Tag: top schools

Gators land in top 8 for elite class of 2024 cornerback

Four-star West Coast cornerback Dijon Lee has narrowed his options down to eight colleges, and the University of Florida is one of them.

One of the nation’s top prep cornerbacks from the class of 2025 included the Florida Gators in his top eight on Friday when On3’s Hayes Fawcett announced his top schools with a graphic.

Mission Viejo cornerback [autotag]Dijon Lee[/autotag] named Florida, Arizona, Georgia, LSU, Oregon, Penn State, USC and Washington as the eight schools still standing in his recruitment. With Lee being from the West Coast, most view USC and Washington as the two biggest horses in the race, but he’s clearly keeping the door to the SEC open.

Florida offered Lee back in October, which means Corey Raymond was likely involved in his recruitment. Former Los Angeles Chargers assistant Will Harris has since been hired as Florida’s new secondary coach,

“I’m talking with Will Harris a lot and he’s a good guy and knows what he’s doing,” Lee said to 247Sports’ Greg Biggins. “It’s cool, he already giving me pointers and coaching me up like I’m already on the team. I know he’s a SoCal guy so I’m excited to visit and see how I fit in there.”

Although Lee hasn’t had the chance to visit The Swamp just yet, he plans to travel east at some point this year. The goal is to announce a commitment before his senior year, but official visits need to come and go first.

“I know four schools I will visit for sure are Washington, Georgia, Florida and Arizona,” he said. “I’m going to take a lot of unofficial visits to the other schools as well… The biggest thing for me is development and relationships.

“I want a school where I fit in well and have a good comfort level and then a place that can make me better and help me grow as a player.”

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Coveted 2024 CB recruit includes Florida among top 6 choices

A 3-star cornerback from Baltimore, Maryland, has the Florida Gators included in his top six choices.

Florida football is among the top choices for a three-star recruit as the anticipation builds for national signing day.

High school senior Kevyn “Kerm” Humes took to social media on Monday afternoon to announce that he has closed his recruitment window and has come down to six choices. The cornerback also included the dates of his official visits in the social media posts.

Humes will visit the University of Florida campus the weekend of Feb. 2-4, but the Gators have some stiff competition when it comes to earning his commitment.

“Thank you to all who have supported (my) Journey,” Humes wrote on Twitter. “My recruitment is over.”

The Baltimore, Maryland, native has other top-notch programs among his final choices and planned visits, including the Syracuse Orange, Maryland Terrapins, USC Trojans, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Penn State Nittany Lions. He’ll go to northern New York first to visit Syracuse on Jan. 12 and then conclude the road trip in Maryland, with the dates labeled as “TBD.”

Humes is a three-star prospect according to 247Sports, but is a four-star on the same website’s composite scale, ranking at No. 55 among cornerbacks and standing at No. 342 nationally.

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Wisconsin makes the top schools for one of 2025’s best running backs

Wisconsin makes the top schools for one of 2025’s best running backs

Wisconsin made the top 13 schools for class of 2025 running back Tory Blaylock earlier today.

Tory’s older brother Travian played for the Badgers from 2018-2023, his last game being Wisconsin’s ReliaQuest Bowl loss to LSU.

The talented running back is 247Sports’ No. 155 player in the class of 2025, No. 12 running back and No. 27 player from his home state of Texas. Wisconsin made the top list alongside a who’s who of college football blue bloods: Ohio State, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Alabama, Texas A&M, Florida State, Miami, Penn State, Oregon, Georgia and Notre Dame.

The Badgers’ class of 2025 currently sits No. 16 in the nation with four commitments. A possible addition of Blaylock would be huge, but the competition couldn’t be tougher.

Blue-chip 2025 tight end includes Florida among top 8 schools

The Gators are in the race for this big-time four-star tight end out of Kansas.

Florida football’s recruiting efforts on the prep circuit have ramped up ahead of the early signing period later this month but the focus has not been just on the 2024 class.

Billy Napier and Co. have also been working hard to impress members of the 2025 cycle as well as they try to pull the Gators out of the doldrums. The program got some good news on Saturday morning when four-star tight end Dasaahn Brame out of Derby (Kansas) announced his top eight schools and included the Orange and Blue, according to On3’s Chad Simmons.

The 6-foot-6-inch, 225-pounder also listed the Oregon Ducks, Tennessee Volunteers, Alabama Crimson Tide, Oklahoma Sooners, Michigan Wolverines, Texas A&M Aggies and Kansas State Wildcats.

“These schools are on top because of the relationships and the coaches,” he told On3. “I have visited five of the schools and I love the campuses. The relationships are big for me because I want to feel at home where I go. All eight schools reach out to me every day, and they all make me feel important and like a priority.”

When asked about Florida specifically, he alluded to the experience of a high school alumnus who played in Gainesville.

“Former Derby tight end DeAndre Goolsby went to Florida and he loved it,” Brame told Simmons. “They have a great environment and I want to see the Swamp.”

Brame is ranked No. 175 overall and No. 7 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 153 and 7, respectively. On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine has Kansas State (38.3%) out front followed by Oklahoma (20.4%), the Kansas Jayhawks (6.2%) and Arkansas Razorbacks (5.2%).

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Blue-chip 2025 OT narrows top schools to 7, includes Florida

The Gators are among the early finalists for this four-star OL in the 2025 cycle.

Now that Florida football’s 2023 campaign is over and done, it is time once again to turn our collective attention toward the recruiting trail, where Billy Napier and Co. will be focusing a great deal of effort over the coming months.

While much of the news surrounding the Gators has covered the players departing the program following its third-straight losing season, there have been some bright spots as well.

Among those positive points was an announcement by four-star offensive lineman [autotag]Peyton Joseph[/autotag] out of Fort Valley (Georgia) Houston County in the 2025 class, who offered up his top seven schools on Sunday via Twitter. Among those mentioned were the Orange and Blue, as well as the Florida State Seminoles, LSU Tigers, Miami Hurricanes, Michigan Wolverines, Penn State Nittany Lions and Tennessee Volunteers.

Joseph is ranked No. 114 overall and No. 4 at interior offensive lineman nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 120 and 6, respectively. The Georgia Bulldogs lead the way on On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine with a 31.5% chance of signing him, followed by FSU (27.6%), the Alabama Crimson Tide (21.1%) and Florida (10.1%).

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Coveted in-state ATH-DB recruit includes Gators among top schools

Gators are in the final six for this Sunshine State athlete-defensive back.

The season is over for Florida football but the recruiting trail grind never ends on the watch of Billy Napier. On Sunday, the Gators finally got some good news amidst the flurry of departing and decommitting players following a third-straight losing season.

On3 four-star defensive back [autotag]Gregory Smith III[/autotag] out of Riverview (Florida) Sumner in the 2024 recruiting cycle released his list of top schools on Sunday, which included the Orange and Blue. Also mentioned among the six preferred destinations were the Ole Miss Rebels, Toledo Rockets, USF Bulls, Vanderbilt Commodores and Virginia Cavaliers.

“I love the atmosphere and brotherhood in the program,” he told Swamp247 as to why Florida made the latest cut.

The 6-foot-4-inch, 200-pound student-athlete — who is listed by 247Sports as an ATH while On3 labels him a safety — also noted that he will announce his commitment on Dec. 13 rather than wait until the early signing period.

Smith has not made an official visit yet but is scheduled to stop in Gainesville this coming weekend for an OV. After receiving a scholarship offer in October, he caught the action between Florida and the Vanderbilt Commodores for homecoming, followed by the Georgia Bulldogs in Jacksonville as well as the Florida State Seminoles game in the Swamp.

He has had official visits with Toledo, Virginia, and Vanderbilt so far.

The Sunshine State product is rated at three stars and ranked No. 547 overall and No. 41 at the athlete position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking also rates him at three stars and has him at Nos. 478 and 47, respectively, at safety.

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine gives the Gators a 96.3% chance of landing him.

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Gators land in top 3 for consensus top-ranked RB in 2025 cycle

Florida made the penultimate cut in four-star running back Harlem Berry’s recruitment on Monday. The Gators have to beat LSU and Texas.

On Monday, the top running back in the class of 2025 narrowed his college options down to three programs and set a commitment date of Dec. 18.

According to On3’s Hayes Fawcett, Berry will pick among Florida, LSU and Texas come next month. LSU “feels like home” and is the favorite to land him, but there’s something about UF that has kept the Gators in the race.

“The swamp gives off great energy and is amazing,” Berry said when briefly breaking down his finalists.

Berry is a consensus four-star recruit who is likely to pick up a fifth once he starts his senior year of high school. The On3 industry ranking, which uses a weighted average from all four major recruiting services, puts him at No. 17 overall in the class of 2025 and No. 1 among running backs and players from the state of Louisiana.

The Gators have just one player under a commitment from the class of 2025, and he also happens to play running back. Waltez Clark out of Plant High in Tampa locked in his commitment back in September.

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Florida survives first cut for blue-chip class of 2025 linebacker

The Florida Gators survived the first cut in the recruitment of Riley Pettijohn, a consensus four-star linebacker in the class of 2025.

Florida is eyeing one of the nation’s top linebackers from the class of 2025 — McKinney High’s (Texas) [autotag]Riley Pettijohn[/autotag] — and the Gators survived his first cut on Thursday.

Pettijohn narrowed his focus down to 12 colleges, according to On3’s Hayes Fawcett. Florida will compete with Auburn, Colorado, Florida State, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, SMU, TCU, Texas and USC for his services moving forward.

The Big Ten program offers an immediate shot at a national championship compared to some of the SEC teams that are still in the race. Florida and LSU are both in Year 2 under new head coaches, and Coach Prime obviously has Colorado trending up in the Big 12. The Longhorns and Sooners will both be in the SEC by the time Pettijohn is playing college ball, too.

It won’t be easy for the Gators to win this race, but Billy Napier and his staff do have a good record recruiting linebackers at Florida.

The Gators last hosted Pettijohn over the summer. He’s likely to make a decision by next summer, so Florida will have to work on him for an official visit over the next nine months.

Pettijohn is a consensus four-star recruit, ranked the highest by On3 at No. 28 overall in the class of 2025. He lands at the same spot on the On3 industry ranking, which uses a weighted average of all four major recruiting services. Pettijohn is also ranked No. 3 among linebackers and No. 7 among recruits from the state of Texas in his class.

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Blue-chip DL recruit confirms top schools plus potential decision date

This coveted in-state defensive lineman expects to make his commitment decision within a week.

The college football season has reached its midpoint as teams across the nation concentrate on the gridiron gruel at hand. However, in the background, coaches and staff continue to grind away on the recruiting front.

One of Florida’s most coveted targets remaining in the 2024 cycle is four-star defensive lineman [autotag]LJ McCray[/autotag] out of Daytona Beach (Florida) Mainland, who recently divulged the front runners for his commitment as well as the day he plans on making the final decision to 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong.

The 6-foot-6-inch, 260-pound trench warrior has the Auburn Tigers, Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Bulldogs and Miami Hurricanes along with the Gators as his preferred collegiate destinations. It appears to be a tough decision for the high school senior.

“I’ve just been writing all the pros and cons of every school,” McCray told 247Sports. “I think based on doing that it makes it harder. Writing it down and reading it, things I didn’t think one school had, it’s making it a little harder.”

All of that thinking will come to a head sometime on or after Oct. 18, which is the date he has set to make the most important choice of his young athletic career.

McCray is ranked No. 119 overall and No. 18 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 42 and 7, respectively. On3’s Recruiting Prediciton Machine has Florida out front with a 37.4% chance of signing him, followed by Georgia (24.1%), FSU (14.8%) and Miami (11.1%).

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Florida one of two finalists for local 4-star power forward

The Florida Gators are one of two finalists for class of 2024 four-star power forward Ryan Jones Jr., who plays high school ball locally.

It’s down to the Florida Gators and Virginia Tech Hokies for four-star power forward [autotag]Ryan Jones Jr[/autotag]., according to 247Sports.

Jones is committing on Monday, Oct.2, at 7 p.m. on the 247Sports YouTube channel, and he’s expected to pick the Hokies despite playing high school ball at the Rock School in Gainesville.

Florida has done its best to convince Jones to stay in town. He took an official visit earlier this month and returned just last week to observe the first fall practice.

“The coaching staff when they came in I was their first offer and they just knew being in their backyard they wanted to recruit me because of who I am as a person and a player,” Jones said. “What they’ve done to this point, I’ve loved it. The official visit, it was cool being in my hometown for an official visit, and basketball-wise they fit as well.”

With just two days left before Jones makes his announcement, the On3 recruiting prediction machine gives Virginia Tech 93.9% odds to land him. Florida is a distant second on the list at 5.0% and NC State has less than a 1% chance to pull off the unthinkable.

Jones is a consensus four-star recruit, ranked highest by ESPN at No. 63 overall in the class of 2024. The On3 industry ranking, which uses a weighted average of all four major recruiting services, puts him at No. 66 overall and No. 9 among power forwards in the class.

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