WICHITA, Kan. — Asa Newell has always had Georgia on his mind, from the time he was taking his first steps as a preschooler at the McPhaul Center across the street from Stegeman Coliseum.
Now, some 14 years later, Newell looks to help the UGA basketball take its next step as a contender in the NCAA Tournament.
The No. 9-seeded Bulldogs (20-12) will tip off against No. 8-seed Gonzaga (25-8) at 4:35 p.m. (TV: TBS) on Thursday at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita.
“This is an amazing opportunity, and I’m just very blessed to be here,” said Newell, a 6-foot-10, 225-pound projected NBA lottery pick who has keyed Georgia’s first run into the NCAA tourney in some 10 years.
“I prayed to God for an opportunity like this and he fulfilled it, and now it’s on us to take advantage of it.”
Newell, with a silky 3-point touch and soft shots in the paint, has taken advantage of some of the best bigs in college basketball competing in the SEC.
“He does so many things; he can put it on the deck, he can rebound, he can pick and pop,” said Oklahoma coach Porter Moser, who watched Newell go off for 21 points and a career-high 17 rebounds in the teams’ SEC tournament matchup last Wednesday.
“He’s just a hard matchup with that length and versatility … he’s so long, and he’s hard to block out.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Newell, a true freshman from high school national championship program Montverde Academy, led Georgia and ranked in the top 15 in the SEC with 15.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
Newell’s efficiency was particularly impressive, with his field goal percentage (.541) third in the SEC, and his 3.2 offensive rebounds per outing second-best in the 14-bid league.
“This is a very strong and physical league,” Newell said, “so we’ve prepared for this moment the past three months.”
Justin Newell and his wife, Carmen, have shared the vision of Asa and his older brother, sophomore teammate Jaden, playing together in Athens from the time their family members worked at the University of Georgia.
“My mother signed them up for the piano lessons at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music and the swimming lessons (at Gabrielsen Natatorium),” Carmen Mitchell-Newell said, referring to her mother, the late Jacqueline Mitchell.
“She was the queen of UGA — anything that had to do with education, she was making sure the boys were involved, while she was working in President (Michael) Adams’ office.”
Ellie Davis, Asa and Jaden’s great-grandmother, also worked on the UGA campus at the College of Veterinary Medicine.
“We talk about this all the time, and basketball is getting better and better at Georgia,” said Justin Newell, who has kept up with the progress at UGA under third-year coach Mike White. “We’re here in the tournament now, but we’re not quite finished.
“Georgia basketball has been everything we hoped and expected it would be, and other than winning a couple of those close games, we wouldn’t change anything about it.”
The Bulldogs’ next challenge is a big one, as they’ll face a Gonzaga program that has the longest active streak of Sweet 16 appearances in the NCAA, and a veteran coach in Mark Few who knows all about Asa Newell.
“We recruited Asa Newell really, really, really hard,” said Few, who had Newell on his Spokane, Wash., campus for a visit. “He’s just a great player, an even better person, and he comes from a great family.”
The Zags were one of the final four team’s on Newell’s list of potential schools, along with UGA, Alabama and Texas.
But the opportunity to play for White at Georgia in Athens, where the family lived from 2010-16, proved too irresistible.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Asa Newell said he knew that coming to Georgia, he could maximize his NBA potential, while embracing the challenge to change the basketball narrative.
“Seeing Anthony Edwards come here, I knew I could do that as well,” said Newell, referring to the former Atlanta prep star who was selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
“People told me if I came to Georgia, none of this would happen, and I feel like I proved them wrong.”
Newell’s confidence, poise and maturity have been factors for a UGA team that overcame two four-game losing streaks to close the regular season on a four-game win streak.
“He’s unfazed, has been since our first game,” White said at the Bulldogs’ NCAA tournament news conference on Wednesday. “He’s never had a bad practice, he’s never had a bad day, he’s the same guy every day.”
Newell told DawgNation a year ago in an exclusive Zoom video interview that this was how he saw things playing out.
“I have a lot of trust with coach Mike White, he just needs pieces, like me,” Newell said in April of 2024. “I want to turn Georgia basketball around and put it back on the map.
“My mindset is to get to March Madness, make it to the tournament, and see where God takes us for there.”
White knows that Newell’s performance against Gonzaga will provide the first answer to that question.
“He could start a game missing his first four and might make his next four, his facial expression is not going to change,” White said. “He’s still going to be compliant in terms of making winning plays, passing to the guy that’s open, chasing offensive rebounds and closing out correctly.
“He’s a winning player, he’s been a huge pleasure to coach, he’s a great teammate and he’s a stud.”
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