The UGA Wire staff got creative amongst this brutal sports drought and put together a starting five of Georgia football players that we would take part in a game of pick-up basketball.
We also asked a number of football players via Twitter who they’d take as their starting five as well, and will be releasing those to see how the lineups match up.
The Dawgs have some serious hoopers on the football team and this couldn’t be a better time to showcase their skills.
Here are our picks:
Pick No. 1: Point Guard, Jamie Newman (6-4, quarterback)
We chose Newman with the first overall pick as our point guard. Newman’s strong arm and accuracy on the field will translate to his shooting and passing ability on the court. Newman’s size and ability to see the court and facilitate is why we chose him first at point guard.
Pick No. 2: Shooting Guard, Richard LeCounte (5-11, safety)
We went with LeCounte at the shooting guard position because he has athleticism, vision and grit on defense. Playing defensive back helps LeCounte to see the whole court and facilitate the offense while also helping him play scrappy defense. He’s a slasher, meaning he uses his athleticism to get to the rim and finish with contact.
Here’s a bit of preview of what LeCounte would be doing on our squad.
Pick No. 3: Small Forward, George Pickens (6-3, wide receiver)
Pickens’ freak athletic ability gets him the third pick as a small forward. If you’ve ever spent any time at the Ramsey Student Center, you’ve most likely seen George Pickens putting in work on the basketball courts. Pickens’ speed, agility and catch ability would make him a scoring and rebounding machine for our squad.
(Skip to 0:43 for Pickens’ dunk)
Pick No. 4: Power Forward, Jermaine Johnson (6-5, outside linebacker)
At 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, Jermaine Johnson has the athleticism to be a dominant 4 in a game of pick-up basketball. I’m thinking the Kevin Garnett or Blake Griffin of pick-up basketball.
He’s tall, he’s long, he’s got strength and he’s got athleticism. His footwork and use of hands that he’s honed in on as a defensive end would work nicely down in the paint for this squad.
Pick No. 5: Center, Darnell Washington (6-7.5, tight end/defensive end)
Washington is a 6-7.5, 240 pound beast of a human being that had almost as good a high school basketball career that he did in football. Washington would be a nightmare to cover down low and his versatility on both sides of the ball in football translate well on the court for him.
