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Georgia WR Anthony Evans announces plans to enter transfer portal

Palmber-Thombsby:Palmer Thombs•01/05/25•

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Anthony Evans
Georgia wide receiver Anthony Evans III (5) during Georgia’s game against Tennessee Tech on Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (Tony Walsh/UGAAA)

ATHENS, Ga. — Hopes were high for Georgia wide receiver Anthony Evans. The speedster was a top-200 prospect and exciting player coming out of high school. He flashed in his first year at UGA and was expected to make a big jump as a sophomore. Now, after a second season that couldn’t quite live up to expectations, Evans has announced plans to enter the transfer portal.

A four-star prospect once committed to Oklahoma before flipping to the Bulldogs, he ranked as the nation’s No. 197 overall prospect coming out of Judson High School in Converse, Texas. As a freshman, Evans saw action in eight games. His biggest impact came with an elusive 28-yard punt return trick play against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. He hauled in his first touchdown pass in the Orange Bowl versus Florida State next time out with buzz building around Evans being a potential breakout player in 2024.

Indeed Evans did take on a bigger role this season, serving as the primary punt returner, but when it came to Georgia’s offense, the impact was still limited. Evans played in 11 of the team’s 14 games, missing three due to injury, totaling nine catches for 88 yards. He also added a trio of rushing attempts for 50 with a 52-yard carry coming against Mississippi State. Evans caught four passes for 41 yards, both career-highs, that day as well. As a punt returner, Evans took 17 kicks for 129 yards, also having seven kickoffs for 124 yards on his resume.

Georgia’s receiver room will get an overhaul this offseason, and losing Evans comes as part of that. The Bulldogs, after dismissing Rara Thomas before the season and being without Colbie Young for his own legal troubles for the majority of the year, had just nine scholarship receivers available. Of those, Michael Jackson III has already entered the transfer portal while Dominic Lovett is out of eligibility. Arian Smith just wrapped up his fifth year at UGA, and while he has a year of eligibility remaining, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see him enter the NFL Draft. Georgia did sign five pass catchers in the Class of 2025, a couple that are thought to be potential day-one impact players.

Evans joins the seven Georgia players that were part of the team this year to already enter the transfer portal. Of those, five found new homes before the Bulldogs participated in the College Football Playoffs. Julian Humphrey (Texas A&M), Jamaal Jarrett (USC), Justyn Rhett (Nebraska), Samuel M’Pemba (Texas A&M) and Troy Bowles (Michigan) have picked out their respective next spots. Michael Jackson III and Jake Pope remain uncommitted, as do Rara Thomas and David Daniel-Sisavanh, both of whom are in after being away from the Georgia program this past season.

More on the transfer portal…

The NCAA student-athlete transfer portal launched in 2018. It marked a change from when student-athletes had to get a release from their school to transfer to another and they could be limited as to where they transferred. The portal allows student athletes to simply notify their current school and its compliance department that they intend to move on to another program.

Last season, Georgia lost 21 scholarship players to the portal, watching several end up at power conference programs around the country. The Bulldogs did add to their talent however, as they’ve done before. Adding to the likes of Lawrence Cager, Tre McKitty, Derion Kendrick, Tykee Smith, Dominic Lovett and others that have joined the program in the past, UGA brought in Trevor Etienne, Colbie Young, London Humphreys, Ben Yurosek, Xzavier McLeod and others that have had an impact on the Bulldogs’ 2024 campaign.

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