Julian Humphrey reverses course, says he's returning to Georgia in 2024
Georgia cornerback Julian Humphrey has changed his mind on entering the NCAA’s student-athlete transfer portal. The former four-star cornerback tells DawgsHQ that he will be returning to Athens for the 2024 season.
“I took that into consideration a lot,” Humphrey told DawgsHQ in an exclusive interview, speaking specifically on UGA’s continued pursuit. “I know with a great year at Georgia, I can get to the NFL. The more I thought about this, why would I leave Georgia for a couple more bucks? I want to be there, it is Georgia and that is one of the top premier programs in the country.“
“Pretty much every team in country reaching out,” Humphrey continued. “Blowing up my phone, saying this, and saying… It’s just really when I think about Georgia, it really is a prestigious school. It’s like a top, top school. I felt like, in the end, why leave that and go somewhere else.
Humphrey announced Tuesday night, through On3’s Hayes Fawcett, that he would be entering the transfer portal. He never actually went through with it and his name did not get entered in. Less than 24 hours later, he has elected to abandon those plans all together.
The Texas native saw action in nine of Georgia’s 14 games this season, tallying a total of 168 snaps. Most of those snaps, especially early in the season, were in mop-up duty. He did, however, see 47 snaps in the Bulldogs 30-21 win over Missouri in early November.
That game saw UGA insert Humphrey at cornerback opposite of Daylen Everette and move star cornerback Kamari Lassiter to STAR/nickel where he could matchup with Missouri wideout Luther Burden.
“I got the feeling going into Missouri, we had a new package,” Humphrey said. “Moving Kamari to Star and we played our best three on their best three, I was ready for that challenge. I am ready again to get some targets and play for us.”
Humphrey saw meaningful minutes the following week as Georgia obliterated Ole Miss in Athens, but he was hurt early in that game. He suffered an upper-body injury while trying to tackle Jackson Dart and missed the rest of the season.
It looked as if the Bulldogs might get him back for the Capital One Orange Bowl matchup with Florida State on December 30. Humphrey practiced with Georgia in Athens and in Miami, albeit in a black non-contact jersey. He saw out that game and Daniel Harris shared snaps with Everette at the field cornerback spot while Lassiter played his final game in a UGA uniform.
Now the plan is to spend the next few weeks getting completely healthy. Humphrey will take part in winter workouts and then in Georgia spring drills, where he began making his move last season. He’ll do that with one goal in mind.
“I have a huge opportunity at Georgia and I want to be CB1 and I want to lead the younger guys for us,” Humphrey said.
