Florida football’s recruiting team has been pounding the pavement on the 2023 class while also courting the best that the 2024 brood has to offer. New head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] has put a strong emphasis on the importance of prep recruiting as a primary component of the program’s rebuild, and thus far, he has both talked the talk and walked the walk.
The Gators have also focused their efforts on in-state recruits given the abundance of talent consistently turned out by the Sunshine State. One of their 2024 targets hails from just down the road — four-star athlete [autotag]Fred Gaskin III[/autotag] out of Vanguard in Ocala.
The 5-foot-11-inch, 182-pound multi-talented high school sophomore has already visited the university on several occasions in 2021, including his attendance at summer camp, while also making the trek up I-75 thrice this year. His latest visit came earlier this week when he stopped by for Florida’s one-day camp, after which he offered the following to Gators Online.
“It was good getting around the new staff. It started really good and we were just doing positional drills. Pretty much throughout the whole camp, they gave me good energy.
“Since there were not a lot of people at that camp, they were able to give me more one-on-one time and teach me what goes on in their schemes.”
Gaskin, who is projected to play safety if he chooses the Orange and Blue, is ranked No. 135 overall and No. 16 nationally at his position in the 2024 class according to the 247Sports composite, while the On3 consensus has him at Nos. 208 and 16, respectively. While there is still plenty of time for things to change, On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine currently has the Gators in the lead for his talents with a 63.4% chance of signing him while the Miami Hurricanes are next in line at 19.7%.
[mm-video type=video id=01g54y0qjw8jjpq9d2fk playlist_id=01eqbz250mdknqvm5z player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g54y0qjw8jjpq9d2fk/01g54y0qjw8jjpq9d2fk-72812edc4e2261f75ca5c772de739890.jpg]
[lawrence-related id=85531,85494,85485,85447,85436]
[listicle id=85370]
[listicle id=85272]
Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
Let us know your thoughts and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today!