‘Intentional’ recruiting from UGA impresses in-state, four-star WR prospect

He became a priority for schools by adding some strong metrics (10.84 seconds in the 100m and 22.19 seconds in the 200m) during spring track.

To Dandridge, his rise in recruiting attention validates the 12-year-old football program at Cambridge, which he says has always been doubted.

“A couple of months ago,” he said. “I didn’t know what I was going to do.”

Now, he is being heavily recruited by national championship contending programs, like UGA, which has a strong interest in Dandridge.

Dandridge took his official visit to Georgia last weekend. Before that, he already was a major target for receivers coach James Coley.

“Let me give you a little insider scoop,” Cambridge coach Tyler Jones said.

Jones detailed a workout where Coley got to see Dandridge this spring.

“He was kind of getting back in his car to leave,” Jones said. “He just told me, he probably repeated it three times, and it was ‘I gotta get him. I gotta get him. I gotta get him,’ so that shows how much he’s wanted by Georgia.”

Dandridge detailed how Coley shows him he’s a priority every day.

“Coach Coley has come to my house twice in one day,” Dandridge said. “One time to just sit and talk with my mom. I wasn’t there, but he came back later that night to talk to me.”

Coley has been at practices to see Dandridge run routes.

“Then he came back the next week to see me at my spring game and sat with my parents,” the senior said. “That just shows coach isn’t just taking the time to do this and not actually believe in me.”

How did his official visit at Georgia go

Dandridge use a specific word to describe his visit: intentional.

“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.”

And it wasn’t all football talk.

“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.”

The four-star used the phrases “awe,” “surreal,” and “all a lot of fun” to describe how his family felt afterward.

Dandridge acknowledged how recruiting in the NIL era is “tricky” and that prospects often see the large sums of money as financial security.

“I’ve told my family that it is not a determining factor for me,” Dandridge said. “If one school is going to offer me a lot of money, but then other schools offer me something else, then that is not a determining factor.”

Although his parents have implored the wisdom of saving and investing, he told them he wants to “make the decision based on where my heart is and not where the money is talking to me.”

His plan is to grow and develop for three or four years and hopefully become a first-round NFL draft pick.

“I want to go in and work and earn my keep,” Dandridge said. “I know that a senior who has put in the time, laid the foundation, and has actual experience in college football, then they really deserve that money. They deserve to be paid the most.”

What’s next for Craig Dandridge?

He will visit Tennessee on June 13 and has just scheduled an official to Oklahoma for June 20.

Then, he plans to make his decision June 25. That will be the day prior to his birthday. The timing might be a day off, but it works out better for his family.

He said Georgia didn’t try too hard to get him to shut it down. The UGA staff told him to explore what else was out there until he felt ready to make it happen.

“My family and I have discussed that it is not right to close all the other doors without at least taking a peek to see what’s behind them,” he said. “You never know what’s around.”