ATHENS – And just like that, Arik Gilbert is gone. Again.
Georgia’s troubled tight end from Marietta entered the transfer portal. He had been dismissed from the team, people familiar with his situation confirmed.
After an abbreviated freshman season at LSU, Gilbert spent the past two seasons with the Bulldogs. He caught his first touchdown pass for Georgia against Vanderbilt on Oct. 15, but hasn’t played since.
Gilbert’s UGA career concludes with two catches for 16 yards in three games played. He had 368 yards on 35 receptions and two touchdowns before leaving LSU after eight games in 2020. He earned freshman All-SEC honors.
The 6-foot-5, 255-pound Gilbert was expected to play for the Bulldogs in 2021, but quit the team while remaining enrolled in school because of “some personal issues,” according to coach Kirby Smart.
He returned to action last spring and competed for playing time in the fall. However, he remained behind starters Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington on the depth chart and eventually fell behind freshman Oscar Delp, too. Gilbert last traveled with the Bulldogs to Mississippi State. He did not suit up for the SEC Championship game Dec. 3.
“We’re trying to help him be the best person he can on and off the field, and that’s decisions we make each and every week,” Smart said that week.
Gilbert becomes the second member of Georgia’s 2022 team to enter the portal. He follows junior defensive tackle Bill Norton, who landed at Arizona.
Clearly, the Bulldogs were pulling for Gilbert to regain the form that made him the top tight end prospect in the country in 2020. Coaches and players gushed about his touchdown catch in the fourth quarter of a 55-0 win over Vandy.
“To see him be in the end zone finally, I’m speechless, you feel me?” junior wideout Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint said after that game. “I’ve been seeing him put in a lot of work. He’s been through a lot, so to see him do that finally and live out the dream, it’s a blessing. When he scored, everybody was up for him.”
Said Smart: “It was great for that kid confidence-wise and great just trying to give him something to celebrate and be happy about. I was really happy for him.”
Georgia remains well-stocked at Gilbert’s position. In addition to Bowers, Washington and Delp, juniors Ryland Goede and Brett Seither also play the position. The Bulldogs also signed two more top-10 tight ends Wednesday in Pearce Spurlin and Lawson Luckie and are recruiting two more top-5 players at the position for the next recruiting cycle.
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