Tag: florida-gators

Florida made a huge jump in the recruiting rankings after Vernell Brown III committed

Vernell Brown III helps Florida make a huge jump in the recruiting rankings.

With the weekend commitment of Verbell Brown III, Florida made a pretty seismic jump in the recruiting rankings.

The jump in the On3 Industry Rankings underscores how big of a get Brown is for Florida, but also how underwhelming the Gators have recruited so far this year.

Brown is a 5-foot-11 wide receiver from Jones High School (Orlando, Florida). He picked Florida from a final four that also included Florida State, Miami and Ohio State

Florida moved up 19 spots in the On3 Industry Rankings following the Sunday commitment of Brown.

A four-star wide receiver, Brown is a top-40 recruit in the nation according to On3 as well as Rivals and 247Sports. He is the seventh-ranked wide receiver in the class of 2025 according to ESPN.

The Gators, who had the second-worst recruiting class in the SEC heading into the weekend, are now ranked No. 13 in the conference. Brown is the highest-ranked recruit in Florida’s class and is one of five recruits ranked as a four-star.

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Florida Gators land coveted 4-star tight end Tae’shaun Gelsey

Tae’shaun Gelsey commits to the Florida Gators.

It was a big Saturday for the Florida Gators, who landed a commitment from Tae’Shaun Gelsey.

A class of 2025 recruit from Riverside (Jacksonville, Florida), Gelsey picked Florida over a final six that also included Auburn, UCF, Kentucky, Tulane and Wake Forest. Gelsey posted his top six on June 3.

A dual-sport athlete who also plays basketball, Gelsey is a match-up nightmare at the high school level. At 6-foot-10 and 210 pounds, Gelsey has a good catch radius and moves very well down the field.

Rivals ranks him as the No. 59 player in Florida and the No. 22 tight end prospect.

He took an official visit to Florida in the last week of May before taking a trip to Auburn. Last weekend, he was at Tulane.

 

He joins wide receiver Joshua Moore as one of two four-star commits in this Florida class.

Gelsey is the eighth commit for Florida in the 2025 class. Nationally, the class is ranked No. 65 by 247Sports.

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Watch: Five-star quarterback D.J. Lagway, a Florida commit, shows off his arm with a 50-yard pass

Florida commit D.J. Lagway shows off his arm strength with this impressive throw.

On Friday night, D.J. Lagway from Texas showed his athleticism and arm strength, winding up to make an impressive 50-yard touchdown throw.

His throw was the highlight play as Willis moved to 8-0 with a 63-9 win over Caney Creek.

Lagway committed to Florida in June. He is one of two committed players who are ranked as a five stars in this current Florida class (Xavier Filsaime).

According to 247Sports, he is the highest-ranked recruit in the class. He also held offers from Alabama, Baylor Georgia, Louisville and Miami among others.

He is the No. 16 player in the nation per 247Sports.

On this throw, Lagway rolls to his left and, throwing against his body, makes the 50-yard throw to senior wide receiverA’Mauree Holmes

Coming into Friday’s game, Lagway had 2,292 passing yards and completed 75 percent of his passes. He has 36 touchdowns with four interceptions.

Friday Night Highlights: 5-star QB DJ Lagway goes off for 8 touchdowns

One of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation has started his 2023 season with a bang.

One of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the country started his 2023 season with a bang last night.

Willis (Texas) five-star quarterback DJ Lagway went off for eight touchdowns in his team’s 52-21 victory on the road over Rudder (Texas) on Friday. Lagway (6-foot-2, 225 pounds) finished with a line of 21/23 for 436 yards, eight touchdowns (7 passing, 1 rushing) and a QB rate of 169.8. What’s more impressive is that Lawgay’s stat line was all in one half.

Here are some highlights.

The biggest beneficiary of Lagway’s huge game was Wildcats wide receiver Debruan Hampton, who posted five catches, 121 yards and scored three times. Next week Willis will face Temple (Texas) at home on Friday night.

As for next season, Lagway is committed to Florida and is the third-best recruit in a loaded 2024 class that currently ranks third in the nation.

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Florida adds another blue chip defender to their loaded class of 2024

Earlier this week, Mack announced his commitment to an already-loaded class of 2024 for the Florida Gators.

Arguably no other state in the country produces more high-end young football talent than Louisiana, and they’re particularly good at pumping out defensive backs. One of the top prospects in the state in the 2024 recruiting cycle is John Ehret (La.) four-star cornerback Wardell Mack, and he’s just decided where he’ll be playing at the college level.

Earlier this week, Mack announced his commitment to an already-loaded class of 2024 for the Florida Gators.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cv7kXPTMMBp/

Mack (6-foot-0, 170 pounds) had offers from 18 other schools. The other top contenders were Florida State, Texas and LSU – which was the favorite to get his commitment according to On3’s prediction model, which had Florida at just 1.2%.

That makes it a nice surprise get for the Gators’ class of 2024, which now has 22 hard commits. Florida’s group still ranks No. 3 in the nation in this cycle, but their lead over No. 4 Alabama has grown to over 10 points. They trail No. 2 Ohio State by 11.

After he broke the news, Mack told Corey Bender at On3 that Gators defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong says Mack can play corner as well as nickel.

“Coach Armstrong made it clear that I’m a great player that he wants on his defense, and feels as though I’m savvy enough to play corner and nickel in the defense. Coach Juluke and Coach Napier have made me feel at home every time I stepped foot in Gainesville.”

Going by the 247Sports composite rankings, Mack is No. 4 in the state of Louisiana, No. 13 at his position and No. 114 nationally.

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Florida State ‘early front-runner’ for Miami Central 5-star DE Armondo Blount

They’re also looking good for at least one elite recruit from the class of 2025.

After a slow start, Florida State is coming on strong in the 2024 recruiting cycle. Over the weekend, they snagged a commitment from five-star safety KJ Bolden, when they weren’t even supposed to be in the race. Now the Seminoles are in the top five in the 2024 national recruiting rankings. They’re also looking good for at least one elite recruit from the class of 2025.

According to Adam Gorney at Rivals.com, Florida State is the early front-runner for Miami Central (Fla.) 2025 five-star DE Armondo Blount.

“Florida State has been the early front-runner for the 2025 five-star defensive end from Miami (Fla.) Central and a trip back to Tallahassee recently really stood out. Blount spent a lot of time with position coach Odell Haggins and even took notes of what Haggins was saying to remember for later. Miami and Florida are two other early ones to watch, but the Seminoles definitely stand out most.”

Blount (6-foot-3, 250 pounds) is ranked first overall in Florida, second at his position, and fifth nationally in the class of 2025, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

The Seminoles might be the favorites for now, but Blount has offers from 28 other schools, including Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Miami. Also, only some agree FSU is in the lead. On3’s prediction model has Florida as the favorite at 39.2%, followed by Miami at 20.8% and FSU at 6.3%.

For the moment, Florida State has a pair of three-star recruits committed to their class of 2025: Mandarin (Fla.) quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. and Eau Gallie (Fla.) wide receiver DL Hardison.

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Georgia adds another great RB recruit with 4-star Nate Frazier

Florida State gets a surprise commitment from 5-star KJ Bolden

The top high school QBs of all time: Southeast region

Iconic slingers from the Southeast.

USA TODAY High School Sports has kicked off its look at some of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, breaking them up into five different regions.

First up was the best of the best from the East region.

For this next batch of all-time high school QBs, we’re shifting our focus to the Southeast, which includes the following states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and South Carolina. Included are some of the most-decorated college football players in history and one of the greatest winners at the pro level of all time. Here are the top five all-time HS QBs from the Southeast.

Flurry of 4-star commits sends Florida surging up to No. 3 nationally

After getting commitments from five four-star 2024 recruits in the last week, Florida’s class is now ranked third in the nation.

No college football program has been more busy recruiting over the last six or seven days than the Florida Gators. Since this past weekend, Billy Napier and his staff have gotten five blue-chip recruits from the class of 2024 to commit, plus another couple of three-star prospects. They have been particularly active in acquiring highly-ranked high school recruits from the ultra-competitive state of Georgia.

Here’s a look at each player that has announced their commitments to Florida and where they rank in their class going by On3’s national rankings.

Picayune Memorial (Miss.) 4-star LB Jamonta Waller

National ranking: No. 61

Good Counsel (Md.) 4-star LB Aaron Chiles

National ranking: No. 108

Dublin (Ga.) 4-star DL Nasir Johnson

National ranking: No. 272

Clinton (NC) 4-star DL Amaris Williams

National ranking: No. 180

Portal (Ga.) 4-star TE Amir Jackson

National ranking: No. 129

South Gwinnett (Ga.) 3-star OT Marcus Mascoll

National ranking: No. 643

Creekside (Ga.) 3-star DL Michai Boireau

National ranking: No. 917

Florida’s class of 2024 now has 16 hard commits and ranks No. 3 in the nation after being placed No. 19 just a week ago.

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No. 1 WR and Ohio State commit Jeremiah Smith visits FSU

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Florida State getting visit from No. 1 ranked WR Jeremiah Smith today

Today Smith is in Tallahassee visiting Florida State’s campus.

Last week we shared our high school football watchlist for the top 10 wide receivers in the class of 2024. At the top of the list is Jeremiah Smith from Chaminade-Madonna (Fla.), who’s the cousin of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith. At the next level, Smith is committed to playing at Ohio State. However, Smith is still keeping his options open and is visiting one of several programs that want to flip him.

Today Smith is in Tallahassee visiting Florida State’s campus. Here’s a look at Smith being greeted as he arrived.

In addition to being the top-ranked receiver in his class, Smith (6-foot-3, 198 pounds) is first overall in the state of Florida and No. 3 nationally, going by the 247Sports composite rankings.

So far, Smith has received offers from nearly 40 different schools, with Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Miami considered contenders to flip him.

While Ohio State is still the overwhelming favorite to sign Smith, the Buckeyes’ hold on him has been a question since the cycle’s No. 1 overall recruit, QB Dylan Raiola, decommitted back in December, just days after Smith committed to the Buckeyes. Raiola has since joined No. 1 ranked Georgia and is actively recruiting other big names to the Bulldogs.

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Watch: No. 1 basketball recruit in Kansas commits to Florida’s 2024 class

This past weekend he announced his commitment to Florida.

The No. 1 overall basketball player in the state of Kansas for the class of 2024 is Sunrise Christian four-star center John Bol.

In addition to being first in Kansas, Bol (no relation to former NBA player Manute Bol) is ranked No. 3 at his position and No. 23 nationally in his class. This past weekend he announced his commitment to Florida.

Bol (7-foot-1, 190 pounds) also had offers from Michigan, Missouri, Butler, Clemson, UConn, Evansville, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas State, Nebraska, Texas and Wake Forest.

Florida’s class of 2024 has one other member so far: Orlando Christian Prep (Fla.) four-star shooting guard Isaiah Brown.

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4-star SG Simeon Wilcher commits to St. John’s in style