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By Olivia Sayer
Georgia guard Asia Avinger (11) shoots the ball during a women’s NCAA college basketball game between North Carolina A&T and Georgia at Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Georgia, on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. Georgia won 71-59. (Photo/Jessica Lin, @j.lin321)
Familiar faces and new arrivals graced the court on Monday afternoon at Stegeman Coliseum, as Georgia women’s basketball began its preparation for the upcoming 2024-2025 season.
Before the team kicked off its first official practice, head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson met with the media. Here is a summary of her comments, as well as observations from the first 30 minutes of Georgia’s practice.
Highly-touted newcomers
The Bulldogs are only returning six players for the upcoming season. Paired with them are four incoming freshmen — Summer Davis, Indya Davis, Mia Woolfolk and Trinity Turner — and two transfers.
Turner, who hails from Orlando, first caught Abrahamson-Henderson’s attention when she was in eighth grade. The head coach, who at the time was with UCF, said Turner “killed” her daughter’s team. As Turner continued to perform well, Abrahamson-Henderson recruited her to UCF and then “begged and pleaded” with her parents to commit to Georgia.
“She was in eighth grade and killed us,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, who was this kid?’ So we recruited her really hard and got really close to her family.”
In addition to Turner, the Bulldogs brought in former Kentucky forward Nyah Leveretter and former USC guard Roxane Makolo to replace some of the departing talent. The two offer experience that the incoming freshmen do not have.
Abrahamson-Henderson said Leveretter will provide the Bulldogs with another post player that has SEC experience. She also said Makolo will play at the top of the press and is going to “be the surprise to everybody.”
“She’s a phenomenal athlete,” Abrahamson-Henderson said of Makolo. “She can move, she’s long, she’s athletic. Her basketball IQ was huge. She’s obviously a fifth-year senior. I love those fifth-year seniors. She just brings a sense of toughness. Her athleticism, she can score in many different ways.”
Abrahamson-Henderson threw all of the newcomers into the fire early with free throw drills. Each player, new and returning, attempted shots from the foul line with all of her teammates watching on. If she made it, the next person in line tried. However, a miss meant the entire team ran a lap, while those recovering from injuries fulfilled their requirements on the bicycles.
“Got to [knock] these down, especially in pressure situations,” Abrahamson-Henderson said during the drill. “Can win us a game [or] can lose us a game.”
Last season, the Bulldogs shot 68.7 percent from the foul line, which was bottom three in the SEC.
An unquestioned leader
It only took a few minutes to see who the Bulldogs’ unquestioned leader was. Asia Avinger was voted a captain after just six months with the team last season. On Monday, she stood in the center of the court during warmups and consistently shouted encouragement to her teammates.
“I don’t hear any talking down there,” Avinger yelled in the direction of Summer and Indya Davis, De’Mauri Flournoy and Fatima Diakhate, who responded with enthusiastic clapping.
Avinger, who switched back to the No. 1 jersey she donned at San Diego State, is poised for a big year. Last season, Abrahamson-Henderson praised her “Tasmanian crazy tough person” mentality, and that fire does not appear to be going out.
“Asia looks amazing,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “She’s strong, she’s healthy, she’s fast, she’s aggressive.”
Abrahamson-Henderson indicated Avinger has the potential to be “somebody that we can rely on every single day to come and get buckets” in a variety of ways.
“That doesn’t mean just taking three shots,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “That means drawing fouls, getting to the foul line, hitting one or two threes, jumpers…score in multiple ways. That’s going to be big for Asia. Asia is going to have to step up.”
Flournoy is also expected to be a big contributor again this season. Last year, she finished with 161 attempts from beyond the arc — 67 more than any other Bulldog.
Abrahamson-Henderson said Flournoy looks “super confident” and enjoys playing the point in practice. However, she also wants the senior to continue improving other aspects of her game.
“She’s really just trying to develop her game so everybody doesn’t just think she’s a 3-point shooter,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “Coach Balerio has worked a lot on her basketball IQ and getting people the ball.”
Abrahamson-Henderson said the Bulldogs are going to be a “win by committee” team, rather than have one player doing the majority of the scoring like Javyn Nicholson did last season. Nicholson, who is now playing professionally, was the only Bulldog to finish with double digit points per game a year ago.
“We’re really going to spread the floor and going to kind of win by committee,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “And that’s fun basketball.”