GARNER, N.C. — 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 announced his commitment to the Bulldogs on Wednesday 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 he heard over and over.
“Priority.”
That was also the term he heard from the Bulldogs at G-Day. Ogboko was the first prospect Georgia coach 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.”
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 on Saturdays.
That was the same thing he heard from 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.
The 4-star offensive tackle 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.
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 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.”
Ogboko also noted that he was interested in Georgia’s academics, specifically noting its highly rated business college.
Ogboko always had a very specific set of four points of need he was looking for in the right school:
- 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.
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