ATHENS — Say so long to Adonai Mitchell.
Georgia’s popular wide receiver known as “A.D.” entered his name into the transfer portal Wednesday, the last day of the NCAA’s newly adopted, 45-day transfer period, according to an unattributed report by DawgsHQ.com.
Mitchell’s destination is unknown, but speculation is that he will land either at Texas or USC. A native of Missouri City, Texas, Mitchell graduated from Cane Ridge High in Nashville, Tenn., in 2021.
Neither Mitchell nor his high school coach could be reached for comment Wednesday.
Mitchell was considered the Bulldogs’ top receiver entering the 2022 season. However, he played in only six games because of a high-ankle sprain sustained on the first play of Georgia’s second game. However, with touchdown receptions in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and the College Football Playoff Championship game, Mitchell is thought to be the first player to catch a touchdown pass in every CFP game in which he played. He leaves UGA 4-for-4 on that front.
Wednesday represented the end of the NCAA’s transfer period. Beginning Dec. 5, there is a 45-day window adopted by a membership vote last summer that establishes beginning and end dates to the period in which players can explore the prospect of transferring to another school. The transfer portal is a list serve maintained by the NCAA that is accessible to member schools.
There’s another window that starts May 1 and lasts 15 days. It was designed for players who may seek a change following spring practice.
Such transfers often are initiated by name, image and likeness (NIL) agreements between the new school and the athlete. Sometimes they are brokered by high school coaches to avoid tampering accusations.
Entering Wednesday, the number of Georgia players entering the portal stood at 10, including Mitchell. Most of those entries came as no surprise to coach Kirby Smart. He said a number of them informed him before the Bulldogs entered the playoff but wanted to remain with the team.
“That makes me want to cry (because) they did it for the team over themselves, and that makes me really proud,” Smart said at the champions press conference after Georgia won the national title Jan. 9. “That time is now for them. The portal is a real thing. It’s a vehicle to go somewhere elsewhere you can be successful. We had guys make sacrifices to do that. I think that’s pretty cool.”
The actual balance of Georgia players who explored or are exploring the transfer option was uncertain Wednesday and might not be known for a while. The list of players who have entered their names for consideration by other teams actually is protected by federal privacy laws and is not available for public consumption.
However, On3.com, the parent site of DawgsHQ, is among a growing number of online recruiting sites that advertise “portal trackers,” which monitor the movement of Division I athletes seeking a change of scenery. That outlet listed 1,824 entries as of early Wednesday afternoon, with 915 of those committing to new schools.
Occasionally, players will enter their names into the portal only to decide to stay where they are. That was the case with Georgia offensive lineman Amarius Mims last spring. More often, though, teams cut ties with portal entrants in order to manage some semblance of roster management.
Many Georgia fans know that 15 UGA players were taken in last year’s NFL draft. Fewer, however, are aware that the Bulldogs had 13 players enter the transfer portal last offseason, and Georgia famously did not take any players out of the portal.
That’s not the case this year, as the Bulldogs already have welcomed three transfers. Wide receivers Rara Thomas of Mississippi State and Dominic Lovett of Missouri were announced by UGA on Dec. 22. Last week, the school accepted the transfer of Texas A&M defensive back Deyon “Smoke” Bouie.
Bouie is a rising sophomore from Bainbridge who made a longtime commitment to UGA before flipping to coach Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies shortly before signing day. Thomas and Lovett were each the leading pass catchers for their respective schools last season. Both are rising juniors.
The addition of two experienced receivers certainly lessens the sting of losing Mitchell. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound sophomore was limited to playing in six games because of a lingering ankle injury. He finished with nine receptions for 134 yards and three TDs this past season. He’ll leave the Bulldogs with 560 yards on 38 catches and seven scores in two seasons.
Junior wideout Dominick Blaylock announced Tuesday that he also is entering the portal. Having come back from back-to-back ACL tears of the same knee in 2019 and 2020, the one-time starter reestablished himself in the Bulldogs’ rotation this past season and had 15 catches for 227 yards and a touchdown. He’ll depart with 35 catches for 548 yards and six scores in his career.
Regardless of Mitchell’s intentions, Georgia is well-stocked at receiver for next season. Ladd McConkey, the top producer at the position last season with 58 catches for 762 yards and nine scores, announced Wednesday that he intends to return for at least another year. A third-year player as a redshirt sophomore, the 6-0, 185-pound slot receiver was eligible to enter the NFL draft as an underclassman. With 1,206 yards receiving and 15 touchdowns, McConkey has been UGA’s most productive wideout the last two seasons.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs return seven wide receivers from last year’s team and added three others in the early-signing period in December.
Also undetermined as of Wednesday is how many draft-eligible, third- and fourth-year players will return next season. The deadline for underclassmen to enter the draft was Monday, but people with knowledge of the situation said UGA players still in the decision-making stage were granted a 48-hour extension because of the car crash that took the life of a Georgia player and a member of the recruiting staff Sunday.
Redshirt sophomore center Sedrick Van Pran remains the biggest question mark. A 30-game starter for the Bulldogs the past two seasons, the 6-4, 310-pound, second-team All-SEC selection draws high marks from draft analysts. Along with the rest of the team, Van Pran was in Toccoa on Wednesday attending the funeral of UGA recruiting analyst Chandler LeCroy.
Five underclassmen already have submitted their NFL draft paperwork: junior defensive tackle Jalen Carter, redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Broderick Jones, junior offensive tackle Warren McClendon, redshirt sophomore cornerback Kelee Ringo and junior tight end Darnell Washington.
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