BREAKING NEWS: Elite Texas 4-Star Cornerback Chace Calicut Commits To Georgia
This Sentell’s Intel rep on Georgia football recruiting has the latest with 4-star DB Chace Calicut of North Shore High School in Texas. He ranks as the nation’s No. 13 S and the No. 162 overall prospect for 2026 on the 247Sports Composite. The On3 Industry Ranking has him as the No. 15 DB and the No. 117 overall.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — This is definitely the age of name, image and likeness and revenue sharing, where prospects can get enticed to commit to the school that will be their bank account’s favorite choice.
That said, the decision just shared by 4-star Texas cornerback Chace Calicut shows that official visits still matter.
“Before I got to the OV, I was committed to Texas,” Calicut told DawgNation. “Silently committed. I was definitely committed there. I had my mind made up that I was going there. But the presentation at the meetings [at UGA] that coach Kirby Smart and coach Donte’ [Williams] showed me on the visit, it really changed my mind.”
“It just showed me that this is Georgia football and if you want to go to the league and be a first-rounder at DB, then this is where you want to go.”
If he didn’t take that official to UGA, is there any chance he would have chosen the Dawgs?
“No way,” he said. “Honestly, no way. If I didn’t take that OV and if I didn’t take that OV down there just to visit, I definitely wouldn’t be going to Georgia.”
That would have meant he would have told the world the name of a different program than the Georgia football program from the OT7 football playoffs down here in South Florida.
The choice would have been Texas or Michigan. Those were his other two finalists.
That made a crucial difference for the Dawgs here as the program just picked up a commitment for their 2026 recruiting class for the sixth straight day. Calicut’s commitment does push Georgia past Texas A&M for the nation’s No. 3 recruiting class at this time on the 247Sports Team Composite scale.
“It is just falling in the right spots,” he said. “Falling in the right places. It is just the right thing. Everything is falling into place. Everything happens for a reason, I’ll say. My Mom used to say that all the time.”
Why was it Georgia?
“Really just Kirby Smart and the development with Donte’ [Williams] and [safeties coach] T-Rob [Travaris Robinson] with those guys up there, they know how to develop DBs. It is a proven fact. They have the most DBs drafted in the last 10, the last five, any years, it is just going to be Georgia at the top. They are just well-respected around the league. NFL scouts come in there all the time and say, ‘I want a Georgia Bulldog. I’m going to take a Georgia Bulldog before a Texas Longhorn or just anything, Ole Miss, they want a Georgia Bulldog.”
Williams plans to coach Calicut. He will have elite-plus length and size playing that position for the Bulldogs. While the national recruiting services rank him as a DB, he’s been told the Dawgs see him elsewhere on the field.
“They want to bring me in as a corner,” Calicut said. “But really, anywhere, like whatever, puts me on the field the fastest. That’s where I will be.”
Calicut will graduate this December and enroll early in January. It does sound like the decision he made today will be final.
Will he visit any other schools?
“Oh no,” he said. “I will be shutting down my recruitment for sure. When I commit to a school, the fan base won’t have to worry about me switching up on them or changing to another school or being interested into another school. I’m a full Dawg now. That’s what it is.”
Calicut told DawgNation earlier this month he’d be leaving money on the table with the school he had in mind.
“Because at the end of the day, we are going to college because we want to play football and go to the next level, the NFL,” he said. “I’m not coming to a school and I’m not going to pick a school because of this much money and this much NIL and this much connections and everything. Connections are cool and all. NIL is great. The money is great. At the end of the day, you’re not going to be broke at any of these schools.
“You’re going to be taken care of regardless. If it is a couple of hundred thousand. You don’t want to jeopardize your NFL and your [being] a first-round draft pick for a couple hundred thousand. You are going to make it all back.”
The 4-star now becomes the ninth-highest-rated pledge among the 23 public Georgia commits. He’s now the third cornerback and the sixth DB prospect in this class.
