Georgia Bulldogs and Kirby Smart clearly going all in on one top offensive recruit after losing number one player in the nation

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Travis May | Last updated May 25, 2025 1:25 AM ET

Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs lost out on landing the number one college football recruit in the nation with offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell this month, but the recruiting momentum isn't really slowing down. As soon as they knew Cantwell was off the table Georgia staffers knew they needed to go all in on another offensive line talent, so that's exactly what they did.

Malakai Lee, Four Star OT Recruit

Malakai Lee, a four star offensive tackle recruit from Hawaii just announced this week that he had narrowed his recruiting search down to four schools and Georgia the made the cut. Lee is a 6'7" monster who has been a clear lock for Top 150 recruit status in the 2026 class for over a year now. Missing out on the number one recruit in the nation hurts, but landing a dominant physical force like Lee would be a huge win for Georgia's backup plan at offensive tackle.

NEWS: Four-Star OT Malakai Lee is down to 4 Schools, he tells me for @on3recruits

The 6’7 320 OT from Kaneohe, HI is ranked as a Top 10 OT in the ‘26 Class (per On3)

Where Should He Go? ⬇️https://t.co/qwx4vG9iqc pic.twitter.com/f8yFQW6uxQ
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) May 24, 2025

Georgia's offensive line coach Stacy Searels made a second trip all the way back out to Hawaii this week to make sure that Malakai Lee understood just how important he was to the Bulldogs' recruiting efforts in the 2026 class. Not that going to Hawaii is that much of a sacrifice given how amazing the place is, but that's a long journey. Malakai Lee was incredibly grateful for the effort (as you can see in his post below).

⚫️ Go Dawgs!! Mahalo @GeorgiaFootball @SSearels for coming all the way back out to Hawaii @KSKAthletics. Appreciate you spending that time with me. Can’t wait to be back in Athens. @KirbySmartUGA @CoachMikeBobo @coachKub_70 #IMUA pic.twitter.com/DHB6oaBCbX
— Malakai Lee (@MalakaiLee2) May 24, 2025

Georgia had already seen him one time last summer, again in April, and now again this week ahead of his final official visits with Alabama, Texas, and Michigan, the three other teams still in the running for Malakai Lee's services. Lee couldn't stop talking about how special it was to even be seen as important by a program like Georgia when interviewed this week:

"It's awesome that Georgia has even come out this far to see me. I'm just honored that they would look at me as such a high recruit and come out here twice. It's not a short journey at all."

It's clear that Kirby Smart and his staff are going all in on adding Malakai Lee. It's unclear if it will pan out but four out of five players from Georgia's starting offensive line last season are already on NFL teams (most with legitimate early round NFL Draft capital). The Bulldogs were in on Lee extremely early back in 2023. Plus, there should be a path to early opportunity. The pitch is all there lined up for Lee to accept. Georgia just has to edge out a few SEC and national rivals.

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Malakai Lee met with Georgia Bulldogs media this week extensively to discuss the visit on-site in Hawaii. If you want to watch that interview in full you can find it below.