In-state IOL target names Florida in top 5, sets commitment date

Things are getting serious between Florida and Ponte Vedra interior offensive lineman Jake Guarnera, as the Gators made his top five on Tuesday.

One of Florida’s recruiting targets on the offensive line narrowed things down to five programs on Tuesday, and the Gators have done enough to make the cut as things get serious down the stretch in the race for Ponte Vedra’s interior lineman [autotag]Jake Guarnera[/autotag].

In addition to announcing Florida, NC State, Michigan, Penn State and Rutgers as his final five, Guarnera marked April 28 as the date he’ll make his collegiate decision. He’s coming off a visit with the Nittany Lions over the weekend, but Florida hosted him twice in one week at the end of March.

Guarnera has an official visit date locked in with Florida for June 23, but that could change depending on what happens at the end of the month. Interstingly, Michigan is the overwhelming favorite to land him with 89.3% odds, according to the On3 recruiting prediction machine.

Those numbers are based on two expert predictions (On3’s version of crystal balls) that came in shortly after the top 10 was announced. If Florida is serious about bringing Guarnera into the fold, now is the time to pull out all of the stops. Getting him on campus for the Orange and Blue Game is a must.

Guarnera is a consensus three-star recruit, ranked as high as No. 17 among interior offensive linemen in the class of 2024 by Rivals.com. The On3 industry ranking, which weights the four major recruiting services to reach a weighted average for each recruit, has Guarnera at No. 642 overall in the class and No. 42 among those in his position group (guards and centers). He’s also a top-100 player in the state of Florida at No. 89.

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