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Brock Bowers leads Bulldog All-Americans
Georgia junior tight end Brock Bowers earned unanimous consensus All-America honors for the first time and became just the third Bulldog in school history to be a three-time First Team All-American, according to announcements over the last week.
Bowers, who is the first two-time winner of the Mackey Award (2022-23), joins David Pollack (2002-04) and Herschel Walker (1980-82) as the school’s only three-time First Team All-Americans to headline Georgia’s group of 2023 All-Americans.
Bowers was named a First Team All-American by Walter Camp, Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), AP, American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Sporting News and The Athletic.
Sophomore safety Malaki Starks was also a consensus All-American after garnering First Team honors from Walter Camp, FWAA, AP, AFCA, CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated and ESPN and was a Sporting News and The Athletic Second Team selection.
The five All-teams that are used to determine consensus All-America are revealed in the following five teams: Walter Camp, FWAA, AP, AFCA and Sporting News.
Also, junior center Sedrick Van Pran was a Sports Illustrated and ESPN First Team selection and on the Second Team for Walter Camp, FWAA, AP, AFCA, Sporting News, The Athletic and CBS Sports.
Several other Bulldogs earned All-America honors as well. Junior guard Tate Ratledge was included on the AP Second Team and senior defensive back Tykee Smith was included on the CBS Sports Second Team. Redshirt freshman offensive tackle Earnest Greene III was named to The Athletic’s Freshman All-America Team and first-year place-kicker Peyton Woodring was named to the 24/7 True Freshman All-America Team.
No. 6 Georgia (12-1) continues the 2023 postseason at the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium versus No. 5 Florida State (13-0) on Dec. 30. ESPN will televise the matchup at 4 p.m.
2023 Bulldog All-Americans
Walter Camp: First Team – Brock Bowers, Malaki Starks; Second Team – Sedrick Van Pran
Football Writers Association of America (FWAA): First Team – Brock Bowers, Malaki Starks; Second Team – Sedrick Van Pran
AP: First Team – Brock Bowers, Malaki Starks; Second Team – Tate Ratledge, Sedrick Van Pran
AFCA: First Team – Brock Bowers, Malaki Starks; Second Team – Sedrick Van Pran
Sporting News: First Team – Brock Bowers; Second Team – Sedrick Van Pran, Malaki Starks
The Athletic: First Team – Brock Bowers; Second Team – Malaki Starks, Sedrick Van Pran; Freshman All-America First Team – Earnest Greene III
CBS Sports: First Team – Brock Bowers, Malaki Starks; Second Team – Tykee Smith, Sedrick Van Pran
Sports Illustrated: First Team – Brock Bowers, Malaki Starks, Sedrick Van Pran
ESPN: First Team – Brock Bowers, Malaki Starks, Sedrick Van Pran
24/7: True Freshmen All-America Team – Peyton Woodring
WBB: Georgia hosts Georgia Tech on Saturday in the first game of a doubleheader featuring UGA men’s and women’s teams
Game Information
Georgia (7-2) vs. Georgia Tech (7-3)
Saturday || 1:30 p.m. || Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) || Athens, Ga. || SEC Network +
TV: SEC Network+ (Matt Stewart and Anne Marie Armstrong
Listen: Jeff Dantzler (GeorgiaDogs.com, 960 AM The Ref or 103.7 FM)
Opening Tip
» Georgia hosts Georgia Tech on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the first game of a doubleheader with the Georgia men’s basketball team.
» This is the 46th all-time meeting between the Lady Bulldogs and the Yellow Jackets. Georgia has won six of the last 10 meetings and leads the series, 37-8.
» Georgia’s bench is averaging 30.1 points per game, good for second in the SEC. The Lady Bulldogs are averaging 15.3 rebounds per game, ranking third in the conference.
» The Lady Bulldogs rank fourth in the SEC in steals with 10 per game. Georgia also ranks fourth in assist-turnover ratio at 2.38.
» Fifth-year forward Javyn Nicholson has scored in double figures in every game this season and averages nearly a double-double of 15.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
» Redshirt-freshman guard Stefanie Ingram is coming off the best game of her career with 12 points, two rebounds, steals and assists against Troy. This is the second consecutive game Ingram set a career high in scoring. She is shooting 67 percent over her last two games.
» Georgia is in its second season under the leadership of Coach ABE. ABE’s successful first year included a NCAA tournament appearance, 22 wins, and a fifth-place finish in the final SEC standings.
» The Lady Bulldogs were the only SEC squad to not have a single player enter the transfer portal this past offseason.
» Coach ABE’s teams have won 20 or more games in 11-straight seasons, while her 12 NCAA tournament appearances rank third among active SEC coaches, only behind Kim Mulkey (LSU) and Dawn Staley (South Carolina).
» Georgia is in search of its 37th NCAA tournament appearance this season. The Lady Bulldogs’ 36 trips are tied for the second most among all programs.
» Georgia is one of three programs nationwide, joining Wisconsin Green Bay and Tennessee, to never have a losing record in a season.
Season Notebook
Chloe’s Career Day
Georgia guard Chloe Chapman played the best game of her career in the team’s win against Columbia. She scored a career-best 15 points and knocked in a career-high three 3-pointers in the win. Prior to the Columbia game, Chapman had not hit more than one 3-pointer in a game in her career. She also hit a pair of 3’s against Furman and finished with 10 points and 10 boards against the Paladins.
Zo’s Production Increases
Zoesha Smith has seen increased production this season. She has scored in double figures in six games after totaling just seven double-figure scoring contests in her previous three seasons combined. Smith has earned her way back into the starting five over the last five games, setting a new career high with 37 minutes played.
Four Top-100 the Most Since 2017
Georgia has already signed four top-100 players in the 2024 class. Indya and Summer Davis — twin sisters from Farmington Hills, Michigan — along with Mia Woolfolk (Midlothian, Virginia) and Trinity Turner (Orlando, Fla.) signed with the Lady Bulldogs earlier this week. All four players are four star prospects and ranked in the top-100 nationally, marking the first time since 2017 the program has signed four top-100 players.
Familiar Face, New Name
Jordan Cole returned for her fifth year in the red and black. Formerly Jordan Isaacs, she changed her legal last name to Cole after her stepfather, Brian Cole, adopted her on Oct. 4, 2023.
“I’ve created an identity behind the last name Isaacs, who I am on the court and off the court and just me as a person. It’s very safe and familiar,” said Jordan, who started 25 games last season. “I hate to see it go, because it is a part of me, who I became and who I’m going to become, but I definitely think this is the next big step in my life. It’s going to open new doors for me, it’s going to help me put myself out there. Me and the coaching staff … we made a joke that this is just a new version of me, like a new player, new person. There’s nothing wrong with Jordan Isaacs, but there’s always room for growth.”
Talented Transfers Boost Roster
Georgia welcomed a trio of transfers to this year’s roster in Asia Avinger (San Diego State), Taniyah Thompson (Penn State) and Destiny Thomas (UCF). Avinger was an All-Mountain West Team selection as one of just three players nationwide to average over 11 points, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game while shooting at least 45 percent from the field. Thompson was a first-team All-American Athletic Conference performer at East Carolina, before transferring to Penn State. She finished second in The American in scoring with 18.5 ppg during the 2021-22 season. Thomas averaged a double-double and led UCF in both scoring and rebounding last year. She averaged an impressive 11 boards per contest, including a school-record 24-rebound effort, to lead the Knights.
Thomas Sets Rebounding Marks
Destiny Thomas led the Knights in points, rebounds, blocks, and steals a season ago. She brought down double-digit rebounds in 18 games and 15 or more boards seven times. Thomas tied the UCF record with 24 rebounds in a game against Seton Hall, as she finished second nationally with 5.0 offensive rebounds per contest. In 36 career starts, Thomas has recorded double-digit rebound totals 13 times – a near 40 percent average.
Avinger Does It All
Asia Avinger, who transferred from San Diego State, was one of just three players nationally to average 11.0 points, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals while shooting at least 45 percent from the field. Avinger went to SDSU as the No. 16-ranked point guard in the class of 2020, earning her the honor of Preseason Mountain West Freshman of the Year. She led all conference freshmen in both scoring and assists with 12.9 points and 3.0 dimes per game, earning her a spot on the All-Freshman Team, before she put together an impressive sophomore campaign.
First Verse
Georgia welcomes one true freshman this year in Arizona product Miyah Verse. A member of ESPN’s Super 60 as one of the top 60 prospects nationally, Verse prepped at national powerhouse Arizona Elite Prep and Mountain Ridge High in Peoria, Ariz.
Verse was also a track star in high school, earning the state title in the discus throw. Her brother Jared is a defensive lineman on the Florida State football team.
Stealing the Show
Georgia led the SEC in steals last season with 10.5 per game. It marked the 10th time in the last 13 years that Coach ABE’s teams have led their respective conference in steals. It was also the first occasion since the 2005-06 season – a span of 17 years – that Georgia led the SEC in steals.
Before taking the head coaching job at Georgia, Coach ABE’s UCF squad led the nation in scoring defense for two straight years from 2020-22.
Daijun Edwards Photo Gallery
Watch a fullscreen slideshow HERE.
Twenty-five UGA athletes to receive their degrees today
The undergraduate ceremony begins at 10 a.m. and the graduate ceremony begins at 2 p.m. in Stegeman Coliseum.
The following student-athletes are scheduled for graduation:
Baseball
Nolan Crisp (Advertising; Locust Grove, Ga.), Josh Stinson (Mechanical Engineering; Lawrenceville, Ga.)
Equestrian
Megan Seidel (Master of Natural Resources; Birmingham, Ala.)
Football
Austin Blaske (History; Faulkville, Ga.), Warren Brinson (Housing of Management & Policy; Savannah, Ga.), Sevaughn Clark (Housing Management & Policy; Dawsonville, Ga.), Graham Collins (Economics; Atlanta, Ga.), Daniel Jackson (Agribusiness; Gainesville, Ga.), Collin Lark (Management; Dallas, Texas), Zion Logue (Sociology; Lebanon, Texas), David Marshall (Housing Management & Policy; Thomaston, Ga.), Kendall Milton (Consumer Economics; Fresno, Calif.), Micah Morris (Sociology; Kingsland, Ga.), Drew Sheehan (Sport Management; Woodstock, Ga.), Brock Vandagriff (Communication Studies; Bogart, Ga.)
Soccer
Lizzie Ammon (Art; Aldie, Va.), Nicole Vernis (Psychology; North Palm Beach, Fla.)
Softball
Sydney Kuma (Sport Management; Fresno, Calif.)
Women’s Swimming and Diving
Callie Dickinson (Master of Science; Virginia Beach, Va.)
Men’s Swimming and Diving
Riley Scruggs (Mechanical Engineering; Newnan, Ga.)
Women’s Tennis
Anna Hertel (Entertainment & Media Studies; Warsaw, Poland)
Men’s Track and Field
John-Isaac Autry (Advertising; Augusta, Ga.), Darius Carbin (Master of Science; San Jose, Calif.), Alencar Pererira (Cognitive Science; Sao Jose do Rio Preto, Brazil)
Volleyball
Mallory Downing (Real Estate; Winter Park, Fla.)
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