As coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson enters her second season at Georgia, things are feeling a little easier.
There aren’t 15 players learning her system like last fall. Her office is newly redone. Her team now knows the expectations: strong energy, support for their teammates and effort.
“Those are the three qualities I want every single day in practice and every single game,” Abrahamson-Henderson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Those are the little intangibles that are super important to me.”
Now, more than a week into practices, Georgia women’s basketball is focused on getting into shape and learning plays. The Bulldogs return after cracking the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Abrahamson-Henderson’s first season coaching in Athens.
Yet Georgia looks very different from its 2022-23 iteration. Top scorers Diamond Battles, Brittney Smith and Audrey Warren all departed the program.
Abrahamson-Henderson is eying several players to step up in their place – first and foremost forward Javyn Nicholson, who played more than 783 minutes and averaged 23.1 points per game last season. Nicholson and forward Jordan Cole will be important leaders this season, Abrahamson-Henderson said.
“Those two have really got to step up,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “They know the system. They know the expectations. They have a lot of basketball behind them. … Their leadership is really crucial.”
Veterans such as Nicholson and Cole are joined by four newcomers, including Central Florida transfer Destiny Thomas. She played under Abrahamson-Henderson in Orlando from 2019-22, calling her former coach “family.” Thomas said she’s been most impressed by how well the team has adjusted to the system and the strength of their practices.
The Bulldogs’ current focus is learning to push through hard days in practice. Nicholson said the coaching staff makes practices much more difficult than games, so matchups will feel “like clockwork.” This readies the team for games that feel like a dogfight, she said.
This approach encourages players not to take things personally and to grow, Nicholson said. She has it down after several years with the program, but said the group is still figuring out how to embrace hard practices.
“We’re still learning to come in and have business and get the job done,” Nicholson said. “Right now is a key moment going into the preseason and a couple scrimmage games. We need to grasp that. That’s something we’re getting better at every day.”
Off the court, Nicholson and her teammates bond over hosting recruits. They’ll go to football games and game nights with each other. But Nicholson said the team mostly is prioritizing rest before the start of a long season.
Although early only the preseason, players and staff already are setting goals. For Abrahamson-Henderson, the focus is playing well in Athens and creating a strong home-court advantage.
Personally, Nicholson wants a double-double and to make first- or second-team All-SEC. She wants to be back in the postseason, too, but her primary team goal for now is starting the season strong.
“I want to go undefeated non-conference … just really set the tone for our season,” Nicholson said. “If we come out with the right mentality in those games, that will carry us over to SEC (competition).”
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