The Georgia Bulldogs may not have originally landed five-star tight end Arik Gilbert out of high school, but they didn’t fail to snag the 2019 Georgia Gatorade High School Player of the Year after he made the decision to leave LSU.
Gilbert spoke to recruiting analyst Rusty Mansell of 247Sports on Tuesday about his decision.
“Coming home, I believe it was a smart decision to come home. I wanted to be with and near my family,” Gilbert told Mansell. “I have been missing all of family and now both of my Grandmothers will be able see me play in person too.”
Homesickness was cited as a reason as to why Gilbert left the team during the 2020 season, so it makes sense that he would want to head back to Georgia to finish out his college football career.
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BREAKING: #UGA lands #LSU transfer Arik Gilbert. The former Gatorade player on the year tells me, he is ‘coming home’ and this was a ‘family decision’ in this exclusive interview on @Dawgs247.
Gilbert talks about playing WR in Athens and much more here.https://t.co/zygwygNeBP pic.twitter.com/iPahbbJi1N— Rusty Mansell (@Mansell247) June 1, 2021
The position he’ll play with the Bulldogs has been a subject of conversation, though the 6-foot-5, 245-pounder was originally labeled as a tight end coming out of high school.
“Being brought in to play wide receiver, I definitely think I can help the team win,” he said. “Nothing is going to be given to me, so I am ready to get there and get to work with the team.”
Gilbert may not have been in Baton Rouge long, but did express gratitude for the LSU fan base in his interview with Mansell.
“Thank you all the fans and all the support from LSU, I had a good time while I was there,” he said.
Gilbert was an important piece of the LSU offense as a true freshman, reeling in 35 catches for 368 yards and 2 TDs before opting out on Dec. 9.
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