White undaunted by recruiting challenge

New Georgia basketball coach Mike White is no dummy. If he’s going to get the Bulldog basketball program at a level where it’s consistently competing for spots in the NCAA Tournament, it’s going to start with recruiting.

If there’s been a knock on the Bulldogs over the years, it is the struggle Georgia has historically had enticing the best players in the state to stay home.

This and other pertinent questions were on the mind of beat writers, who received an unexpected opportunity to meet privately with White followed Tuesday’s official introduction at Stegeman Coliseum.

“I’m more less concerned with the challenge and more excited about the opportunity,” said White, who said he plans to recruit and be visible in every single high school in the state.

“We’re going to continue to recruit here, nationally. We’re going to start with our backyard. We’re going to start with this state,” White said. “There’s a lot of really good players, a lot of really good coaches, high school programs, AAU coaches within this state. That’s where we’re going to start and we’re going to get the right guys.

"But we also want guys who really want to be here and play to help Georgia win. We want players who will buy into our staff and understand how we can help develop these young men into men and into the best players, best versions of themselves.”

White said he has a specific plan.

“We’re going to recruit the guys that we are going to target, we’re going to operate with the highest level of integrity. We’re not going to lie to kids,” he said. “I was going to say we were going to sell a vision, but I don’t even like saying selling. This is who we are. This is a first-class institution and we’re going to find some really good players that really want to be here.”

White’s next few days will be extremely busy ones.

First on his agenda, to assemble a staff.

“I’d love to do it as quickly as possible. That said, I’m not going to make any rash decision. We’re going to be very, very thorough. I’m going to have lengthy conversations with guys,” White said. “There are candidates out there who I’ve worked with, that I feel very comfortable with. At the same time, my phone has been going nuts. You’re at the University of Georgia now and there’s a lot of interest from a lot of talented people who want to be part of this like I did.”

Next, will be figuring out what members of his current team plan to stay and which ones plan to move on.

“First and foremost, before you make your staff evaluations, you’ve got to get a staff. And once you do that, you’ve got to figure out what these guys want. Who knows what the aspirations are with some of these guys,” White said. “If there is a player who necessarily doesn’t want to be here, you want them to pursue what’s best for them, what’s in their best interest. We are going to be in the transfer portal like everybody else in the league this spring. It is part of the landscape in college basketball. We’ve all got to adapt.”

Two Bulldogs – Jaxon Etter and Jabri Abdur-Rahim – were brough in to speak the media and both acknowledged they will be coming back.

“It’s exciting. Before I walked over here, I was saying how excited the guys are in the locker room. You can feel a different energy, the happiness, the passion that guys play with. Guys want to be in the gym and get better,” Etter said. “Everybody is coming into the gym, whether it’s at 8 a.m. or 11 p.m. We’re in the gym working hard and I’m excited for Coach White to maximize our potential.”

Athletic Director Josh Brooks and Georgia president Jere Morehead spoke to other potential candidates but both men indicated that White was the top choice.

Georgia’s AD was asked if he considered another “candidate” known for his recruiting and a favorite of many Bulldog alum and fans.

Although he was not mentioned by name, it was obvious the subject was former Bulldog Jonas Hayes.

“I weigh everything into the equations. You weigh every factor into every decision,” Brooks said. “There’s not a factor you do not take into account.... at the end of the day my overall responsibility is to hire the best coach for our program, the one I think will give us the best chance to be successful and do it the right way.”

White said he was not necessarily ready to move on from Florida. But after speaking with Brooks and Morehead via Zoom on Sunday, the decision to come to Athens was an easy one.

“I was excited to get a call that Josh wanted to have a conversation. Josh reached out. We had a really productive conversation with he and President Morehead and the cabinet, the search committee,” White said. “We had a really lengthy conversation, and from there, again, it was … it moved very, very quick. I jumped at it. Just to be blunt with you, I just jumped at the opportunity, and before you know it, six, eight hours later Kira and I were sitting these kids down telling them that we're moving to Athens, Georgia.”