Fox sees progress in Parker’s rehab, sophomore guards’ efforts to fill scoring void
Time and time again last season, Georgia’s basketball team would be in a tight contest and turn to its 5-foot-10 backcourt star to lead a potential comeback.
J.J. Frazier many times answered that call, but with Frazier now pursuing a professional career, there’s a significant scoring void and adjustment period for head coach Mark Fox to deal with. The SEC appears to be improved, and Fox is facing lofty expectations in his eighth season. So now what?
The 18.8 points per game from Frazier are certainly difficult to fill for a team with aspirations of making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015, but the Bulldogs have plenty of young guard depth that is continuing to progress.
“I think Tyree (Crump) and Jordan (Harris), obviously as sophomores, go into this year knowing what to do and expect,” Fox said in Monday’s SEC media teleconference. “They’re much more comfortable in everything that they’re doing, and the workouts have been pretty good. For the most part, they’ve stayed pretty healthy. They’ve had a really good offseason in preparation to absorb more minutes and hopefully get more shots.”
In inconsistent action last season, Crump and Harris showed flashes of living up to the potential of their four-star recruiting rankings, whether it be the 13 points by Crump in a comeback win over Tennessee or three steals from Harris in a blowout road victory over Mississippi. Now, Georgia hopes that those short-lived peaks of success can translate into a more thorough role this season.
Crump and Harris will also have the duty of mentoring a newly signed guard through the turbulence that comes with a freshman season. The Bulldogs signed Teshaun Hightower, a Gwinnett County product, in the final signing period and look for him to gain some traction with the sophomore duo and junior guard Turtle Jackson.
“Teshaun Hightower has had a really good start. He’s fortunate to have Turtle Jackson, Tyree and Juwan (Parker) to learn from,” Fox said. “He’s a freshman and very inexperienced, obviously. Those kids are working hard, and they know that J.J. left, and that certainly gives the opportunity for others to gobble up more minutes.”
While trying to fill the absence of scoring, Georgia has gotten some more positive news in terms of players returning. Yante Maten announced May 23 that he would be returning for his senior season after originally declaring for the NBA draft without an agent in April.
Fox added to Georgia’s optimistic outlook with news on Parker, who suffered a partially torn Achilles against Auburn in March but opted to play throughout the Bulldogs’ run in the SEC Tournament.
Parker previously suffered an Achilles injury during the 2014-15 season that caused him to miss nearly two seasons along with spending time getting reacclimated to the team in 2016. Fortunately for Georgia, the senior wing player is progressing much faster than before.
“Juwan is really doing well,” Fox said. “He returned to the gym to start shooting balls a little earlier than we thought. He hasn’t been cleared for live five-on-five play, and there are only one or two things that they’re still limiting him from doing on the court. He’s been able to do just about everything, outside of one or two activities. He’s doing well and feels good.”
Georgia had options at the wing to fill-in for Parker during his injury, with freshmen Rayshaun Hammonds and Nicolas Claxton joining junior E’Torrion Wilridge at the position. But aside from Parker easing into a full workload, major minutes from those reserves may not be needed.
Parker, who averaged 9.3 points per game a year ago, could be in a position to play sooner than many expected. In a conference with four teams — Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky and Missouri — adding five-star recruits, Georgia will take the early scoring contributions from the veteran.
“He has been through this before, but this surgery was not significant,” Fox said. “It has helped him be a little better patient this time. He has been very disciplined in rehab and so far is really on track. I’m not going to say he’s ahead of schedule, but I kind of feel like he may be. I’ll stop short of saying that, but barring any setbacks, he really is on track to be better than ever when the season starts next year.”
This story was originally published June 26, 2017 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Fox sees progress in Parker’s rehab, sophomore guards’ efforts to fill scoring void."