Five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell has officially announced his commitment. This recruitment once appeared to be as straight forward as possible, but the final 24 hours proved that this recruitment had many more twists and turns it. And these twists did not go in Georgia's favor as the No. 1 overall player in the 2026 recruiting class has committed to Miami (FL).
BREAKING: Five-Star Plus+ OT Jackson Cantwell has Committed to Miami, he tells me for @on3recruits
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) May 13, 2025
The No. 1 Recruit in the ‘26 Class chose the Hurricanes over Georgia, Oregon, & Ohio State
“Southwest Missouri ➡️ South Beach #GoCanes x #NSGB”https://t.co/5y15Hop09Q pic.twitter.com/xsErPaZ0lD
Final 24 hours ended Georgia's chances
Georgia found themselves in a perfect position with Cantwell just 24 hours ago. He was fresh off a weekend visit to Athens which according to multiple reports went extremely well. This visit went so well that both On3 and 247Sports named Georgia as the favorite to win this recruitment.
Georgia remained in the top spot for the next few days, but then Monday afternoon came. And this Monday afternoon will be remembered forever by Georgia fans for all the wrong reasons.
Reports began to circulate out of nowhere that Miami was beginning to pick up steam with Cantwell. No expert specifically stated where this momentum for the Hurricanes was coming from, but reading between the lines it was easy to see that Miami must have increased their NIL offer to Cantwell.
This major change led recruiting experts to flip their predictions on Tuesday to the Hurricanes favor, which ended up coming true as Cantwell is officially part of Miami's recruiting class.
What did Georgia do wrong?
To put it lightly, Georgia did absolutely nothing wrong in this recruitment. They built a great relationship with Cantwell while also having a great NIL package on the table for him. Their NIL offer was reported to be right around Miami's initial offer, so Georgia appears to not have been lacking when it comes to resources.
But the Hurricanes came in at the last second and changed everything, likely to the tune of more NIL money.
If that is how this recruitment went down, then there is no one to blame at Georgia for the loss. The Bulldogs will be fine with or without Cantwell. Sure it would have been amazing to land his commitment, but UGA has proven to a program that isn't going anywhere on the national scene.
The same however can't be said for Miami, who likely will continue to struggle and not win anything of importance in the years to come.