Georgia officially announces Rara Thomas, Dominic Lovett as signees
Georgia has been in search of a wide receiver out of the transfer portal since the open period began earlier this month. On Thursday, the Bulldogs landed two transfers at the position, Rara Thomas (Mississippi State) and Dominic Lovett (Missouri). Both were announced as signees shortly after Lovett made his decision known.
Thomas, who visited and considered both Auburn and Ole Miss, spent two seasons at Mississippi State after signing with the Bulldogs out of high school. He came in as just a three-star recruit from Eufaula, Ala. and the No. 113 ranked wide receiver in the country according to the On3 Consensus.
However, he leaves Starkville as a much more desirable product to teams across the country, leading the team in receiving this past season with 626 yards in 12 games. He caught 44 passes to get there and reached the end zone seven times. In 2021, Thomas caught 18 balls for 252 yards and five touchdowns. Thomas comes to Athens with an On3 NIL Valutation of $39,000.
Lovett was an All-SEC performer in 2022 and had a big game against the Bulldogs back in October. He caught six passes for 84 yards as Mizzou gave the Bulldogs a scare. He suffered a lower-body injury in that game and didn’t do much in the second half.
The East St. Louis High School standout was a four-star prospect coming out of high school and ranked as the No. 290 overall player. He originally committed to Arizona State but flipped to Missouri late in the 2020 cycle.
He led Mizzou in receptions and yardage in 2022, hauling in 56 passes for 846 yards and three scores. He ranks No. 3 in the SEC in receiving yards per game and No. 7 in catches per game.
As a freshman in 2021, Lovett caught 26 passes for 173 yards and ran the ball four times for 40 yards and a touchdown. He is also a former four-star prospect per the industry-generated, equally weighted On3 Consensus.
Listed at 5-foot-10 190 pounds, Lovett was the nation’s No. 290 overall prospect and No. 42 wide receiver in the 2021 class per the consensus. A product of East St. Louis High School, he was the No. 3 player in Illinois. He currently has an On3 NIL valuation of $137,000
Thomas and Lovett are Georgia’s first transfer additions this cycle and the first players from the portal since the 2021 offseason. Previous transfer portal pickups include Derion Kendrick (’21), Arik Gilbert (’21), Tykee Smith (’21), JT Daniels (’20), Tre’ McKitty (’20), Jamie Newman (’20), Lawerence Cager (’19) and Eli Wolf (’19).
“You’re always going to look, and people try to reach out once they go in the portal. It’s there,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said during a College Football Playoff press conference about the transfer portal and his program’s approach. “They have people on staff at Ohio State, and we’ve got people on our staff that are going to be constantly looking through there and watching tape, evaluating it. But the focus is on our team. It wouldn’t be fair to all the guys playing if you weren’t focused on your team.”
“You can’t put a ton of focus and attention to looking for kids in the portal and things like that,” he added. “For us, it’s really about who do we know? Who do we trust? Who do we think fits our culture? And find the right people. But our focus will be on ourselves.”
