Bryan McClendon: Georgia 'hit the jackpot' with transfer WR additions
ATLANTA, Ga. — Georgia is still trying to accomplish some incredible things in 2022 but it has already improved its 2023 roster in a big way. The Bulldogs added 24 signees from the 2023 class last week and it also picked up transfer wideouts Dominic Lovett (Missouri) and Rara Thomas (Mississippi State).
The guy who’ll be coaching them, Bryan McClendon, played a big role in each of those recruitments. He has quickly changed the look both in terms of quality and quantity of his position group. Adding Lovett and Thomas is as big of a deal to him as anyone.
“You go and you identify guys you feel like, look, this guy can help us,” McClendon said at Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl Media Day on Thursday. “We feel like we hit the jackpot on the two guys we were able to bring in at my position for sure.”
Lovett was Missouri’s leading receiver in 2022, hauling in 56 passes for 846 yards and three scores. He ranks No. 3 in the SEC in receiving yards per game and No. 7 in catches per game.
As a freshman in 2021, Lovett caught 26 passes for 173 yards and ran the ball four times for 40 yards and a touchdown. He is also a former four-star prospect per the industry-generated, equally weighted On3 Consensus.
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As a sophomore at MSU, Thomas led the team in receiving yards with 626 in 12 games. He caught 44 passes to get there and reached the end zone seven times. It was a breakout season for the Euphaula, Ala. native, who signed with Mississippi State as a three-star prospect in the 2021 class. His first season of college ball saw him catch 18 passes for 252 yards and five touchdowns.
Getting those two players in the fold couldn’t have been easy. Lovett had USC, Alabama and LSU coming after him quite hard. Thomas was heavily courted by the likes of Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Auburn, the school closest to his hometown of Eufaula, Ala.
Since they’re in the transfer portal, many quickly assumed that it would take massive Name, Image, and Likeness deals to get them on campus. That could have happened at Georgia but, according to McClendon, those two responded quite well to the Bulldogs just being themselves.
“The biggest thing you have to have when it comes to conversations is, ‘hey man, we’ve got a really good culture here,’ McClendon said. “Kind of establishing what our culture is and that it’s more of a team vs. me type of deal and that’s not real common in today’s society, period. Just kind of knowing that and explaining that and learning that those guys want it. They’re wanting that and embracing that and wanting to come and wanting to be a part of some special things. I feel like that helped a bunch, too.”
