Mike White Named NABC Coach of the Year After Resurrecting Georgia Basketball
In a season that defied expectations and rewrote the narrative of Georgia basketball, head coach Mike White was honored as the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches) Coach of the Year, marking the culmination of a stunning resurrection of a program long lost in the wilderness of SEC hoops.
Two years ago, Georgia basketball was a forgotten relic. The Bulldogs had stumbled to a miserable 6-26 finish, fans deserted the Stegeman Coliseum stands, and the program’s national relevance was all but extinct. Critics called it a “football school forever” and predicted Mike White’s hiring from rival Florida as a stopgap solution, not a fresh beginning.
White, however, believed differently.
From his first practice in Athens, he built not around instant success or splashy transfers but culture—discipline, accountability, effort. Skeptics sneered when White said the goal was “to make Georgia basketball matter again.” No one sneers now.
The 2024-25 season delivered the proof. Georgia roared to a 26-7 record—the program’s best since the Dominique Wilkins era in the early 1980s. They finished third in the SEC, upset Kentucky in Rupp Arena, and reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the first time in nearly three decades. White’s Bulldogs weren’t just lucky—they were relentless.
His system, once criticized for being too methodical at Florida, proved masterful in Athens. Georgia’s defense ranked fourth nationally in opponent field-goal percentage. Junior point guard CJ Daniels, an unheralded recruit White personally convinced to stay, blossomed into an All-SEC floor general. Sophomore wing KJ Moore, a benchwarmer under the previous regime, turned into a two-way star, leading the team in scoring and steals.
Perhaps the most shocking change came from the stands. Sellouts returned to Stegeman. Georgia basketball—long the shadow of Bulldog football—became the talk of Athens. “For the first time in my life,” said one lifelong fan, “I bought season basketball tickets before football.”
But White’s magic wasn’t built on star freshmen or mercenary transfers. His roster was stitched together from overlooked recruits, transfers with chips on their shoulders, and high-character veterans who bought into his gritty, defense-first style. The result was a team that out-hustled, out-fought, and outlasted its opponents.
Behind the scenes, White rebuilt the program’s foundation. He hired a tireless staff, upgraded analytics, modernized the strength program, and reconnected with Georgia’s high school coaches—a pipeline neglected for years. His first top-10 recruiting class is set to arrive this fall.
The NABC recognition caps a storybook campaign but also signals the start of a new chapter. No longer is Georgia basketball a punchline or afterthought. National pundits, once dismissive, now praise the “Mike White Blueprint” as a model for rebuilding broken programs.
White’s award speech was vintage understatement: “We’ve just gotten started. Georgia deserves to be great in everything—not just football.”
For Mike White, this honor is not merely a personal accolade. It is a vindication of vision, patience, and belief. For Georgia basketball, it is nothing less than a resurrection—one that may change the face of the SEC for years to come.
And for college basketball at large, it’s a warning: the sleeping giant in Athens has finally awakened.
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