ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia Bulldogs will compete in the 2023 Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship on Nov. 17 and 19 this season, tournament organizer bdG Sports announced on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs will join previously announced participants Miami (Fla.), Kansas State and Providence in the four-team field at the Baha Mar Convention, Arts & Entertainment Center in Nassau.
CBS Sports will televise all four games of the third edition of the tournament. Georgia will face Miami, a 2023 NCAA Final Four team, on Friday, Nov. 17 at 3:30 p.m. ET followed by Kansas State taking on Providence at 6:00 p.m. On Sunday, Nov. 19, the consolation game will begin at noon, with the championship contest slated for 2:30 p.m.
“I’ve said we wanted our non-conference schedule to be tougher this season, and the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship is certainly a major factor in accomplishing that goal,” Georgia head coach Mike White said. “To face Miami, a 2023 Final Four team, and either Kansas State or Providence, both NCAA Tournament teams last season, in a three-day span in November will provide us with a great barometer of where we are early in the season. The tournament also will give our players the incredible experience of visiting the Baha Mar Resort in The Bahamas.”
Georgia will be in its second season under head coach Mike White. The Bulldogs finished 16-16 during White’s initial campaign, recording 10 victories more than the 2021-22 season. Georgia’s “+10” tally of wins represented the second-biggest regular-season increase among all Power 5 basketball programs.
The Bulldogs’ 2023-24 roster will feature four returning letterwinners and nine scholarship newcomers.
Justin Hill is Georgia’s leading returnee in scoring, assists and steals. In addition, Jabri Abdur-Rahim paced the Bulldogs in 3-pointers, 3-point percentage and free throw percentage, Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe was Georgia’s leading rebounder; and Frank Anselem was the Bulldogs’ top shot blocker.
Georgia’s newcomers feature five transfers and four freshmen. Both groups of Bulldogs have been ranked among the nation’s top recruiting groups, both individually and collectively. The transfer class is ranked No. 11 by on3Sports.com. The freshman class is listed at No. 15 by 247Sports.com. Georgia is one of only two programs to have both its freshman and transfer classes ranked in the top-20 nationally by On3Sports.com.
The Georgia Lady Bulldogs will compete in the women’s version of the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship on Nov. 20 and 22. Georgia is one of five 2023 NCAA Tournament teams among the eight announced teams competing in the tournament. In addition to the Lady Bulldogs, East Carolina, Oklahoma State, Purdue and Southern California also earned bids to the most recent edition of “March Madness.” Columbia, Penn State and Seton Hall round out the announced teams.
Among the field for the Bulldogs' tournament, Miami advanced to the NCAA Final Four for the first time in program history in 2022-23, while winning the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship and compiling a 29-8 overall mark; Kansas State reached the Elite Eight a year ago after tying for third in the Big 12 Conference and capped its season with a 26-10 record; and Providence made its seventh NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014 last season while posting a 21-12 mark.
Past winners of the event include Louisville (2021) and UCF (2022).
