Georgia lands 7-foot center Russel Tchewa from USF

Finding a center with some size was one of Mike White’s goals when scouring the transfer portal to finalize Georgia’s roster for 2023-24.

He found it in former South Florida big man Russel Tchewa.

At 7-foot and 280 pounds, Tchewa averaged 11.1 points and 8.6 rebounds last year for South Florida after beginning his career at Texas Tech.

A graduate transfer, Tchewa will have one year of eligibility remaining. He chose the Bulldogs over TCU, Georgetown, UCF, and South Florida.

The native of Cameroon becomes the third transfer to join the Bulldogs, who earlier added 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 remaining for next year, two after Tchewa signs.

Tchewa appeared in 81 games, with 59 starts, over three seasons with the Bulls. During that time, he averaged 7.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and made 52.8 percent of his shot attempts.

He became a fixture in the starting lineup during the 2021-22 season. Tchewa led the team in total rebounds (166) and offensive boards (61) and averaged 25.1 minutes, 8.0 points, and 5.7 rebounds per game. Improving as the season continued, he scored in double figures 11 times, including eight of the last 12 games and five of the last six. Tchewa averaged 11.6 points and 7.0 rebounds over the final nine games of that season.

A native of Cameroon, Tchewa posted his best numbers this season when he averaged 31.4 minutes, 11.1 points, and 8.6 rebounds, and made 60.6 percent of his shot attempts, improving from 47.1 percent the year before.

He had nine career double-doubles, six of which came during a 12-game stretch from early January to early February this season.

More to come.