2013-2014 SEC Basketball Player You Should Know: Nemanja Djurisic

By Taylor Sturm
Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports

The Georgia Bulldogs would have had a chance to make it to the 2014 NCAA Tournament if Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had stayed in college instead of leaving early for the 2013 NBA Draft. However, since Caldwell-Pope did leave, the Bulldogs are most likely going to have a bad season in which they don’t even finish in the top 10 of the SEC.

Despite a fairly poor expected outcome for Georgia in the 2013-14 college basketball season, there will be positive signs for the future of Bulldogs’ basketball. The biggest positive should come from one of the most underrated players in the SEC, junior Nemanja Djurisic.

Djurisic averaged nearly eight points per game and four rebounds in the 2012-13 season. On paper, he doesn’t look like one of the better players in the SEC, but he spent most of his time causing havoc down low in order to open up the perimeter for Caldwell-Pope. This season, he’ll be a much larger focal point for the Bulldogs.

With Caldwell-Pope being gone, Djurisic will be expected to take the ball to the basket far more often than he did last season. He will have to double his rebounding rate and transform into an efficient scorer from the post if Georgia is to have any success in the SEC.

Sophomores Charles Mann and Brandon Morris are two up-and-coming young stars for the Bulldogs who will benefit from Djurisic being the focus of opposing defenses. One of the forward’s most underrated abilities is his vision to pass the ball back out to the wings after pulling two or three defenders into the paint.

Georgia needs a player to step up in the 2013-14 season, and Djurisic has the most potential to become a dominant SEC player. If the Bulldogs are to pull off any major upsets this season, expect Djurisic to lead the way.

Taylor Sturm is an SEC Basketball Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TSturmRS or add him to your network on Google

Share On FacebookShare StumbleUpon

You May Also Like