This week is the final week of the month-long evaluation period that Florida and the rest of the NCAA coaches have had to evaluate the top prospects in the country.
Tuesday saw Florida in the state of North Carolina, where they were checking in on offensive lineman Emanuel McGirt (6-5, 271, Durham, NC Hillside) at his school.
“Coach [Mike] Summers came by to see me on Tuesday at my school,” McGirt said. “It went pretty good. Coach Summers left a good impression on me though man. I really like him because he’s an old school guy and he’s a guy that goes around and does his homework on me.”
Due to NCAA rules Summers was unable to speak with McGirt at his school but after school was over the lineman called to talk more with the veteran offensive line coach.
“I called him after he left the school and he told me that I’m a priority to him and to Florida,” McGirt said. “He told me that I’m a guy that he really wants to get down to Gainesville. He told that he sees me at tackle but that he likes his guy to be versatile so that they can play guard and tackle if they need too.”
McGirt recently named a top 8 consisting of Florida, North Carolina, Duke, NC State, LSU, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt and South Carolina and the Gators made the cut due in large part to Will Muschamp.
“Florida is in my top 8 because I really like the coaching staff at Florida,” McGirt said. “I feel like if the school really wants you then you will talk to the head coach and I’ve talked to Coach Muschamp several times already. He’s called my dad and he’s called me too.”
Not only does McGirt talk to Muschamp but he also talks to three other coaches at Florida and he talks to them often.
“I talk to Florida every other day,” McGirt said. “I talk to either Coach Muschamp, Coach [Kurt] Roper, Coach [Drew] Hughes or to Coach Summers.”
Despite naming a top eight this past week McGirt says three schools are after him the hardest heading into the summer and his decision date.
“Florida, UNC and North Carolina State are recruiting me the hardest right now,” McGirt said. “I plan to visit six of my top eight schools this summer and decide either late June or early July. I will visit six schools in June. I will probably camp at Florida at the elite camp.”