Tag: unofficial visit

Florida getting 5-star FSU O-line commit on campus for junior day

The Florida Gators are getting a five-star offensive lineman who is committed to the Florida State Seminoles on campus.

Raines High (Jacksonville) interior offensive lineman [autotag]Solomon Thomas[/autotag] committed to the Florida State Seminoles last month, but that hasn’t stopped the Florida Gators from recruiting the five-star prospect.

Ranked the No. 19 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting cycle on the  247Sports composite, Thomas is the type of blue-chip recruit who can quickly revamp a program’s offensive line. Florida struggled in the trenches last season and is looking to reload.

Thomas is scheduled to visit the Swamp over the second weekend of the January contact period, according to Swamp247. The Gators hosted a group of recruits over the first weekend of the period and Thomas is one of the headliners for the coming weekend.

It won’t be easy to flip Thomas from FSU, but Florida is going to push for him until he steps foot on another campus. Getting him on campus for a junior day should help the Gators stay relevant, but he’ll need to return multiple times to get the job done.

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Florida football still ‘No. 1’ for 2025 blue-chip DB after junior day visit

This Sunshine State product remains firm in his desire to play for the Gators.

The Florida football program was busy this past weekend hosting prep prospects after the opening of the recruiting contact period. Billy Napier and Co. were busy catching up with some of their top targets with many hailing from the 2025 cycle during the first junior day of the calendar year.

One of those student-athletes was four-star defensive back [autotag]Chris McCorkle[/autotag] III out of Sarasota (Florida) Cardinal Mooney, who has been in the team’s sights for quite some time. The 6-foot-1, 172-pound defender made visits to Gainesville for game days last fall and returned last weekend to get another gander at what the Gators have to offer.

“It went great,” McCorkle told Swamp247. “I had a good time here.”

The high school junior appears to be jibing well with new defensive backs coach Will Harris, who was brought in to replace Corey Raymond — the person who originally offered McCorkle.

“(Harris is) a good person, I just met him not too long ago. I was in the defensive backs room with him and he was teaching us stuff. That’s great. I’m just now getting to meet him, but it was all good,” he offered.

“He’s energetic, and he means what he means,” McCorkle continued. “He means business. He’s going to get you where you need to be.”

As far as where the Orange and Blue stand among his preferred destinations, McCorkle offered a simple answer.

“They’re still where they were before: No. 1.”

McCorkle is rated at four stars and ranked No. 360 overall and No. 37 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite, while the On3 industry ranking rates him at three stars and ranked at Nos. 466 and 51, respectively.

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine gives the Gators a 79.8% chance of landing him, followed by the UCF Knights (1.7%), Florida Atlantic Owls (1.5%) and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (1.2%).

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Four-star 2025 QB prospect sets unofficial visit date with Florida

The Gators are looking ahead to 2025 with this blue-chip passer out of Ohio.

Billy Napier and Co. are busy grinding away on the prep recruiting front now that the contact period has returned. One of the recruits the Florida football program has had an eye on for a while will be making his way back to campus at the beginning of next month.

Four-star quarterback [autotag]Ryan Montgomery[/autotag] out of Findlay (Ohio) in the 2025 recruiting cycle will be in Gainesville on Feb. 3, his father Mike Montgomery told Swamp247. The 6-foot-3-inch, 210-pound passer had made previous stops in the Swamp, including the win over the Tennessee Volunteers back in mid-September.

“I feel like they are making me a priority for their 2025 class. They reiterated that again to me today,” he said after the game.

The coveted high school junior has already set OVs with the South Carolina Gamecocks (Jan. 20) and  Georgia Bulldogs (Jan. 22), while also pondering a stop with the Auburn Tigers. The Buckeye State product has a plethora of other offers from top schools as well.

Montgomery is ranked No. 204 overall and No. 14 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 241 and 18, respectively.

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine has the Ohio State Buckeyes on top with a 21.7% chance of signing him, followed by the Michigan Wolverines (19.0%), Penn State Nittany Lions (9.1%) and Kentucky Wildcats (6.1%) — which deviates greatly from his preferred schools.

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Blue-chip Auburn DL commit to visit Florida this coming weekend

The Gators are getting this four-star Auburn commit on campus this coming Saturday in hopes of flipping him.

The college football recruiting contact period is back open and the Florida Gators are taking advantage of the opportunity to host some of the top recruits in the nation in the coming weekends.

One name that has come up is four-star defensive lineman [autotag]Malik Autry[/autotag] out of Opelika (Alabama) in the 2025 cycle. The 6-foot-6-inch, 280-pound defender committed to the Auburn Tigers early on in the process and is coming off a visit with the program this past weekend.

The high school junior will stop by to see the Orange and Blue on an unofficial visit on Saturday, Jan. 20, according to Swamp247.

The Gators and Tigers are not the only schools pursuing the blue chipper. The LSU Tigers, Tennessee Volunteers, Ole Miss Rebels, Miami Hurricanes, USC Trojans, Texas A&M Aggies and others have also extended offers to the lineman.

Autry is ranked No. 222 overall and No. 24 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 233 and 22, respectively.

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Gators getting pair of 2025 tight end prospects on campus

Florida is hosting a ton of class of 2025 recruits over the next few weeks, including tight ends Micah Jones and Hollis Davidson next week.

Florida is ramping up its recruitment of the class of 2025 and scheduling visits with several targets for the upcoming weeks. A group of prospects are expected in town over each of the next three weekends, and a pair of three-star tight ends just got added to the list.

According to a report from Swamp247, Florida will get a pair of three-star tight ends on campus on Jan. 20 — Peachtree City’s Hollis Davidson and Madison Central’s Micah Jones.

Jones picked up an offer from Florida in August, and he traveled to Gainesville to see the Gators take down the Tennessee Volunteers. Davidson was offered in October, but this will be his first trip to The Swamp.

Davidson is ranked No. 363 on the 247Sports composite and Jones is at No. 462. On3 is a bit more bullish on Jones, however, granting him four-star status and ranking him No. 290 on the site’s standalone list.

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Florida continues push for Peach State EDGE with visit

Florida will host four-star edge rusher Isaiah Gibson on Monday as a busy recruiting contact period continues.

Billy Napier and the rest of his recruiting team at Florida are gearing up for a busy month with the contact period set to open on Friday. After hosting a large group of visitors over the first weekend of the three weeks, the Gators will bring in smaller groups and individuals.

One of those visitors will be Warner Robbins (Georgia) edge rusher Isaiah Gibson, who plans on stopping by The Swamp on Monday, Jan. 15, according to Swamp247. Gibson picked up a scholarship offer from UF in April, but he’s still sorting out his top schools with nearly two dozen programs to pick from.

While he’s no stranger to Gainesville or the University of Florida, this will be Gibson’s first chance to meet the new defensive line coach in town, Gerald Chatman. Outside linebackers coach Mike Peterson has served as his primary contact on the team.

Gibson is a consensus four-star recruit, ranked the highest by 247Sports at No. 84 overall in the class of 2025. The On3 industry ranking, which uses a weighted average of all four major recruiting services, puts Gibson at no. 175 nationally, No. 16 among edge defenders and No. 23 among Peach State recruits.

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Florida getting 4-star, in-state DL recruit back on campus

The Florida Gators are set to get one of the elite defensive lineman in the class of 2025, Jalen Wiggins, back on campus this weekend.

The recruiting contact period is about to open up once again, and the Florida Gators plan to host several of its top targets over the coming weekend.

One name that’s been added to the list recently is four-star defensive lineman Jalen Wiggins, according to Swamp247. He plays high school ball at James Rickards in Tallahassee, Florida, putting him ‘Nole country, but the Gators are making the strongest push to land him right now.

Florida offered Wiggins during the spring and he’s been back to Gainesville a few times since. His most recent trip came in November to see Florida close out the season against FSU.

Since then, Florida has hired a new defensive line coach. The new man in charge, Gerald Chatman, reviewed the tape and called Wiggins to re-offer him. This will be their first time meeting in person, so it’s a big step in the recruitment process.

“After speaking with him on the phone (Coach Chatman) seems settled in and ready to represent,” Wiggins said. “I respect the fact he re-offered me after watching my film so he knows who and what he wants as a player.”

Florida State, Georgia, LSU and Miami are among the other Power Five programs pursuing Wiggins, but he has yet to name any frontrunners.

Wiggins is a consensus four-star recruit, ranked No. 82 overall in the class of 2025 on the On3 industry ranking. He’s also ranked No. 8 among defensive linemen in the class and No. 12 among recruits out of Florida.

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Gators to get crown jewel of 2024 recruiting class on campus this weekend

The Gators will be rolling out the red carpet for their prized 5-star 2024 quarterback commit this weekend.

College football’s early signing period is just around the corner. In preparation for Florida’s hopefully huge commitment bonanza the Gators are hosting their top prospect in the 2024 class this coming weekend.

Five-star quarterback [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag] out of Willis (Texas) has reaffirmed his commitment to the Orange and Blue despite a difficult season on the gridiron, but that has not stopped suitors from trying to flip him, [autotag]according to [/autotag]247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong.

Lagway’s father told Wiltfong that new Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko had visited him; freshly-hired Houston head coach Willie Fritz has also inquired on the Lone Star State product as well.

“They just got new jobs there and they called us,” he noted. “We’re just sitting down and listening to them.”

Lagway committed to the Orange and Blue back in December 2022 as the crown jewel of the class. The coveted quarterback put up stellar stats in his senior season, amassing 4,604 passing yards and 58 touchdowns through the air while contributing 957 rushing yards and 16 scores on the ground.

It seems highly unlikely that the Texas gunslinger will get cold feet with the Gators, especially after he reaffirmed his commitment on Wednesday via Twitter.

Lagway is ranked No. 14 overall and No. 3 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 12 and 2, respectively.

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Florida TE commit locked in with Florida following first gameday visit

Florida hosted a ton of recruits over the weekend, including four-star tight end Amir Jackson, who says he’s “at home” in Gainesville.

One of the many recruits in Gainesville this weekend for Forida’s Rivalry Week matchup with Florida State was Portal (Georgia) tight end [autotag]Amir Jackson[/autotag], and the consensus four-star recruit left Gainesville feeling very comfortable with his future home, according to Swamp247.

Jackson didn’t sweat the loss, noting that the team is young and in the process of turning around. That’s one of the reasons Jackson picked Florida in the first place. Many of the class of 2024 recruits want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Restoring the Orange and Blue to its former glory certainly fits the bill.

“We got a pretty young team,” Jackson said. “And losing by five or six points. You can tell it’s talent in there, you just got to get the experience, and coaching will come around.”

This was Jackson’s first gameday visit to the Swamp, and he realized very quickly that Rivalry Week is even more intense in person.

“I knew from the jump it was going to be a good game,” he said. “They said it’s a rivalry. I wasn’t ready. The fans brought it, and they added to it.”

Florida locked up Jackson back in June. At the time, Auburn and Florida State were considered the biggest threats to flip him. Jackson still hears from the Seminoles and Tigers every now and then, but they have slowly backed off as his commitment to Florida holds.

Jackson will be an impact addition to the tight end room and could compete for playing time as a freshman. The Gators should only lose Jonathan Odom (transfer portal) and Dante Zanders (graduation), though. Keon Zipperer should return after missing all of his senior year with an injury, and both Arlis Boardingham and Hayden Hansen impressed as redshirt freshmen.

The On3 industry ranking puts Jackson at No. 84 overall, No. 8 among tight ends and No. 13 among recruits from Georgia in the class of 2024.

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Florida looking to get nation’s top WR back on campus ahead of signing period

After attending his third Florida game of the season, five-star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith could work in one more trip to Gainesville before the early signing period.

The top wide receiver in the recruiting class of 2024, [autotag]Jeremiah Smith[/autotag], might be committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes, but he spent yet another weekend in Gainesville watching the Gators.

Swamp247’s Donovan Keiser caught with the top-ranked recruit after the visit, and it’s clear that Florida is still very much in play less than a month away from the start of the early signing period.

“(Florida) had a great season,” Smith said. “Every game I came to, I liked what I saw. Quarterback play, receiver play. Eugene Wilson had a great season as a freshman. They just have to keep it going.”

Smith predicted that Ricky Pearsall would hear his name called in the first round of the upcoming NFL draft, so it is clear that he believes in the program’s ability to develop and prepare players for the next level.

The goal is to get Smith back in Gainesville one more time before the start of the signing period on Dec. 20. Smith says he is “taking it day by day” and admitted that he’s ready for the process to reach a conclusion.

With the season officially over, all eyes will be on Smith (and a few other recruiting targets) for the next month or so.

Smith is a consensus five-star recruit, ranked No. 1 in the nation on the On3 industry ranking. ESPN has him at No. 7 overall, which is the absolute lowest he is rated. Whichever program lands him should be getting a generational talent.

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