ATHENS - Georgia’s first official game is not until Nov. 2 against NC Central; however, the Bulldogs begin the first of three preseason matchups Wednesday night at 7 p.m. against Georgia State.

It will be the first look people get at this Georgia team, which will be breaking in nine new pieces and returning four starters from a year ago.

Despite all the unfamiliarity right now, Georgia is plenty excited to be facing an opponent not wearing red and black.

“I’m real excited,” forward Kareem Stagg said. “Like we’ve been playing each other all summer, so I know everybody wants to go out there and like play somebody else, so it’s gonna be real fun.”

Stagg is one of those returning starters from a season ago. Now entering his second season, where he expects the team to play fast and with a lot of energy.

“We’re going to be playing really fast. Going to get a lot of offensive rebounds. We’re going to play hard, share the ball, do all the little things,” Stagg said. “You know, that’s going to help the team work.”

Last season, Stagg appeared in all 33 games and averaged 4.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and blocked 13 shots.

One of the many new names to play in his first contest on Wednesday will be freshman Donovan Williams Jr., a 6-foot-2 guard from Orlando, Florida, who was a consensus three-star prospect out of high school and ranked by On3.com as one of the 15 most explosive players in the 2026 class.

“I’m very excited, actually. Like it’s my first college, not game technically, but I still treat it as a game,” Williams said. “But still, I’m very excited.”

Earlier this preseason, senior guard Blue Cain described Georgia State as one of the “faster” teams Georgia will see, making it a good test early on. This early-season challenge is exactly what Georgia coach Mike White wanted, despite being in just their third week of fall practices.

“We wanted to do one, just kind of experiment with it,” White said on Sept. 22. “I thought if we had an exhibition really early, these practices would mean even more to our guys.”

Georgia State is under new leadership this year, as Jon Cremins takes over for former head coach Jonas Hayes. He and fellow assistant coach Jarvis Hayes are now assistants on White’s staff.

It was a disappointing season for the Panthers, finishing 10-22 overall. However, they did almost pull off a fall exhibition upset over Georgia last year, losing 65-61.

That is why Georgia enters this stretch with no plans of looking ahead or taking its foot off the gas. The Bulldogs intend to approach each matchup like any other regular-season game.

“I think it’s super important. Like we got to treat it like it’s a regular game or even an SEC play game,” Stagg said. “Like just have the same approach every day, even in practice. Like just carrying over from practice into the game. Like we can treat it like it’s a real game.”

The rest of Georgia’s fall schedule includes another home exhibition against Charlotte on Oct. 16 before the Bulldogs travel to Clemson on Oct. 23.