The football team isn’t the only athletic program at the University of Florida busy recruiting players for the future. The basketball team is set to host one of the top point guards in the class of 2024, four-star [autotag]Dedan Thomas Jr[/autotag]., during the season, according to 247Sports.
Thomas picked up an offer from the Gators back in June, and now Cal, Gonzaga, Miami, Stanford and USC have added their names to a list of potential suitors that already included Arizona, Houston, LSU and UCLA among others. He recently made his way to Los Angeles for an unofficial visit with the Bruins, and now he’s planning out his officials.
He has Houston locked into a Sept. 30 date and expects to be at Arizona around the same time. Although he hasn’t scheduled the rest of his trips yet, Florida and Gonzaga are at the top of his list.
“The Florida trip will be probably during the season when they start conference play,” Thomas told Swamp247. “The Florida visit will be official and the Gonzaga trip probably will be official as well.”
Thomas has developed relationships with several members of the Gators’ coaching staff over the year. Associate head coach Carlin Hartman knows him from his time coaching at UNLV (Thomas is a Nevada kid), head coach Todd Golden was coaching at San Francisco when Thomas attended a camp and director of player development Taurean Green would come to some of his games before joining the UF staff.
Whether those ties pay off in the long run remains to be seen, but it’s better to have some familiarity with the staff than none at all. It’s only been two months since Florida started talking to him, but that communication seems to have gone a long way.
The 247Sports composite ranks Thomas No. 5 among point guards and as the 38th-best player in the class of 2024. The site’s individual rankings are a bit more bearish on him, ranking him 59th overall nationally and No. 8 among players at the one.
[mm-video type=video id=01gb8g841z8h0r7cebw8 playlist_id=01eqbz250mdknqvm5z player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gb8g841z8h0r7cebw8/01gb8g841z8h0r7cebw8-f5080e1b4dc72a4e9ba303a6a6c62536.jpg]
[lawrence-related id=89202,88701,88173,86812,87378]
[listicle id=89822]
[listicle id=90044]
[listicle id=89644]
Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
Let us know your thoughts and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today!