Northwood (Indiana) wide receiver [autotag]NiTareon Tuggle[/autotag] narrowed things down to 10 schools on Saturday, and the Florida Gators were fortunate enough to make the cut for one of the Midwest’s top recruits.
Florida joins Auburn, Cincinnati, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Michigan State, Oregon, Penn State and Texas A&M as finalists for Tuggle. The On3 recruiting prediction machine currently favors the two-time reigning national champion Georgia Bulldogs at 40.9% odds, with the Spartans (9.6%) and Wolverines (8.2%) close behind.
The Gators are tied with the Aggies, Bearcats and Indiana Hoosiers in fourth with 6.9% odds. UF recently hosted Tuggle on campus at the beginning of the month, but Florida’s odds haven’t improved a ton since.
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Still, Tuggle is leaving the door open for Florida to make a move. There’s a lot more playing time available in Gainesville right now than there is in Athens or some of the other landing spots he’s considering, and seeing how this year’s freshman receiver class does could influence him.
As a junior, Tuggle hauled in 38 receptions for 821 yards and 22 touchdowns. He also ran for 201 yards and found the end zone twice on the ground.
Tuggle is s three-star prospect, according to On3 and 247Sports, but Rivals.com grades him out as a four-star and the 59th-best receiver in the class. The On3 industry rankings, which use a weighted average of the scores from the major services based on reputability, have Tuggle at No. 478 overall and No. 82 among receivers in the class of 2024.
The industry rankings agree that Tuggle is the fourth-best player in the state of Indiana, though.
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