The Stegeman Coliseum PA system blared “One Shining Moment” after Asa Newell and his Georgia basketball teammates were done celebrating a win that all but cemented an NCAA Tournament at-large bid for the Bulldogs.
Georgia’s 79-68 victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday pretty much removed any remaining doubt this Georgia team will be a part of March Madness for the first time since 2015.
“We’re going to be dancing,” Newell said after scoring 15 points and grabbing four rebounds in 23 minutes.
Newell checked out with 10.4 seconds to go — the same time that seniors Tyrin Lawrence and Dakota Leffew also left the game in what was their final home appearance.
Everyone knew that it was almost certainly the final game in Stegeman for the 6-foot-11, 220-pound Newell.
The projected NBA first-round draft pick said last July he was aiming to put himself in position to be one-and-done.
He said it crossed his mind during the game Saturday that he was playing his last home game.
“Yeah, for sure,” Newell said. “You know, my angle is to get to the NBA, God willing and I make it this year.”
Newell leads Georgia at 15.1 points per game and rebounds at 6.5. He entered the game third in the SEC in field goal percentage and is now shooting 54% for the season.
He’s currently third on the Georgia program record for scoring average by a freshman behind only Jacky Dorsey’s 25.8 in 1974-75 and Anthony Edwards’ 19.1 in 2019-2020.
Newell is ranked as the No. 13 overall prospect by The Athletic, No. 20 by ESPN and Bleacher Report’s mock draft had him going No. 8.
When he checked out of the game at the end, his older brother Jaden Newell, a walk-on, checked in for him.
After the win, which raised Georgia’s record to 20-11, he took a photo on the court with Jaden, Georgia assistant Erik Pastrana, who recruited him, and Georgia support staffer Darryl Hardin, his former AAU coach.
“It was an amazing moment,” Newell said. “I’m just so grateful and blessed that I even get to have this opportunity. It’s something I’ll never take for granted.”
The Bulldogs won on a day they played in the words of Lawrence “lackadaisical” in the first half when they had nine turnovers and were tied at 39 heading to the locker room before outscoring the Commodores 40-29 in the second half.
Newell could have gone to programs that regularly play in significant games in the month of March.
He heard about that after he picked Georgia.
“That’s why I like to keep my circle small,” he said. “I heard a lot of outside noise and I just trusted God, He’s the one he led me here. This is why I’m here and I’m playing for Him.”
Newell said Nolen Wood, the team’s pastor, brought out a stamp to the team before the game and told the players, ‘’This is a game to stamp our bid to get into the NCAA Tournament.”
“That’s what we did,” Newell said.
Georgia head coach Mike White talks publicly of sticking to the process, but went so far as to say Saturday after the win: “This is all I’ll say about it: I would assume we’re in. I mean, we’re good. We’re good.”
The 19-year old Newell helped lift a Georgia program that last made the NCAA Tournament when he was just 9 years old still living in Athens before moving to Florida.
He’s meshed with a team that included returnees Silas Demary, Blue Cain and Dylan James, and added transfers like Lawrence, RJ Godfrey, Dakota Leffew and Justin Abson, and freshman Somto Cyril.
“Asa’s a great teammate,” White said. “He possesses a high level of work ethic, consistency and humility. I hate to wear those words out, but it’s just the God’s honest truth. That’s just who he is. Every single day he’s the same kid. He chases every single rebound, sits in a stance, there’s no excuses.”
Added White: “There’s a lot of potential NBA guys that are interested in winning and committed to individual accomplishments. He’s committed to both.”
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