Transfer Class Overview: Georgia

Mike White and Georgia have really bolstered their roster with this years transfer class. This class includes four new transfers Justin Abson from App. State, R.j. Godfrey from Clemson, Tyrin Lawerence from Vanderbilt, and Mount Saint Mary’s two top scorers in De’Shayne Montgomery and Dakota Leffew. White has been the coach for the last two seasons and is just three games above .500 during that span. Georgia has been a historically middling basketball program but this transfer class could help Mike White and Bulldogs build some momentum to become something more than that.

Justin Abson is one of the most underrated and best prospects in the portal this season. Offensively Abson is a very effective player but is not going to really create shots. He is a decent post hub as he is a good passer and has a couple go to moves. He loves to get to his hook shot in he is in post up scenarios. However, against the bigger and more athletic big men in the SEC he could really struggle as a post scorer. The main value he provides is doing the little things to help his teammates. The first of which is always finishing his looks when a guard can create for him. Abson tries to use his athleticism to dunk every single time he gets the ball and even when he can’t he still finishes well around the rim. This led to him shooting over 63% from the field. The next real strength of his offensive game is his ability to be a great role man. First of all he is a great lob threat for his guards and is just a big target for all of the playmakers. The next and arguably most important thing he does is seal off his defenders in the paint. He is one of the best in the nation at that and while it does not show up in the stat sheet his ability to take shot blockers out of the play creates great looks and easy points for his teammates. The next thing Abson provides is his rebounding. He is a great offensive rebounder which is obviously going to help the offense but he is also a great break starter on the defensive rebounds he gets. Georgia really wants to be a good transition team and while this is not a flashy skill it is one that could greatly help their transition game. One underrated part of the modern big man’s role is the ability to have a baseline of skill on the perimeter to run modern offenses. Abson has more than the baseline of skill on the perimeter. This allows him to be great at dribble hand offs and high low plays which are used so often in college basketball. All of these attributes make Abson the perfect complimentary center for any offense. He does all of the little things and so much more to fit the role of a center perfectly. So while he is not going to be a star offensive player or leading scorer he is still a great addition for the Bulldogs’s offense. The main intrigue for the 6-9 big man from App. State is his defensive ability. Abson is a player that a team can build its defense around and be great. He is one of the best shot blockers in the entire country. His block rate was just above 9.8% which would’ve ranked first in the SEC last season. His incredible instincts, reach and athleticism made him one of the most elite shot blockers in the nation as a Sophomore. Some shot blockers numbers would decrease when they transfer into a higher conference and while this is going to be generally true for any big man including Abson his drop off will be much less severe. This is because his shot blocking is based mostly on his instincts and not pure height and athleticism. His length and athleticism is clearly one of the things that helps him be a great shot blocker but his instincts are absolutely elite which are always going to translate. Abson’s shot blocking is so good that he could compete for SEC DPOY immediately. John Broome being back is going to make this incredibly difficult for Abson but he could absolutely do it if Georgia shows some massive improvement on defense. While blocking shots is what pops off the stat sheet great rim protecters also effect every shot in the paint even if they don’t get the block. Abson is great at that and he doesn’t foul while doing it. Abson is incredible at choosing his spots to go for the block or just stay straight up. He only committed 2.2 fouls per 40 minutes. That is ridiculous for a premier shot blocker. That is the same foul rate with a higher block rate than Ryan Kalkbrenner who is already a 3 time Big East DPOY and argueably just the best defender in the sport because of his rim protection. Every Georgia fan should be very excited about what Abson can bring to their roster this year.

The first transfer player from Mount Saint Mary’s is De’Shayne Montgomery. Montgomery is coming off his freshman season in which he averaged 13.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1.7 steals. As far as potential Montgomery is the most intriguing portal add for Georgia. He is already incredible athletic and a great shooter with room to improve on both fronts. Right now he is a very smart player with crazy athleticism but his handle needs to improved and it limits his on ball impact for now. His off ball movement is great he is a player that always seems to be in the right place at the right time. Whether it’s cutting to the basketball or going to help his teammate when he’s stuck Montgomery seems to always be there. One of the other immediate impact things he can do is help in transition when he has space he shows the great finishing ability he has. So for right now Montgomery is still a plus offensive piece because of those things and his over 40% three point shooting but his on ball impact is limited. If he could improve his handle he has the potential to be one of the best players in all of college basketball. It really limits his ability to create for himself on the ball. As of right now he cannot create for himself and really relied on the system at Mount Saint Mary’s to create for him. If he wants to improve his offensive game this is the obvious next step for him. Without it he could still be a very good glue guy with his shooting and transition ability but for his full offensive potential to be realized his on ball game has to be improved. Defensively Montgomery has all the potential in the world just like his offense but he isn’t quite there yet. He was still getting blown by a bit to often to start his freshman season. However, there are possessions where he shows how special of a defender he could be. His length and athleticism just ooze one of the best defenders in all of college basketball. Defense seemed to be a real focus of this transfer class and if Montgomery can be the all world defender that he has inside of him. Georgia could have one of the better defenses in college basketball next year. Next year Georgia fans should expect Montgomery to be a really good glue guy. He can be a great off ball player in their offense, a stalwart on defense, and lead their lethal transition game. If he can improve on his handle little by little he could be an amazing player for these next three years at Georgia.

The second Mount Saint Mary’s transfer is the the 6-5 senior Dakota Leffew. Of all of the transfers in this class for Georgia Leffew is going to immediately be able to take on the biggest role offensively. He is a fifth year guard who was a very high usage at his former school. Which seems to be a common trend with all of college basketball’s transfer guards. In this case his claim to fame is mostly his shooting. Leffew shot just under seven threes a game last year on about 37%. He is very reliant on those threes for his points which does cause him to need those to go down for him to be effective. One area where he gets a lot of his three point shots is off pick and rolls. He is not really looking to drive at all in those scenarios it is either a jumper or he is looking to pass. This causes one of his major concerns which is the fact that he gets stuck in the midrange a lot. It doesn’t force many turnovers but it is not an efficient place for the ball to be and really stops the flow of the offense in its tracks. The one thing that helps this is Leffew is an excellent passer especially in the pick and roll. He is great at finding cutting teammates and creating buckets for his teammates with his passing. He does however have a tendency to force passes to the roll man even when they are not open. Which probably stems from his lack of pressure on the defense when he’s driving to the cup. He is very crafty in the lane but it is just a very under utilized part of his game. If he is able to make a leap in this area next season he could ascend into one of the better perimeter creators in the conference. The other plus to his game is his perimeter defense. Leffew provides a lot of pressure and size at the guard position. This helped him be one of the best defenders in his mid major conference. The level of athleticism in the SEC is going to play a factor and limit his impact defensively but he is still going to be an above average defender at UGA even if it isn’t that elite level he was at for Mount Saint Mary’s. Leffew should be one of the best players on offense and defense for Georgia this season.

Tyrin Lawerence is one of the most interesting transfers in this class for Georgia. Tyrin was the second leading scorer on an SEC team last year but it was Vanderbilt. Offensively the best way to describe Lawerence is streaky. He shows flashes where he can score at will on jumpers or drive hard to the basket and posterize someone but it is not consistent. That stems from him struggling to create space for himself. Which leads to him rely to heavily on very contested jumpers and layups for his on ball production. Vanderbilt tried to use the pick and roll to manufacture that space for Lawerence but he still struggled to create space and his lack of playmaking in those situations leads to bad offense. That is where Vandy used Lawerence completely wrong because they had no other choice. There was such a lack of talent on the commodores roster that they forced Lawerence into a role where he was a perimeter creator when he should be used off the ball mostly. If Mike White and Georgia’s staff can identify that then Lawerence will be a very solid piece for them. He is a great off ball mover, a good shooter, and could be awesome in transition. One thing that makes Lawerence so good in transition is his ability to draw fouls. He drew over 5 fouls per fourth minutes last year as a Commodore.  It seems like he offensively he has all the makings of a great complimentary piece. Defense is another question for Lawerence though. He often gets lost in off ball defense and lets up easy buckets. On the ball he a pretty average defender. He has good size at 6-4 but he gets blown by quite a bit and is just overall nothing special. He is not going to be a liability and they already know how he defends in the SEC so there is a floor there which is nice with how many mid major and freshman guards they have coming in. Lawerence is a good role player for Georgia. He is going to be a good scorer off the bench with how streaky he is. Lawerence is a very prototypical plug and play bench scorer that can give the team a scoring bump. This role fits him far better than being a star player.

Rj Godfrey is probably the least polished player that Georgia has added but has has valuable experience and athleticism. Offensively his positive impact comes from just a couple things his effort, ability to run the floor, and his off ball movement. Godfrey is a 6-8 power forward who can’t shoot or play in the post really. Clemson did use him in post up scenarios a little bit but his lack of size and polish down there makes it difficult for him to score. So in the half court he is not a real asset for many teams. He also isn’t going to be a liability because of his off ball movement and effort on the offensive rebounds though. The most valuable thing he can do within the half court is to be a screener and cut to the basket off ball. That’s really what he does best and it will help Georgia even if it doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet. Mike White continues to emphasize transition with his transfers and Godfrey is the most extreme example of this. If he can get out in transition and use his athleticism in space he is going to be a very valuable piece but that’s about all he can do. So while Godfrey has a lot of potential if he can round out his skills a bit more he will never be a true quality starter in a power conference. His defense also isn’t pulling up his offense enough to make him a starter quality piece in the SEC. On the defensive side of the ball he is a versatile defender who can guard wings and post players. While this ability does provide some fluidity with the lineups Georgia can create he is not an elite defender at guarding either of those positions. This kind of personifies Godfrey he has talent but is kind of stuck in between being a big man and a wing player. Overall defensively Godfrey is a positive piece because of his versatility but he is an about average defender in the end. One the his main issues with his defense is all of the unnecessary fouls Godfrey commits. Last seasons per 40 minutes he averaged 5.7 fouls per game. He is such a physical defender which in some cases in great but his physicality is taken to far on rebounds and off the ball situations way to much. This is another reason why Godfrey is suited best for a bench role at Georgia. If he keeps fouling this much White won’t even have the choice to play him starter level minutes. Overall Godfrey is going to be a solid role player for Georgia just like he was for Clemson. He has room to improve because he was just a freshman last season but he has a lot of work to do to round out his game to be the player he can be.

The three main focuses on this transfer class for Georgia seem to be youth, defense, and transition game. Montgomery, Abson, and Godfrey all have multiple years of eligibility left. This means that all of them are not only going to be immediate impact players but they are also the future of the team. Last season UGA ranked 58th in defense and 96th in tempo on Kenpom. Mike White wants to take these numbers and go from good to great and this transfer class could help him do that. The defensive potential on a team with De’Shayne Montgomery, Dakota Leffew, Rj Godfrey, and Justin Abson is very exciting. When you combine that with a very exciting incoming freshman class for the Bulldogs headlined by 5 star Asa Newell. Georgia’s team is young and could be very good for years to come. Mike White is doing a fantastic job at Georgia.