Alabama OL transfer Damieon George commits to the Gators
Billy Napier and the Gators were on the receiving end of some pleasant news on Monday, as Alabama offensive tackle transfer Damieon George committed to the University of Florida.
George, 6-foot-7, 348 pounds, played in just two games this past season but has plenty of experience after playing in all 12 games in 2021. He appeared in a handful of games during his freshman season as well, so the Gators will be strongly considering him for a starting job later this year. Auburn and Ole Miss were under consideration as well
The Gators also recently landed Baylor transfer Micah Mazzccua, who will likely be an immediate starter at guard. However, they are going through a complete makeover in the trenches. O’Cyrus Torrence and Richard Gouraige declared for the NFL Draft, while Ethan White and Michael Tarquin (USC) entered the portal. That leaves center Kingsley Eguakun as the lone returning starter for the 2023 season.
As for the prep ranks, the Gators are expected to bring in four prospects from the 2023 class. Interior linemen Roderick Kearney and Knijeah Harris, a pair of Under Armour All-Americans, and guard Bryce Lovett are already signed, while All-American Bowl tackle Caden Jones is signing on Feb. 1.
As a member of the 2020 class, Damieon George was a four-star prospect and ranked as the No. 337 prospect overall. That is according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He graduated from North Shore (Texas) High and earned additional offers from Ohio State, LSU, Georgia, Oklahoma, USC and others.
What Gators fans need to know about the transfer portal
The NCAA Transfer Portal is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.
The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.
Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. If a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.
The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.
A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.
Stay tuned to Gators Online.
