Noah Thomasson rounds out Georgia Basketball roster for 2023-24

Mike White and the Georgia Basketball coaching staff landed the last piece to their puzzle for 2023-24 on Tuesday. Niagara guard Noah Thomasson committed to the Bulldogs out of the transfer portal on The Field of 68 podcast with Jeff Goodman.

Thomasson chose Georgia over the likes of Pittsburgh, St. Johns, Penn State and San Francisco – all four of whom were included in his top five along with the Bulldogs. He has one year of eligibility remaining having spent his freshman season (2019-20) at Houston Baptist, the 2020-21 COVID-year at Butler Community College and the past two at Niagara.

“My story that I have, I’m not really used to hearing from these big time schools. When I hit the portal at first, man I was a little starstruck. I was very thankful to be in this position that I’m in. Me and my mother and my AAU coach, Coach Kevin Gamble, we broke down every school that was recruiting me and the levels that they were recruiting me at,” Thomasson said. “Was it head coaches calling me or was it assistants and ops guys. When we narrowed it down, we started looking at what schools had a strong roster, a chance to do something special if they added me … I’ll be playing for Mike White at the University of Georgia. Every coaching staff was really great, this was a hard decision to make because of all these great schools, but at the end of the day, they were one of the first schools to reach out to me and build a bond and relationship. I got to see them multiple times, hear from them and what their goals are for me. My dad lives in Atlanta so that’s not far. When I looked at this, I just thought, ‘This feels like home.'”

“Left hand, a lot of teams try to force me right but I’ve got a knack for getting to the basket and not only being able to create for myself but also create for my teammates,” he added, asked for a scouting report by Goodman. “If I had to scout against myself, I would probably try to make me use my right hand and make tough twos. I think that’s what everybody wants to do, make them take tough shots. This year I had a high level of making tough shots, but I think getting downhill and creating for my teammates is something that’s my strong suit.”

Thomasson averaged 19.5 points per game this past season in the MAAC as he shot 38.6% from 3-point range in 31 games. It came just a year after averaging in double-figures – 10.8 points per game – during his first season at Niagara. He played over 30.0 minutes a game each year as he started 60 of 61 possible games.

Thomasson finished the season off scoring in double figures in 29 contests including 21 straight to end the year. Seventeen times did he hit at least 20 points with a trio of performances over 25 points. That included a season-high 35 against Canisius in the final game of the regular season when Thomasson made 15-of-26 attempts from the field. On eight different occasions did he hit four 3-pointers while reaching double-digits with his made field goal attempts six times.

Thomasson is the fourth player to choose Georgia out of the transfer portal this offseason joining RJ Melendez (Illinois), Jalen DeLoach (VCU) and Russel Tchewa (USF). Combined with last year’s crew, Georgia has landed 10 players out of the portal under Mike White’s direction.

Two players have also committed to be Bulldogs from the high school ranks since the season ended. Silas Demary Jr. and Blue Cain both signed National Letters of Intent in November with other schools – USC for Demary and Georgia Tech for Cain. Both were able to get out of them and have since signed on with Georgia. Alongside Georgia’s own November signees Dylan James and Mari Jordan, White’s first full class ranks No. 18 in the country with Cain, Demary and James all ranking inside the top-100 of the On3 Industry Ranking for the Class of 2023.

Georgia returns five players from 2022-23 when the Bulldogs upped their win total by 10 games to go 16-16. It was the second-largest regular season increase among Power Five teams. Returnees include: Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Jusaun Holt, Frank Anselem-Ibe, Justin Hill and Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe.