Mike White after huge win over Florida, SEC is ‘best league in the history of college basketball’
In case you somehow missed the news, Georgia basketball just took down No. 3 Florida in front of a packed Stegeman Coliseum on Tuesday night 88-83.
This win is obviously massive for a few reasons. The first being that beating Florida is fun no matter what the sport is, but this win also makes Georgia’s NCAA Tournament hopes much more realistic. But potentially the best part about this win was that head coach Mike White was able to get it against his former team.
White was the Florida head coach for seven seasons before he packed his bags and made the decision to move to Athens to take over at Georgia. Florida has since become one of the best teams in the country, but White finally got his revenge in potentially the best way possible.
White spoke about this big win, and instead of making it about himself, he gave all the credit to his players.
Mike White discusses upset win over Florida
“We’ve been capable all along, but a lot of it just has to do with how the other team plays,” White shared via uga.rivals.com. “We’ve played some high, high-level teams. We preach to our guys a lot about just faith, just having faith that if we just continue to work, good things will happen. But if you’re just so focused on the outcome of the last game and the outcome of the next game, especially as a young team, it’s hard to perform well. Let’s perform well. Let’s play well. Let’s get better. Good things will happen.”
One of the biggest issues Georgia fans have had with this team all season is that they did not live up to the hype surrounding the team after the 12-1 start to their season. But according to White, his team did not let that early success impact them and they did not let their woes during conference play impact their confidence either.
“All that positive noise that comes to these guys, they heard it,” White shared. “And not that we reacted really negatively to it at all, but then you find yourself here where you’ve lost a few in a row and you’ve got to keep it in perspective. This is the best league in the history of college basketball.”
What’s next for Georgia?
With an NCAA Tournament appearance once again in reach, the Bulldogs travel to Texas to face a struggling Longhorns squad on Saturday night. And it goes without saying that this is a game Georgia needs to win if they want to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
