GCSU basketball 24-25: Lady Bobcats rebuilt for another Peach Belt run

Published 10:00 pm Friday, November 1, 2024

In the ever changing world of college basketball, for any roster it’s lose a few, gain a few in every offseason. The personnel losses now don’t always come through graduation, and the gains seem to be fewer straight out of high school.

Transfers rule the day. Ross Jolly, head coach of women’s basketball at Georgia College & State University, is taking the day-by-day approach all the way to the end of the 2024-25 season to see just how well his group of newcomers – with some Division I experience – blends together with returning Lady Bobcats to make a push for the top tier of the Peach Belt Conference.

Georgia College’s women open the new season with a weekend of games against in-state opposition in Dahlonega Nov. 8-9 (Young Harris and Emmanuel). The home opener is Nov. 16 against Newberry at The Centennial Center. The Lady Bobcats are coming off a 12-17 2023-24 season with half the wins in the Peach Belt.

“Offseasons in college basketball and other college sports these days, you’re dealing a little bit with the transfer portal,” said Jolly. “That’s certainly what we did. We signed one freshman early, but we got four transfers out of the portal. It’s been a little bit different the last few years, how the landscape has changed. We were busy with recruiting transfers. That was the first step after last season.”

Three of the transfers are from Division I with a fourth from the Division II level. Jolly has spent the early practice and scrimmage time giving all of the new players time to integrate into the program with the solid core of returners. He said that has to happen pretty quickly to be ready for that first real game.

“There’s a lot (in the portal),” said Jolly about what he was looking for to add to GCSU. “We try to be as specific as we can, but also we have to fill needs. We felt like we had to have a post player. We felt like we needed a couple of wings, some 3-point shooting. We ended up with three wings and one post. We were doing a little of both, filling needs but being picky with the people we want … making sure they also fit our system.”

Freshmen can still make an impact, and for the Lady Bobcats that was Savannah’s Hannah Cail. She started 27 games last season averaging 27.3 minutes and leading GCSU with 54 3-pointers. Cail was the only Lady Bobcat to average double figures in points at 12.6 per game, and she made All-Conference.

Jada Warren is a 6-1 senior forward from Norcross who averaged 8.8 rebounds a game in 28 starts. Two other seniors are guard Ashyia Willis of Gainesville, who had 90 assists in all 29 games, and Canton’s Cierra Foster, who battled injuries but got into 22 games.

“We have several girls who are now in the conglomerative senior class,” said Jolly. “They are four- and five-year players for us. Alexis (Figures) and Jada were the first two. Jada led the league in rebounding last year. Willis has been Freshman of the Year in the Peach Belt. Foster has done a great job playing point guard.”

Sandersville’s Miracle Parker joined GCSU as a sophomore last year from Flagler and played all 29 games, blocking 21 shots and grabbing 100 boards.

“We have a good group coming back; just trying to integrate the returners with the new people,” said Jolly. “We also get Rose Bone back, who was injured last year. That hurt us a bit, but she’s doing well right now.”

So who are the newcomers?

First, there’s 6-2 center Cam James, who went to Jones County High School and then Arkansas-Little Rock. She can make up for the graduating Dashaun Jackson, who blocked 31 shots and averaged 7 rebounds a game off the bench.

“We needed some depth at the post,” said Jolly. “Maybe they’ll play together. Not sure yet. She’ll provide us some post defense and rebounding. She’s getting better.”

Evie DePetro is a graduate transfer from Furman University originally from Knoxville, Tennessee. Chandler Davis is also a graduate transfer, originally from Marietta who played at Southeast Missouri State. Deshona Gaither from Commerce has played at the Division II level at Newberry, where she was second in scoring (8 per game) last year. Jolly said these players bring a lot of scoring and athleticism to the team.

The lone freshman is Eva Garabadian, a guard from Wesleyan in Alpharetta. Jolly believes she can have the same impact as Cail in year one.

Now comes the job coaches face of taking players who do know each other and blending them with new pieces from different sources. Jolly said that task is going to carry on into the season as they figure out who can perform together best.

“A shot last year for us that was not good may be good this year,” he said. “Everything changes. Every team is different when you add so many different variables. The combinations change, rotations change. There’s not an exact science to it. We’ll be into games before we figure out who we are, what we look like, what the good rotations are.”

And he has no preconceived idea what the answers are. The focus is on each day getting better, a vision he hopes the team shares instead of looking ahead. The coach said the keys to the season are hard work and staying healthy.

“I think we have a chance to be a good team,” said Jolly. “But everybody’s got a long way to go. Other teams are trying to win. I’m happy with how we are doing now. Basketball is the longest season of any (college) sport. It is a grind. Hopefully we have an older group that will have the maturity to want to do well.”

The story of Peach Belt women’s basketball last season was Georgia Southwestern State’s run to the NCAA D-II Elite 8. Hana Haden, National Coach of the Year, was subsequently hired by Georgia Southern University.

Lander Univesity also made a coaching change after going 19-11. Augusta made the NCAA D-II tournament, and Columbus State missed out after finishing third in the league and 19-10.

“Peach Belt’s one of the best conferences in the country,” said Jolly. “That’s always a challenge. It doesn’t matter who you are, any team can beat anybody in the PBC. Since I’ve been in the conference we’ve had at least three different teams get to the Elite 8. We’re always playing real good teams every night.

“Anytime new coaches come in, that changes whether the whole team is the same.”