For the second time in as many days, the Florida Gators earned a commitment from a class of 2025 recruit. Brentwood Academy (Tennessee) defensive lineman [autotag]Stephon Shivers[/autotag] pledged his services to the Orange and Blue on Monday, following an official visit to the Swamp over the weekend.
Shivers backed off his commitment to Georgia 10 days ago and quickly linked up with Florida to see the Gators beat the LSU Tigers on Saturday. The 6-foot, 4 1/2-inch, 385-pound lineman left Gainesville very high on Florida, and he didn’t wait long to make a decision.
“It was a great atmosphere,” Shivers said to On3. “I ain’t never see nothing like The Swamp. Their defensive line, they got after it, and took what they wanted. That’s what I want to be a part of. People that want to work, people that want to go eat and dominate every play.”
Vanderbilt was also in the mix, but a standout performance from Florida’s defensive line helped seal the deal. The unit has improved greatly under position coach Gerald Chatman, who was the main recruiter for Shivers this weekend. Florida is recruiting him as a nose tackle and 3-technique lineman.
Recruiting Summary
Shivers is a three-star recruit everywhere except ESPN, where he earned a fourth star. The 247Sports composite has him ranked No. 489 overall and No. 52 among defensive linemen in the class of 2025, while the On3 industry ranking is slightly more bullish on him at Nos. 449 and 41, respectively.
Florida quickly took over the On3 recruiting prediction machine odds a day after Shivers decommitted from Georgia. A pair of expert predictions — the first from Gators Online recruiting analyst Corey Bender on Thursday and a second from On3 vice president of recruiting and transfer portal Steve Wiltfong on Monday — made Florida the favorite to land him.
247Sports also shifted in favor of Florida in recent days, following crystal ball predictions from Swamp247 insider Blake Alderman a week ago, Vandy 247 publisher Robbie Weinstein on Sunday and national recruiting analyst Tom Loy on Monday.
Florida is ranked No. 27 in the On3 industry team recruiting rankings and No. 31 on 247Sports’ team rankings.
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