What is priority 5-star official visitor David Sanders Jr. looking for in the right school?

This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the latest with 5-star OT David Sanders Jr. He ranks as the nation’s No. 1 OT and the No. 2 overall prospect for 2025 for the 247Sports Composite and the On3 Industry Ranking.

David Sanders Jr. knows a few things about the recruiting process by now.

He should. He’s only been seen as the No. 1 or 2 offensive tackle prospect in the 2025 class since the initial rankings came out two-plus years ago.

The nation’s No. 1 OT prospect is taking a BIG official visit to UGA this weekend.

The 5-star from Providence Day School fits what a prototype first-round prospect looks like. As much as we think player parallels are tricky, we know it is a common language for the reader to get a quick gauge to assess elite players.

Consider the elite traits that made Andrew Thomas and Broderick Jones special in Athens. Then mix in a little Jamaree Salyer mindset. Maybe toss in more athleticism and strength since Sanders is power-cleaning 365 pounds as a rising high school senior.

It was reported by 247Sports this week that he is now up to 290 pounds. That’s another big gain from when he told DawgNation he was up to 276 when he weighed in at UGA during his last visit on May 19.

His broad jump was once closer to Nolan Smith territory than the typical offensive tackle neighborhood. If we wanted to keep it real here, he could be a 5-star DE or a 5-star OT in this class.

That depends on what he wants to play and what the 6-foot-6 All-American wants to play is offensive tackle.

He’s learned a lot because every time he’s been to any campus he’s been treated like it is an official visit. Georgia housed Sanders, his parents and his three adorable sisters in the front row of the West End Zones stands last year when he was a high school junior.

Sanders has taken officials to South Carolina and Clemson so far. He’s also taken impactful recent unofficial visits to UGA, Ohio State and Tennessee. He’s also got officials still scheduled to Alabama and then back to the Buckeyes and the Vols.

So the more he’s seen, the more he knows.

What is he looking for with the right fit for his college decision? There are a few knowns that he shared recently with DawgNation.

“Everyone is pretty much right here (raises two level hands at his forehand) pretty much at the same thing,” he said. “All these places that have great facilities. Great coaches. You are going to get developed. Things like that.”

“I think it is really going to be where you want to be and where you want to live for the next three to four years. That’s going to be the big decision. I believe you can’t go wrong with anywhere you choose but you can go wrong based on the fact if you choose somewhere off of emotion and not just pure facts and somewhere you feel happy at the most.”

“I think that’s going to be the biggest deal. Everybody is giving their best shot and I just appreciate all the programs and these universities and what they’ve done for my family and I.”

Sanders said this official visit piece for him will not be as big as most might think. He said “maybe five percent” of the formula for his eventual decision will come from these officials.

The other criteria he mentioned were:

Those elements will all tally up to 25 percent of the formula here for him. The other 75 percent will come from his ties to each of those programs.

“That personal connection that you have with the head coach, the position coach, the strength and conditioning coach, the nutrition staff and everybody. That’s how it is really going to be because those are the people you are going to be with day-in and day-out. Do you feel comfortable with going into that locker room everyday and just being happy?”

“Not necessarily with the mindset of ‘I just want to go to the NFL’ or I just want to do this? Can you just go in there and be yourself? That’s really what I am looking for. I really think the officials are just going to be a fun time for me and my family to enjoy each other to enjoy our time at these universities with the different recruits that are there. Picking some of the other guy’s brains whether they are committed or not committed. Just seeing what is everybody going to do.”

“You know you want to have a big class wherever you go. If it is not the school we are at, maybe we all might team up somewhere else.”

This is such a big visit that current UGA commit Mason Short will drive from Augusta to hang out with Sanders. That is even though his official visit is slated for next week because of a family wedding. He couldn’t get everyone in town this weekend to take his official with Sanders.

“Great kid and family,” Short told DawgNation. “We tried to plan our official visits together but schedules didn’t align.”

Sanders said after his scavenger hunt unofficial on May 19 that he had no more questions about the Bulldogs.

He’s taken at least six trips to Athens counting this weekend. With that, what will this official visit to UGA be about this weekend?

“I think it will really be [about] getting that feeling like this is the place,” he said. “Obviously this has been a top school in my mind since you step foot on Georgia’s campus. You just can’t deny the fact if you’re a top player in the country you want to play against top-level competition. You want to play with guys of the same mindset as you. I mean it doesn’t get any better than the University of Georgia.”

“So I think for me, it is just that whole family feeling. Feeling that same feeling as how I am and how we are in different places. I think it will be getting that last one at the official. You know hanging out with some of the guys that are on the team. Seeing how they felt. Even the current freshmen.”

Sanders said he has built connections with current UGA freshman OLs Daniel Calhoun and Mike Uini. Those are the two Bulldogs he’s been in contact with the most.

“They’ve been loving it ever since they got there,” Sanders Jr. said. “But really getting to talk to them. I’ll be there for two or three days and getting to hear the downfalls, the successes they have had while they were were. Things they liked. Things they didn’t like. You will really be able to go in-depth with all that type of stuff during the official so I’m super excited for that. Georgia has done a wonderful job since they started recruiting me when I was in middle school my freshman year. I can’t say enough about that program and those coaches.”

Sanders and Milton High receiver CJ Wiley look like two easy-to-see headliners among the weekend’s official visitors.

Check out the updated list below. We first shared our official visit preview list on the weekly Wednesday “Before the Hedges” live-streaming show.

Did you know the weekly DawgNation.com "Before the Hedges" program is available as an Apple podcast? Click to check it out and download it.

Georgia football recruiting: Check out the June 7-9 official visitors

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