By: JJ Lanier

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

I was a sophomore in high school, driving around in a lime-green Chevy Chevette with a neon orange bumper sticker that read “Save gas, fart in a jar” the last time the Georgia men’s basketball program “officially” won a game in the NCAA tournament. (I’m sure I don’t have to remind you the 2002 win has been vacated, but just in case, that’s why it’s not counted.)

It’s been twenty-three years since the ‘96 team advanced to the round of 32 and while I don’t think that feeling of loss is going to change this year, there are definitely signs the streak could come to an end within the next two years.

Normally when a program has suffered through this type of drought, especially when playing in a major conference, it has to do with some mixture of coaching, talent, and sanctions. In Georgia’s case they hit the ineptitude trifecta.

It’s always been difficult to recruit top level talent to Athens, but I know the hope was all that would change when Tom Crean was hired; finally, a coach with the cache to bring in that top tier talent.

Crean has already started to show promise on the recruiting trail with two commitments from 4-star recruits and could really bolster things if he is able to land Anthony Edwards, a 5-star guard out of Atlanta. (Edwards is a heavy Florida State lean, but stranger things have happened.)

That being said, the likelihood of the Bulldogs making and winning a NCAA tournament game in the next two years isn’t based on who is entering the program, but rather the three standout sophomores currently on the team.

I doubt there was much fanfare when Nicolas Claxton, Rayshaun Hammonds, and Teshaun Hightower arrived on campus, but the trio are proving to be a sturdy foundation on which Crean can rebuild the program on.

Claxton is having an all-conference season this year and Hammonds isn’t too far behind and should be mentioned in the conversation of all conference player next year.

Hightower on the other hand has that aura of a being the player who tends be an afterthought when compared to the other two, but is quietly one of the most vital players on the team.

Really, besides injury or someone leaving early for the NBA, the only thing I see preventing them for turning things around is the fact the SEC has become a very good basketball conference. If I’m not mistaken it was just a few seasons ago where you had Kentucky in the Top 25 and maybe one other SEC team, but that was about it.

Now the conference has two to three legitimate top 10 teams and about six or seven that deserve the be in the top 25.

Georgia could arguably have their best team in years when the season starts next year, but struggle because the rest of the league has upped their game.

The talent is starting to show, as evident in Georgia’s recent victory over Texas, but it’s still a young team.

Tom Crean was brought in to bring respectability back to the men’s basketball program. Entering this season, it would’ve been easy to think he would need to bring in his own players to achieve that, but there are a few current players who don’t want to wait.

I parted ways with my old Chevette years ago; I think Georgia’s basketball team will be parting ways with their years of futility soon, too.