The ABH is confirming that tight end NaDerris Ward will leave Georgia after this semester. His likely destination is a PAC 10 school closer to his home in California.

Ward said the health of his grandmother, Hazel Brown, is the main reason behind the transfer. She has bone cancer and will undergo surgery next month, he said. Ward lived with his grandmother in Oakland, Calif., when he played for McClymonds High School.

“She got diagnosed during my first semester at the university, and I’ve just been trying to keep on pushing and working out and going to school,” Ward said. “It’s just been bothering me a lot. When I found out she needed to have another surgery, I just wanted to be closer to her. It’s hard being that far away from my family.”

We wish him well and understand the need to be with family at this time.

Ward’s transfer makes the signing day defection of Dwayne Allen to Clemson that much more significant. Tight end is suddenly a position of need for the Bulldogs.