Amid 3 transfer portal exits, Georgia has a clear favorite to rally around in 2026-27

For as brutally bad as it has been for Georgia of late with regards to the transfer portal, at least Dawg Nation finally got some good news. While Dylan James, Jeremiah Wilkinson, and Somto Cyril have all announced their intentions of hitting the transfer portal, Marcus Millender will be back for at least one more season. The junior guard from Texas will be sticking out the rest of his college career in Athens.

Georgia Basketball sent this message out on X Tuesday to let it be known that Smurf is here to stay!

In his first season with Georgia, Millender averaged 12.0 points and 4.0 assists per game for the Dawgs. He played a huge part in them winning 22 games and making the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons. Millender originally served as the team's sixth man before trading places with Wilkinson in the latter part of SEC play. Frankly, the team played better when he was starting for UGA.

Now that Millender is officially going to be back with the Dawgs next fall, what does it mean for them?

Marcus Millender is now the new leader for next season's Georgia team

While it remains to be seen what other key contributors off last year's team are going to do in the form of Blue Cain in the backcourt and Kanon Catchings out on the wing, Millender is here, and that is fantastic for Georgia. He got better as the season went along. His role become more defined and then it was elevated. In a way, his ascension largely marginalized Wilkinson. No wonder he is leaving...

Although it would have been amazing for them to co-exist for another season at the helm, it was just not meant to be. What this means for Mike White and his team moving forward is the Dawgs have a real foxhole guy in Millender. At the first sign of adversity, Wilkinson bailed. Cyril might be getting a massive NIL offer elsewhere, so can we really blame him? Maybe, but that is not the point in all of this.

If the guys who choose to stay after being part of last year's team really come together, Georgia might finally get that NCAA Tournament win monkey off their back. It has been over two decades since UGA last won in March Madness. If the Dawgs are going to be able to do that, Millender is going to have to take his game up a level. If he can do that, Georgia fans may idolize him even more so now.

Though he cannot do it all by himself, having Millender back for one more season is a huge positive.