ATHENS — It was fitting that coach Mike White spoke to the media with Silas Demary Jr. and Blue Cain after receiving Georgia basketball’s first NCAA Tournament bid in a decade.
Not necessarily because Demary and Cain are Georgia basketball’s top two superstars. Demary is the team’s hottest scorer and Cain has been a clutch shooter and defender, but what makes the two sophomores stand out at Georgia goes deeper.
Demary and Cain, along with fellow sophomore Dylan James, returned to Georgia after last season as the core of White’s rebuild to SEC relevance.
“These guys had options, Dylan had options, and we all came to Georgia, it’s come together,” White said Sunday night. “We came to Georgia to rebuild and to get Georgia to a tournament, and it’s special.”
The NCAA Tournament vision was clear for the 2025 Bulldogs, with several new pieces in Athens, but Demary and Cain believed in taking Georgia back to the tournament before they stepped foot on campus.
“Obviously, I think that’s a lot of high school guys’ dreams where they commit to schools together,” Demary said. “Me and Blue, we played against each other on the Under Armour circuit, so just finally being able to be on the same team, you have those conversations, and I think that was a big goal of ours.”
Demary, Cain and James were the core of something hopeful entering the 2024 offseason. All three had played crucial roles in Georgia’s run to the Final Four of the NIT, which required wins over strong basketball programs Xavier, Wake Forest and Ohio State.
The freshman trio announced returns to Georgia shortly after the season ended, and recruiting had begun. A vocal leader on the court, Demary began working on transfer targets to bring veteran experience to a relatively young roster.
Demary said the program’s NCAA Tournament potential was a key selling point to guys like Tyrin Lawrence and Dakota Leffew, who had one season of eligibility left.
The transfer class, along with 6-foot-11 freshmen Asa Newell and Somto Cyril, combined with the sophomore core to make an NCAA contender.
Newell was an elite force in the paint for Georgia, but White needed more from his sophomore guard duo in their second seasons.
Demary delivered especially well in the latter half of the SEC season. The former four-star prospect became one of the SEC’s top scorers, averaging nearly 19.4 points over Georgia’s last eight games.
Cain averaged over 11 points during Georgia’s four-game win streak, shooting 6-of-14 from behind the arc. His go-ahead 3-pointer to upset No. 3 Florida could go down as the biggest shot by a Bulldog this season.
Demary and Cain both echoed White’s process-oriented message of growth throughout the season. Both talked about the team’s identity in playing hard, an area where Cain said he matured as a defender this season.
Demary brings his vocal intensity to practices, and it translates on the court, too. The 6-5, 195-pounder is one of the more physical scorers of any guard in the SEC.
White has seen the momentum that he created with Demary and Cain morph into a winning team culture throughout the season. He doubled down on the focus on process over results, citing Demary’s and Cain’s work ethic Sunday.
“I’ve said it since November, it’s the best practice team that I’ve been a part of,” White said. “These guys just work, they’re resilient, they’re tough, they’re consistent, they’re connected, they’re selfless. These guys are about winning, and now they’re reaping some reward.
“But these two guys right here I guarantee will have great practice tomorrow because they want more.”
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