Just two days after adding their 20th member, the Florida Gators’ 2021 recruiting class grew to 21 on Monday with the addition of Jacksonville four-star wide receiver Marcus Burke.
A product of the private Trinity Christian Academy, Burke chose the Gators over the Georgia Bulldogs and Penn State Nittany Lions. Despite his verbal pledge, he does plan to visit Athens and State College once the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) lifts their coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions.
Kirby Smart’s program is worth keeping on eye here, as the Bulldogs have made Burke one of their top targets in the cycle, having position coach Cortez Hankton and tight ends coach Todd Hartley speak with him regularly.
His high school teammate, 2023 athlete Treyaun Webb, is a Georgia commit, as well. Webb has three more years of prep football to play, but profiles to play running back at the collegiate level.
The No. 40 wideout in the class and a top-35 player in the state, per the 247Sports Composite, Burke totaled 37 receptions for 831 yards (22.4 avg.) and nine touchdowns for the Conquerors as a junior, including a 99-yard score against the Venice Indians on September 6.
Standing 6-foot-3 and tipping the scales at 180 pounds, he has shown versatility in his game, strong enough to play on the perimeter, but quick enough to work in the slot, too.
Burke becomes the third four-star wide receiver in Florida’s upcoming class – the fourth if you count Seffner athlete Charles Montgomery, who projects to play a hybrid receiver/running back role – joining Ocala’s Trevonte Rucker and Loganville, Georgia’s Daejon Reynolds.
Overall, Burke is the sixth-highest rated pledge in the program’s 2021 collection and the fourth-highest on the offensive side of the football, trailing only Rucker, quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, and Reynolds.
Co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales, who served as Burke’s primary recruiter, is tasked with replacing four of his top-five wide receivers from 2019 this fall but has secured the commitment of some strong reinforcements on the recruiting trail moving forward.
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