Georgia basketball players K.D. Johnson, Andrew Garcia enter NCAA transfer portal

The madness of the NCAA transfer portal continued on Tuesday with Georgia’s Andrew Garcia and K.D. Johnson among 17 players announcing their intent to transfer in the last 24 hours.

The number of players in the Division I basketball portal has reached 1,578.

The Bulldogs have added six incoming transfers, most recently adding hot-shooting guard Kario Oquendo.

Oquendo, a 6-foot-4 transfer from Florida Southwestern State, shot 51.3 percent from 3-point range in conference play last season. He averaged 13.5 points per game.

The Bulldogs have had eight players transfer out, including guard Sahvir Wheeler.

UGA athletic director Josh Brooks said it’s up to Georgia to make the most of the landscape.

“We’ve taken some hits in our basketball program, and so have others,”Brooks said. “We’ve got a coach who has got a history of developing players who have moved on to the NBA, we know his lineage, we have to take advantage of that.”

Johnson was a freshman who played in 16 games for UGA last season, averaging 13.5 points in the 22.5 minutes he played per game coming off the bench. Johnson shot 38.7 percent from the floor.

“Given the standards and expectations of Georgia Basketball, we whole-heartedly agree with K.D.’s desire to seek a new program,” UGA coach Tom Crean said in a release. “We certainly wish him the best and really hope he finds success in all areas moving forward.”

Garcia was a 6-foot-6 graduate transfer who averaged 8.7 points and 4 rebounds. Garcia, from Stony Brook, played as an undersized power forward in the paint.

• Kario Oquendo (Florida Southwestern, 6-4, 194)

• Jabri Abdur-Harim (Virginia) 6-7, 215

• Noah Baumann (Southern Cal) 6-6, 215

• Braelen Bridges (Illinois-Chicago), 6-10, 235

• Jailyn Ingram (Florida Atlantic), 6-7, 215

• Dalen Ridgnal (Cowley College), 6-6, 200