Category: Football Recruiting

Gators make top five for this in-state 4-star linebacker

Wesley Bissainthe has narrowed down his decision to just five schools. Three of them are in Florida.

Four-star linebacker Wesley Bissainthe named Florida in his top five on Wednesday after fielding offers from over 30 schools during his recruitment.

Florida joins Florida State, Miami, Penn State and West Virginia in Bissainthe’s top five. The Miami Central product made it to all five schools over the summer, but his trip to Gainesville wasn’t an official visit. With hopes of deciding before the December Early Signing Period, Bissainthe plans to officially visit UF soon, according to 247Sports.

The Hurricanes hosted Bissainthe for the Appalachian State game last weekend and FSU plans on bringing him out in the next few weeks as well. While Penn State may have the best recruiting class of 2022 so far, the Florida schools seem to be in the lead for the Miami native.

247Sports ranks Bissainthe as the fifteenth best linebacker in the country and the sixteenth best recruit out of Florida. Rivals is a bit less bullish on him, ranking Bissainthe at No. 23 positionally and at No. 42 in the state. Both outlets list him as a four-star prospect and have early projections of him committing to Miami.

Bissainthe says he’d like to commit around Thanksgiving, and Florida could use him alongside Shemar James and EJ Lightsey. Linebackers have been a fairly strong position for the Gators recently, and it looks like all efforts are being made to keep that unit bulked up.

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Florida football snags 2022 offensive lineman Jalen Farmer

Florida has struggled to land offensive linemen in recruiting lately, but they got a commitment from Jalen Farmer on Friday.

2022 offensive lineman Jalen Farmer announced his commitment to the Florida Gators on Friday.

Florida beat out East Carolina and Georgia Tech for Farmer. The Gators hosted the 6-foot-5-inch, 325-pounder in June and August before extending an offer to him on August 1. Rivals rates Farmer as a three-star guard while 247Sports has yet to rate the prospect.

Offensive line coach John Hevesy has led the recruiting effort for Farmer and the two have built a good relationship. After a visit, Farmer raved about Hevesy’s approach to coaching and the program as a whole.

“I loved everything about it,” Farmer said to 247Sports. “It was great working out with them and I learned a lot from coach Hevesy. He liked how aggressive and coachable I was. I love his knowledge of the game, and his fire when it comes to coaching and teaching technique. I liked the competition of the camp and the facilities were a big plus. Everything was great.”

Farmer joins four-star Tony Livingston and three-star David Conner as the third offensive lineman in the Gators 2022 recruiting class. The Gators have scrambled to fill out the line after missing out on prospects such as Tyler Booker and Jacob Hood. Florida’s 2022 class stands at 14 players following Farmer’s commitment.

The newest Gators commit will be in Gainesville next week for the game against Alabama.

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These three targets will be in attendance for Florida vs. Alabama

Florida is inviting lots of recruits to the Alabama game. Here’s an update on three of them.

When Alabama comes to Gainesville on Sept. 18 the Gators will be hosting some of the team’s top recruiting targets. Florida football fans received an update on three prospects recently.

Four-star safety Azareyeh Thomas is one of the latest to confirm that he’ll be at the game, according to 247Sports. He named Florida in his top three in June along with LSU and Georgia Tech. The No. 89 overall prospect on the 247Sports Composite visited Georgia Tech last weekend.

After pushing back his commitment from a planned August decision, Thomas’ visit to Florida could play a huge role come commitment time.

Joining Thomas in attendance is Isaiah Bond, a four-star receiver that officially visited Alabama, Miami and Texas after committing to Florida.Ā  This will be the second time he sees the Crimson Tide play this year, but he has recently restated that he’s fully committed to the Gators.

Three-star offensive tackle Ja’Kavion Nonar tweeted his invitation to the Alabama game with two sets of eye emojis as the caption. With the Gators missing out on a lot of their offensive line targets, Nonar’s name has quickly risen up the list in the last few months.

Nonar is ranked as the No. 125 offensive tackle nationally by 247Sports.

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Florida football impresses commits and targets against FAU

Florida made some progress with these recruits on Saturday.

The Florida Gators hosted 86,840 fans on Saturday as they beat Florida Atlantic, 35-14. Three particular people in attendance left Ben Hill Griffin Stadium thinking about the future: 2022 Florida linebacker commit E.J. Lightsey, 2023 four-star defensive lineman Derrick LeBlanc and 2023 four-star linebacker Grayson Howard.

Lightsey is in his last year of high school and verbally committed to Florida in the middle of August. His first time visiting the Swamp, Lightsey was impressed by what Florida had to offer. The fans were loud, the lights were brighter and the linebackers showed him a glimpse of what his Saturdays will look like in the future.

ā€œWhere I come from, we donā€™t do all that,” Lightsey said when asked by GatorsTerritory about the passion Florida fans bring. “The fans, they were amazing. It was one of the factors that I took in when I made my decision.”

After seeing the team play, Lightsey commented that he thinks he’ll fit right in with the defense when he gets to Gainesville. Howard, who is still considering his recruiting options, made similar remarks regarding the atmosphere and play from the linebackers.

ā€œWhile watching the linebackers I could tell Ventrell Miller was the leader of the defense,” Howard said to 247Sports. “And also Diabate stepped up too and made a couple clutch stops. The defense played really good tonight, thatā€™s something I would like to be a part of is a good defense that flys around and makes plays.ā€

The Gators offered Howard a few days ago and it’s the one he’s been waiting for. Following the season opener, Howard’s relationship with Florida seems incredibly strong.

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LeBlanc was on his second visit of the year to Florida after observing a camp in summer. Unable to visit in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, LeBlanc was excited to finally experience a gameday. Edge rushers Zach Carter and Brenton Cox Jr. spoke with the prospect before the game and told him the “d-line was going to do their thing.” Carter finished the night with three sacks.

The competition for LeBlanc is fairly strong with Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia all in the hunt. He’ll return for Florida’s game against Alabama, and that game could have a big impact on his decision.”

“I thought the defense played really good, LeBlanc said, according to 247Sports. “But I just want to see them against Bama. I am going to be back for that game in two weeks, so I want to see how they are against those guys.”

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Here are the prospects Florida football will host for the FAU game

Plenty of names will be visiting Gainesville this week. Here’s who the Gators are hosting.

The Florida Gators will host several recruits this weekend on unofficial visits for the Florida Atlantic game, according to 247Sports.

2022 five-star cornerback Jaheim Singletary and 2023 five-star safety Sonny Styles will visit and meet with Florida’s new defensive back coaches, Jules Montinar and Wesley McGriff. Styles is making his first trip to the Swamp and Singletary decommited from Ohio State at the beginning of August.

2023 five-star cornerback Cormani McClain wants to attend the game but the travel back from his high school game in southern Georgia may be too much to add a trip to Gainesville the next day. McClain recently named Florida in his top five and has been in constant contact with the Gators over the summer.

A pair of 2023 four-star prospects will also be visiting this weekend: linebacker Grayson Howard and receiver Bryson Rodgers. Both in-state prospects have received an offer from the Gators, and Rodgers has named Florida in his top 10.

2022 three-star offensive tackle Elijah Zollicoffer should be at the game if his ride can pull through. 2023 quarterback Tyler Jefferson (unrated by 247Sports) looks to get another major offer after landing one from Florida State in January.

A few of Florida commits will be there to help them with the recruiting process, including three-star offensive tackle David Conner, three-star linebacker E.J. Lightsey and four-star receiver Chandler Smith.

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Check out how far Florida moved up in SI’s All-American recruiting rankings

The Gators moved up from 25th to 20th in the latest SIAA recruiting rankings.

Florida’s recruiting struggles in recent years have been well-documented, and for a while, it looked like the 2022 class could see the most disappointing finish since coach Dan Mullen was hired. But the last month has seen at least a bit of a turnaround.

The commitment of linebacker E.J. Lightsey and offensive tackle David Conner, both three-star recruits, saw Florida rise from No. 22 to No. 16 in the 247Sports Composite, and in the recently released update to the Sports Illustrated All-American recruiting rankings, the Gators are also moving up.

Previously No. 25, the Gators now rank 20th after the two additions in August.

13 Verbal Commitments

Florida added EJ Lightsey, the Peach State linebacker who announced his decision with SI All-American. It also picked up in-state offensive lineman David Conner, helping to strengthen a major position of need for Dan Mullen up front.

Still, finishing ranked 20th is far from ideal for the Gators. Their class ranks sixth among SEC squads, behind even South Carolina, and after missing out on the top three for top recruit Walter Nolen, Florida may need someone like five-star receiver Evan Stewart to salvage a top-10 class.

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Florida loses out on 3-star offensive lineman to Georgia

Jacob Hood will play in the SEC East one day but not for the Florida Gators.

Florida has once again failed to get one of its offensive line targets for the recruiting class of 2022. Three-star offensive tackle Jacob Hood committed to the University of Georgia on Monday over Florida, Auburn, LSU, Miami and Ole Miss.

The Bulldogs were the favorites going into the day, but Florida held out some hope to land the 6-foot-8-inch prospect. The Gators joined the party late in June and never secured a campus visit for Hood, which likely hurt the program’s chances.

Florida does have four-star Tony Livingston and three-star David Conner in the class so far. With Hood out of the picture, Ja’Kavion Nonar is the next target up on Florida’s radar. He recently de-committed from Pitt after receiving offers from several programs, including UF.

There is still a chance for the Gators to successfully pursue either Julian Armella or Malik Agbo ā€” both of whom are four-star tackles considered to have interest in Florida ā€” but the competition for them is more fierce than it is for Nonar.

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Gators target and elite 2022 athlete updates commitment timeline

The Gators will have to wait a bit longer to find out whether or not they won over the nation’s No. 4 athlete.

Florida made the top three for 2022 four-star athlete Azareyeh Thomas earlier in August but the Gators will have to wait until at least next month for a decision.

Thomas took to Twitter on Saturday announcing that he’d be making his decision soon but that he “will not be committing in August.” Florida landed in Thomas’ top three in July and attended the Friday Night Lights Camp to close the month out. The other programs bidding for his services are LSU and Georgia Tech (where Thomas’ brother Juanyeh plays). The Tigers sit as the current 247Sports crystal ball favorite but GatorsTerritory has Florida in the lead.

Thomas is an absolute animal on both defense and offense, but the Gators have cornerbacks coach Jules Montinar leading the recruiting effort. Thomas shut down four-star 2023 Gators commit Raymond Cottrell last season with ease and led his team into a deep playoff run. 247Sports rates him as the nation’s No. 89 recruit on its industry-generated composite list.

Florida has begun rebuilding their secondary for the future after last year’s disastrous season on defense. Thomas would be a main part of the rebuild after players such as Kaiir Elam and Jaydon Hill depart.

No official date is set, but the “soon” in Thomas’ tweet certainly hints at a September reveal.

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This Florida OL target set to announce his pledge Monday

UF has two offensive linemen committed but is still looking to take a few more like Jacob Hood who is making his decision public Monday.

The targets on Florida’s offensive line board this cycle have been a revolving door due to its struggles to land prospects. One name that has consistently been near the top of the Gators’ board is three-star offensive tackle Jacob Hood. He is a 6-foot-8-inch, 340-pound monster from Nashville, Tennessee. Hood plans to make his commitment public on Aug. 30 at 1 p.m. EDT.

He will be choosing between Florida, Georgia, Auburn, LSU, Miami and Ole Miss. Florida joined his recruitment later than the other schools mentioned. The Gators offered him on June 16 and failed to get him on campus for a visit.

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Because of their inability to get Hood to the Swamp, fans shouldn’t expect Florida to be the pick Monday. On 247Sports, UGA is currently the favorite because all five crystal balls are logged in the Bulldogs’ favor.

The Gators will most likely turn their attention toward three-star offensive tackle Ja’Kavion Nonar. He decommitted from Pitt on Aug. 17 after he received scholarship offers from Florida and Ole Miss.

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Florida football landed this 2023 athlete from Georgia

The Gators added a third member to its 2023 recruiting class on Thursday.

2023 three-star athlete Aaron Gates committed to the Florida Gators on Thursday. The prep athlete plays on both sides of the ball for Trinity Christian in Georgia but he’ll likely play in the secondary for the Gators. Cornerbacks coach Jules Montinar led the charge on Gates’ recruitment.

The Gators offered Gates on June 15 and made his top 10 a day before his commitment. The 6-foot, 180-pound prospect chose UF over Georgia, Tennesse, Miami, Michigan and UCF among others.

Gates has been considering Florida seriously since July, according to 247Sports. He appears to be impressed with just about everything the program has to offer.

“I love the coaches, all of them. It just feels like family,” Gates said to 247Sports. “When I went down there it felt like a second home. Friday Night Lights was amazing. I wasnā€™t able to compete but I walked down there and saw Coach Jules. How intense he was coaching, it was amazing to see.ā€

Gates is the nation’s No. 30 athlete, according to 247Sports. He joins four-star receiver Raymond Cottrell and four-star tight end Mac Markway as the third member of Florida’s 2023 recruiting class.

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