ATHENS — After 31 years on the job, Andy Landers probably has earned the right to fall back on his extensive credentials, but he’s not interested in doing that.

Last year, Georgia’s women’s basketball team reached the NCAA tournament yet again — the 26th time in Landers career he has taken his team to the postseason. It took a key win in the SEC tournament to make it, however, and the Lady Dogs bowed out in the first round, losing to Arizona State.

It wasn’t an awful season, but Landers expected more.

“Expectations are high, and I don’t think in the last couple of years, I know that we haven’t met my expectations,” he said.

So this offseason, Landers met with his veteran players and had a frank discussion. In no uncertain terms, he wanted to them to know that their accomplishments so far had been good but not good enough. He wanted more.

“I kind of feel like in the past four or five years, the investing and the deposits haven’t been made, yet we’ve continued to live like millionaires,” Landers said. “We just keep making withdrawals. That’s not the way this works.”

Last year, there weren’t many investments to be made. Georgia was hopelessly thin throughout the roster. The Lady Dogs had a core rotation of only seven players — five of whom topped 750 minutes of action, led by point guard Ashley Houts, who played every minute of every game in SEC play.

This season, the job might be a bit easier. An infusion of new talent, led by a top-five recruiting class that included seven fresh-faced newcomers, has Landers rejuvenated. There are options this season, and that’s an exciting change of pace.

“We’ve struggled with depth the last two or three years, and it’s so different walking out on the practice floor now for workouts,” Landers said. “The gym feels like it’s crowded compared to what it has been. There’s enough people out there to actually compete for positions, and positions will be earned rather than awarded. I do have a sense that in the past couple of seasons, we’ve awarded positions and players haven’t necessarily earned those positions.”

This season, there will be plenty of competition.

In addition to Houts, whom Landers called one of the best point guards in the country, Georgia returns forward Angel Robinson, who averaged 11.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game last season, along with Porsha Phillips (10.5 points per game, 6.1 rebounds) and guard Christy Marshall (8.8 points, 4.5 rebounds).

The Lady Dogs add talented freshmen Ebony Jones, Anne Marie Armstrong, Jasmine James, Jasmine Hassell, Tamika Willis and Candace Williams to the mix, as well, along with junior college transfer Angie Criner.

That gives Landers a team that features more first-year players than veterans, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“There’s a place for all of them if they can continue to perform at the level they performed at during workouts,” Landers said. “If they continue to build upon the things they’ve done so far, I think they’ll all be able to contribute and they all bring something different to the table.”

The infusion of new talent is the starting point, Landers said. But the key is to regain the type of work ethic and determination his past teams were built upon.

Whether so many new players can be molded into a dominant team this season remains a mystery, but that’s also part of the excitement. The certainty, however, is that the potential is there.

“There’s an unknown piece,” Landers said. “There’s some ability with the new guys that is promising, and I think holds a lot of promise for us both this year and in the future.”