Breaking: Kirby Smart Flexes UGA’s Wealth By Pulling Up To Decommit’s High School In Helicopter

Recruiting never stops in college football, even with the season through and Signing Day now past. While the offseason grind never ends for coaches and staffs, being the top Dawg can always make things a bit easier on the road.

Georgia’s Kirby Smart showed that on Tuesday with a visit to see four-star offensive lineman Mason Short.

The Bulldogs’ head coach flexed UGA’s wealth by landing a private helicopter on the prospect’s high school football field.

Smart is looking to bolster his squad’s front five with the addition of the talented 2025 recruit. Rated the nation’s 8th-best interior offensive lineman, and the 160th-best prospect regardless of position, he boasts offers from all the top players in the sport.

Ohio State, Florida State, and Alabama are included on that long list. In fact, up until Tuesday, he’d been committed to the Crimson Tide.

Things obviously changed with the retirement of head coach Nick Saban as he decommitted days after the news, and Kirby Smart wasted no time in being the first to visit Mason Short in person.

It’s no surprise to see Smart flying in style on the quick trip from Athens to Evans, just 75 miles away.

Georgia has been college football’s biggest spender for some time in terms of recruiting expenses. According to the most recent spending report, the Bulldogs blew $4.5M on recruiting in 2022 alone, one-third more than the next closest school!

Those costs include meals, transportation, and lodging for recruiting visits.

It’s gotten to the point where recruits are visiting just for the free food as the program leaves no stone unturned.

That spending has resulted in a few top-ranked classes, helping the program secure two national titles and post a 42-2 overall record over the last three seasons.

He’s hoping the 2025 class can continue that success, and he could be close to adding another member.

Kirby Smart wasted no time when Mason Short reopened his recruitment, and he brought out the big guns to try and nab his guy.

After 10-Game Win Streak Snapped, UGA faces South Carolina

The now 12-4 Georgia Bulldogs play the 14-2 South Carolina Gamecocks tonight at 9 PM EST in their fourth SEC game of the season and second away conference game. The Dawgs, who are 2-1 in conference, are looking to rebound after a close loss to No. 5-ranked Tennessee last Saturday. The 7.5-point favorite Gamecocks are also 2-1 in SEC play and are returning home after an overtime win over Missouri.

In their game last Saturday against Tennessee, UGA trailed for the majority of the first period, then gained some momentum to build an 11-point lead with less than 10 minutes left. This lead slowly faded away, and Tennessee outscored the Dawgs 15-1 over the last four and a half minutes to win 79-85 to end UGA’s 10-game win streak both at home and overall. With 21 points on Saturday, senior Jabri Abdur-Rahim surpassed graduate student guard Noah Thomasson as the leading team scorer with an average of 12.9 points per game (ppg). Thomasson follows very closely behind with 12.8 ppg. Adbur-Rahim leads the team in shooting percentage, going 89.5% from the line and 42.7% on 89 attempts from 3-point range. Two other Dawgs are close to passing the double-digit mark for points; graduate student RJ Sunahara and senior Justin Hill are each averaging 9.6 and 9.5 ppg, respectively. Hill is also Georgia’s leading distributor, averaging 3.2 assists per game. The Dawgs have continued to get their bench highly involved in scoring. The Dawgs are ranked 19th nationally in bench scoring, with their reserves averaging 30.4 ppg.

South Carolina is currently undefeated at home and hopes to continue this streak tonight. The leading scorer for the Gamecocks can be found in junior guard Meechie Johnson, who averages 17.1 ppg. Two other Gamecocks also average over 10 ppg: senior forward B.J. Mack is currently putting up an average of 13.4 ppg, and senior guard Myles Stute is averaging 10.2 ppg. Mack also just put up 21 points in the Gamecocks win against Missouri and is the leading rebounder for UofSC with 5.1 rebounds per game. There are three other athletes for South Carolina who follow Mack with over four rebounds per game: senior guard Ta’Lon Cooper (4.4 rebounds), Johnson (4.2 rebounds), and Stute (4.1 rebounds). As a defensive threat, Cooper is the Gamecocks’ best distributor, averaging 4.3 assists per game and a season total of 69 rebounds.

Defensively for UGA, graduate center Russel Tchewa leads the team in rebounds with 6.5 per game. Junior guard RJ Melendez, who led in the Tennessee game with 6 rebounds, is next up with an average of 4.8 per game. Freshman guard Silas Demary Jr. follows Melendez with an average of 4.6 rebounds per game. Demary Jr. has been a consistent starter for the Dawgs and was a big contributor against Tennessee with 13 points, including a 3-pointer to help the Dawgs open out the second half 6-0.

A win for the Dawgs is important in helping them get pass the Tennessee game and getting back the season’s momentum. And for both teams, coming out on top tonight also means maintains an above .500 record in the conference early in SEC play.