LSU football is notably returning 19 of 22 starters from a season ago, but one much-hyped player who is not in that number: Arik Gilbert.
The highly touted tight end arrived in Baton Rouge and made an instant impact as a freshman with the Tigers, but opted out midseason amid reports he was homesick and eventually entered the transfer portal.
Georgia football coach Kirby Smart said this week at SEC Media Days that the team wasn't chasing the tight end before he chose the Bulldogs in his home state of Georgia.
"There wasn’t a lot of communication there," Smart said, noting that Gilbert had committed to Florida at one point, and it was possible he'd decide on a return to Baton Rouge, before the young playmaker landed in Athens.
Due to NCAA transfer rule changes spurred by the coronavirus pandemic, Gilbert is able to play at Georgia immediately.
The 6-5, 248-pound Gilbert caught 35 passes for 368 yards and a pair of touchdowns across 8 games for the Tigers, the final of which was a blowout loss to Alabama. He was one of the many Tigers stars to opt out for some or all of the 2020 season, including wide receivers Terrace Marshall and Ja'Marr Chase, both of whom went early in the recent NFL Draft.
"I learned a long time ago that I can’t control the decisions of 18, 19-year-olds," Smart said. "So we just told him he has an opportunity here, if he’s interested let us know. And it wasn’t a constant pursuit and not something we consumed ourselves with.”
One wrinkle for Gilbert: He's listed on the Bulldogs' official roster as a wide receiver. That could be due, at least in part, to Georgia's crowded tight end room. The team lists seven players at the position, but with little production to show. Those players combined for just 18 catches, 173 yards and 1 touchdown in the 2020 season.
Gilbert isn't alone as a top freshman hopping from LSU to another SEC school. Quarterback TJ Finley, who threw many of those passes in Gilbert's direction with the Tigers, entered the transfer portal after LSU's spring game and chose Auburn as his destination.
