ATHENS — Georgia coach Mike White accepted the commitment of another transfer player Tuesday and, with it, the Bulldogs closed the door on one of the most whirlwind, successful spring recruiting periods in program history.
Noah Thomasson, a 6-foot-3 point guard at Niagara University in New York, announced during a livestream event by “The Field of 68″ podcast that he is coming to Georgia to play his final season of college basketball. A Houston native, Thomasson played at Houston Christian (formerly Houston Baptist) and Butler (Kansas) Community College before playing the past two seasons at Niagara. He averaged 19.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists as a senior and started 60 of 61 games for the Purple Eagles the past two years.
Thomasson chose the Bulldogs over four finalists: Penn State, Pitt, San Francisco and Rick Pitino’s St. Johns. Proving he knows more than a little bit about Georgia, Thomasson prefaced his announcement for the Bulldogs with “ring the bell!”
“I’m going to be playing for Mike White and the University of Georgia,” Thomasson told “Field of 68′s” Jeff Goodman during the livestream on YouTube. “This was a hard to decision to make because all these schools are good schools. But (Georgia) was one of the first schools to reach out to me and kind of build a bond and relationship. I got to see them multiple times, see their faces and hear what their goals were for me. My dad lives in Atlanta, too, and that’s not that far away. So, when I looked at it all, I just said, ‘this looks like home.’”
Georgia “looked like home” to seven other recruits, all but two of whom signed with the Bulldogs during the month-long spring signing period that expires May 17. Included in that group is four high school players who are considered top-100 national prospects and four transfers.
Goodman described Thomasson as a “poor man’s James Harden.” Perhaps it’s the (much shorter) beard, but he also is left-handed, shot 38.6% from 3-point range last season and “loves getting to the basket and getting downhill to set up my teammates.” At Niagara, he played for Greg Paulus, best known for his years as Duke’s point guard.
Thomasson said he already knows Georgia transfer Russel Tchewa, a 7-footer from South Florida against whom he scored his first college points. He’s also good friends with current Georgia player Justin Hill. They were AAU teammates on the Gulf Coast Bluechips in Houston.
“Justin Hill’s my guy. I’ve been knowing him since we were 8 or 9 years old,” Thomasson said. “A chance to play with him again will be cool.”
Also joining the Bulldogs via the transfer portal are 6-7 guard RJ Melendez (Illinois) and 6-9 forward Jalen DeLoach (Virginia Commonwealth). Georgia signed high school players Blue Cain (Knoxville, Tennessee/IMG Academy) and Silas Demary Jr. (Charlotte, North Carolina) in the past couple of weeks. Dylan James (Winter Haven, Florida) and Mari Jordan (Norcross) were fall-period signees.
Together, the 2023 recruiting class is considered one of the best in the SEC. Before Thomasson’s commitment, 247Sports ranked the Bulldogs’ group No. 2 in the league behind Kentucky. What makes that feat even more amazing is White and his staff has done it with Stegeman Coliseum closed since mid-March for ceiling repairs.
Georgia is entering its second season under White, who led the Bulldogs to a 16-16 record last season. That represented a 10-game improvement over the previous season.
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