Georgia Basketball Lands Top-50 Player, 3-point Specialist in One Afternoon
Georgia Basketball was going to be heavily active in the NCAA transfer portal considering the number of players that have departed from their roster. On Monday, head coach Tom Crean got the offseason rebuild started quickly, adding two transfers to the roster.
Jabri Abdur-Rahim, son of former NBA All-Star Shareef Abdur-Rahim, announced that he would be transferring from Virginia to Georgia.
The former four-star prospect brings explosive scoring ability and a lot of all-around talent as a 6-foot-7 perimeter defender.
In the 2020 recruiting class, Abdur-Rahim was ranked the 38th overall prospect, sixth-best small forward and second-best player in the state of New Jersey. He is a lengthy player who thrives on scoring off the dribble and is a major threat off the drive. One of his best attributes is how instinctive he is on the defensive end and his lockdown perimeter defense that was an area in which Georgia struggled at times last season.
During his freshman year with the Cavaliers, Abdur-Rahim appeared in only eight games due to injury and played more than 10 minutes in just one of those games. Although he doesn't bring much college experience, Abdur-Rahim ranks as the second highest-rated recruit that Crean, has landed during his stint with Georgia.
The only player ahead of him is Anthony Edwards, who went on to be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft and is currently making a very strong case to be named Rookie of the Year in the NBA. He also was the second-highest-rated recruit that Virginia head coach Tony Bennett, had signed at Virginia.
Crean wasn't done on Monday as he also USC graduate transfer Noah Baumann. Baumann is a 6-foot-6 shooting guard that adds quality three-point capability to an offense that struggled mightily from beyond the arc last season.
Baumann has never been called upon heavily in any offense, whether it be at his first school San Jose State or at USC. His career high in attempts per game is a mere 8.7 during his sophomore season at San Jose State. However, 5.7 of those 8.7 shots were three-pointers, of which he made 45.5 percent.
Georgia needs every bit of shooting they can get, and Baumann does exactly that.
Over the past couple of months, the transfer portal has been Georgia's biggest enemy, as four players announced they would be transferring from the program. Adding a young and extremely talented player like Abdur-Rahim along with a veteran three-point specialist, and Crean seems to be on the right track to rebuilding the roster.
For what looks to be a do-or-die season for Crean, Monday was desperately needed.
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