Tag: reclassification

Florida WR target reclassifies, planinng official visits

The recruiting timeline for Pahokee four-star wide receiver Hardley Gilmore just moved up a whole year after his reclassification to the class of 2024.

Originally a member of the 2025 recruiting pool, Pahokee wide receiver Hardley Gilmore is speeding up the process by a full year with his reclassification to the class of 2024, according to Gators Online.

It’s worth noting that Gilmore’s high school quarterback at Pahokee was Florida commit Austin Simmons, who is been looking into reclassifying to the 2023 class for months. Naturally, Simmons is encouraging his former teammate to join the Gators.

Gilmore told Gators Online that Florida would likely be one of the teams getting an official visit. His first trip is scheduled for the weekend to Kentucky.

The On3 recruiting prediction machine favors Florida in the race, giving the Gators 92.1% odds to land Gilmore. Kentucky should improve on its 3.7% odds after this weekend, though.

Gilmore stays in consistent contact with the coaching staff. He’s still getting to know all of the school that are after him, but Florida has stood out.

“They’re recruiting me very hard,” Gilmore said. “I’ve been up there plenty of times. Like four times. What stands out is the school, the educational part. And the coaches. Coach (David) Doeker, Coach (Billy) Gonzales and Coach (Billy) Napier.”

Gilmore is a consensus four-star talent that was ranked No. 112 on the On3 industry ranking, which uses a weighted average from all four major services. But that was among the class of 2025 players, so it’ll be interesting to see where he falls on the 2024 list.

His composite score of 92.05 would fit in at the No. 162 spot among rising seniors, assuming it’s unaffected by the reclassification.

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Florida 5-star priority CB target reclassifies to class of 2023

Five-star defensive back Desmond Ricks will head to college a year earlier than expected after reclassifying to the class of 2023 on Saturday.

The Florida Gators have been after five-star cornerback [autotag]Desmond Ricks[/autotag] for some time now, but the timeline for his recruitment just moved by an entire calendar year. On Saturday, Oct. 22, Ricks announced his reclassification to the class of 2023, meaning that he will sign in December or February and head to college a year early.

It takes a mature athlete to forgo a year of prep ball and remain one of the top names in the class, but that will be the case for Ricks. As a member of the class of 2024, Ricks was ranked No. 2 overall on the 247Sports composite and was the top defensive back in the group.

It’ll take a while for recruiting services to accurately place him in the class of 2023, but he should be one of the top remaining uncommitted cornerbacks on the board when all is said and done.

The Gators have hosted Ricks three times this year and are competing with Alabama, LSU and Miami among others for his services. Florida has a hometown feel and plenty of ties to the football program at IMG Academy, though.

“(Florida) is not far from home and it’s a great atmosphere,” Ricks told 247Sports. “I know a lot of people up here, so it would be a home away from home.”

The Gators are hoping to land the top defensive player in the class of 2023, [autotag]Cormani McClain[/autotag], on Thursday, and Ricks moving up his timeline creates quite the narrative for Florida in terms of restoring the DBU name. If McClain and Ricks join the incoming recruiting class, Billy Napier will likely have put together a top-five class in his first year at the helm in the Swamp.

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Florida quarterback target reclassifies to 2024 class

Keep an eye on South Florida quarterback Davi Belfort. After picking up an offer from the Gators in June, the blue-chip recruit is reclassifying to the class of 2024.

Billy Napier and the Florida Gators offered [autotag]Davi Belfort[/autotag], an in-state quarterback out of the class of 2025, in June following an impressive camp performance. At the time, Belfort was the lone rising sophomore to pick up an offer from the orange and blue despite the team not having a signal caller committed for either of the two preceding classes.

A lot has changed since then, though. For starters, Napier flipped [autotag]Marcus Stokes[/autotag] from Penn State to secure a quarterback for the class of 2023. Belfort has also moved schools (again) and reclassified to the class of 2024, which moves up his recruitment by a full calendar year.

“The ’24 class is the one I’m supposed to be in so I’m excited to compete with the other guys in my class,” Belfort said to 247Sports. “It’s going to speed up the recruiting process for me but I’ve already had some really good talks with a lot of the college coaches recruiting me and they’re excited about the move for me as well.”

After playing his freshman year at Cardinal Newman in Palm Beach County, Belfort transferred to Dillard in Fort Lauderdale. It didn’t take long for him to move to Gulliver Prep in Miami, and that’s likely where he’ll finish his high school career. Four-star wide receiver Jalen Brown just recently committed to LSU out of Gulliver, so it’s a school with the right discoverability for Belfort.

Speaking of discoverability, Belfort’s name might be one of the reasons he’s received so much hype early on. His father is MMA legend Vitor Belfort, and that’s bound to draw some attention to him. But he’ll have to build on a season where he completed 59% of his passes for 2,016 yards and 22 touchdowns (seven interceptions).

The goal is to cut his list down to 10 schools before his now junior year begins. Florida was among a handful of schools named by the recruit but visits over the fall could help him narrow things down.

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Four-star DB Kamar Wilcoxson reclassifies, joins 2020 class

Courted by Todd Grantham and Torrian Gray, Wilcoxson’s recruitment was one of the most eventful in recent Gators history.

The Florida Gators’ 2020 class already ranked No. 9 nationally, per the 247Sports Composite, but this collection of prospects became even stronger on Monday with four-star cornerback Kamar Wilcoxson’s decision to forgo his senior year of high school football and join the cycle.

Wilcoxson hinted at the choice to reclassify on his Twitter account, @KamarWilcoxson4.

While listed as a safety by the major recruiting services, many around the program project Wilcoxson to play cornerback in Gainesville. He spent his first three prep seasons at Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia and had planned to play his senior campaign at Bradenton’s IMG Academy, one of America’s premier talent-producing programs.

Courted by defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and position coach Torrian Gray, Wilcoxson’s recruitment was one of the most eventful in recent Gators history.

He initially committed to Florida on November 3, 2018 but backed off that pledge on April 27, 2019. One year to the day of his decommitment, April 27, 2020, he verbally agreed to play for Jeremy Pruitt’s Tennessee Volunteers.

His allegiance to Knoxville was short-lived, however, as on June 19, he flipped back to the Gators.

Wilcoxson was rated as the eighth-highest of Florida’s 23 current commits in the 2021 cycle, now, he slots in eleventh of the program’s 22 enrollees in the 2020 class.

He is expected to officially enroll and arrive on-campus later in August.

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