ATHENS — When Oregon transfer Naulivou Lauaki Jr. entered the portal, Georgia knew it wanted to land the powerful slugger. To help make it happen, the Bulldogs turned to an unlikely recruiting tool: football.

After doing some homework, the team found out Lauaki’s Guardian parents are huge Georgia fans. His mother, Kate, is a Brunswick native.

So ahead of his official visit, Georgia made a few calls and set Lauaki and company up to meet with UGA football coach Kirby Smart.

“She was breaking down the schedule and was like, ‘We’ve got to meet Coach Smart.’ (Kate) started freaking out in the back, and I was just laughing. I didn’t know I was going to meet him, but I thought it was awesome,” Lauaki said. “He’s a great guy.”

Lauaki said he and Smart hit it off fairly quickly because of the connections both had to football players back at Oregon.

“Yeah, he had a bunch of connections with the Raiola’s, Bear Alexander … those are my brothers," Lauaki said. “So, we connected the dots there. It’s a small world.”

After a few autographs and pictures with Smart later, Lauaki knew this was the right fit for him. Just for baseball, that is.

Standing in at 6-foot-5, 267 pounds, Lauaki is an athletic specimen that could easily be playing on Georgia’s defensive line instead of manning third or first base.

“They said something about it, and Coach (Brock) Bennett shut it down right away,” Lauaki said. “I thought it was hilarious.”

Georgia baseball coach Wes Johnson has expressed his appreciation for Smart’s willingness to pinch hit in whatever capacity, not just in football.

“You guys have heard me sing his praises when it comes to recruiting and how he wants the University of Georgia not to just be great at football but to be great at everything,” Johnson said. “And that’s man, like I said, you’re not going to find that at a lot of places. And so he was huge.”

There were plenty of good selling points that convinced Lauaki to commit on June 29 from a baseball standpoint. He said Georgia’s resume “checked all the boxes,” including the coaching staff allowing a charismatic player like Lauaki to be himself at all times.

For Lauaki, that includes proudly embracing his Tongan heritage.

“I have a lot of people that are looking up to me right now,” Lauaki said. “...I don’t even know if there’s been a Tongan player in the SEC for baseball. So that’s super cool. I’m super grateful for it, and I like to embrace my Tongan culture, especially playing at this level.”

Hitting home runs at Foley Field is a good seller too.

“Playing at Foley Field for my draft stock would be tremendous for it, and you know they coach home runs and that’s kind of my game,” Lauaki said. “I want to hit as many home runs as I can.”

The Springville, Utah, native was one of Oregon’s top sluggers last season.

Across 41 games, Lauaki hit .321 with seven doubles, 14 home runs, 37 RBIs, slugging .687, a team-best 1.057 OPS. He earned a spot on the Big Ten’s all-freshman team.

Since arriving in Athens, Lauaki is proving he is not just a home run-or-bust hitter.

“I thought he was just going up there trying to get homers. But he’s actually got an approach. He’s driving balls backside, he’s working on something every round, he’s just an all-around hitter,” Georgia outfielder Cole Johnson said. “He’s not just a power guy.”

Wes Johnson said Lauaki has done a good job reducing his chase rate and capitalizing on pitches left over the plate. As Johnson put it, if “he’s ready to hit it, it’s going to go the other way really hard.”

The latest example came last Sunday during a fall exhibition against Clemson. Lauaki went 3-for-9 with two home runs and four RBIs.

Throughout the preseason, Lauaki has also shown his athleticism in the field, playing both corner infield positions and getting some time in right field too.

“You’re going to see that he’s going to get a couple homers; that’s what Junior does,” Johnson said. “Junior is a sneaky, really, really good athlete.”