He is Asa Newell, a consensus 5-star prospect ranked as high as the No. 11 recruit in the Class of 2024 by On3.com sports. How did he end up at Georgia? Well, he lived for six years until he was 10 in Athens, Ga., where the campus is located and his grandmother is an administrative assistant at the university.
No matter the reason Newell chose the Bulldogs, coach Mike White is thrilled. The left-handed big man leads Georgia in scoring (15.3 per game) and rebounding (6.8) while making 57% of his shots, third best in the SEC.
Arkansas (11-7, 0-5) hosts Georgia (14-4, 2-3) tonight at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network. It’s not exactly a marquee matchup nationally with the Razorbacks losing five straight and the Bulldogs two in a row. For both teams, though, this is a must-win game if they’re to gain momentum in hopes of reaching their primary goal: the NCAA Tournament.
This was expected to be a matchup of two of the nation’s best freshmen in Newell and Arkansas 5-star point guard Boogie Fland, the Hogs’ second leading scorer. But reports have Fland sidelined for the rest of the season.
As for Newell, his expected to be a lottery pick if he chooses to enter the NBA draft after just one season at Georgia. His stock is rising and NBA Draft Room offered this as part of his assessment: “He’s long, explosive, fast and agile and gets off the ground in a hurry.”
Newell is still developing his offensive game. He’s tough to stop in the paint and on the break and is improving in the mid-range and even beyond the 3-point arc. Arkansas assistant coach Chin Coleman knows the Hogs have quite a challenge tonight.
“When a player is talented as he is, it’s all about effort,” Coleman said. “It’s all about will, and so, our will has got to be stronger than his will. He’s great offensively. We gotta keep him off the offensive glass.”
Trevon Brazile, the Hogs’ 6-10 forward, and Jonas Aidoo, their 6-11 center, are expected to share the defensive assignment on Newell, according to Chin. Aidoo earned SEC All-Defensive Team honors last season while playing at Tennessee.
“We’ve got a pretty good matchup for him,” Chin said. “We like TB (Brazile) against him and we like Adou against him. I know it’s easier said than done. He’s a good player, but it’s a good challenge for us and we’re going to try to neutralize him.”
Newell wasn’t even the best player on his high school team last year. That honor went to 6-9 forward Cooper Flagg, the nation’s No. 1 recruit in 2024 who is now at Duke. Flagg is the consensus No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft. Along with several other future NBA picks, they led Monteverde Academy to a 35-0 record and the high school national championship.
Chin lauded Newell’s offensive abilities and said, “We’ve got to take away his left hand. We’ve got to front and make his post-ups hard and then when the shot goes up, we’ve got to pick a fight with him and keep him off the glass.”