This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the latest with 4-star Ekene Ogboko of South Garner High School in North Carolina. He’s the nation’s No. 4 IOL and the No. 68 overall prospect for 2026 on the 247Sports Composite. The On3 Industry Ranking has him as the No. 6 OT and No. 68 overall.
GARNER, NC -- Ekene Ogboko has been a priority target for Georgia football in the 2026 class for well over a year now.
He plays a priority position at tackle, and his older brother, Nnamdi, is a redshirt freshman defensive lineman for the Bulldogs.
Ogboko just announced his commitment live via a streaming ceremony from his high school gymnasium.
When Ekene [pronounced as Eh-Kah-Nay] took his third official visit of the summer to check out Georgia, there was one phrase that he heard over and over.
“Priority.”
Get used to hearing that one. It is only going to be used about four more times in Ogboko’s Georgia football commitment story.
The 4-star now becomes the 18th commitment of the 2026 class. With this decision from the nation’s No. 68 overall recruit, it pushes Georgia to the nation’s No. 2 recruiting class per the 247Sports Team Composite rankings.
This was a priority commitment for the Bulldogs to lock down.
That was also the term he heard from the Bulldogs at G-Day. Ogboko was the first prospect that Kirby Smart met with on that day back in April.
“They definitely got that point across,” Ogboko said of the official visit. “They definitely see me as a top priority. The tackle they were wanting to see in this class. They’ve been recruiting me very hard. They definitely wanted me, man.”
When he said those words, he made sure to stress the word “definitely” both times that he used it.
Georgia offensive line coach Stacy Searels wasn’t just whistling that tune because they want the Ogboko family to only have to load up to see one team play every Saturday next season.
That was the same thing he heard from Georgia coach Kirby Smart.
“My big takeaway was that he was telling me I was a top priority and that they really want me,” Ogboko said. “That he sees me playing here, and that I was the top tackle off the board that they want to take. He was just saying what Georgia will do for me and what their plan is like for me.”
The 6-foot-6-plus, 300-pound rising senior has made his strong commitment to Georgia football known, and his addition checks the box for a true priority for the class. While Georgia has added over the last month, he’s the first member of the class who will be called on to play offensive tackle.
His move is even more important today, given that elite offensive tackles of his skill set are never allowed to hit the transfer portal.
Ekene Ogboko: How did Georgia win the race for this elite OL?
The Bulldogs earned this vital recruiting victory over the likes of Clemson, Florida, Notre Dame, and Ohio State. He had Clemson, Florida, Georgia, and Notre Dame hats on the table at his ceremony.
What was the biggest reason why he chose Georgia?
“Considering Georgia, always the first thing is that they already have a program that is going to win football games,” Ogboko said. “Kirby Smart and where he’s heading with that program. They’ve definitely got a great program. Guys are going to get picked in the draft. They are going to get first-rounders. They will definitely allow for the development of their guys and just winning football games and just really being a good program.”
“I also think they have a plan to develop me and get me better as a player, where I can also end up going in the draft, going in the first round, and being one of those top tackles they take off the board in the NFL.”
“Also, I think right now with the academics they have, their academics are pretty solid. They have a Top 10 business school in the nation, so I’ll definitely say those things right there, and the relationships I already have at Georgia are also great, too. It gives off family vibes for me.”
Ogboko always had a very specific set of four points of need he was looking for in the right school. It was always impressive how he was able to articulate it all.
- Development: The coach-player relationship. Can he trust his coach? Can the staff trust him to do his job? Can he trust his line coach to develop him into a first-rounder?
- Academics: His mother is a teacher. So they’ve always been big on the classroom part of his college fit.
- Championship culture: He was always looking for a school that feels it has a legit shot to win a national title every year and a track record of being in the thick of the hunt.
- Strong off-the-field vibes: He wanted to choose a school where he knew he would enjoy himself on the off days when he was not practicing or playing football. “A place where I can enjoy myself, be myself, and not have to change,” he told DawgNation earlier this year.
He rattled off the names of current Bulldogs like senior DL Christen Miller, sophomore LB Justin Williams, and sophomore DE Joseph Jonah-Ajonye. With Ajonye, there’s a similar family and cultural background. Their family roots both trace back to Nigeria.
Both of those talented young men took the same official visit photos, draped in the Nigerian flag.
Check out his junior film below.
EKene Ogboko: What’s the plan for him at Georgia?
Ogboko got a full briefing on his official visit on how Searels and the Dawgs plan to use him. There’s some intrigue to that answer as On3 rates him as the nation’s No. 6 OT prospect for this cycle.
The 247Sports ratings scale sees him as the nation’s No. 4 IOL.
“Basically, they were just telling me they see me as a tackle,” he said. “Left tackle. Playing that for them. But then also the plan, I guess, is for me to come in, put on good weight for them, they actually like where I’m at with my weight right now. They just want me to get stronger in the weight room and just stay where I am and just keep working.”
“Also, the plan is to get there and develop, get better and better, and hopefully reach that first-round draft pick one day.”
He said that Searles told him how much better he’s gotten in the offseason from his junior tape last year.
“He was very impressed with my spring film when I first came down there,” he said. “Well, this year, when he came down to see me in the spring. I think he was very impressed, and he said it was one of the best he’s seen out of all the tackles he has been looking at. I think he was very impressed with it. He thinks that I can play at Georgia, and I’m a top priority for them. He really wants me, and he can see me playing there and being an elite tackle.”
Ogboko said he measured in at six feet, six-and-a-half inches. His weight was right at 300 pounds.
“I think my wingspan was like 83 and a half,” Ogboko said. “Like 83.6.”
His brother didn’t actually serve as his official player host. He had 6-foot-10-plus sophomore OT Jahzare Jackson as his host.
“It was definitely good, man,” Ogboko said. “Just to see the whole plan for that guy. He just started playing football [last year] for the first time since eighth grade. So he definitely showed me his process and how he got back into football.”
There was some commonality there. Ogboko only picked up football at about that same time when he was just about to enter high school. He grew up playing basketball before receiving some sage advice about focusing on football and seeing how far the game could take him.
“It was actually interesting listening to his process and how he got back into football,” Ogboko said. “How they actually developed him. He got so much better; he was telling me how they actually developed him, and he’s actually looking to play sooner rather than later. It was good talking to him.”
Have you seen this week’s “Before the Hedges” weekly recruiting special on YouTube yet? Check it out below.
SENTELL’S INTEL
(Check on the recent reads on Georgia football recruiting)
