ATHENS — New Georgia men’s basketball coach Mike White says he’s a lot more comfortable taking over this job than his last one at Florida, and it’s easy to understand why.

While there was tons of pressure taking over a championship level program in Gainesville back in 2015, there’s nowhere to go but up at the Bulldogs’ injury-riddled 6-26 campaign last season.

Georgia returns five players, including SEC leading scorer Kario Oquendo (18.3 points per game in league contests) and 6-foot-7, seventh-year senior Jailyn Ingram, who was lost to a season-ending knee injury last December.

“I really like the guys we have here, led by Kario Oquendo, our leading scorer, and Braelen Bridges one of the best returning bigs in our league,” White told DawgNation.

“Jailyn Ingram is trying to get healthy, Jabri Abdur-Rahim and Jaxon Etter are improving daily and working their butts off.”

The basketball program White took over at Florida seen years ago was just two years removed from a Final Four season, but it was also coming off its first losing season in 17 years, a 16-17 campaign.

White led Florida to a 21-15 mark his first season (2015-16) in Gainesville and an NIT berth.

It’s not unrealistic to think the 45-year-old White could do the same with the Bulldogs this season when one considers White has averaged more than 22 wins per season in his 11 seasons as a head coach at Louisiana Tech (2012-15) and Florida (2015-22).

This marks the second time White has replaced a coach who has a Final Four on his resume, and while he’s still searching for his first dip into those elite basketball waters, White does have an Elite Eight appearance to speak of.

White took the Gators to an Elite Eight his second season at Florida, finishing 27-9.

Florida basketball, however, was not able to advance past the Round of 32 in the next three NCAA tourneys, and fans were growing restless after the Gators missed last year’s Big Dance.

White sensed it was time to move, and new UGA athletic director Josh Brooks has been aggressive making changes in most areas of the athletic department where needed.

White and his family are settling comfortably in Athens, and his confidence is growing each day with the work he sees his staff and new players putting in.

“We got a lot done in the portal, six guys that we are really high on as young people that have won some games, and there’s a talented freshman coming from Texas (Kyeron Lindsay) that we’re excited about.

“I feel a lot more comfortable on Day One taking this job than I did on Day One at the previous job,” White said, “and definitely more comfortable than Day One of the first job at Louisiana Tech.”