Florida locks in official visit with 4-star wide receiver

Florida will get four-star Jones High wide receiver Vernell Brown III back in town this summer for an official visit.

Jones High (Orlando, Florida) wide receiver [autotag]Vernell Brown III[/autotag] visited the Gators at the beginning of April and he’ll return over the summer for an official visit, according to Gators Online.

Brown has a busy schedule coming up. He’ll be at Ohio State on May 31, Florida from June 14-16 and Florida State on June 21. More official visits are being scheduled, but those three are locked into the calendar.

When he last visited Florida, Brown left taking notice of how the young receivers on the team are used, particularly Eugene Wilson III. Brown is looking for playing time early in college, and Florida might be in a position to offer that. Having DJ Lagway as the quarterback in waiting is also a huge plus.

Recruiting Summary

Brown is a consensus four-star recruit ranked the highest by On3 at No. 46 overall and No. 7 among wide receivers in the class of 2025. The On3 industry ranking, which considered all four major services, has him at Nos. 61 and 9, respectively, while the 247Sports composite put him a bit lower at Nos. 71 and 10.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are the overwhelming favorites to land Brown with 91.6% on the On3 recruiting prediction machine. Florida is a distant second with 4.4% followed by Florida State at 1.8%.

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Highly coveted 4-star wide receiver will visit UF in March

Four-star wide receiver prospect from Orlando, Florida will visit UF campus at the end of March

The state of Florida is always crowded with some of the top recruits in the nation, and the 2025 recruiting cycle is no different.

The Florida Gators have fared pretty well with staying on the trail of highly touted four- and five-star prospects, and there’s an in-state wide receiver who plans to visit the Swamp at the end of the month.

Four-star wide receiver [autotag]Vernell Brown III[/autotag] has been in contact with the coaching staff, and according to reports from Swamp247, the high school junior has set an official visit for March 30.

Brown actually has a prior connection to the Gators through wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales.

“I’ve known him since maybe fourth grade, fifth grade,” Brown III said. “I know him as a person, so to hear the recruiting pitches, it’s not really different from the conversations that we’ve already had previously. It’s not like it’s completely different. We still talk regular.”

The connection may bolster Brown’s decision to choose UF, despite a strong list of contenders, varying between Ohio State, Florida State, Miami and Stanford.

Vernell Brown III is a four-star wide receiver on 247Sports and is ranked as the No. 142 overall recruit in the nation. The same sports outlet has Brown ranked as the No. 10 athlete as splits playing time between wideout and special teams.

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Florida makes first cut for priority in-state WR recruit

The Florida Gators made the first cut for four-star wide receiver Vernell Brown III, who held over 40 Division scholarship offers. Here’s his top 11.

Jones High (Orlando) wide receiver [autotag]Vernell Brown III[/autotag] narrowed down his recruitment on Thursday, cutting a list of more than 40 schools that offered him down to just 11.

The Florida Gators survived the first cut for Brown, but the battle is really just beginning. Billy Napier’s recruiting staff will have to beat out Alabama, Clemson, Florida State, Louisville, Miami, Ohio State, Stanford, Syracuse, Tennessee and UCF.

“These 11 schools have done a great job showing me that I am a priority to them,” Brown said to 247Sports. “They have been thorough with their approach to get to know me and my family. Three of the things that are most important to me in this process are the people inside of the building at the schools, my relationship with them, and their plan for my development to help me accomplish my goal of playing on Sundays.”

Of course, Brown is a legacy recruit. His dad played cornerback for UF from 2001-05 and worked on staff for parts of six seasons before leaving to manage Anthony Richardson in the pros. The Gators aren’t playing that angle, though. Florida wide receivers coach Billy Gonzalez has received mention from Brown in the past when discussing his top schools.

Brown is a four-star everywhere but 247Sports, where he holds three-star status. The On3 industry ranking, which considers all four major recruiting services, puts him at No. 310 overall and No. 42 among receivers from the class of 2025.

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2025 Florida wide receiver prospect includes Vols in top 11

2025 Florida wide receiver prospect includes Tennessee in top 11.

2025 wide receiver prospect Vernell Brown III announced his top 11 schools.

Tennessee, Florida, Syracuse, Florida State, Ohio State, Alabama, Miami, Clemson, Stanford, Louisville and UCF are Brown’s top 11 schools.

The 5-foot-11, 170-pound wide receiver prospect is from Jones High School in Orlando, Florida.

Tennessee offered a scholarship to Brown on Feb. 24, 2023. Michigan was the first school to offer a scholarship to Brown on May. 24, 2023, while Auburn was the first Southeastern Conference school to offer the 2025 prospect.

The Vols have six commitments in its 2025 recruiting class: Quarterback George MacIntyre, tight end Jack Van Dorseiaer, cornerback Dylan Lewis, running back Justin Baker, wide receiver Joakim Dodson and cornerback Tyler Redmond.

Gators among top options for this 4-star legacy WR recruit

Florida continues to push for 4-star Florida legacy WR Vernell Brown III, who says he’ll trim down his list over the next month or so.

Hailing from from Orlando, wide receiver [autotag]Vernell Brown III[/autotag] took the month of January to visit each of Florida’s top football programs — Florida, Florida State and Miami (sorry, UCF).

With the recruiting calendar nearly completely turned over to the 2025 class, Bown is beginning to take his recruitment a bit more seriously, which means narrowing down his options.

“February I will be gathering my thoughts and see what’s what, and that is when I will (trim) things,” Brown said to 247Sports.”Officials in June and if all goes to plan, hopefully (a commitment) by July.”

But it’s not the family ties that has Brown so interested in the Orange and Blue.

“I would say it’s coach Billy G (receivers coach Billy Gonzalez) and how he develops receivers,” Brown said. “He has a great history of developing them. I would say that’s what sticks out the most to me.”

Along with Florida’s Big Three, Ohio State and Oregon seemed poised to crack a top-five for Brown. The Buckeyes have wide receivers coach Brian Hartline, who has been one of the best recruiters in the business over the past few years, and Oregon’s jerseys will always keep the Ducks in it.

Brown is a four-star receiver everywhere but 247Sports, where he is a three-star talent. Still, the On3 industry ranking, which uses a weighted average of all four major services, considers him a four-star recruit and ranks him No. 310 overall in the class of 2024.

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Florida to get Orlando-based legacy WR for visit on Friday

The Gators are kicking off their second junior day weekend with this in-state blue-chipper on Friday.

Florida football is on the cusp of another big weekend on the prep recruiting front as the Gators are scheduled to host a handful of high schoolers in the Swamp over the next few days.

One of the bigger names that will be on campus is legacy four-star wide receiver [autotag]Vernell Brown III[/autotag] out of Orlando (Florida ) Jones in the 2025 recruiting cycle. The 5-foot-11.5-inch, 165-pound pass-catcher — son of former UF wide receiver and defensive back Vernell Brown Jr. — will be in Gainesville on Friday ahead of the program’s second junior day.

The Central Florida standout first received a scholarship offer from Florida in 2022 and has made the trek to Hogtown many times in the past, including last summer’s Friday Night Lights event. Wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales and assistant wide receivers coach David Doeker have run the point in his recruitment of late, keeping close contact with the coveted recruit.

“(The coaches) liked my skills and said I’m very dynamic,” he told Swamp247. “(Billy Napier) thinks I could be able to take those skills and athletic abilities to the University of Florida and make an impact.”

The high school junior was in College Station last weekend to see the Texas A&M Aggies and also has a meeting in Tallahassee with the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday.

Brown is ranked No. 279 overall and No. 16 at the athlete position nationally according to the 247Sports composite while the On3 industry ranking has him at No. 307 nationally and No. 44 at the wide receiver position. On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine has Florida on top with a 44.0% chance of signing him, followed by the South Florida Bulls (10.3%), Florida State Seminoles (8.8%) and Miami Hurricanes (7.4%).

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Gators to get visit from this legacy 2025 ATH on his spring college tour

The Gators will get the tail-end of this 2025 athlete’s spring college tour.

Spring is in the air for college football recruiting as the month of March continues to roll along. Now that the dead period is well in the rearview mirror, gridiron programs around the nation have had their nose to the grindstone with spring practices underway as well as a myriad of prep prospects arriving on campus.

[autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and the Florida Gators have been working hard to restore glory to the Orange and Blue, tirelessly doing all they can to lure the best and brightest to the Swamp. Among those now set to make a visit to the University of Florida is athlete [autotag]Vernell Brown III[/autotag] out of Wildwood (Florida) in the 2025 recruiting cycle, who recently told Swamp 247 that he plans on making an unofficial visit with the Gators on April 14 — the final stop on his spring college tour.

The 5-foot-11.5-inch, 170-pound high school sophomore is a legacy with the football team through his father, former Gators defensive back [autotag]Vernell Brown[/autotag] Sr., who appeared in 45 games for Florida from 2001 to 2005 and currently works at UF as the Senior Director of Student-Athlete Development and Alumni Relations, according to Florida’s team website.

Brown’s spring itinerary started with stops out west for visits with the Arizona State Sun Devils and Arizona Wildcats this weekend while he plans on swinging through the state of Texas next weekend, visiting with the TCU Horned Frogs, Baylor Bears and Texas Longhorns.

The coveted athlete then sets his sights on the southeastern part of the country with dates set with the Clemson Tigers, South Carolina Gamecocks and Tennessee Volunteers starting Friday, March 31. Brown will hang around the region the following Monday with Peach State stops scheduled with the Georgia Bulldogs and Georgia Tech Yellowjackets.

Brown is unrated and unranked by both the 247Sports composite and On3 industry ranking. On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine has the Gators in the lead for the in-state target with a 56.2% chance of signing him, while the South Florida Bulls, Florida State Seminoles and Troy Trojans follow behind at 17.5%, 15% and 1.1%, respectively.

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