ATHENS, Ga. --- Georgia fans will get their first full view of the 2009-10 Bulldog basketball squad, Coach Mark Fox's first in Athens, when it plays host Friday night to North Georgia in an exhibition contest at Stegeman Coliseum.

Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m. (EST) and there is no admission charge.

Thus far in this young season, the Bulldogs have staged a few controlled scrimmages against themselves, as well as another against a veteran Clemson squad five days ago. Though Friday's exhibition will not count in the won/loss ledger, it will nonetheless be a welcome change.

"I think we're all excited about playing somebody else, about putting on the uniform and getting back into game-type situations," said center Albert Jackson. "We've had to learn a lot in the past three weeks. The scrimmage (at Clemson) definitely showed us how much progress we had made and how much we still have to make. But a scrimmage is never the same as a real game. That's why we are all excited about suiting up and playing."

Indeed, hope and optimism have been abundant through the first three weeks of practice. Much of that high spirit can be attributed to Fox, who became the head coach at Georgia last April after five bountiful seasons at Nevada. Under his watch the Wolf Pack won four straight league championships and at least 21 games each year. Now the affable Kansan intends to bring that same success and stability to a Bulldog program that longs for a higher status, not only on a national scale, but first within its own backyard.

Indeed, Georgia faces a steep climb up the Southeastern Conference totem pole. Bulldog teams have reached the break-even mark in SEC play just twice in the past six seasons, finishing either fifth or sixth in the Eastern Division each year. In the past two seasons alone – a time when the SEC’s overall quality trended downward – Georgia totaled just seven league wins.

With minimal attrition from 2009 (and equally little addition, too), logic would dictate that Georgia should likely tread water during the 2010 season. The arrival of Fox, however, has offered a chance for the people that follow the program to feel good about the future.

Still, there is no magic potion for the work that lies ahead. The past three weeks, including Friday's exhibition contest against the Saints of North Georgia, are just the beginning stages of a sweeping process.

Because the process is long and perhaps slow, it will be a challenge enough just to quantify its progress. "We’re going to focus on getting better every day," Fox said.  "If we can do that today, and we can do that for the six workdays in the week, then we’ve gotten better that week. If we can do that for two or three, four weeks in a row, then we’ve gotten better over a month. If we can do that for a couple of years in a row then our program will slowly have climbed forward.

The Bulldogs will tip off their 2009-10 regular season on Friday, Nov. 13 at home against New Orleans at 7:00 p.m.