The UCF Knights are a growing power in the state of Florida and will command more respect once they join the Big 12 in July 2023, but they are still very much little brother to the Florida Gators. That was made clear to the program on Sunday as Billy Napier and Co. broke through to UCF’s top commit, four-star edge rusher [autotag]Isaiah Nixon[/autotag].
“In the swamp feel like I’m a gator, riding with the gators,” Nixon wrote in an Instagram post after wiping his profile clear of any affiliation with the Knights. “This ain’t no knight,” he added in the original post before editing it to remove the phrase.
It’s safe to say that Nixon’s official visit was a success, and it’s not too hard to decipher what the future might hold for the Lakewood (St. Petersburg) recruit. The clear takeaway is that it’s a matter of when he’ll flip rather than if he will. 247Sports and On3’s lead Gators experts have already submitted commitment predictions, and now it’s on UCF to stop what seems inevitable.
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Nixon is ranked No. 169 overall on the On3 consensus and is No. 22 among edge rushers in the class of 2023. If he flips, he’ll be Florida’s top-ranked commit and join two fellow four-star recruits, athlete [autotag]Aaron Gates[/autotag] and offensive lineman [autotag]Knijeah Harris[/autotag].
With UCF already hosting Nixon on an official visit, it’ll be hard to convince him not to flip. One of Napier’s goals this cycle has been to reestablish UF in the state of Florida’s recruiting space, and this is the kind of move that makes an impact. Still, nothing is certain until signing day comes around.
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