The No. 1 overall recruit in the country will officially come off the board in less than 24 hours. Jackson Cantwell, who is a five-star offensive tackle in the 2026 recruiting, will announce his commitment at 3:45 pm EST on May 13, which means he is just hours away from making one team extremely happy.
Things seemed all but done in this recruitment as Georgia was named the favorite by On3 and 247Sports within days after his final visit to Athens this past weekend. However, some new intel came out Monday night that seriously questions where Georgia stands with Cantwell.
The good news from this report is that Ohio State and Oregon, two of Cantwell's four finalists, no longer appear to be in the running. The bad news for Georgia is that the third team, Miami (FL), is gaining serious ground on Georgia in the final hour.
"I can see Jackson Cantwell choosing Miami just as easily as Georgia," On3's Steve Wiltfong shared Monday evening.
The #Georgia and Miami race for the no. 1 player in the country, 5-star OT Jackson Cantwell has gotten very tight. 👀 (Via Steve Wiltfong)
— Dawg Recruiting (@DawggRecruiting) May 12, 2025
Cantwell was on campus in Athens last weekend, but now Miami is making moves behind the scenes. Where will Jackson Cantwell end up? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/HR5mqm9qML
Miami is coming on strong for Jackson Cantwell
In a teaser from a separate post from Wiltfong, he stated, "Five-star OT Jackson Cantwell could end up somewhere other than Georgia."
Intel: Five-star OT Jackson Cantwell could end up somewhere other than Georgia: https://t.co/KFYNj0PyBW pic.twitter.com/euoCW0mZx4
— Steve Wiltfong (@SWiltfong_) May 12, 2025
That is a very scary thing to read because the prediction that came in from On3 a few days ago that was in Georgia's favor came from Wiltfong. Wiltfong also is potentially the recruiting expert who knows the most intel out of any other expert in the country, so if he is saying there is serious legs to Miami with Cantwell then it is definitely true.
Adam Gorney, who is one of the most respected recruiting analysts with Rivals, is also hearing similar things about Cantwell as well.
On the Jackson Cantwell front:
— Adam Gorney (@adamgorney) May 12, 2025
1. Either Miami is a legit contender again or;
2. Georgia is the clear frontrunner and Miami buzz is building to make Tuesday more interesting.
Still trying to figure out which is true.
At this point it is impossible to know what is going to happen with Cantwell. Just a few hours ago UGA was ready to start celebrating this commitment, but Miami is not allowing that to happen. Thankfully there is only a few more hours until Cantwell announces his commitment, but these are going to be a stressful few hours in Athens.