Wes Johnson scoring big with UGA baseball, driving home millions in revenue

ATHENS — Wes Johnson quickly became known as “The Wizard” by his players for his baseball acumen, turning Georgia into an annual contender.

The “Diamond Dawgs” will take the field at 6 p.m. Friday in front of the fifth sold-out crowd of the season at Foley Field with rival Florida (livestreaming on SEC Network+) in the opposite dugout.

The Bulldogs had 13 sellouts in each of the 2024 and 2025 seasons and figure to add to this year’s total this weekend, as few tickets remain for the Saturday and Sunday noon games with Florida amid projected sunny skies and warm temperatures.

Georgia, ranked No. 4 in the nation, brings a 28-6 overall record and 10-2 mark into the game against the No. 21 Gators (25-9, 7-5).

Johnson’s record and ranking are only half the story.

UGA’s financials — bolstered by $9.5 million in donations between 2023 and 2025 — have backed up the $45 million in recent stadium renovations, which increased capacity from 2,760 to 3,633 since 2025 and provided players with elite facilities and state-of-the-art training technology.

Johnson said the commitment to improving the facilities played a role in his decision to leave his post as an assistant at LSU to take the UGA head coaching job three years ago.

“When I heard the fact that we’re doing the $45 million upgrade and we want technology, that was a perfect match right there,” said Johnson, a noted expert in baseball analytics and applied technology. “I’m huge on development there.”

Players have taken note, as Georgia landed the No. 1 transfer class in the nation this offseason, per the 64 Analytics baseball website.

Pitcher Joey Volchko, UGA’s Friday night starter, was ranked the No. 2 transfer by 64 Analytics and will bring a 6-0 record and 3.89 ERA into his start against Florida.

Tre Phelps, an original UGA signee, leads the Bulldogs’ offensive attack with a .413 batting average, while second-year transfer Daniel Jackson (Wofford) is setting the pace with 16 home runs.

Rylan Lujo (Dayton) is tops among the new transfers at the plate with a .375 batting average.

Johnson, who received a contract extension last May and now earns $1.3 million annually — tied for ninth-highest in the SEC and 13th-highest in the nation — said his team will be challenged this weekend.

“Florida, statistically, has the three best starters in the league when you look at the rotation,” Johnson said Tuesday after a 28-3 win over Presbyterian. “It’s going to be a dogfight all weekend.”

Georgia enters the series with Florida, which it swept in Gainesville last season, leading the nation with 98 home runs while scoring 9.9 runs per game.

The financial numbers are also on the rise.

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution review of UGA’s annual NCAA financial report revealed Georgia has taken in 2.5 times more in ticket revenue the past two years ($1.7 million) than the previous two ($668,000), while drawing seven times as much in annual donations as the previous two years.

The increase in ticket revenue is partly attributed to UGA hosting more postseason games over the past two seasons, in addition to an increase in ticket pricing, with interest and demand still on the rise.

There’s also been a 71% uptick in the past year alone in the Georgia baseball fund, with more dollars flowing in for priority seating.

“Since Wes Johnson has gotten here, I can see the increase in attendance,” said David Johnston, who has been handling play-by-play duties for baseball on the Georgia Bulldogs radio network the past 27 years.

“Even the midweek game against Presbyterian, which was a 3 o’clock start this week, was a sellout, and that never used to happen,” he said. “The interest Wes has created in Georgia baseball has been unbelievable.”