Nation’s top WR recruit will be at Florida for Charlotte matchup

The Florida Gators are hosting Jeremiah Smith, the No. 1 ranked receiver in the class of 2024, on Saturday.

The Florida Gators are getting the nation’s top wide receiver recruit, [autotag]Jeremiah Smith[/autotag], on campus Saturday for the Charlotte game, according to Swamp247.

The Gators have been after the Chaminade Madonna (Hollywood, Florida) pass catcher for months in an attempt to flip him from his Ohio State commitment. Five-star quarterback DJ Lagway has been a key piece in the effort to flip Smith, and he’ll be on campus Saturday as well.

UF most recently hosted Smith in July, just ahead of the August dead period. Florida State and Miami are the other two schools still pushing for the in-state recruit. He’ll visit the Hurricanes for the Georgia Tech game (Oct. 7) and Florida State for the Miami game (Nov. 11) . Smith also has a visit to Ohio State locked in for Oct. 21.

His recruitment should “go down to the deadline,” but he’s still a future Buckeye at publishing time. The expectation is for him to sign during the early period.

The Gators would use Smith as an outside “X” receiver and in the slot. The player comp Billy Napier gave him was Calvin Ridley, whom he coached at Alabama.

Smith is ranked No. 1 overall on the On3 industry ranking, which uses a weighted average of all four major recruiting services. ESPN is the most bearish on him at No. 9 overall, but he’s firmly in the top two everywhere else.

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.