor 57-56 in 2015 but has suffered three first-round losses since then. But the grandaddy of all in-state NCAA Tournament upsets is Mercer’s 2014 bracket-busting victory against Duke in the first round 78-71. Before that, Mercer had not played in the tournament since 1985.
Georgia enters Thursday’s contest with high-hopes and a quality group of players looking to play late into March. Three of UGA’s roster spots are held by former Georgia high school athletes. Senior guard, Dakota Leffew (averaging 9.5 pts, 2.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists on 42% shooting) played at Jonesboro. Junior forward, RJ Godfrey (averaging 6.5 pts, 3.9 reb, .9 ast on 53.9% shooting) came out of North Gwinnett. Finally, freshman center Somto Cyril (4.5 pts, 3.8 reb, .5 ast on 62.4% shooting) came out of Overtime Elite in Atlanta, GA.
Coach Dan Maehlman at Jonesboro is putting the world on notice when it comes to his former player Leffew.
“The only thing that has kind of been shadowed is he was balling out at Mount St. Mary’s, and he gets to Georgia you kind of see glimpses of where he can be really special,” said Maehlman. “I think the biggest thing to me is I don’t think people understand that he could be a pro. He has the tools, the work ethic, the character, the length and there’s so many things I’ve heard about when he went to Georgia.”
He continues to note how at his school prior to the transfer to Georgia he would regularly put up “27 or 28 a game,” and now that he is operating within a system where he isn’t necessarily the main guy, his upside may potentially be overlooked. Maehlman truly believes Leffew is a pro-caliber player and wants nothing more for his former player than for him to have the opportunity to prove that.
In regard to Godfrey, North Gwinnett’s boys head coach Matt Garner had nothing but praise.
“He’s one of my favorite kids ever,” said Garner. “He’s arguably the best talent I’ve ever coached, but beyond that he was one of my favorite kids. He left our program better than he found it because he’s such a huge culture kid. He left here breaking numerous records and won three region titles. He was all-state twice, and the Gwinnett County Player of the Year twice. He’s the most decorated player in school history.”
Interestingly enough, both Godfrey and his brother Grant, a linebacker at Kentucky, will consistently say that their 11th grade sister Kendall is actually the best athlete in the family.
In total, 27 players in this year’s tournament played high school sports in Georgia:
Drake Cardwell- Auburn (Evans H.S.)
Dylan Cardwell- Auburn (McEachern)
Ja’Heim Hudson- Auburn (Wheeler)
Will Richard- Florida (Woodward Academy)
PJ Carter- Memphis (Langston Hughes)
Peyton Marshall- Missouri (Kell)
Christian Anderson- Texas Tech (Lovett School)
Deivon Smith- St. John’s (Grayson)
Luke Flynn- Wofford (Marietta)
Cannon Richards- Wofford (Kell)
Anthony Arrington Jr.- Wofford (The Galloway School)
Gicarri Harris- Purdue (Grayson)
Omar Cooper- McNeese State (The Walker School)
Alyn Breed- McNeese State (McEachern)
Chase Hunter- Clemson (Westlake)
Chauncey Wiggins- Clemson (Grayson)
Dakota Leffew- Georgia (Jonesboro)
Somto Cyril- Georgia (Overtime Elite)
RJ Godfrey- Georgia (North Gwinnett)
Karris Bilal- Vanderbilt (Riverwood)
Jason Edwards- Vanderbilt (Parkview)
Devin McGlockton- Vanderbilt (South Forsyth)
Luke Champion- Arizona (Lambert)
Cameron Sheffield- Duke (Chattahoochee)
Marcus Foster- Xavier (Drew Charter)
Jordan Marshall- Alabama State (Newton)
CJ Hines- Alabama State (Archer)
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