Meet ‘2,’ the revived Lady Bulldog Gabby Connally who returns home to face Baylor

Near the beginning of the season, Gabby Connally sent a request in a group text with her teammates. She doesn’t know what triggered it, but it felt right.

“Can y’all start calling me ‘2’ now?” Connally asked.

Nobody replied.

Connally wanted a new persona to complement her opportunity as Georgia’s lead point guard. She’s the Lady Bulldogs’ leader, floor general and quarterback in a sense (if you want to use a football term).

Matter of fact, the No. 2 jersey number was her third choice. She wanted No. 5 to start, but Lady Bulldog legend Teresa Edwards wasn’t going to relinquish her retired number that hangs in the coliseum’s rafters. No. 3 was her next choice, but teammate Stephanie Paul already claimed it. Connally doesn’t even like even numbers, but chose No. 2 in honor of her brother, Matthew Connally, who wore it in high school. Nevertheless, this idea came from Connally wanting to be different.

“I think it’s catchy and cool,” Connally said. “I’m a pretty interesting individual, so yeah.”

Her teammates didn’t buy it, but the quest didn’t stop. She has a separate group message with each member of the coaching staff. Different thread, same question. They all replied, but not with the favorable response. Each coach said “no,” and that the references of “Gabby” or “Connally” would continue.

Once Georgia traveled south for the Daytona Beach Invitational, however, that changed. Connally pieced together a string of strong performances — starting with a 16-point, five-steal effort at home against USC Upstate and finishing with 22 points in a 77-72 win over Virginia Tech in Florida. Connally, or ‘2,’ got in a rhythm, played to her potential and earned SEC Player of the Week.

Oh yeah, her wishes started to come true. Assistants Chelsea Newton and Karen Lange succumbed to the request, and then everybody followed.

“They said I have to earn them calling me 2,” Connally said. “That’s what I want my nickname to be, so be sure y’all make it known to call me ‘2.’”

Connally’s string of good fortune continues Wednesday night as the Lady Bulldogs travel to Waco, Tex., to face No. 7 Baylor, the defending national champions. Connally, a native of San Antonio, will have 10 family members and friends make the three-and-a-half hour drive to watch her return to her home state. She did so as a freshman at Texas A&M and dropped a career-high 37 points on the Aggies. Connally returns to College Station on Jan. 30, 2020 for two trips to the Lone Star State in one season.

Her relationships with her opponents are aplenty, too. Connally faced many of these Baylor players on the AAU circuit, and she knows most of the athletes playing collegiately across the country from her time in Texas. She plays against her close friend, UCLA’s Japreece Dean, on Dec. 19.

One of her most-memorable encounters comes against former Baylor sophomore forward Na’Lyssa Smith, who is a year younger than Connally out of East Central High School. The two premier prospects faced off in the state playoffs for three consecutive years. Connally won each time.

“Coach Karen said ‘we need to keep the tradition going,’” Connally said. “I’m excited to compete against her again.”

Connally has her focus honed in on Baylor, and the Lady Bulldogs are hopeful for an upset despite knowing the powerhouse program sits as a heavy favorite. Nevertheless, these special circumstances hold significance. Her parents, Milton and Tina Connally, attend about 10-12 games each season as they make trips to Stegeman Coliseum and other SEC cities. They’ll be joined on this trip to Waco by aunts, uncles, cousins, a former trainer and maybe a handful of high-school teammates.

Connally holds pride in her support system. That’s what she leans on during those tough days, but the barrier of a 14-hour drive from Texas makes it difficult at times. Especially for Milton, who took his daughter to every practice and training session while she developed as a basketball player.

“From a selfish standpoint, the negative is that it’s far away,” Milton said. “I want to go to all of the games. She gets an opportunity to grow without her parents, though, which is a positive.”

Once Connally’s support group settles in the arena to create a small patch of Lady Bulldog supporters in a sea of green-and-gold, they’ll see a different player. A rejuvenated one. They’ll see ‘2’ instead of who they know as Gabby — in the most-productive of ways.

Throughout the first eight games of her junior season, Connally looks different as the leader. There’s no more splitting time as ball-handler with Taja Cole, who is now a graduate transfer at Virginia Tech. There’s two years of experience in Connally’s favor. She plays more freely.

Connally takes advice from coaches, teammates and a routine postgame call with her father to fine-tune her game. She stays true to her approach, focuses on limiting turnovers and defensive assignments and has seen a new level of productive results. Connally averages 15.9 points per game so far, and has emerged to make Georgia tick.

“I’m more confident on the floor,” Connally said. “I have two years of experience now, and my teammates and coaches have such a great belief in me. They spark the confidence that I have. That translates into a lot of stuff on the court.”

Her head coach, Joni Taylor, sees it as maintaining mental balance. Connally has bouts of frustration. If a bad play occurs, the point guard might have let it carry over. Her emotions might have gotten in the way of being productive. Other than in one or two games this season, Connally has found ways to maintain a positive approach and move on to the next opportunity.

All in all, Georgia is receiving the potential it saw in Connally when it recruited her as a five-star prospect.

“The only person that can stop Gabby is herself,” Taylor said. “Sometimes, she can take herself out of the game. That’s the only thing that can stop Gabby from being great.”

That’s how a new version of Gabby Connally has come alive, by a series of progressions. She’ll get to display it back home on Wednesday night.

“She scores, makes moves and opens everything up,” forward Jenna Staiti said. “It’s hard to guard.”