It’s not very often one sees a Power 5 basketball program reach out to a veteran player from Division II unless that player has something special that sets him apart from the rest.

In former Nova Southeastern University standout RJ Sunahara, Georgia obviously sees something special.

At 6-foot-8 and 210 pounds, Sunahara is the reigning NABC Player of the Year after averaging 18.9 points, 5.4 rebounds in leading the Sharks to a perfect 36-0 record and the Division II national championship.

Sunahara has only been in the portal less than a week, but already has almost 20 offers, including ones from West Virginia, Georgia and Notre Dame.

“Coach (Erik) Pastrana actually texted me, or one of the other assistants sent me a direct message on Instagram,” Sunahara said in a telephone interview with UGASports. “So, I sent him my number and everything, and we just made a connection from there.”

Sunahara spoke to the Bulldogs on Sunday and said he’s planning a visit to Athens either "this week or next.”

Head coach Mike White has added three new players in transfers RJ Melendez (Illinois) and Jalen DeLoach (VCU), along with former Southern Cal commit Silas Demary Jr. All three have signed with the Bulldogs. Georgia has three scholarships for next year remaining.

Sunahara actually placed his name in the transfer portal last year but took it out, partly because he did not feel comfortable with the offers, but also because his goal of winning a national championship with Nova Southeastern had yet to be achieved.

“My whole goal, my whole time at Nova was I got to win a national championship. I felt like I owed that to the school. I mean, they, you know, they took a chance on me. They were the ones who recruited me, so I was like I, I got to try to get them one,” he said. “I entered the portal last year but didn't really get what I wanted out of it. And then I was like, you know what, I promised these guys that I'm gonna bring them a national championship because that was a personal goal of mine.”

Now that the goal has been accomplished, there’s another goal Sunahara wants to prove – that he can play on the Division I level.

“Yeah, I definitely want to prove that. I want to prove a lot,” Sunahara said. “I know I can play on the Division I level. I definitely want to prove to myself that I can do it on the highest level.”

The 22-year-old Sunahara said Georgia coaches appear quite serious about bringing him on board.

“It (the Zoom session) was good. They seem like they have a genuine interest in me, not only as a basketball player but as a person,” Sunahara said. “We definitely talked about setting myself up for life after basketball as well. They think I’m a winner, and they like that I’m an older guy who’s kind of been through. Winning a national championship helps, obviously, but that experience does, too.”

Sunahara said he plans on making three visits before deciding on his future college home. Georgia is one, and West Virginia – where his dad is the head volleyball coach with the Mountaineers – is another. Sunahara is not sure where his third visit will be.

“I mean, it’s definitely cool, you know, to be offered by the school that my dad’s at,” Sunahara said. “But I’m making this decision for me and my future, so that (his dad being at WVU) doesn’t really affect me.”

Although Georgia coaches spent much of Sunday’s Zoom inundating Sunahara with as much information as possible about Georgia, the player joked he’s already quite familiar with the Bulldogs.

Like thousands of others, Sunahara said he watched the national championship.

“Oh yeah, man. Domination … domination,” he said. “I know what they’re doing over there.”