USC transfers Zachariah, Zion Branch commit to Georgia

Georgia has added a couple of big-time commitments from the transfer portal. USC transfers Zachariah Branch and Zion Branch have committed to the Bulldogs, per On3’s Pete Nakos

Zachariah Branch in particular is a potential game-changer for Georgia as he is one of the top players in the transfer portal. The former five-star recruit caught 47 passes for 503 yards and one touchdown this season.

As a freshman in 2023, Zachariah Branch caught 31 passes for 320 yards and two touchdowns. He also averaged nearly 21 yards per punt return. In addition to his two receiving touchdowns, Branch scored on a punt return, kickoff return and had a rushing touchdown as a true freshman.

Zachariah Branch was ranked as the No. 4 overall recruit and top receiver in the class of 2023, per the On3 Industry Rankings.

His brother Zion Branch is an excellent player as well. The defensive back appeared in 10 games this season, recording 19 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, a sack and three pass breakups.

Zion Branch signed with USC after being ranked as a four-star recruit, the No. 7 safety in the nation and the No. 61 overall player in the country in the class of 2022, per the On3 Industry Rankings.

Zachariah and Zion Branch played high school football at Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman.

The brothers also notably signed an NIL deal with Jordan Brand this year, becoming the first college football players to join the company. Zachariah Branch has the higher profile of the two, though, and notably signed NIL deals with JLab and Powerade this season.

Branch has an On3 NIL Valuation of $1.2 million, which ranks No. 34 in the college football NIL rankings. That also puts him at No. 68 in the On3 NIL 100, the first of its kind and defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.

“Despite what some fans and media believe, there is not an unlimited amount of money being deployed to manage rosters,” said Shannon Terry, the founder and CEO of On3. “Any model – whether it’s today’s broken NCAA ‘student-athlete’ construct or media rights sharing through employment, which is almost a certainty in the near future – demands efficiency based on the athlete and school knowing the athlete’s respective market value.”

The On3 NIL Valuation is calculated by combining Roster Value and personal NIL. Roster value is the value an athlete has by being a member of his or her team at his or her school, which factors into the role of NIL collectives. NIL in an athlete’s name, image and likeness and the value it could bring to regional and national brands outside of the scope of NIL collectives.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report