Ex-UGA OL Austin Blaske commits to North Carolina
Another of the 15 Georgia players to enter the portal since the end of the season has found a new home. Junior offensive lineman Austin Blaske announced Friday morning that he will continue his football career at North Carolina.
Blaske, who battled illness during the preseason and a knee injury during the first half of the year, took a redshirt in 2023 and will have two years to play two in Chapel Hill. He went through spring drills in a neck-and-neck competition with Earnest Greene at left tackle and was in the mix to be, at worst, the team’s third tackle to start the year. Those tough breaks in August and September, however, set him back.
The Faulkville, Ga. native earned a pair of National Championship rings at Georgia. He worked at all five positions on the offensive line while in Athens, appearing in 25 games.
More on the transfer portal…
The NCAA student-athlete transfer portal launched in 2018. It marked a change from when student-athletes had to get a release from one school to transfer to another and they could be limited as to where they transferred. The portal allows student-athletes to simply notify their current school and its compliance department that they intend to move on to another program. Entering the transfer portal does not mean a prospect has to transfer, it just means they can be recruited by other programs and take visits. Georgia has had players enter the portal in the past and elect to return.
Since its implementation, Georgia has added several notable prospects. That list includes Lawrence Cager (Miami), Eli Wolf (Tennessee), Derion Kendrick (Clemson), Tykee Smith (West Virginia), Rara Thomas (Mississippi State) and Dominic Lovett (Missouri). The Bulldogs have had years when they’ve been active in the portal, attempting to take as many as four prospects before the 2021 season. They have also had seasons like 2022 when they didn’t take a single player and went on to go 15-0, winning the National Championship for a second straight season.
Portal needs for Georgia in the current class include defensive line and wide receiver, where it is expected to land multiple players at each position. The Bulldogs could also be in the market at running back, outside linebacker, offensive tackle, or safety. If a player wants to transfer from SEC school to SEC school, he must do so by January 2 when the current window closes. There is another window that will open in the spring but, at that point, a player must transfer in from outside the conference.
