ATHENS — Mike White can’t control how others view his Georgia basketball program, but he still sees this group of Bulldogs as NCAA tournament contenders.

Perhaps even more importantly, White’s players share that vision and are have shown their head coach they are willing to work for it.

“Definitely,” said Frank Anselem-Ibe, a 6-foot-10 center who has provided defensive punch and rebounding coming off the bench the season.

“We area a highly competitive team this year,” the said. “Coach wasn’t shy about it, our practices have been highly competitive, and the games have been highly competitive.”

Indeed, and another challenge appears on deck for Georgia as it comes off an 11-day break to face an 8-3 High Point team at 5:30 p.m. game on Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum.

It’s the kind of game the Bulldogs (6-3) are supposed to win and should be prepared for after a challenging early slate of games that included six power conference teams.

Georgia is looking to extend a four-game win streak that included eye-opening wins at Florida State (68-66) and over Georgia Tech (76-62) in the most recent game.

The Bulldogs have yet to get penciled into any projected NCAA brackets or even broach bubble discussion, but the mission statement remains clear.

Georgia hasn’t been selected for an NCAA tournament field since 2015, and previous coaches and players have shifted uncomfortably when the topic comes up.

White, in his second season at the helm since leaving Gainesville to coach in the Classic City, does not hide from the ultimate objective of bringing respectability back to the program via an NCAA tourney berth.

“We’ve talked about it with this team, this group here, more so than others,” White said. “(That’s) because we have … three graduate transfers who came here and want to do everything in their power to see if we can make that happen.

“It’s just a matter of growth daily. This team has been as good as any team I’ve had from a consistency standpoint, (and) from a work ethic, preparation approach to practice.”

Georgia was picked to finish 12th in the SEC at the league’s media day earlier this fall on the heels of White’s 16-16 first season.

The Bulldogs are currently 11th among the SEC per the KenPom.com rankings, 83rd in the nation with a strength of schedule that ranks 68th in the nation.

“I don’t know where we’re going to stack up when it comes to the SEC,” White said, “(but) I do feel pretty confident we’re going to be really competitive in a lot of games.

“How many of those we can win, we’ll see, it will depend on our continued development.”

First things first, Georgia needs to take care of business against High Point and the remaining non-conference games on its schedule leading into the league slate.

• vs. Highpoint, 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Athens

• vs. Mount St. Mary’s, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Athens

• vs. North Florida, 3 p.m. Friday, Athens

• vs. Alabama A&M, 6 p.m. Dec. 30, Athens