There was a lot of uncertainty entering the 2025-26 season for the Georgia basketball team, but they have outperformed expectations so far. Coming into the season, Georgia had just 4 returning rotation players from a year ago when they made the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2015. This is common in college basketball now with the transfer portal, but it comes with a lot of uncertainty year over year.

Looking to build on their NCAA appearance a season ago, Georgia has relied on five transfers, four returnees, and two true freshmen so far this season, and they have gotten off to a quick start. Georgia has started the season 9-1, with its lone loss coming to Clemson in overtime.

Georgia has adopted a new, fast-paced style of play this season that it had not used previously in the Mike White era. This has allowed the team to look completely different from a year ago.

Here are some takeaways on what I have seen so far this season.

3 Season Takeaways

1 – New Style of Play

Georgia has played a brand new style this season, and it has been exciting to watch since the start of the year. They have pressed teams 94 feet for all 40 minutes in each game, and it has had positive effects on the team’s offense and defense.

This style of play has allowed Georgia to force more turnovers, improving the offense by creating more scoring opportunities off turnovers and in transition than a season ago.

Here is how these areas have improved this season compared to a year ago:

As you can see, each one of these areas has improved significantly from last year. The most significant improvement is in fastbreak points per game, where Georgia has almost tripled (!) its total from a year ago.

This has all allowed for Georgia to score the ball a lot easier than last year, and they currently lead college basketball in Points Per Game with 98.3.

The other thing that has helped Georgia increase all of these numbers, including PPG, has been their pace of play. Georgia currently ranks third in the nation in tempo, after finishing 219th last season.

Mike White has obviously approached this year differently than any other UGA team he has coached, and that can be seen in these statistical improvements.

2 – Threes, Paint and more threes

I also wanted to highlight how this team’s shot selection has differed significantly from last season. Last season, Georgia did not shoot many three-pointers and often settled for mid-range shots, but that has changed drastically this year. Georgia has almost totally eliminated the two-point jumper from their shot profile this season.

Here are the statistics showing the year-over-year differences in where Georgia is taking its shots:

As you can see here, Georgia has significantly increased their amount of shots taken from behind the arc this season by 8.3%. These shots are way more analytically efficient than the long 2-point jumpers they were taking a year ago, so it is great to see that increase. Georgia ranked 228th in 3-point rate in the 24-25 season, but this season, they rank 69th.

They have also decreased their number of 2-point jumpers by 12.9% from a year ago, which is what you want to see as well. This has caused an increase in 3-point jumpers and shots around the rim.

It looks like Mike White and the staff did not like where their shots were coming from a year ago, and they have adjusted to take more efficient shots so far this season.

3- Cain, Wilkinson and Somto

Coming into the season, Blue Cain, Somto Cyril and Jeremiah Wilkinson were the 3 most important players for the UGA basketball team this season and they have all been fantastic.

Blue Cain has been one of the top 20 players in college basketball this season, according to BPM on BartTorvik. He has been Georgia’s best player this season and excels in many different areas. He is the ultimate “glue guy” who does whatever it takes to win. He is 2nd on the team in PPG (16.1), 1st in RPG (5.6), and 3rd in APG (2.7) so far this season.

Jeremiah Wilkinson, a transfer from Cal, has been a great addition to the Georgia roster this season and is exactly what this team needed. He is the scorer Georgia will look to when they need a bucket in the halfcourt, and he is super quick in transition. He is the leading scorer so far, averaging 17.1 PPG.

Somto Cyril will never put up eye-popping statistics, but he is the key to this team’s defense and the reason Georgia is able to press the way it does. He is the one who covers the back end when the press is broken, and it is on him to affect the opponent’s shot when they come into the paint. He is averaging 9 PPG, 5 RPG, and 2.5 BPG. The 2.5 blocks per game is an entire block difference from a year ago when he averaged 1.5 per game.

These are my main takeaways so far from the 2025-26 Georgia basketball season. Georgia is ranked for the second straight year, coming in at No. 25 in the Week 7 AP Poll.

There are some areas of concern for this team as we head towards conference play, and I will have an article about that as well when we get closer to conference play starting on January 3rd.

Thanks for reading, let me know any suggestions and Go Dawgs!