Stats Crunch: The UGA Basketball Transfers

When Mike White starts his second season as the men's basketball head coach for the Georgia Bulldogs, he will have several new players. Some of the players are coming in the traditional way as true freshmen. However, FIVE wll be coming in as transfers. The five come to Athens with a wide range of size and skill. They also have some stats that Dawg fans should know about.

RJ Melendez is a 6-7 wing player who played his last two seasons with Illinois. Melendez averaged six points and 3.5 rebounds last season. He scored ten or more points in eight contests last season and on February 20, he had his first career double-double. He was both a starter and a player off the bench for the Fighting Illini last season and his stats were different depending on the role.

Jalen DeLoach is a 6-9 forward who played his last two seasons with Virginia Commonwealth. The big guy was named Third-Team All-Atlantic 10 last season. He averaged 9.7 points and 6.9 rebounds this past season. His five double-doubles led VCU last season. He shot an incredible 56 percent from the field last season which almost matched his 59 percent shooting during his freshman campaign a season earlier. Here is a breakdown of how impressive his shooting has been.

You think DeLoach gets rebounds? His totals are nothing compared to future teammate Russel Tchewa. The Cameroon native is seven feet tall and weighs 280 pounds. He played his freshman season at Texas Tech before playing his last three seasons at South Florida. The center averaged 11.1 points per game last year. The former Bull also averaged 8.6 rebounds per game which was second in the Atlantic Athletic Conference. He was also tied for sixth in the AAC with six double-doubles. He had three double-doubles the season prior. To put that in perspective, Braelen Bridges led the Dawgs last season with four double-doubles. Tchewa didn't get a double-double on January 11, but he ended with 14 points and eight boards against the top ranked Houston Cougars on the road. The big guy got stronger as the season went along.

The duo of DeLoach and Tchewa combined for 491 total rebounds during the 2022-23 season. The top four Bulldog rebounders last season combined for a total of 514.

The latest UGA addition made his decision on Tuesday. Noah Thomasson is a 6-3 guard who played two seasons for Niagara and one at Houston Baptist. He was a member of the First Team All-MAAC last season. He led the conference averaging 19.5 points per game. His raw numbers last season were 604 points, 118 rebounds, and 108 assists. J.J. Frazier's totals in 2016-17 were the only time that a Georgia player had at least 600 points, 100 rebounds, and 100 assists in a season.

Thomasson shot an impressive 48 percent from the field last season and 39 percent from three-point range. He was 54-for-140 from beyond the arc including draining four three-pointers in eight separate occasions.

The former Purple Eagle also had 17 games last season with 20 or more points compared to just two games in which he scored less than ten. Yante Maten is the only Bulldog in the last 25 seasons to have 17 games with 20 or more points when he did it in 2017-18. How would 17 20-point games rank among the Dawgs in the last four seasons?

On Thursday, RJ Sunahara became the fifth transfer to join the Bulldogs. Sunahara is a 6-8 forward with many career accolades. His Nova Southeastern team won the NCAA Division II championship last season and Sunahara was named the NABC National Player of the Year. He averaged 18.9 points per game and notched 5.4 rebounds while dishing out 2.5 assists. He also added 1.7 steals and 1.6 blocks per contest. Sunahara shot 59.9 percent from the field this past season and 60.2 pecent for his career.

The level of competition is not the same as it is playing in the SEC, but these numbers are still very impressive. His total numbers of 642 points, 182 rebounds, 84 assists, 57 steals and 54 blocks are very rare accomplishments. For example, only eight players in the last 25 seasons in Division I basketball has put up 600+ points, 150+ rebounds, 50+ assists, 50+ steals and 50+ blocks in one season.

The 642 points that he scored last season would rank him the fourth highest in Georgia history behind two Dominique Wilkins' seasons and one by Jacky Dorsey.