Sedrick Van Pran bids farewell to Georgia football
Sedrick Van Pran is saying farewell to the Georgia football program. The three-year starter and two-time team captain penned a thoughtful farewell to Bulldog nation and posted it on Instagram on Wednesday. While the post is an indication that he will do as expected and enter the 2024 NFL Draft, Van Pran has yet to come out and declare that specifically.
“To the University of Georgia, Thank you! You have given a kid from New Orleans a chance to live his dreams,” Van Pran said on Instagram. I can not tell you how much this university will forever mean to me. My brothers who I have played with, we have been through so much! Thank you all for always having my back and being family. To my coaches I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to grow, I was never perfect but I was given the room to become a better man and person! To my family and friends, thank you for the love and amazing support. There have been many days that you all have helped me get through. Finally, to God… you are the reason I am here. I owe you everything! Through the ups and downs you have been there and pushed me to become better. I am so grateful for you! I can’t wait to see what your next steps for me are! #Willock77“
Van Pran signed with the Bulldogs in the 2020 class and enrolled at Georgia during the summer before that COVID-impacted season. He appeared in just one game as a true freshman, UGA’s blowout of Missouri, but did not lose a year due to the NCAA’s decision to not count that season against the eligibility of any player in any sport.
When spring of 2021 rolled around, Van Pran battled Warren Ericson for the starting job at center, a competition that lasted into preseason camp. When Ericson suffered a broken snapping hand during camp, Van Pran was inserted as the starter and never looked back.
He snapped the football for Stetson Bennett and JT Daniels that entire season as Georgia broke a 41-year drought and beat Alabama in the National Championship game by a score of 33-18. The 2022 season saw him do the same thing again, starting all 15 games and helping lead the Bulldogs to a second title in as many seasons. That 2022 campaign also saw UGA win an SEC Championship.
After strongly considering entering the 2023 NFL Draft and even leaning heavily toward leaving at different points, Van Pran decided to come back and help Georgia make a run at a three-peat. He maintained his role as a starter and look-to leader but the Bulldogs saw their SEC-record 29-game win streak snapped by Alabama in the SEC Championship game.
As a prospect Van Pran was rated as a four-star and finished the 2020 cycle as the No. 81 overall player in America per the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average of all four recruiting services. He was the nation’s No. 1 interior offensive lineman and the No. 3 prospect in Louisiana.
