The On3 Industry’s No. 1 ranked offensive tackle and No. 2 prospect overall
David Sanders Jr. is working towards making his college commitment on Aug. 17.
The finalists remain the same for the Charlotte (NC)
Providence Day five-star. Georgia, Nebraska, Ohio State and Tennessee are top of mind for the coveted Sanders.
Next week the college football recruiting dead period ends and schools can host prospects for a week. The 6-foot-6, 280-pound Sanders will be one of the guys back on the road to see a finalists or two.
“We’re in the process of getting all the dates in order and we’ll talk to David and see where he wants to go for the last final impression,” Sanders’ mother Samantha said.
“If he has the opportunity to get to more than one we want to.”
Who could get a visit
Of his finalists, Sanders has been to all of them several times with the exception of Nebraska. His only experience in Lincoln was his official visit over Mother’s Day weekend. The Bulldogs, Vols and Buttguys all got official visits in June beginning with UGA on the 7th, UT on the 14th and OSU on the 21st.
In addition to being one of the top football prospects in the country, Sanders is also a terrific student and aspiring orthopedic surgeon with an eye on majoring in sports medicine. He was awarded the Gatorade State Player of the Year honor after helping Providence Day win another state championship.
Sanders spoke highly of each program in May at the On3 Elite Series
Georgia: “Georgia is Georgia. You want to go there, go to the NFL, that’s the place to go. Coach Smart has done a great job, me and Coach (Stacy) Searels have a great relationship, he’s been recruiting me since he was at UNC so me and him go way back. I think they’re doing a great job with the guys that they brought in in that 2024 class … Mason Short‘s coming in to Georgia and that’s one of my really good friends in this whole entire recruitment process. So Georgia’s done a great job, they were one of my early offers, my 10th offer as a freshman, so they’ve been on me really early, so Georgia’s always been at the top of the list.”
Tennessee: “I just love Tennessee’s coaching staff. Coach (Josh) Heupel and Coach (Glen) Elarbee, they do a great job with that personal connection. I think out of anybody, they do the best job calling, texting, just staying in contact with my parents and building that relationship. I just feel like you can be yourself at Tennessee, there’s nothing you have to do differently, even though it’s a big SEC school that wins a lot of games and is in contention for winning national championships year in and year out, that’s a place you can go and freely be yourself. I feel like you can go there, develop and be the first big-time offensive tackle to come out of Tennessee. They have everything you need to do to be successful there.”
Ohio State: “I would say they were always in the mix for sure, because I liked Ohio State. Obviously they’re known for making great offensive tackles … seeing that as a young kid, like I can go there and do the same thing. Ohio State got the bump early because I had only been there one time until recently. Ohio State is different, but they’ve done a phenomenal job, coming up there for the spring a couple of times and being around that program … I just think Coach (Justin) Frye is an amazing offensive line coach, he’s shown that he can develop guys and push them to the next level. He’s very passionate in everything that he’s doing … I feel like his coaching style and my playing style can mesh really good.”
Nebraska: Dylan (Raiola),”
Sanders said when asked what Nebraska did to get on his radar. “When they pulled the No. 1 player out of the 2024 class, they can get the No. 1 offensive tackle from the 2025 class to protect him. If you have a high-caliber quarterback like that, you need somebody that’s going to protect him. I feel like he’s done a great job, even when he was committed at Georgia. That’s one of the main reasons I took that visit because he did such a good job building that relationship with me and letting me know ‘I need you to come block for me.’ His tune never changed when he committed to Nebraska.”
Whole lotta nothing tbh
