University of Georgia Athletics
Get To Know: Michael O'Shaughnessy
November 19, 2025 | Baseball
By Kyle Tatelbaum
Georgia Sports Communications
The Georgia baseball team has flirted with a trip to the College World Series in each of Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Wes Johnson's first two years. Ahead of campaign No. 3, Johnson and the coaching staff went to work, landing the top transfer portal class in the nation.
Leading this elite influx is Michael O'Shaughnessy, a serious piece of infield muscle. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound third basemen hit .369 with 17 home runs last season, leading Davidson with 19 doubles and 70 RBIs, and earning Second Team A-10 Conference honors.
The Delmar, N.Y., native brings a prolific left-handed stick to an already revamped Georgia lineup. In a recent Q&A, we caught up with O'Shaughnessy, AKA "Shaggy," to discuss his baseball journey and his decision to transfer to Georgia. Here's some of what he had to say:
Tatelbaum: First of all, why baseball? Why'd you start playing?
Shaggy: I actually started when I was a really young kid. My grandfather introduced baseball to me at a young age. He would make me pick up a bat and only use my left hand to become a lefty hitter. So, he was definitely one of the main factors why I started baseball. I played soccer, basketball and flag football growing up, and I don't know, just fell in love with baseball. It's been in my family. My mom was a softball player, so my grandpa loves it, my mom loves it, and I kind of just took that.
Tatelbaum: What did your process look like to land at Georgia?
Shaggy: When I entered the portal, I didn't really have a specific spot in mind. I kind of just was seeing what schools reached out. Who was interested and most interested. Georgia was kind of on the later side. (Assistant coach and recruiting coordinator) Brock (Bennett) reached out, and then I talked to the coaches. I've been here once and I kind of knew what it looked like, but never in depth like I do now. The coaches were honest; they didn't even talk about any other schools or what any other schools asked, any other school questions. They just knew everything about me. They told me exactly what they wanted to do to make me get better, and that kind of interested me the most. The coaches and the atmosphere and the culture they have. It's awesome.
Tatelbaum: If you weren't playing baseball in college, what sport would you play?
Shaggy: That's a tough one. I think it's really cool to be a good golfer, but I would love to play football. I just think you have the opportunity that if you make a good play, you can go out and do it again. But if you do something that's not great, you can fix it the next play. You know, it's instantaneous.
Tatelbaum: What was your recruiting process like out of high school?
Shaggy: It started pretty early for me. It was weird with COVID. No official visits, just online stuff. Mainly visits, honestly, over Zoom. I did some of those. That was really the weirdest part, which was similar with the transfer portal recruiting process, because I didn't do any official visits either. I just knew places or coaches, people and stuff like that. I somewhat knew Georgia because I came here before, and it was a really sick place. But out of high school, it was kind of different I was a freshman, sophomore, and it was like, Am I going to play college baseball? My mom was like, If you want to play college baseball, you better start putting yourself out there and talking to coaches and emailing coaches. And when I did that, it kind of then all just jump-started.
Tatelbaum: From year one to year three at Davidson, you raised your batting average 63 points. What did you do to keep elevating?
Shaggy: Just mastering the game. At no point was there like, oh, I'm good, I'm the best at this. I wasn't complacent at all with anything I did. From freshman year, I learned stuff until my junior year, and I'm still learning now. That's one thing in baseball. You just can never be complacent and think you know everything about something, because you learn something new every single day with this sport. So finding my flaws and trying to make them the best I can definitely propelled that.
Tatelbaum: What's the best meal you can cook?
Shaggy: That's a tough one. I've made a good thing of cookies before, red velvet cookies. They were pretty good. I can't lie.
Tatelbaum: Homemade from scratch?
Shaggy: Homemade. I found a recipe, but I made it my own with my girlfriend. Eggs, too, that's mainly it. I can't lie. I can do a good omelet.
Tatelbaum: Who's your favorite professor right now at Georgia?
Shaggy: I've got to say Professor (David) Olali, African Studies. He's the man. He's awesome — brings the energy to class every time.
Tatelbaum: At the end of the season, looking back, what would you be satisfied with?
Shaggy: I think nothing less than a national championship. This school and this program, I know a lot of the fans want to make it to the College World Series, at least. Omaha. But I think a national championship would really be awesome for this program and the fans and everyone here.
Tatelbaum: Who has had the biggest influence on your baseball career so far?
Shaggy: That's another good question. Definitely my parents. I mean my dad calls me every single day asking how practice was, how inter-squads are, what I've gotten better at, what I need to fix. My mom and dad definitely have pushed me the most that I've ever been pushed in my life in baseball and life. So I'd definitely say them. They'll be down here all the time. They sacrifice a lot of time for me and my brother and sister. So I'd definitely say my parents.
Tatelbaum: What is one thing that your teammates or coaches do not know about you?
Shaggy: I'm really good at chess. I think I'm a really good chess player. I don't think anyone knows that.
Tatelbaum: So you could beat anyone on the team hands down?
Shaggy: Yes, I think I could beat anyone on the team in chess.
Tatelbaum: You have a lot of nicknames: O'Shag, Shaggy and more. What's your favorite?
Shaggy: I've kind of fallen in love with Shaggy. Shaggy was something I got my high school summer playing with college guys for the first time, and they kind of broke it down to Shaggy. I got to Davidson, and they were like, What's your nickname, bro? Shaggy. Everyone just calls me Shaggy, and I've kind of fallen in love with it. It's a good nickname; simple, not something crazy.
Tatelbaum: Would you ever think about changing the walk-up song to Bombastic by Shaggy?
Shaggy: I've been told that, but I don't think so. I like a rap song or like an EDM kind of thing. I can't do the slow. I don't like country music. There's another thing a lot of people don't know about me. I know it's a hot take in Athens, but just not a country music fan.
Tatelbaum: What is something that you would like the fans to know about you?
Shaggy: That I want to win a national championship probably more than anyone knows it. Especially coming here, that was one of my thoughts. There's a lot of places that have won a lot of stuff over time, but this place, I feel, is very hungry, very hungry for a national title, and I think we have the squad to do it this year. I love the fans, and you guys want to come out, talk, autograph, anything, whatever, I'm in for it.
Georgia Sports Communications
The Georgia baseball team has flirted with a trip to the College World Series in each of Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach Wes Johnson's first two years. Ahead of campaign No. 3, Johnson and the coaching staff went to work, landing the top transfer portal class in the nation.
Leading this elite influx is Michael O'Shaughnessy, a serious piece of infield muscle. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound third basemen hit .369 with 17 home runs last season, leading Davidson with 19 doubles and 70 RBIs, and earning Second Team A-10 Conference honors.
The Delmar, N.Y., native brings a prolific left-handed stick to an already revamped Georgia lineup. In a recent Q&A, we caught up with O'Shaughnessy, AKA "Shaggy," to discuss his baseball journey and his decision to transfer to Georgia. Here's some of what he had to say:
Tatelbaum: First of all, why baseball? Why'd you start playing?
Shaggy: I actually started when I was a really young kid. My grandfather introduced baseball to me at a young age. He would make me pick up a bat and only use my left hand to become a lefty hitter. So, he was definitely one of the main factors why I started baseball. I played soccer, basketball and flag football growing up, and I don't know, just fell in love with baseball. It's been in my family. My mom was a softball player, so my grandpa loves it, my mom loves it, and I kind of just took that.
Tatelbaum: What did your process look like to land at Georgia?
Shaggy: When I entered the portal, I didn't really have a specific spot in mind. I kind of just was seeing what schools reached out. Who was interested and most interested. Georgia was kind of on the later side. (Assistant coach and recruiting coordinator) Brock (Bennett) reached out, and then I talked to the coaches. I've been here once and I kind of knew what it looked like, but never in depth like I do now. The coaches were honest; they didn't even talk about any other schools or what any other schools asked, any other school questions. They just knew everything about me. They told me exactly what they wanted to do to make me get better, and that kind of interested me the most. The coaches and the atmosphere and the culture they have. It's awesome.
Tatelbaum: If you weren't playing baseball in college, what sport would you play?
Shaggy: That's a tough one. I think it's really cool to be a good golfer, but I would love to play football. I just think you have the opportunity that if you make a good play, you can go out and do it again. But if you do something that's not great, you can fix it the next play. You know, it's instantaneous.
Tatelbaum: What was your recruiting process like out of high school?
Shaggy: It started pretty early for me. It was weird with COVID. No official visits, just online stuff. Mainly visits, honestly, over Zoom. I did some of those. That was really the weirdest part, which was similar with the transfer portal recruiting process, because I didn't do any official visits either. I just knew places or coaches, people and stuff like that. I somewhat knew Georgia because I came here before, and it was a really sick place. But out of high school, it was kind of different I was a freshman, sophomore, and it was like, Am I going to play college baseball? My mom was like, If you want to play college baseball, you better start putting yourself out there and talking to coaches and emailing coaches. And when I did that, it kind of then all just jump-started.
Tatelbaum: From year one to year three at Davidson, you raised your batting average 63 points. What did you do to keep elevating?
Shaggy: Just mastering the game. At no point was there like, oh, I'm good, I'm the best at this. I wasn't complacent at all with anything I did. From freshman year, I learned stuff until my junior year, and I'm still learning now. That's one thing in baseball. You just can never be complacent and think you know everything about something, because you learn something new every single day with this sport. So finding my flaws and trying to make them the best I can definitely propelled that.
Tatelbaum: What's the best meal you can cook?
Shaggy: That's a tough one. I've made a good thing of cookies before, red velvet cookies. They were pretty good. I can't lie.
Tatelbaum: Homemade from scratch?
Shaggy: Homemade. I found a recipe, but I made it my own with my girlfriend. Eggs, too, that's mainly it. I can't lie. I can do a good omelet.
Tatelbaum: Who's your favorite professor right now at Georgia?
Shaggy: I've got to say Professor (David) Olali, African Studies. He's the man. He's awesome — brings the energy to class every time.
Tatelbaum: At the end of the season, looking back, what would you be satisfied with?
Shaggy: I think nothing less than a national championship. This school and this program, I know a lot of the fans want to make it to the College World Series, at least. Omaha. But I think a national championship would really be awesome for this program and the fans and everyone here.
Tatelbaum: Who has had the biggest influence on your baseball career so far?
Shaggy: That's another good question. Definitely my parents. I mean my dad calls me every single day asking how practice was, how inter-squads are, what I've gotten better at, what I need to fix. My mom and dad definitely have pushed me the most that I've ever been pushed in my life in baseball and life. So I'd definitely say them. They'll be down here all the time. They sacrifice a lot of time for me and my brother and sister. So I'd definitely say my parents.
Tatelbaum: What is one thing that your teammates or coaches do not know about you?
Shaggy: I'm really good at chess. I think I'm a really good chess player. I don't think anyone knows that.
Tatelbaum: So you could beat anyone on the team hands down?
Shaggy: Yes, I think I could beat anyone on the team in chess.
Tatelbaum: You have a lot of nicknames: O'Shag, Shaggy and more. What's your favorite?
Shaggy: I've kind of fallen in love with Shaggy. Shaggy was something I got my high school summer playing with college guys for the first time, and they kind of broke it down to Shaggy. I got to Davidson, and they were like, What's your nickname, bro? Shaggy. Everyone just calls me Shaggy, and I've kind of fallen in love with it. It's a good nickname; simple, not something crazy.
Tatelbaum: Would you ever think about changing the walk-up song to Bombastic by Shaggy?
Shaggy: I've been told that, but I don't think so. I like a rap song or like an EDM kind of thing. I can't do the slow. I don't like country music. There's another thing a lot of people don't know about me. I know it's a hot take in Athens, but just not a country music fan.
Tatelbaum: What is something that you would like the fans to know about you?
Shaggy: That I want to win a national championship probably more than anyone knows it. Especially coming here, that was one of my thoughts. There's a lot of places that have won a lot of stuff over time, but this place, I feel, is very hungry, very hungry for a national title, and I think we have the squad to do it this year. I love the fans, and you guys want to come out, talk, autograph, anything, whatever, I'm in for it.
Players Mentioned
INF
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