For the first time this year the Florida Gators recruiting class will be represented in Gainesville as the Gators will host several visitors in the Swamp.
While the visitors list isn’t as big as it normally is, the staff did an excellent job of getting some of its top visitors in town despite the travel difficulties due to the recent hurricane.
The Gators will have several of its commits in town for both the 2018 and 2019 classes as well as a few big targets in each class.
GatorCountry.com previews this weekend’s visitors list for the Tennessee game here.
Commits visiting
Seven of Florida’s 2018 commits will be in town and they will be joined by eight 2019 commits in Gainesville.
Representing the 2018 class will be defensive backs Randy Russell and Divaad Wilson, athlete Amari Burney, receiver Tyquan Thornton, linebacker David Reese, running back Dameon Pierce and defensive end Taylor Upshaw.
Getting Russell and Wilson back on campus is huge because several teams including the local Miami Hurricanes are still hard after those guys.
The 2019 class, which is ranked number one in the country right now will have athlete Trent Whittemore, athlete Tyrique Stevenson, receivers Maurice Goolsby and Frank Ladson, athlete Ja’Markis Weston, defensive lineman Jaquaze Sorrells, linebacker Marcus Tillman and offensive lineman Wardrick Wilson in town.
Getting the 2019 commits together is always as a good thing as the Gators are looking to have a great class in 2019.
Top 2018 targets visiting
Headlining the visitors list is offensive lineman William Barnes who has been one of the Gators top targets for two years now. Florida is battling North Carolina for Barnes who plans to decide after the season is over.
Another big visitor this weekend is cornerback Pat Surtain Jr. (6-2, 181, Fort Lauderdale, FL. American Heritage) who is expected in town.
Joining Barnes is Gainesville will be his teammate and another offensive line target for Florida in Ed Montilus who camped at Florida this summer. Montilus is someone that the Gators offered this past spring and can play guard or tackle in college.
Another offensive lineman who says he may visit this weekend is Trey Hill (6-4, 346, Warner Robins, GA. Houston County) out of Georgia. Right now the Gators appear to be trailing Georgia, Clemson and Florida State but Florida has been communicating with Hill a lot recently.
Joining those guys on offense will be speedster and receiver Anthony Schwartz who has had Florida as his leader for sometime now. Schwartz could decide at anytime now so this visit to Gainesville comes at a perfect time.
Defensive end Andrew Chatfield has been a guy that Gator fans have been wanting for a long time and he has Florida near the top of his leaderboard after picking up a July offer. Chatfield decomitted from Ohio State is someone that Florida is in great shape for.
One of the Gators top linebacker targets is also expected in town this weekend when Richard Jibunor (6-3, 206, Athens, GA. Christian) who has looked like a lock to Auburn for sometime now. Jibunor has recently picked up communication with linebackers coach Tim Skipper and this visit could help get Florida back in play.
Joining Jibunor on the defensive side of the ball is Oregon defensive end commit Malcolm Lamar (6-5, 250, Seffner, FL. Armwood) who liked Florida a lot early on but the communication died off and now has picked back up. Lamar is having a nice season so far and that has peaked Florida’s interest in him.
Auburn athlete/safety commit Jamien Sherwood (6-2, 195, Jensen Beach, FL. High) is also scheduled to visit Florida this weekend.
Underclassmen targets visiting
Several of Florida’s top underclassmen targets are also saying they will visit Florida this weekend. The following guys are expected to be in the Swamp for the game on Saturday.
2019 defensive back Kaiir Elam
2019 defensive back Brendan Gant
2019 cornerback John Dixon
2019 defensive back Jordan Battle
2019 defensive back Jaden Davis
2019 linebacker Ge’Mon Eaford
2019 offensive lineman Trente Jones
2019 defensive lineman Mario Kendricks
2019 defensive back Kenyatta Watson
2020 offensive lineman Isaiah Walker
2020 defensive end Samual Anaele
2020 linebacker Jaylen Harrell
Hopefully the traffic and rising Sante are river don’t get in the way of some visits