The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Anselem-Ibe represents UGA’s all-in attitude
ATHENS — “Still here. Remember me?”
No, Georgia’s Frank Anselem-Ibe didn’t say that, but his play on the court certainly did during a 79-77 win over Ohio State in the quarterfinals of the NIT on Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio.
With starting center Russel Tchewa sidelined again with a flu-like illness, AnselemIbe got his second consecutive start and came through — again — in a big way. The 6-foot-10, 215-pound senior from Lagos, Nigeria, recorded the first “double-double” of his 95-game college basketball career with 10 points and 10 rebounds against the Buckeyes. Six of his rebounds came on the offensive end. He also had an assist and two blocked while playing 27 minutes and 22 seconds.
“I’m just glad the coaches gave me an opportunity to go out there and play extended minutes,” said Anselem-Ibe, who transferred to Georgia from Syracuse in 2022. “I think as a team we played really hard, and everyone was there for each other. This entire NIT, we’ve been playing hard together. If you have brothers who play hard, you have no choice but to join them and play hard, too. I’m just glad we got the win.”
With the victory, the Bulldogs (20-16) advanced to the NIT Final Four for only the third time in UGA basketball history. Georgia will take on Seton Hall (23-12) in the 9:30 p.m. national semifinal Tuesday night at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Indiana State (31-6) and Utah (22-14) will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, and the winners will face off for the NIT championship Thursday night at 7.
In case anyone’s forgotten, Anselem-Ibe also came through for the Bulldogs in their NIT second-round win over Wake Forest on March 24. He played a season-high 27:35 in that one. And while he scored only two points in the 72-66 victory, he contributed a multitude of other ways. He led Georgia in assists with three and added eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
So, to review, Anselem-Ibe has averaged 27½ minutes of play in the past two games after averaging 5.9 minutes in SEC play all season.
“Frank has stayed ready all year,” teammate Noah Thomasson said in his weekly radio appearance on the “960 The Ref Morning Show” in Athens on Friday. “He’s been the ultimate teammate. He’s always positive; always ready to go whenever coach (Mike) White calls his name. Here in the NIT, he got his name called, and he did what he’s supposed to do.”
Said White after the Ohio State game: “Frank is such an unselfish guy. He always answers the bell — or rings the bell — when his name is called.”
Anselem-Ibe personifies an attitude that permeates the Bulldogs’ roster and is a big reason they’re still playing into the month of April. The most distinguishing characteristic of Georgia’s first 20-win team in eight years is its bench. UGA’s reserves have outscored their opponents’ backups in 29 of 36 games this season. That includes a 22-17 margin in the latest outing against Ohio State and 23-2 when they beat Wake Forest.
For the season, Georgia ranks 21st nationally in bench scoring (28.4 ppg) and boasts a margin of plus-372 points, or 10.3 per game. The Bulldogs feature 12 players who average 8.5 minutes per game or better. By comparison, Seton Hall has eight such players, with four starters averaging 32 minutes or more per game.
Being a “key reserve” is not exactly the role Anselem-Ibe envisioned for himself coming out of high school. He was identified at an early age as a basketball player destined for greatness. That’s what brought him to America and to Atlanta as a teenager.
Well before he became a 4-star recruiting prospect, he played for coach Darron Rogers at Westlake High School, then for Omar Gonzalez at Lincoln Academy in Suwanee. Eventually, Anselem-Ibe ended up playing for Prolific Prep in Napa, California. It’s there that he earned national notice and ended up signing with Syracuse as the nation’s 26th-ranked center, per 247Sports.
Anselem-Ibe played in 36 games over two seasons for the Orange, starting six, before deciding to come back to the area he considers his U.S. home. He played in 31 games and started six for the Bulldogs last season.
This season, Georgia turned to Tchewa, a 7-foot, 280 pound graduate transfer from South Florida, as their primary man in the pivot. While “backup” is not the role that Anselem-Ibe envisioned when he joined the Bulldogs, it is one he accepted and, at times, has flourished in.
When Tchewa was ejected in Georgia’s road game at Florida State on Nov. 29, Anselem-Ibe came through with five points, three offensive rebounds and pair of free throws with 56 seconds remaining to put the Bulldogs ahead in what ended as a 68-66 victory.
With Tchewa in foul trouble on the road against South Carolina on Jan. 16, AnselemIbe came through again. In 14 minutes, then a season-high, he scored five points, had two blocks and five huge rebounds and made a critical three-point play in a stunning 74-69 upset.
Against Ohio State, Anselem-Ibe was efficient on offense, making five of eight shots, but on defense he was altering shots, deflecting passes and forcing kickouts when the Buckeyes tried to drive to the goal.
Georgia tried to go to Tchewa in Columbus. But the big man could manage only five minutes and a single rebound in the first half and never returned to the floor.
“You know, honestly, if Frank didn’t play so well, I’m not sure we don’t throw Russ back out there,” White said. “But Frank was playing so well and impacting the game. I mean, 10 and 10, he’s altering and blocking, six offensive rebounds, extra possessions. Just that energy level he was bringing, our guys were feeding off of that.”
Indications are that Tchewa should be good to go in the next game. A full week later and not tipping off until well into the night, he should have had ample time to recover. Tchewa will go into that contest averaging 25.1 minutes per game — fourth-highest on the team — along with 7.6 points and 6.5 rebounds.
Said Anselem-Ibe: “It’s next man up, to be honest. With Russ or without Russ, at the end of the day, we’re a team. The team is not one individual. So, we just try to be there for each other and do what we have to do to get a ‘dub.’”
Top-10 national basketball recruits have become nearly an annual thing in Georgia. They’ve recently included NBA stars Jaylen Brown, Anthony Edwards, Collin Sexton, Wendell Carter and Scoot Henderson.
This year’s AJC all-classification boys player of the year, McEachern’s Ace Bailey, is the 10th of those in 10 years.
“He definitely has generational talent, like the others,” said McEachern coach Tremayne Anchrum, who was Jaylen Brown’s AAU coach 10 years ago. “Jaylen Brown is the closest because of all the things he could do on the court, which we’re seeing now for the Celtics. He could defend, shoot, finish at the rim and make plays for others. Ace has all of that, and he’s just 17. He should still be a junior. Doesn’t turn 18 until mid-August.”
None of the 10 had a better senior season than Bailey’s.
A 6-foot-9 forward, Bailey averaged 32.9 points, 15.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.5 blocked shots for a 26-6 team that stands No. 12 in MaxPreps’ national rankings.
McEachern faced seven Top 25 teams, including No. 1 Christopher Columbus of Florida, and twice faced No. 6 Grayson, the Class 7A champion that defeated McEachern in the state final.
Grayson coach Geoffrey Pierce agrees Bailey is Georgia’s best.
“His skill set and athleticism for his size is what makes him elite, but his motor is what makes him special,” Pierce said. “He plays hard, and his game is refined. He never looks rushed. You can tell that he completely trusts the work that he’s put into his game.”
Wheeler coach Larry Thompson, who lost to McEachern in the Class 7A semifinals, compares Bailey with seven-time All-NBA player Tracy McGrady.
“He’s 6-9 with superior athleticism, and he’s a great shooter from distance,’’ Thompson said. “He can score at all three levels and is an excellent offensive rebounder. I compare him to McGrady because he does everything well on the basketball court. He’s one of the best high school players I’ve ever coached against.”
A contender for national player of the year, Bailey is the consensus No. 2 recruit in the country. He signed with Rutgers, which also nabbed the consensus No. 3 player, Dylan Harper of New Jersey’s Don Bosco Prep.
Only Edwards in 2019 and Isaiah Collier in 2023, both rated No. 1, have been more highly regarded coming out of Georgia high schools the past decade.
“The thing that Ace has that all of those other kids had is a work ethic that surpasses all,’’ Anchrum said. “They all sacrificed a lot of being teenagers to hone the skills that God blessed them with. What’s different about Ace is his selflessness. He is the most unselfish five-star I’ve ever been around, on the floor and off the floor. Everyone loves playing with him, but they love being around him off the floor more. Ace is a leader; and it’s just part of his nature.”
Danielle Carnegie already had made a name for herself in Georgia girls basketball circles before arriving at Class 7A Grayson for the 2023-24 school year.
After all, the 5-foot-9 guard was a two-time first-team allstate selection at Class 6A Rockdale County and one of the state’s top college prospects. But she took things to another level in her senior season, averaging 21 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.9 steals in helping lead Grayson to a 32-0 season and the first girls basketball state championship in school history.
Carnegie is a four-star recruit who is rated No. 48 nationally among seniors by ESPN. A Georgia Tech signee, Carnegie has been named the state’s all-classification player of the year by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Gatorade and MaxPreps and was named Miss Georgia Basketball by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.
“Dani is such a great leader,” Grayson coach Tim Slater said. “She holds herself to a high standard and does the same for her teammates. She is so unselfish and a team player. She guarded out of position all year, guarding other teams’ (power forwards), and didn’t complain once. When a kid of her caliber is willing to do that, it empowers others to accept and embrace similar sacrifices. This team did just that, sacrificed for each other for the greater good, and 32-0 is the result.”
The Rams finished as Georgia’s only unbeaten team, boys or girls, and did it in dominating fashion. Only one game all season, a 55-52 overtime victory against Class 2A champion Mount Paran Christian in November, was decided by fewer than 15 points. The Rams won their five playoff games by an average of 30.4 points, including a 65-44 victory against North Paulding in the Class 7A championship game.
Carnegie finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and four steals against North Paulding, including six points in a 19-3 first-quarter run that gave the Rams a 21-5 lead. North Paulding never got closer than 15 points the rest of the way.
“Most teams will make a run; that’s basketball,” North Paulding coach Wes Willis said. “Danielle can make her own personal run within the game to flip it to her team’s favor. When we had a small run to come out in the second half, she made her own 6-0 run to turn it back to Grayson’s favor. That’s something only that top 5% can do.”
McEachern coach Phyllis Arthur, whose 2012 undefeated state championship team included six Division I signees and is considered one of the best teams in state history, faced off with Grayson twice this season. Grayson won 68-40 in a mid-January regular-season game and 76-31 in the second round of the playoffs.
“Danielle is a great all-around player that can do it all,” Arthur said. “She is one of those players that cannot be stopped. She won’t allow you to stop her, and that is what makes her great, greater than all the rest. We played Grayson twice this season. The first matchup, Danielle scored 21. OK, not too bad of a night on us, but in the Sweet 16 she scored 34 points, and that was without her playing the last quarter. She beat us all by herself. …
“When I heard she was transferring to Grayson, I knew she was making an already good team great. I knew they could, should and would win state. As the season progressed, I knew they would not be stopped. They were going to do the hardest thing to do … play an entire year and not lose.”
Carnegie will play one last time for Grayson in the six-team Chipotle Nationals this week in Brownsburg, Indiana.
of two players competing for a place in the big leagues through the PGA Tour University points system designed to advance the best college players. Other than that, nothing much happening for the guy.
“I feel like in some ways we’re playing with three scoreboards now: team, individual and PGA U. And it’s not easy,” Tech coach Bruce Heppler said.
First things first.
The crow’s nest, that temporary housing attic space above the Augusta National clubhouse where amateurs go to channel the spirits of Masters past, is tailored to the dimensions of the usual 20th century young golfer. How to comfortably fit this new-age, 6-foot-8 player into such compact quarters? While committed to milking the Masters experience dry and spending a night in the nest, Lamprecht is pretty sure the club is not going to special order an extra-long bed for him.
“Monday night will be my crow’s-nest night. I’m lucky to be up there. It is really small. I’ve been recommended to stay one night for the experience and not a single night more than that,” he said, laughing.
His height will make Lamprecht a great curiosity of this Masters. At 6-6, George Archer is the tallest to win the tournament (1969). When asked if Lamprecht would be the tallest to play here, Augusta National research came up with a tie. In 1996, a 6-8 young Scotsman named Gordon Sherry — who, like Lamprecht, qualified for the Masters by winning the British Amateur — appeared for two rounds before missing the cut. Sherry never parlayed his amateur success into a playing card on any professional tour.
Lamprecht’s unique stature will be on even more exaggerated display during the par-3 contest on the Wednesday of tournament week. He is scheduled to play with the countryman who blazed the trail for international players in the U.S., the 88-year-old, three-time Masters champion Gary Player. On his tiptoes, Player is 5-6. The combination of those two will be as close as the Masters ever gets to a carnival midway production.
As well as his height, Lamprecht’s length — all that size can translate into some fearsome clubhead speed when properly applied — figures to cause a bit of a stir at Augusta. Once he unfolds himself from a night in the crow’s nest and unkinks all the parts, he should enjoy this long hitter’s paradise.
“Everyone would say his length fits the place, and that’s certainly true,” Heppler said. “I think he has the skill set to play very well there. So, can you get to your skill set and avoid all the distractions and expectations everyone is putting upon you?
“Can he just figure out how to be a college guy pinching himself every hole because he’s getting to play the Masters as an amateur? Can he enjoy the moment rather than trying to be something?”
Only 23, Lamprecht already has banked experience that might prove valuable on the high-pressure Masters stage. His British Am win also got him into last year’s British Open, where an opening-round 66 gave him a share of the lead and created quite a kerfuffle. Reality and rough weather caught up with him the next day, when he shot 79.
“I had a mix of every emotion (a major) had to offer,” Lamprecht said. “It was one of the most valuable golf experiences I’ve had on a golf course. I realize what happens when you play well and all the noise that comes with it and when you own that stage. And when you don’t play well and what comes with that, too. It was worth gold to me. Definitely some things I can take into Augusta.”
Beyond whatever happens for Lamprecht at the Masters, this spring is one of dizzying possibilities. He’ll be applying the final coat to an All-American playing career, taking one last swing at the NCAA Tournament. All the while he’ll be battling long distance with Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen in the PGA Tour University standings. They currently stand 1-2 and are far in front of the pack. The top player will earn instant playing privileges on the PGA Tour, with the next man falling back to the Triple-A Korn Ferry Tour.
Lamprecht has come such a long way for this chance, farther even than the 8,300 miles between his hometown of George, South Africa, and Atlanta.
There was the voice of his father, which he can still hear today no matter how far away he might be: “He’d say, ‘Christo, you want to be the best in the world, go practice now. Stop playing games, stop fooling around, go practice.’ He kept me accountable from a young age.”
There were other voices who kept suggesting Lamprecht wasn’t built for golf, that all that body could never be harnessed to an efficient swing. “I had the whole doubting effect, for sure. I guess thrown into the mix as I was growing, I kind of doubted that, too,” he said. But he definitely knew the other sport that attracted him — rugby — was out when he cracked a couple of vertebrae playing it as a middle-schooler.
There was the transition to being so far from home and such comforts as his native barbecue that Lamprecht insists beats Southern style in every way — “I will fight to the death on that one,” he said with a wide smile.
All to chase the daft proposition of becoming one of the very lucky, very few who can get very wealthy playing with a stick and a ball. Here it is, so temptingly in reach.
“You get a little obsessed with it. That’s normal,” Lamprecht said.
“But for me, it’s stepping back and saying I really can’t control how well Michael plays or any of the other guys I’m competing against for this status at the end of the year. If I do all the things right, I’ll achieve what I need to. If Michael goes out and wins every golf tournament, then he deserves the No. 1 spot, as much as it might pain me to say it.”
Just concentrate on his next shot rather than on his big shot at fleshing out a dream.
However difficult that may be.