Over the weekend when the Florida Gators recruiting staff hosted official visits six of the ten prospects on campus were committed but that was a good thing as they were able to work the uncommitted targets.
One of the guys leading the recruiting pitch was quarterback commit Jake Allen (6-3, 195, Fort Lauderdale, FL. St. Thomas Aquinas) who enjoyed getting to know his other classmates.
“Spending time with the guys was great,” Allen said on what he enjoyed the visit. “We’ve never really hung out with each other and learned about each other. We’ve only had a relationship over Twitter and texting, so it was cool to get together with the guys and just learn about them. We built some chemistry. And you know how official visits go, it was a really good time. The food was great. All the little things, like the car they drove you around in and everyone, knows you’re a recruit on an official visit.”
Allen has been committed so long that he never really got to enjoy the recruiting process so he admits that this weekend was fun for him and his family.
“You’re right. I committed so early and shut down my recruitment. I didn’t get recruited by other schools,” he said on ending his process so soon. “ So to finally get wined and dined and get the good food for free. I think I put on like 10 pounds. It was brutal. But it was nice to have the hotel stay and everything paid for.”
Any prospect that takes an official visit will brag about the food they eat during the visit and that was the case for Allen who gave us his favorite thing about the weekend.
“My favorite thing is either the brunch at Coach Mac’s house — they had these really, really good cinnamon buns — or dinner the night before on Saturday,” Allen said the best thing he ate during the visit. “They had this BBQ place catering and there was so much good BBQ, but with a twist. They had this salad with bacon on it. It was crazy, but it was amazing. Dinner on Saturday night was my favorite.”
While on the visit Allen got the chance to sit down and talk ball with offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier.
“Coach Nuss and I sat down to watch film and talk plays, talk formations and just talk offense,” Allen said of what he learned during the visit. “That was really cool. We spent 30 minutes talking strictly ball. Not recruiting, not anything about my life or his life. It was all business. It was a good example of how I’ll be working at Florida.”
After spending all weekend with prospects, Allen feels like that the Gators recruiting class is going to be a good one.
“I think signing day could be huge,” he said on how he expects Florida to finish. “We got some silents. Most of the uncommitted guys right now are waiting until Feb. 1. Those guys that visited with me, I think we can get all of them. So signing day is going to surprise some Gator fans.”