The Florida Gators have been after five-star cornerback [autotag]Desmond Ricks[/autotag] for some time now, but the timeline for his recruitment just moved by an entire calendar year. On Saturday, Oct. 22, Ricks announced his reclassification to the class of 2023, meaning that he will sign in December or February and head to college a year early.
It takes a mature athlete to forgo a year of prep ball and remain one of the top names in the class, but that will be the case for Ricks. As a member of the class of 2024, Ricks was ranked No. 2 overall on the 247Sports composite and was the top defensive back in the group.
It’ll take a while for recruiting services to accurately place him in the class of 2023, but he should be one of the top remaining uncommitted cornerbacks on the board when all is said and done.
🥂 pic.twitter.com/E314HOAZZl
— Desmond Ricks (@DesmondRicks2) October 22, 2022
The Gators have hosted Ricks three times this year and are competing with Alabama, LSU and Miami among others for his services. Florida has a hometown feel and plenty of ties to the football program at IMG Academy, though.
“(Florida) is not far from home and it’s a great atmosphere,” Ricks told 247Sports. “I know a lot of people up here, so it would be a home away from home.”
The Gators are hoping to land the top defensive player in the class of 2023, [autotag]Cormani McClain[/autotag], on Thursday, and Ricks moving up his timeline creates quite the narrative for Florida in terms of restoring the DBU name. If McClain and Ricks join the incoming recruiting class, Billy Napier will likely have put together a top-five class in his first year at the helm in the Swamp.
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