Florida recruiting another Prince

Last year the Florida Gators didn’t land a Prince, as 2014 lineman Damian Prince chose to stay with the in state Terrapins,  but Will Muschamp is trying again this year. On Friday he hosted offensive lineman Isaiah Prince (6-6, 270, Greenberg, MD Eleanor Roosevelt) at Friday Night Lights.

“It was great, Florida has a really big campus with a lot of stuff to do,” Prince said. “It’s really cool that everything is in the same area. Everything like football and classes are close to your dorm. I could see myself enjoying it here besides football.”

Prince, like many other offensive linemen, elected to work out so he could work on his hands on with offensive line coach Mike Summers and see his personality for himself.

“Coach Summers is a really great coach,” Prince said. “He isn’t the type to yell and scream at you if you make a mistake he points it out to you and helps you fix it. Most coaches, if you make a mistake, they yell at you and pull you out. He takes the time to help you fix the mistakes instead of yelling.”

Not only was Prince impressed by Summers’ personality, but he was also impressed by Will Muschamp — who Prince compares to someone close to him.

“Coach Muschamp is similar to my coach in that he keeps it real,” he said. “He doesn’t care if you are a freshman, junior or senior he’s going to play the best and that really stood out to me because that’s keeping it real.”

Prince had a strong showing on Friday during drills and he wants that to translate into early playing time — something he sees an opportunity to do at Florida.

“I’m looking at early playing but I understand that you still have to earn it,” Prince said. “I don’t want to sit out for awhile and if I have to sit out until my junior year then that won’t be fast enough for me. I could see myself playing as a freshman or sophomore at Florida.”

One other thing that Prince is looking for in the school he will choose is trust between the players and the coaches and he found that at Florida on Friday.

“The players at Florida really like it here,” Prince said. “They trust the coaches and trust Coach Summers and Coach Muschamp. That’s big that they have that kind of trust for them.”

Following the visit to Gainesville on Saturday Prince has a new top four schools and also knows of a few official visits as well.

“I will come back for an official to Florida and likely one to Alabama and Ohio State,” Prince said. “Right now my top 4 schools are Florida, Alabama, Maryland and Ohio State.”

INSIDER TAKE: Florida definitely gained ground on Prince but I think Ohio State is still the school to beat for him. If Florida can get Prince back on campus this fall,  the Gators could improve their chances even more.

 

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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.