Tag: top schools

Blue-chip Peach State safety includes Florida in top schools list

The Gators were able to boot ‘Bama from their official visit spot as they push hard for this 4-star safety.

Billy Napier and the Florida football recruiting staff got some good news on Tuesday morning when four-star safety [autotag]Lagonza Hayward[/autotag] announced his top schools, which included the Gators.

The 6-foot-1-inch, 200-pound defensive back out of Lyons (Georgia) Toombs County in the 2025 cycle got his offer from the Orange and Blue back in January, with newly-added DB coach Will Harris at the point. Hayward has since set an official visit date with Napier and Co. for the weekend of June 14 — a spot was occupied by the Alabama Crimson Tide prior but snagged away as his relationship with the program has improved.

Hayward’s other top schools

The Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Bulldogs, South Carolina Gamecocks, Tennessee Volunteers, USC Trojans and Alabama comprise the remaining members of Hayward’s top schools.

He has three official visit dates set so far, with FSU (May 31), USC (June 7) and the Vols (June 21) currently on his itinerary.

Recruiting Summary

Hayward is ranked No. 97 overall and No. 12 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 113 and 13, respectively.

On3’s recruiting prediction machine gives Tennessee a 50.1% chance of signing him, followed by Georgia (41.8%), FSU (3.0%) and Florida (1.5%).

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Florida makes top 13 for 4-star IMG Academy linebacker

Florida made the first cut for one of the top linebackers in the class of 2025, IMG Academy’s Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng.

Florida’s connection with IMG Academy has stayed strong since the start of the Billy Napier era, and the latest blue-chip recruit from the in-state powerhouse to show interest in Florida is four-star linebacker Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng, who narrowed his options down to 13 on Sunday.

The Gators join Florida State, Georgia, Louisville, Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon, Stanford, South Carolina, Texas and USC in Owusu Boateng’s top 13, according to 247Sports.

He has official visits set up to three of those schools — South Carolina on May 31, Stanford on June 7 and Georgia on June 14. IMG Academy is only 198 miles away from the University of Florida, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get him back on campus, if not a few times.

Recruiting Summary

Owusu-Boateng is a consensus four-star recruit, ranked the highest by Rivals.com at No. 24 overall in the class of 2025. The On3 industry ranking puts him at No. 62 nationally and No. 4 among linebackers in his class, while the 247Sports composite has him slightly lower at Nos. 69 and 9, respectively.

The On3 recruiting prediction machine favors Florida with 27.9% odds to land a commitment from him, but South Carolina (19.6%), Georgia (12.7%) and Miami (10.6%) are still in the race, too.

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Florida makes top 5 for blue-chip 2025 Cotton State safety

Florida football has been hot on the recruiting trail of late coming off a successful spring practice season that culminated in the annual Orange and Blue game last Saturday. Make no mistake – while Billy Napier and Co. were certainly busy with …

Florida football has been hot on the recruiting trail of late coming off a successful spring practice season that culminated in the annual Orange and Blue game last Saturday. Make no mistake — while Billy Napier and Co. were certainly busy with offseason workouts they still pressed hard for the top prep prospects in the nation.

The Gators’ efforts have come to fruition of late as many high school players have set official visits with the program as well as mentioning the Orange and Blue among their top collegiate destinations. One such student-athlete is four-star safety Eric Winters out of Enterprise (Alabama) in the 2025 cycle.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 200-pound defender recently announced his top 5 schools and included Florida among them.

Per Swamp247:

“It’s just something about Napier that excites me. He’s a really good dude. I went up there this past spring and we talked for quite a bit and I got a good first impression from him. Coach Harris too, he’s got a lot of experience. He knows what it takes because he’s done it at every level. The environment too. It’s something a lot of kids dreamed of as kids.”

Per Gators Online:

“When hanging around coach Harris, he gives you those vibes that he’s a guy that you would like to go to work with every day and he makes your day easier. Florida has a rich history of doing things the right way and they’re trying to get back to the top and where they were.” 

The Auburn Tigers, Georgia Bulldogs, Miami Hurricanes and Tennessee Volunteers are also among his top 5 collegiate destinations.

Auburn: “Auburn is self-explanatory. Who wouldn’t want to stay home?”

Georgia: “As a prospect that plays defense, how can you say no to Georgia? Georgia recruits themselves.”

Miami: “It’s more than just ball with them. If you go there, you know you’re going to be successful on the field and off the field.”

Tennessee: “Those are the most down-to-earth guys I’ve met. They produce talent year and year out.”

“I’m looking for somebody to really separate themselves,” Winters told Gators Online. “Honestly, I want to commit as quickly as I can, even sometime before I start spring ball. But if not, I’ll take my OVs, weigh my options, name the pros and cons of each school and make a decision from there.”

Winters is ranked No. 79 overall and No. 8 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 79 and 9, respectively.

Auburn currently holds one crystal ball prediction from 247Sports while also commanding a massive lead in On3’s recruiting prediction machine with a 92.2% chance of signing him. Georgia (3.8%) and Miami (1.7%) trail a very distant second and third, respectively.

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Former UCLA wide receiver includes Florida among top 6 schools

The Gators are a one of the few schools in the running for this veteran west coast receiver.

The college football transfer portal opened up earlier this week and it has already been busy early on. The Florida Gators are definitely in the market for some upgrades at a few positions, so Billy Napier and Co. have their work cut out over the next few months.

The Orange and Blue got some good news on Wednesday night when former UCLA Bruins wide receiver [autotag]Kyle Ford[/autotag] announced his top six preferred destinations, which included Florida.

Also named were the Michigan Wolverines, USC Trojans, South Carolina Gamecocks, Wake Forest Demon Deacons and Ohio State Buckeyes.

The 6-foot-3-inch, 220-pound pass-catcher began his collegiate career at USC from 2019-2023, where he saw action in 24 games, with two starts and 40 catches for the Trojans. Ford enrolled at UCLA in January 2023 after graduating from USC and participated in spring training, appearing in 12 games with two starts last fall.

He has one year of eligibility remaining.

Ford was a five-star recruit out of Orange Lutheran in California in the 2019 cycle; he is now rated at three stars in the transfer portal, per 247Sports.

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Blue-chip tight end includes Florida among his top-8 choices

See what a 4-star tight end recruit had to say about the Florida Gators after including them in his top eight choices.

The Florida football program is almost always setting up high school recruits for official visits. It may be during the regular season, but most of the time it is during the team’s spring practice sessions that start in March and conclude with the annual spring game.

Now that the Orange and Blue game has come and gone, players are leaving their reviews for the college campuses and football facilities to help narrow down their top selections. Recently, a four-star recruit out of Center Valley, Pennsylvania paid a visit to several top universities, and his recent visit to UF helped the Gators earn a spot among his top eight choices.

High school tight end Andrew Olesh revealed his top choices to 247Sports, stating that selecting a top-eight list will help him go in-depth with what each program has to offer and where he fits best. Among the list are Alabama, Florida State, Michigan, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Penn State, Ole Miss and the Florida Gators.

There’s plenty of stiff competition for the Gators to out-recruit, and here’s what Olesh told 247Sports when it comes to the UF football program. He mainly liked the coaching style of Florida tight end coach Russ Callaway.

Recruiting Summary

Olesh is ranked No. 175 overall and No. 8 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 177 and 9, respectively.

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Wisconsin football makes the final schools for a 2025 edge rusher

Wisconsin football makes the final schools for a 2025 edge rusher

Wisconsin made the top seven schools for three-star 2025 edge rusher Jayden Loftin on Wednesday.

Loftin is 247Sports’ No. 740 player in the class of 2025, No. 54 edge rusher and No. 25 recruit from his home state of New Jersey.

Related: Ranking Wisconsin football’s incoming transfers by expected impact in 2024 season

The Badgers made the cut along with Tennessee, South Carolina, Syracuse, Penn State, West Virginia and Minnesota. Loftin already has official visits scheduled with Minnesota, Penn State, Tennessee and West Virginia. Wisconsin is not yet on that list, but it should be once the cycle heats up in the summer months.

Wisconsin’s class of 2025 currently ranks No. 20 in the nation with seven players committed. It’s early in the process, but the program has yet to land a blue-chip recruit.

 

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Gators ‘will definitely be’ in top 5 for this 2026 5-star safety

There is still a lot of time remaining on this recruit’s clock but the Gators are making inroads with one of the best safeties in the prep ranks.

Florida football’s recruiting focus in recent weeks has primarily been on the 2025 cycle but Billy Napier and Co. are also working hard on the following class as well.

Five-star safety [autotag]Zelus Hicks[/autotag] out of Carrollton (Georgia) in the 2026 cycle wrapped up his second trip to the Swamp on Tuesday to get another look at what the Orange and Blue have to offer. The 6-foot-1.5-inch, 180-pound defensive back had previously visited for the Vanderbilt game in 2023 when he received his scholarship offer from the University of Florida.

“It was great getting to see and talk with the coaches again,” Hicks told Swamp247. “We had some good talks, and I got to see the facilities they have there with my family this time.”

Acclimating with a new coach

This time around, there was a coaching change for him to adjust to after secondary coach Will Harris took over for Corey Raymond during the offseason.

“I thought it really smooth talking with (Harris),” Hicks begins. “We talked about defense a little bit. He was telling me some of the ways he would want to use me if I were to go there. He saw me fitting in the same way a lot of coaches have said they want to use me. He saw that I am really versatile in the secondary. He said he really likes how I can tackle, how I cover a lot of ground, and how I am a ballhawk. He wants to use me all over the field basically.”

Hicks’ overall thoughts on Florida

“I just like the environment at Florida,” he noted. “It’s great there, and my family likes it. The coaching staff is great, and I can tell they all have good wisdom on the game. They have some coaches who have experience with the NFL, like their strength coaches and Coach Harris. That is all appealing to me.”

Hicks also offered that he thinks the Gators “will definitely be in my top five.”

Recruiting summary

Hicks is rated at five stars and ranked No. 12 overall and No. 2 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking rates him at four stars and has him at Nos. 17 and 2, respectively.

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine has the Auburn Tigers on top of his recruitment with an 81.8% chance of signing him, followed by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (4.7%), Georgia Bulldogs (3.0%) and Florida (1.7%).

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Texas makes five-star OT Michael Fasusi’s top seven schools

Five-star tackle Michael Fasusi has Texas as one of his top seven choices.

Five-star offensive tackle Michael Fasusi has narrowed his top schools list to seven teams. The Texas Longhorns are among the teams in the hunt.

The elite 2025 recruit has been one of the highest priorities for the Longhorns this offseason. Offensive line play resurrected Texas from a decade of average to a College Football Playoff berth.

No doubt offensive line coach Kyle Flood and head coach Steve Sarkisian verbalize the importance of the unit. The track record of five-star offensive linemen to Texas since Sarkisian began in Austin indicates recruits know their value to the team.

Fasusi would join elite 2024 tackle Brandon Baker and Texas starters Kelvin Banks Jr. and DJ Campbell as top offensive line prospects to pledge to Texas should he choose the Longhorns.

With Banks developing into a potential high first-round pick and all-American candidate, development is a positive talking point for Texas.

We’ll continue to follow Fasusi’s recruitment closely.

Four-star IOL includes Florida in top-8 announcement

Florida made the cut for the four-star interior offensive lineman Marcus Garcia as he trimmed his list down to eight schools.

After receiving more than 30 scholarship offers, Ryan High (Denton, Texas) offensive lineman [autotag]Marcus Garcia[/autotag] cut his list down to eight colleges on Friday.

Florida joins Arkansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Penn State and Texas A&M on the list, according to 247Sports’ Tom Loy.

Garcia has already locked in official visits with five of those programs, Florida being one of the three programs without a date on the calendar.

An official visit could come out of the spring trip to UF Garcia set for April 9.

Recruiting Summary

Garcia is a four-star recruit on Rivals.com and On3, but 247Sports gave him a three-star grade. The On3 industry ranking has him at No. 279 overall nationally and No. 19 among class of 2025 interior offensive linemen, while the 247Sports composite puts him at Nos. 321 and 29, respectively.

The On3 recruiting prediction machine favors Texas A&M to land Garcia, giving the Aggies 20% odds of landing a commitment from him. Michigan (17.5%), Arkansas (11.4%) and Texas Tech (9.5%) round out the rest of the top four.

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Gators among top-2 schools for blue-chip defensive line prospect

Florida is high on the list for this coveted NOLA product in the 2026 cycle.

Billy Napier and Co. have been grinding away at the college football recruiting front since the re-opening of the contact period and the program has its sights set not just on the upcoming 2025 cycle, but also on the following class in 2026.

Among those in the latter category is four-star defensive lineman [autotag]Richard Anderson[/autotag] out of New Orleans (Louisiana) Edna Karr. The 6-foot-3.5-inch, 325-pound trench warrior recently revealed his top teams to Gators Online, which included the Florida Gators.

“It’s LSU and then the University of Florida,” Anderson offered after his recent trip to see the Orange and Blue in Gainesville on Tuesday.

Campus visit highlights

“I liked everything about the visit, like, the dorms, the people and coaches. They really fit a lot (in my recruitment),” Anderson said.

The coaching staff was certainly one of the major highlights.

“I loved the energy and love being coached by a group of guys who are going to show me love on and off the field, and they were showing that. I love the energy and they put in the work, so it’s a great fit.”

In particular, running backs coach Jabbar Juluke and defensive line coach Gerald Chatman stood out to the high school sophomore.

“Coach Juluke, he’s a great man and from New Orleans, so he was showing a lot of love. His message to me was to just enjoy the process and enjoy everything,” he noted.

“Coach Chatman was real and I loved his energy. It would be nice to be coached by him.”

Recruiting rankings

Anderson is ranked No. 139 overall and No. 14 at his position nationally according to the On3 industry rankings while Rivals has him at Nos. 160 and 13, respectively. LSU has a 98.1% chance of signing him according to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine.

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