https://georgiadogs.com/news/2018/9/2/mens-basketball-bulldogs-to-host-stegmania-on-october-5.aspx

Well planned by both basketball head coaches.....the night before our home football game against Vandy!

https://georgiadogs.com/news/2018/10/4/mens-basketball-celebrity-lineup-set-for-first-stegmania.aspx

Any word about what recruits have said they will attend tonight?

I attended Stegmania last evening w/ my 15-yr. old son. Some notes/comments:

- Not sure why Stegeman Coliseum gets a bad rap by some fans as the exterior, concourse, bathrooms, and interior looked nice and the cushioned seats were comfortable; believe me when I say that things weren't quite as nice when I was a UGA student from 1991-'95
- Kirby Smart and 16 UGA Football seniors entered to applause then stood on the court; Kirby, Lamont Gaillard, Terry Godwin, Natrez Patrick, and Jonathan Ledbetter spoke briefly between 6:37-6:50 p.m. then departed; fwiw, Ledbetter was the last to leave as he was high-fiving fans and graciously stood for photos with a few of them
- DJ Sir Foster played a good mix of contemporary songs
- The 19 Dance Dawgs did a nice job entertaining the fans courtside
- On a stage behind one of the lowered backboards the Lady Dawgs then Hoop Dawgs players were introduced under dimmed lights with some sort of jet-like sparkling device shooting and smoke
- Lady Dawgs Head Coach Joni Taylor then Hoop Dawgs Head Coach Tom Crean briefly spoke; imo, the acoustics made it difficult to hear them at times b/c of an echo effect
- Fwiw, my eyeball estimate of the audience attendance was 5,000 - 5,500 (i.e., perhaps a little more than half capacity); some upper level sections were completely empty
- Lady Dawgs sophomore guard Maya Caldwell has a lot of personality and is a good shooter; she won the 3-point shooting contest which included sophomore guard Gabby Connally, freshman guard Caitlin Hose, and freshman guard Kaila Hubbard (she missed all 20 of her 3-point attempts)
- JoJo Toppin, Amanze Ngumezi, Mike Edwards, et al. demonstrated solid slam-dunking skills
- I liked that Coach Crean was mic'ed up during the drills then scrimmage; imo, he does a good job of encouraging and instructing his players; fwiw, I really liked the fast pace of the drills (e.g., passing, crossovers w/ drives to the basket, corner moves, etc.) and think our offense finally has a pulse (last seen during the Harrick era)
- I didn't see any dead weight on the UGA Men's Basketball roster (even the walk-ons, Christian Harrison/Connor O'Neill/Jack Herring, demonstrated some skills [Connor even has some dance moves!])
- Believe the hype re: Nicolas Claxton as he's a versatile player that can go end-to-end rebounding, dribbling the length of the court, then finishing; he also has a nice touch on his shots, even from 3-pt. range
- IMO, freshman guard Ignas Sargiunas' conditioning needs improvement and he doesn't shoot as well as I hoped, but he did a nice job handling and distributing the ball
- It was disappointing to see many fans bail during the men's Red vs. Black scrimmage (which was competitive and went to overtime)
- I was disappointed the Lady Dawgs didn't scrimmage
- The event concluded w/ players autographing posters for fans

neKKiDawg said:

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Any word about what recruits have said they will attend tonight?

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2020 PG Sion James, 6'4", 170 lbs. prospect from Lanier High School in Buford, GA and 2020 3* PG Deivon Smith, 5'11", 160 lbs. prospect from Grayson High School in Loganville, GA:

neKKiDawg said:

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Any word about what recruits have said they will attend tonight?

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2020 4* PG K.D. Johnson from Southwest DeKalb High School in Decatur, GA. Hoop Dawgs offered him on 15 September 2018.

Thanks for the write up and the attendee updates, AFD!

Yes....thanks for the updates!

Good write up on the event. I am glad I was there. I will say it didn't bother me that the women's team didn't scrimmage. LOL What I really liked was how loose the team played. Crean engenders confidence in his players. Much different from a Fox coached team, which is the antithesis of loose. Fox's teams played ultra tight, trying not make a mistake. I mean, he would yank a kid after some tiny mistake, and we may not see that player again for several games. I just don't see how that helps a kid play his best ball.

Monkdawg said:

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Good write up on the event. I am glad I was there. I will say it didn't bother me that the women's team didn't scrimmage. LOL What I really Liked was how loose the team played. Crean engenders confidence in his players. Much different from a Fox coached team, which is the antithesis of loose. Fox's teams played ultra tight, trying not make a mistake. I mean, he would yank a kid after some tiny mistake, and we may not see that player again for several games. I just don't see how that helps a kid play his best ball.

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Btw, my son and I were walking around East Campus yesterday and came across forward Amanze Ngumezi. He was really nice to us and said they practice offense all the time. He also said they had a 3-hour practice on Saturday (i.e., the day after Stegmania).

Everything I've heard about Amanze is that he's a great kid. Happy to have him.

Who will likely be our starters this year?

RedDawg said:

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Who will likely be our starters this year?

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I'm expecting Hammonds, Claxton, Ogbeide to start. Then Turtle, Tyree, Harris and Hightower are all closely bunched at the guards. It's in all of their hands to step-up and prove they're the best and deserve the bulk of minutes.

We've seen what Turtle and Toe can do... if they're starters our ceiling as a team is not very high. Like last year, point guard and and anything resembling leadership from our guards is my concern.

Thanks Sid, that's kinda what I figured as well. I like that front court with Ogbeide, Clax & Hammonds, plus we should have some good depth with Edwards, Ngumezi, Toppin & Wilridge. We have the bodies in the backcourt, and a lot of guys can run & shoot the ball, but someone's gotta step up at PG. You're right, Turtle is a known quantity, and I hope Teshaun can make that step up. Can Tye play the point? (Who's Toe? Did you mean Tye?)

I thumbed through a few preseason mags the other day and they had us picked 12th, 13th & 14th in the league. Pretty brutal. If Crean is the coach we all think he is, and want him to be, then we may be able to surprise some people. We have some talent on this team. I'm not saying we're gonna go to the final four or anything, but we've got five or six 4-star guys on the roster, which is about as many as I can ever remember being on the team at once. Should be interesting.

I agree that Claxton & Ogbeide should start. By all rights, Hammonds should be a 3rd starter in the front court, but he has to step his game up IMO. We can't have someone starting that is going to disappear in games. He does that way too much. We have enough talent to go in different directions if he proves incapable.

I think Crump is a definite starter in the back court. The question is who is the PG. I think Hightower has the most upside - tall, athletic, good handle, busts it on defense, makes things happen, pushed the pace. The only problem with him is inconsistent shooting. I think some of that will be taken care of by the new scheme. I hope he has worked on his FTs. He has to hit them. FT shooting is 95% mental. Stay calm, don't get distracted, follow your routine and make the shot.

I just don't like Turtle's game much. Maybe this new scheme will help him as well. He's just not a PG in my eyes. I think Fagan could surprise. He is a steady guy from what I saw - good ballhandler, defender, passer. Didn't get to see him shoot much in the scrimmage, so that remains to be seen. Ignas is easily 6'5" and has the length to play, but his shot needs a bit of work, and he seemed a bit slower than the rest, probably not being used to this pace. He hasn't been in Athens that long I don't think and missed a lot of our pre-season workouts.

RedDawg said:

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Who's Toe?

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Senior forward E'Torrion Wilridge, a 2015 3* prospect, that started 12 of 29 games for the Hoop Dawgs last season.

RedDawg, just FYI, Toe is Wilridge. IMO he is just a body on the team and won't be much of a factor. That said, he did hit a 3 in the scrimmage. I'm just not a fan of his game.

I think Fagan could definitely play the PG. He seems really steady and knows what it takes to win. He may be one of those players that doesn't jump out at you, but when you look at the box score, he's a stat stuffer.

I think we benefit big time from the coaching change because Crean's scheme is better suited to our roster. I understand why people have picked us 12th, 13th or 14th. We (and Crean) have a lot to prove. I guarantee this roster is better than the one he had when he got to IU, but he didn't win big until he got his players there. It's just a whole different atmosphere with Crean. I Crean can get us to the middle of the SEC, he should be a coach of the year candidate. We lost a big chunk of production off last year's team.

That's some serious hops!!