This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the latest with 4-star Craig Dandridge of Cambridge High School. He ranks as the nation’s No. 38 WR and the No. 27 overall prospect for 2026 on the 247Sports Composite. The On3 Industry Ranking has him as the No. 35 WR and No. 229 overall.
Say Happy Birthday to Craig Dandridge today. He’s turning 18 and will use the occasion to give one lucky college football program a present.
He’s down to a final six of Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, Stanford and Tennessee. DawgNation deems him a big enough target for the 2026 class to be there live for his commitment ceremony, which is set for 4 PM at Cambridge High School in Milton.
The Dawgs will be vying to earn a commitment for the fifth straight day. Unlike the big news from 4-star RB Jae Lamar this week, this one will have some back-and-forth to it.
“Every one of my final six was my number one at some point,” Dandridge said.
It was like that every day.
“Pray at night,” Dandridge said. “It would be like ‘This is it’ and then pray another night and now ‘This is it’ and ‘This school is the one’ and then pray another night and it is a new school. Because all these schools have high-character coaches, great programs and great people. Great education. All these schools. I don’t want to diminish any other school. I’ll never talk trash because those schools took chances on me when I thought I was still taking a chance on myself. From my first offer being North Alabama to my last offer being Florida, every school that has offered me and every coach that has reached out, the relationships I’ve built with them I hate having to let them know ‘Hey I am choosing another school’ because they took the time, the money, the effort to build a relationship with me and my family. Fly us out. Take us on these trips and I can only choose one school.”
The Dandridge story has been a swift accent. He didn’t receive his first college offer (from North Alabama) until November 21 of last year. That was only after a monster junior season that saw him rack up 1,400-plus yards and 14 touchdowns for his Bears.
That will not be lost on him later today as he shares his decision.
“For the kids that are in my shoes one day, don’t worry about what other people are doing,” he said. “I know you are going to see your friends and teammates getting offers, but if you stay true to you and you know you put in the hard work, the evidence is going to show.”
“You don’t have to go to a powerhouse high school to get offers. If you are good, they are going to find you. That was the hardest thing I had to believe. If you are good enough, they are going to find you. You’ve got to trust in it and believe.”
The main emotion going through his mind today will be gratitude.
“I can’t do anything but just thank God,” he said. “Because I remember the nights I cried and prayed to him about what I was going to do. How am I going to do this? This is my dream and what I want to do. But I had to realize I can’t do it my way. I had to do it his way.”
Craig Dandridge: Assessing his contenders
Dandridge broke down the main selling points of each school.
Florida: “That’s a place I could live. I love the people of Florida. I love the area. I love the weather down there. The institution is also a very good institution and Florida is a very good school. Also, I saw what they do for their players. ‘Gatormade’ is what it is called. Their program right there is one of the best I’ve ever seen. What they are doing for their players and what they are doing for these young men, they are developing young men while also making great football players.”
“That’s also a pipeline to the league.”
Georgia: “Intentional,” he said. “Everything was very intentional with the way they just greeted me and my family. All the interviews. Just the meetings I had with coaches. It was very in-depth and specific to not just how I would fit, but how they would develop me, and how they would help me become the player I could be.”
“They just wanted to drill in how Georgia is not just a football powerhouse,” Dandridge said. “They wanted to express how they are huge on academics, but also how huge they are on player and personal development.”
Georgia Tech:“Man, coach Brent Key, man. Great guy. These are all high-character coaches. I just keep saying it. Every school has its own problems. Everyone can say what they want to say about each school, but I’ve been able to talk to these coaches one-on-one and really connect with them. So now I know that these men are great coaches and all of them are great men and great fathers.”
“With the way they take care of their kids, I know that’s the same way they will take care of their players. ... What they are doing at that program is so special, the offense that they have and with the receiver position and those coaches. Then coach Buster Faulkner at offensive coordinator. Their offense is amazing.”
Oklahoma: “Coach Emmett Jones. Coach Ben Arnbuckle. Coach Brent Venables. Coach Jim Nagy. These people, that’s why I tell you this decision is so hard, because spending that weekend with them. I was like, these are such great men. I wanted to be like them. I saw myself in Coach Emmett Jones. I saw the way he works hard. I saw the way he perfected his craft and then expanded and just helps others. That’s what I want to do with my life.”
“I saw so much of myself in him and what I want to be. I look up to him. That’s why I want to keep these relationships. Like being able to call him if I ever need anything. ... Being all the way over in Oklahoma, people were like ‘You’re not going to go there. That’s too far’ and I was like I 100 percent could go that far.”
Stanford: “I saw Stanford as like this is a 40-year decision,” he said. “So I saw, if I go here, I can still ball out. I can do this, this, that and the third, but I will meet some great people along the way and also have a degree from Stanford.”
“If anyone out there knows, a degree from Stanford means you are set anywhere you go. Any job you want to go to and they see Stanford, then you’ve got the job.”
“A lot of people were seeing that I was considering Stanford, and they were like ‘Dawg, you are not going to Stanford,’ and I’m like ‘I could 100 percent go there’ and ‘Don’t diss Stanford, bro’ when they said that.”
“Stanford would have me set for life and that alumni network, man. That’s like crazy connections.”
Tennessee: “Being from Memphis, that was close with like a lot of my family,” he said. “My Dad was from Tennessee and he was like ‘I don’t want that to be pressure,’ but I’m like being able to go to my Dad’s alma mater and also being able to play football and potentially be a great player at that school. Leave a legacy? It meant the world to me to have my family there and drive my Grandma up to my games. She’s always wanted to see me play a college football game. So just having her there would be amazing and their offense is amazing, too.”
“That’s a high-scoring offense. That’s an offense that I see myself potentially thriving in.”
That’s quite a list.
When Dandridge looks at them all, that’s why he was thinking this school one day and another option the next.
“I don’t want to diminish any one of these,” he said. “You won’t see me doing the hat fake. Or put down the school. I’ll just put my hat, say where I am going and that will be that.”
Have you seen this week’s “Before the Hedges” weekly recruiting special on YouTube yet? Check it out below.
SENTELL’S INTEL
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