With six scholarships to give, Georgia basketball coach Mike White dipped into the transfer portal Monday with former Illinois wing player R.J. Melendez announcing he would be joining the Bulldogs.

His announcement comes after visiting Athens over the weekend.

Melendez (6-foot-7, 205 pounds) started 18 games for the Illini this past season, including the first 10 games of the season, and averaged 6.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

He’ll have two years of eligibility remaining.

“It feels really good to be a part of the program,” Melendez said Monday morning in a telephone interview with UGASports. “I’m excited to get there and start working.”

A native of Puerto Rico, Melendez signed with Illinois in the class of 2021 out of Central Pointe Christian Academy in Florida. Rivals.com ranked him No. 120 overall nationally and the No. 26 small forward.

Melendez, who battled a shoulder injury for much of the year, struggled with his outside shot this season, making just 24-of-91 shots from beyond the arc. Still, he was considered a key piece to the roster in 2023-24 before putting his name in the portal.

The Bulldogs are glad he did.

White had previously recruited Melendez, as Florida was one of the finalists for Melendez before choosing Illinois. In fact, White made Melendez his first Power 5 offer out of high school. Georgia assistant Erik Pastrana, formerly at Oklahoma State, was his second.

“Both of them uniting at Georgia, the fact they’re still believing in me and my abilities, what I can do and how I can impact the team and help Georgia just gave me a lot of confidence,” Melendez said. “Them thinking I will be a great fit on the team, and style of play, just helped out a lot. They stayed consistent and kept talking to me throughout the whole process.”

During his visit to Athens, Melendez attended Saturday’s G-Day game and talked about getting the see Boom, the new Uga XI, take the mantle from Uga X.

“That was cool, it was a great experience to watch that,” said Melendez, who already knew one player on Georgia’s current team before he arrived.

“I knew Frankie (Frank Anselem) but got to meet Jabri (Abdur-Rahim), and a couple of other guys,” Melendez said. “They’re all great guys and they all want to win. That’s why we’re here.”