I posed a question at the end of the story I wrote Wednesday about where Florida stands with its top prospects heading into the NCAA dead period that lasts until the last weekend of July. Did the Gators coaching staff have their top recruits use their official visit to the Swamp too soon?
As a follow-up to that story, I wanted to tackle that question. In a year where the world hadn’t just gone through a pandemic, Florida absolutely had its top prospects visit Gainesville too soon. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there really isn’t one right answer.
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Most of the top players that visited Florida the weekend of June 4th were top 100 players in recruiting services like 247Sports and Rivals. These types of recruits have all the powerhouses like Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Clemson and Ohio State chasing them. The majority of these prospects will wait until November or December. Some of them want the television spotlight during the Early Signing Period on ESPN. Therefore, most schools want to have these players officially visit right before their commitment, so they can have the last word.
Official visits play a significant factor in recruitment for prospects because it allows the program to pay for his travel expenses. Players on unofficial visits have to foot the bill for the trip.
This is why Florida should wait to host some of the top players on its board in a typical recruiting cycle until the season or the last weekend before the first signing period or National Signing Day. However, this time around is vastly different due to the over year-long NCAA dead period due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Gators coaching staff were smart to get these players on campus as soon as possible because most of these recruits haven’t seen the sights and sounds of any college program. This could play as a huge advantage for Florida because the first official visit can be hard to top if a school hits a home run with that prospect similarly to the way people feel after that first bite of cake. None of the pieces eaten afterward live up to the first one. However, it can also be a disadvantage because of the recency effect when it’s time to make a decision.
For the most part, it did aid the Orange and Blue because it surged in recruitments for star recruits like Evan Stewart and Walter Nolen. Many recruiting experts didn’t think Florida had a chance with those players before the first weekend in June.
However, because they used official visits on these prospects, there isn’t a guarantee the Gators will get them back to campus to witness a game in the Swamp this fall. This is the largest downside of having top prospects taking an official visit early.
That’s why there isn’t one clear answer to the question I originally posed Wednesday this year.
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