UGA Football Defender Details Why He Didn't Enter Transfer Portal
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ATHENS - In today’s world of college football, if you’re a highly-ranked prospect who didn’t start in year one, the easy thing to do is transfer.
Some players just aren’t used to sitting and waiting. They want to play early, and early means year one. That’s a big reason why we’re seeing more and more players end up in the portal year after year.
But for Georgia Bulldog EDGE defender Damon Wilson, transferring wasn’t an option. At least, not this year anyway. The former 5-star prospect from Florida out of Venice High School had high expectations placed on him when he came to Athens as a member of Georgia’s outstanding 2023 recruiting class, being ranked as the No. 20 overall prospect in the country.
While he did see the field in 12 games last year, he never started a game, and he’s not guaranteed to start in 2024, either.
So what made him stay?
Wilson had his mind made up well before the Orange Bowl, and after Georgia’s curb-stopping of Florida State, Wilson spoke with Dawg Post about why he’s staying for the 2024 season.
“We’re like glue”, Wilson said of Georgia’s defense. “It would be so hard to leave this group. I love this team. It’s the connection that makes Georgia special. When you talk and really connect with your teammates, you realize we’re all going through the same type of stuff. It’s easy to connect with guys when you treat everyone like family. “
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What did Wilson learn most during his freshman season?
“I just learned to work hard and put my head down”, Wilson said. “To keep going. You have to work hard and grind. That’s what I believe in and what Georgia believes in.”
“Kirby Smart is such a personal guy”, Wilson added. “He can talk to you at any level. There’s no favoritism on this team. It’s easy to respect someone like that when they treat everyone the same.”
Damon Wilson came to Georgia for a reason. He wanted to win and be developed as the best player he could be. But it wasn’t just Kirby Smart and Glenn Schumann that attracted Wilson to Georgia.
It was the culture. The brotherhood. The connection.
You don’t see that everywhere. It takes years of trust for that to develop in a program. The Georgia staff has that trust with just about everyone. From high school coaches to prospects, their families, NFL coaches, everyone.
That’s why Damon Wison, and many others, decided to stay at Georgia for the 2024 season.
Julian Humphrey thought about leaving, but he saw the opportunity he had at Georgia and decided to return. Christen Miller did the same.
But Wilson wasn’t having it. He’s happy in Athens and bound for a possible breakout sophomore season this fall.