Georgia baseball kept its recruiting momentum rolling Monday with another major addition, landing Oregon designated hitter Naulivou Lauaki Jr. after already bringing in the No. 2 player in the Transfer Portal earlier in the day.
Wes Johnson clearly wasn’t done after that first splash. He went back to work and added a bat that fits exactly what Georgia has leaned on all season: power.
Lauaki hit .321 with 14 home runs in 2026, and the way those balls came off his bat is a big part of the appeal. Many of them were the kind of no-doubt shots that would have cleared the fence in any park in the country. For a Georgia team that rode its offense all the way to SEC regular season and tournament championships, that kind of thunder matters.
There’s been some talk that the Bulldogs’ home run-heavy approach hurt them at the College World Series, but that same style is also what carried them that far in the first place. Johnson seems intent on sticking with what made Georgia dangerous and simply adding more of it.
And Lauaki brings more than pop. He’s listed at 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds, a rare physical presence for a baseball player. That size is the kind of thing that can make people around Georgia think of Kirby Smart’s football program, too.
Could he have been a tight end? On paper, maybe.
In reality, that isn’t happening. Even if Lauaki had football chops, Johnson would have no reason to let him risk an injury by crossing over.
Georgia’s tight end room is already one of the best in the country anyway.
For now, Lauaki is set to be another big-name piece for the Diamond Dawgs, who have the fan base fully locked in after their run this spring. If Johnson keeps stacking transfers like this, Georgia could be even better next season.
In Other News...
Georgia Faces Familiar Pressure In Another Crucial Recruiting Battle
Georgias recruiting momentum has picked up in recent weeks, but the class still sits outside the top 10, which is not the standard Kirby Smarts program has set for itself. There has been enough movement to feel better about where things are headed, yet Georgia also knows how quickly the race can change when it comes to elite prospects and how often the Bulldogs have had to battle down to the finish for the players they want most.
One of those battles is coming soon with four-star linebacker Brayton Feister, who is set to announce his commitment on July 11. Georgia remains in the mix after hosting him on an official visit this summer, but the process has already produced the familiar mix of optimism and anxiety that comes with a high-level recruiting chase, especially when the Bulldogs have also seen other top targets end up elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
Georgia Faces A Choice That Could Define What College Football Becomes
College football keeps drifting toward the same polished, revenue-friendly answer, and Georgia has been part of that shift. Recent years have already seen the Bulldogs move away from some non-conference home-and-home arrangements, a change that tracks with the wider sport as more programs trade true road trips and return games for neutral-site dates and the financial upside that comes with them.
What makes this moment matter for Georgia is what still remains on the calendar: a future home-and-home with Ohio State that stands as a reminder of what fans say they want more of, not less. With more of these discussions expected around the sport, including chatter about other major series, the Bulldogs are facing a choice that reaches beyond one scheduling decision and into the larger question of what college football is supposed to be. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M Is Becoming A Recruiting Problem Georgia Can't Ignore
Texas A&M has spent enough time on Georgias radar for the wrong reasons now. The Aggies sit atop the national recruiting board with a class loaded with elite talent, and the haul is starting to look less like a hot streak and more like a statement. For a Georgia program that has long measured itself against the SECs usual powers, the shift matters because A&M is no longer just another league opponent. It is a team pulling in enough star power to compete for the same high-end prospects the Bulldogs have built around.
Georgias own 2027 class is still lagging outside the top 10, which only sharpens the pressure to get moving. The Bulldogs have work to do on the trail, and the comparison with A&M is becoming harder to ignore as the Aggies keep stacking premium commitments. Even in a conference where the margin for error is thin, recruiting can redraw the hierarchy quickly, and Georgia now has to treat Texas A&M like a program capable of doing exactly that. [Read more 🡒]