It has been a solid day for Billy Napier and the Florida football program on national signing day, roping in a healthy brood of new recruits for the 2022 class. While the Gators picked up players they were expected to, they did not quite fare so well when it came to the more highly-sought preps.
Florida got juked earlier by four-star running back TreVonte’ Citizen, who faked out his contestants before finally selecting the Miami Hurricanes, while also missing out on four-star defensive lineman Caden Story, who chose to become a Clemson Tiger. More bad news came later in the afternoon when the crown jewel of Florida’s national signing day efforts, five-star linebacker Harold Perkins, chose the LSU Tigers as his collegiate destination.
When the 6-foot-2.5-inch, 210-pound athlete announced his decision on Wednesday, his mother was conspicuously dismayed. There have been rumors flowing through the message boards that she favored Florida over his other options and her reaction did little to convince otherwise. Additionally, a 247Sports report strongly suggests that the Gators’ staff had recruited her hard.
All is not lost yet, as Napier mentioned that more signings were yet to come in his afternoon press conference. While missing out on Perkins is not quite a black eye for the new Gators regime, it was a swing and a miss in a deep count as the recruiting season comes to a head.
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