Tag: Mark Fletcher

Gators get crystal ball prediction for this 2023 blue-chip running back

Billy Napier and Co. grab another crystal ball prediction for a top-notch 2023 recruit.

Last weekend was a big one for Florida football’s recruiting efforts as the program shifts gears from the action on the field to focusing on the best talent the prep ranks have to offer. Billy Napier and his army of staffers are beginning to reap the fruits of those recent labors for one particular recruit in the 2023 class.

Four-star running back [autotag]Mark Fletcher[/autotag] out of Fort Lauderdale (Florida) American Heritage — a former Ohio State Buckeyes commit — made the trek up to Gainesville and apparently came away impressed with what the new regime has brewing in Hogtown. Subsequently, 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong cast his crystal ball prediction for the Gators as the recruiting hot stove continues to heat up.

The 6-foot-1-inch, 225-pound backfield beast has no shortage of suitors — particularly the Miami Hurricanes — but has also received offers from the likes of the USC Trojans, Penn State Nittany Lions and Michigan Wolverines.

Fletcher is ranked No. 262 overall and No. 15 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 consensus has him at Nos. 262 and 16, respectively. Florida holds another crystal ball prediction from 247Sports while Ohio State holds three for the coveted prospect. Meanwhile, On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine gives the Gators a 66.1% chance of landing him against second-place Miami (17.5%) and OSU (14.8%).

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Tracking Florida’s big recruiting weekend ahead of the early signing period

The Gators are hosting a ton of recruits on official visits this weekend. Here are the ones who have checked in from the Swamp.

The Florida Gators are hosting a ton of official visitors over what will be the final big recruiting weekend ahead of the 2023 cycle’s early signing period.

UF’s selection to the Las Vegas Bowl, which takes place on Dec. 17, forced Billy Napier’s staff to adjust, but the list of visitors in the Swamp this weekend is still very impressive.

Headlining it is five-star offensive tackle [autotag]Samson Okunlola[/autotag] out of Massachusetts. The Gators are working hard to beat out the Miami Hurricanes for him, and he’d likely help Florida break back into the top 10 as the team’s only five-star commit in the cycle. Getting the last word could be crucial in his decision.

The Gators are also looking to flip a few players as well, and a late official visit could help push them to make the leap and bolster an already powerful class. Plenty of commits are in town too to help recruit and take their own official visits.

Here’s a look at every recruiting target that’s checked in from the Swamp over the weekend.

Georgia running back has Ohio State in his top 4 schools

More good recruiting news for OSU! #GoBucks

When Florida running back [autotag]Mark Fletcher[/autotag] decommitted in the middle of last month, the Buckeyes were left in an odd position. They recruited Fletcher with the caveat that they would not go after any other players at the position, and [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] clearly had to scramble to get a much needed ball carrier in the 2023 class even though the team has some solid depth already on campus.

[autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] and his staff identified a few targets and it looks like they have made an impression on one of them. Georgia running back Jamarion Wilcox announced his top 4 on twitter and the Buckeyes made the cut along with [autotag]Auburn[/autotag], [autotag]Kentucky[/autotag], and [autotag]Clemson[/autotag].

Wilcox is listed at five-foot, ten inches, and 195-pounds, and also held offers from [autotag]Colorado[/autotag], [autotag]NC State[/autotag], [autotag]Louisville[/autotag], [autotag]Mississippi State[/autotag] and others. The Buckeyes offered the scholarship in the middle of November, so this relationship has formed quickly. Hopefully, it will end well with a Wilcox commitment in the near future.

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This 4-star DB commit has locked in his official visit date with Florida

December is a big recruiting month for the entire college football world, and Florida is loading up on official visitors.

Florida only allowed recruits to make official visits on Oct. 15 for the LSU game during the regular season, but the Gators are planning a big weekend in the Swamp now that the year is coming to an end. Several of Florida’s commits that have yet to make their official visits to the university will do so over the next few weeks, and four-star Wharton (Tampa, Florida) defensive back [autotag]Dijon Johnson[/autotag] is the latest to set his plans.

According to 247Sports, Johnson plans to stop by UF for a multi-day visit the weekend of Dec. 9, the same day four other Gators commits have scheduled their official visits. He’ll join fellow four-star defensive backs [autotag]Ja’Keem Jackson[/autotag] and [autotag]Sharif Denson[/autotag], four-star linebacker [autotag]Jaden Robinson[/autotag] and three-star wide receiver [autotag]Tyree Patterson[/autotag]. That quintet will enjoy all the riches that come with a Florida official visit and help recruit four-star UCF defensive line commit [autotag]John Walker[/autotag] and four-star undecided running back [autotag]Mark Fletcher[/autotag].

Johnson might be a key player in Florida’s recruitment of Fletcher. Both were once committed to Ohio State, but Johnson backed off that pledge and flipped to Florida. Now decommitted from OSU, Fletcher is deciding between UF and Miami. Meeting up with a player who made a similar decision could help Fletcher feel more comfortable with his decision.

The Gators are in need of some youth in the secondary and the feeling is that Johnson will get early playing time in the Swamp. Safeties coach and defensive coordinator Patrick Toney was a key player in landing Johnson, so there’s good reason to think that he’ll have a considerable role in the defensive scheme.

Johnson is ranked No. 98 overall on the 247Sports composite and is No. 7 among safeties in the class of 2023.

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Gators earn an On3 commitment prediction for this 4-star RB

Florida could be on the verge of adding another elite, in-state running back to its recruiting class of 2023.

Four-star running back [autotag]Mark Fletcher[/autotag], who plays prep ball at American Heritage High School in Plantation, Florida, could be the next recruit in the class of 2023 to commit to the Florida Gators.

Corey Bender of On3’s Gators Online submitted a recruiting prediction for Fletcher in favor of Florida Monday morning. Bender is only at a confidence level of 65%, but he remains confident that Florida is the best-positioned team to land the recent Ohio State decommit.

The other major player in this race is Miami. The Hurricanes hold a hometown advantage of sorts with UM being just an hour away from Heritage, but Florida seems to be the hotter team right now in this recruitment.

Fletcher is supposed to be on campus Dec. 9 for an official visit with the Gators, but most are expecting him to return to Miami as well for another visit. His last trip to the Swamp was when Florida took down South Carolina, and that’s the visit that turned UF into a legitimate contender for his services. A blow away official visit could see the deal with the early signing period quickly approaching.

Florida already has one four-star running back under commitment in the class of 2023, [autotag]Treyaun Webb[/autotag]. He has been vocal about bringing Fletcher as a second back, and Billy Napier’s offense seems to thrive with more than one rusher.

Fletcher is ranked No. 263 overall on the On3 consensus and No. 16 among running backs in the class of 2023. The On3 recruiting prediction machine now favors Florida over Miami to land Fletcher, giving the Gators a 32.4% shot (Ohio State leads with 59.8% of the predictions based on his previous commitment).

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4-star Ohio State RB decommit looking to make official visit to Florida

The Gators are getting elite South Florida running back Mark Fletcher on campus for an official in early December, per reports.

Florida’s recruiting staff is working hard on American Heritage (Plantation, Florida) four-star running back [autotag]Mark Fletcher[/autotag], and the recent Ohio State decommit has decided to schedule an official visit with the Gators, according to 247Sports.

Fletcher is in the middle of an impressive playoff run that’s seen him put together 265 yards and five touchdowns on just 16 carries through the first two rounds of regional play. He and Heritage are set to play a regional final game at 7:30, the same time Florida faces Florida State. If they advance, Fletcher’s Dec. 9 trip to the Swamp won’t be in danger as the 2M state semifinals are being played a week before. The finals are a week after the scheduled trip too, so there are no issues on that end of the schedule either.

The buzz around Fletcher is that it’s down to Florida and Miami at this point. Miami is a lot closer to home, but Florida has kept itself in the race by constantly recruiting him.

“They actually have been recruiting me heavy,” Fletcher told 247Sports following his Nov. 12 unofficial visit to the Swamp. “I just wanted to get up there and see what they were about and everything. It was a good game.”

A follow-up visit in an official capacity bodes well for Florida, but there’s still plenty of work to do to grab the elite in-state talent.

Fletcher is a four-star recruit ranked No. 262 overall on the 247Sports composite and No. 15 among running backs in the class of 2023. The site’s independent rankings are a bit more bullish on him, ranking Fletcher at No. 202 and No. 9 respectively.

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247Sports logs crystal ball for Florida to land this 4-star RB

Florida has a chance to add another four-star running back to the class of 2023, and 247Sports likes the Gators’ chances.

Four-star running back [autotag]Mark Fletcher[/autotag] of American Heritage in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, backed off his pledge to the Ohio State Buckeyes recently, and the experts at 247Sports like Florida as a possible landing spot for the elite talent.

Swamp247’s Blake Alderman logged a crystal ball for Fletcher in favor of Florida on Wednesday, albeit with medium confidence. The reason for the prediction is simple: Fletcher backed off his commitment to Ohio State after visiting the Swamp to see Florida take down South Carolina, and running backs coach Jabbar Juluke has kept a close eye on him.

“They actually have been recruiting me heavy,” Fletcher said to 247Sports earlier in the week. “I just wanted to get up there and see what they were about and everything. It was a good game.”

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Ohio State misses out on RB Justice Haynes: What it means for OSU

After missing out on Justice Haynes, what’s next for the Ohio State running back room?

Ohio State had its aim set high for the running back room in the 2023 recruiting class. Richard Young and Justice Haynes, both top-5 running backs, were tops on the wishlist.

After visiting Columbus in June, Haynes left with high praise for the Buckeyes and running backs coach Tony Alford, and many thought he may be leaning toward Ohio State. Even though Haynes’ father, Vernon, was a star RB at Georgia, things were trending in a positive direction for OSU.

Then, Haynes shocked the world and picked… Alabama. Maybe it shouldn’t be too surprising. Very rarely does Nick Saban not get what Nick Saban wants. And in this case, Haynes, the four-star running back, was the object of Saban’s affection.

So, where does Ohio State go from here? Richard Young is pretty much off the board. Stranger things have happened, but at this point, the Buckeyes are not in Young’s top three. That distinction belongs to Alabama, Georgia, and Oregon, with the Crimson Tide leading crystal ball predictions. Maybe that changes now that Haynes is heading to Tuscaloosa, but the odds seem low that he’d put the Buckeyes back on the list.

The good news here is, that the Bucks have a quality running back committed in Mark Fletcher, who is the No. 11 ranked RB in the country. The question with Fletcher is, can Ohio State keep him in the fold? There are rumors floating around that Mario Cristobal and Miami are pushing hard to flip Fletcher to the ‘Canes.

The Buckeyes are set at running back for at least the next two years with a stockpiled room. But I feel certain that both Ryan Day and Alford will now begin to look for a different option to add to this year’s mix to pair with Fletcher. Maybe a diamond in the rough. Say… a Miyan Williams-type guy who may be underrated but has a lot of grit?

You win some, you lose some. Missing out on Haynes is a punch to the gut, but with the recruiting success Day has had since becoming the head man in Columbus, I trust the Buckeyes will be just fine going forward.

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Four-star running back from Florida commits to Ohio State

In case you missed it, BOOM! As they say. #GoBucks

The Ohio State football program got some more good news on the recruiting front Tuesday when four-star 2023 running back Mark Fletcher out of the state of Florida committed to the Buckeyes.

Out of Fort Lauderdale, the 6-foot, 1-inch, 225-pound running back is rated as the No. 7 running back and 187th overall recruit in the recruiting cycle according to 247Sports. He made it known on Twitter that he would be joining the Buckeye program in favor of Miami (FL), Michigan, and Penn State.

The commitment makes Fletcher the seventh of the 2023 class and gives Ohio State a big, bruising back in a haul that moves to No. 6 in the country in the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings. Fletcher is a 7-on-7 teammate of fellow OSU commit Cedrick Hawkins. And there could be more on the way from the same team.

Stay tuned as Ohio State continues to get wins on the recruiting trail.

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