Tyrin Lawrence entered the transfer portal in March after four years at Vanderbilt and is now close to home.
Lawrence, a former standout guard at Morgan County High School and for the Commodores, is now a graduate transfer at Georgia. He has made the most of his experience since arriving on campus in early June.
Before Lawrence chose the Bulldogs and third-year head coach Mike White, he acknowledged speaking with Jailyn Ingram, another former Morgan County basketball player who played two seasons in Athens.
“I had a lot of conversations with Jailyn,” Lawrence explained. “We went to the same high school, so I’ve known him for a while. A lot about the staff and the people here, so he had a number of good things to say.”
Lawrence appreciated the insight from Ingram on the program and White, who’s recruited him for a while.
Lawrence looks to help Georgia improve as White builds the program back up. The Bulldogs went 20-17 overall last season and reached the NIT semifinals, making it one of the team’s most successful years in recent memory.
“I like the vision they have here and wanting to get Georgia back on track. I’m excited to be on board,” Lawrence said. “I think we have all the components to be a good team. I think that we probably have a lot of stuff I’ve seen in my experience at Vandy, ranging from shot blockers to shot makers. I think we’ve got it all.”
Lawrence started every game at Vanderbilt last season, averaging 13.8 points and 5.1 rebounds. As a junior in 202223, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound shooting guard notched 13.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game.
Lawrence knows what it takes to be successful in the SEC, and his veteran presence can help. White will rely on Lawrence to potentially help the Bulldogs make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in nine years.
“We’re hopeful to see some late game production by Tyrin that we saw over the past few years competing against him and watching him in league games,” Georgia’s head coach said of Lawrence to reporters last month. “At times, he’s been really confident and had some big practices, but he’s still learning what we are doing.”
At Vanderbilt, Lawrence played on two teams that made the NIT but not the NCAA Tournament. However, Lawrence played a championship basketball pedigree at Morgan County under former head coach Jamond Sims.
White and the Dogs were runners-up in 2017 before winning a state championship in 2019 when he was named Class AAA’s All-State Player of the Year. He finished his high school career with more than 1,500 points.
White reflected on his time at Morgan County, saying it helped shape him into the player he is today.
“We got a good lineage of players that came through,” Lawrence said. “Tookie Brown, who went to Georgia Southern. Playing with those guys and learning from them has helped me get to where I am today.”
Lawrence has visited Madison a few times since moving to Athens. During the summer, the Morgan County boys’ basketball team attended a camp at UGA, and Lawrence spent time with the players afterward.
Lawrence and current head coach Cody Anderson took the team bowling.
“Coach Anderson, he’s very big on the point of us [alumni] coming back and mentoring the young guys he has now,” Lawrence said. “They came up here for a team camp, and I took them bowling. I just like to keep the relationship because I know I was one of those guys at one point.”
Georgia’s season is set to start on Nov. 4, and Lawrence hopes he can make an impact as a Bulldog this year.
“The first thing Coach White told me was that I was going to have the opportunity to play in a lot of ball games,” Lawrence said. “I’m ready to get started.”