ATHENS, Ga. — Freddie Dilione V, Penn State’s leading scorer both overall and in Big Ten play last season, has signed to join the Georgia Bulldogs for his senior season in 2026-27, head coach Mike White announced on Thursday.
A 6-5, 195-pound guard from Fayetteville, N.C., Dilione (pronounced dill-ee-on) averaged 14.0 points overall and 14.1 points in league action for the Nittany Lions last season. He also played for Penn State as a sophomore after spending his freshman year at Tennessee. All told, Dilione has started 43 of 81 games played during his college career, scoring 769 points (9.5 ppg), grabbing 199 rebounds (2.5 rpg), dishing out 137 assists (1.7 apg) and collecting 72 steals (0.9 spg).
Dilione was tabbed as one of the nation’s top-50 prospects our of Word of God Christian Academy, where he averaged 25.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists as a junior during the 2021-22 season. He graduated early and reclassified to join Tennessee as a freshman in January of 2022 and redshirting while practicing and traveling with the Vols’ Sweet 16 team. Because he reclassified, Dilione was ranked in different graduating groups by different scouting services. On3.com and 247Sports.com tabbed him as the No. 43 and No. 46 prospect, respectively, in the Class of 2022, while ESPN.com listed him as the No. 38 recruit in the Class of 2023.
Dilione played in 18 games for Tennessee during the 2023-24 season, averaging 1.7 points and 0.8 assists per game. His role increased significantly as soon as he arrived in Happy Valley. Dilione started 28 of 31 games played as a sophomore, contributing 9.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 24.6 minutes of playing time per game. Those contributions increased again last season as Dilione not only led the Nittany Lions offensively but also in 3-pointers (1.3 3FGs pg) and ranked second in steals (1.2 spg) and third in assists (2.2 apg).
The addition of Dilione gives Georgia eight players on its 2026-27 roster.
The Bulldogs will welcome back six returnees, including 80 percent of its starting lineup in:
• Blue Cain, a 6-5, 195-pound rising senior guard from Knoxville, Tenn., who became Georgia’s 49th 1,000-point scorer – but first since 2017 – in the regular-season finale and is currently the Bulldogs’ career record holder for best free throw percentage (.846).
• Kanon Catchings, a 6-9, 220-pound rising junior forward from Brownsburg, Ind., who was the Bulldogs’ second-leading scorer in SEC play at 13.7 points per game and was named SEC Player of the Week on March 9 after averaging 27.5 points in key late-season wins over No. 16 Alabama and Mississippi State to lock up an NCAA Tournament bid.
• Marcus “Smurf” Millender, a 5-11, 175-pound rising senior guard from Houston Texas, who led the Bulldogs in assists and became the ninth player in school history with 100 assists and 50 3-pointers in the same season.
• Kareem Stagg, a 6-8, 230-pound rising sophomore forward from Chesapeake, Va., who emerged as a starter and key contributor during Georgia’s late-season surge to earn an NCAA bid by averaging 6.9 points per game over the final 10 contests of the season.
In addition, Georgia has signed one prep prospect:
• David Ugonna Ike, a 7-0, 235-pound post player from Owerri, Nigeria, who has prepped at the NBA Academy Africa in Senegal. Earlier this year, Ike averaged 24.3 points and 12.3 rebounds while helping NBA Academy Africa compile a 3-0 record at the Advance Global Cup, a tournament featuring 10 teams from five continents and eight countries contested in Malaga, Spain.
Georgia is coming off an impressive season that included a school-record 22 regular-season. The Bulldogs also broke school scoring records for both total points (2,951) and scoring average (89.4 ppg). Georgia recorded its third straight 20-win campaign and earned its second consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. In addition, the Bulldogs finished ranked among the NCAA’s top-5 teams in four stats, leading the nation in both fastbreak points (19.8 ppg) and ranking No. 3 in blocked shots (6.0 bpg), No. 5 in scoring offense (89.4 ppg) and No. 5 in bench points (34.7 ppg).