Billy Napier told the Gator Nation when he arrived in Gainesville that prep recruiting would be one of his top priorities in restoring glory to the Orange and Blue, and so far, he has been good for his word.
While Florida football has mostly wrapped up its 2024 recruiting class the program is already full speed ahead into the 2025 cycle. One member of that class who has taken a recent interest in what Napier and Co. are cooking in the Swamp is four-star running back [autotag]Waltez Clark[/autotag] out of Tampa (Florida) Plant.
The 6-foot-2-inch, 194-pound rusher recently attended the Gators’ Grill in the Ville event at the end of July and came away even more impressed than he was beforehand.
“The facilities, the coaches, the colors — I love the colors. My mom is a fan, too,” Clark told On3’s Keith Niebuhr. “They’re pretty high.”
Also among the schools he feels most bullish about are the Florida State Seminoles, Miami Hurricanes, Southern California Trojans, Central Florida Knights and Toledo Rockets. However, Florida appears to be doing what it can to separate from the pack.
“The communication they have is pretty good. I talk to them a lot and that’s like a big thing that I want to see in all the schools,” Clark said. “Communicating back and forth and building relationships. That’s why communicating is big to me. They told me I fit right in with their offense and I’m at the top of their (board).”
Running backs coach Jabbar Juluke, who has an impressive pedigree of backfield work, is the member of staff that has stood out the most so far.
“I love Coach Juluke — that’s my man,” Clark said. “His style — the way he carries himself… all that stuff. He’s just a good man. He coached some of the top — Leonard Fournette, a couple more running backs.”
While the high school junior has plenty of praise for the program’s current direction, Clark is in no hurry to single out a favorite school.
“I ain’t gonna say. I probably have one — I ain’t gonna say.”
The blue-chip running back plans on attending the Florida-Florida State game this fall in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in late November and will announce his verbal commitment “probably (at the) end of the year.”
Clark is ranked No. 125 overall and No. 11 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 153 and 12, respectively. Florida leads On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine with a 44.1% chance of signing him, followed by the Penn State Nittany Lions (20.2%), South Florida Bulls (1.6%) and UCF (1.3%)
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