Florida football added another player to its wide receiver room on Sunday when JUCO wide receiver [autotag]Thai Chiaokhiao-Bowman[/autotag] both committed and signed with the program, joining transfer portal arrival [autotag]Ricky Pearsall[/autotag] as the latest additions to the 2022 class.
The 6-foot-2-inch, 190-pound pass-catcher from Minneapolis, Minnesota, spent the past year at Independence Community College (Kansas) and will have the full five years available for him to get his four seasons of play in. He chose his Sunshine State destination over Illinois, Ole Miss and Nebraska, despite his desire early on to remain in the realm of the Big Ten.
Chiaokhiao-Bowman’s primary recruiter was wide receivers coach [autotag]Keary Colbert[/autotag], who was one of many who went out of their way to make Gainesville feel like “home”.
“He and I just had a lot of ties,” he said of Florida’s assistant coach, according to Swamp247. “He played with Dominique Byrd at USC, who is a homie of mine and my brother’s. He also knows Larry Fitzgerald and played in the league so he’s gone places that I want to go. He’s a family guy and he’s really down to earth.
“They need a guy with my skill set to come do big things, even play special teams,” he added in regards to his fit on the current roster. “They plan to move me around between slot and outside. They like my releases, separation at the top of the route, he said he can tell I have good ball skills, I look seasoned and I work hard.”
The JUCO transfer will hopefully hit the ground running this upcoming season for Billy Napier’s squad, especially given how thin the team is at some positions, including the receiver corps.
[mm-video type=video id=01g4v2v8jgxzgz28jt00 playlist_id=01eqbz250mdknqvm5z player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g4v2v8jgxzgz28jt00/01g4v2v8jgxzgz28jt00-a4cd98a8b02ed9f6750b9d0522cc3ed1.jpg]
[lawrence-related id=85109,85054,85031,84935,84925]
[listicle id=85023]
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!