Dunlap connects with Summers during Florida Gators visit

IMG Academy invaded the Florida Gators campus last week, as the powerhouse school visited Gainesville on its bus tour through the southeast.

2018 offensive lineman Curtis Dunlap (6-5, 352, Bradenton, FL IMG Academy) was one of those prospects on campus and he walked away impressed.

“The visit was great, I loved it,” Dunlap said. “I got to see the locker room, the facilities, the student center and some of their new facilities they’re building. I got to see the weight room and just tour everything. The indoor practice facility was great. I loved it there.”

The Gators offered Dunlap a few months ago, but last week was the first time the offensive lineman had the opportunity to meet Gators offensive line coach Mike Summers.

“Before I went I didn’t have much connection with the offensive line coach because I hadn’t talked to him before,” he said. ”I got to pick his brain on schemes and some things like that. His offensive assistant or right hand man [Christian Pace GA] is one of the best around and he was with us when we were talking.”

Head coach Jim McElwain was away on a speaking engagement, but the IMG prospect got to talk in-depth with Summers about the Gators.

“I got to talk to a lot of the coaches, I was mainly with Coach Summers and Coach Christian. “Dunlap said. “Coach Summers was saying that he liked me a lot and that he liked that I was big aggressive guard. He said that he wants me to come up to Florida and camp this summer because he wants to see me live in camp. Coach Summers said he’s going to recruit me hard and that he wants me to keep visiting.”

Since Thursday was a little packed and rushed the two sides didn’t get to spend as much time as they would’ve liked so Summers invited Dunlap back up to campus.

“He said that he wants me to come up for another visit so he can spend more time with me when there isn’t as many visitors on campus,” he said. “He didn’t want to single anyone out during this visit so I definitely plan on getting back up there to talk to him.”

Area recruiter Chris Rumph also got to spend a good amount of time with Dunlap and the message was pretty straightforward.

“I talked a little bit with Coach Rumph, he was actually the coach that offered me earlier this year,” Dunlap said. “He told me that he just wants me there and he was like ‘what’s up with coming to Florida’ and stuff like that. He’s been recruiting me and Tre [McKitty] really hard.”

Dunlap, who’s originally from Jacksonville, grew up around the Orange and Blue and that’s one thing he likes about the Gators.

“Growing up in Florida, the Florida Gators were always the home team,” he said of his interest in Florida. “Florida always had a certain swag to them that I liked and that’s something I’m looking for. They’re starting to show me more love and are recruiting me harder now.”

Since Dunlap still has a lot of time in his recruitment, he’s no rush to make any kind of decision.

“Right now I don’t have any leaders because I want to sit back and see all of the schools,” Dunlap said. “Oklahoma was my leader but I recently backed off of that.”

INSIDERS TAKE: Dunlap is one of the top offensive linemen for the 2018 class and he’s someone that the Gators are in good shape with right now. Dunlap says he plans to visit Gainesville this summer for a camp.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.