Saturday was a big day for the Florida Gators recruiting class of 2018 as the coaching staff hosted several big targets for the class.
Running back Asa Martin (6-0, 193, Decatur, AL. Austin) was on campus and the visit lived up to his expectations he says.
“Overall, I loved it, it was everything I wanted it to be,” Martin said of how his Florida visit. “I loved it, we were there for most of Friday and all of Saturday. I got to hang out with the coaches, I talked to most all of them. I got to watch them workout and practice some. I hung out with some of the players and some of the ones from Alabama. I hung out with Lamical Perine a lot and stayed with him most of the night.”
Martin was joined on the visit by his mom, and the Gators coaching staff and head coach Jim McElwain really impressed her.
“She loved it as well,” he said of how his mom liked the visit. “It was a surprise to her, I don’t think she was expecting to like it as much as she did. She really liked it a lot and she loved all of the coaches. She really liked Coach Mac.”
Running backs coach JaJuan Seider is the coach that Martin is the closest too and the two of them had a nice talk this weekend.
“He was just telling me to come be a part of the program,” Martin said of what Seider said. “He said that they’re building something special there and they want me to be a part of that. He said they’re going to get things back on track.”
McElwain also sat down with Martin and his mother and stressed the need for being a student-athlete.
“Coach Mac was saying the same thing that Coach Seider was about coming to be a part of something special,” Martin said of what McElwain told him. “The education part is what really impressed my mom because he said the first thing that I need to do is get an education. It was good.”
While on campus Martin got the chance to watch Florida practice and he thinks the Gators offense would fit his game well.
“I think I can fit in well with their offense because it’s a pro-style offense with some spread mixed into it,” he said how he thinks he will fit into the Florida offense. “Most of the NFL teams runs a pro style offense so I think it fits me really well. They run some inside and outside zone runs and some power schemes.”
Heading into the visit Martin was excited about his visit to Gainesville and he says the favorite part of the trip was being around the team.
“It lived up to my expectations,” Martin said on how the trip went. “My favorite part was probably hanging out with the players. It’s like family around there, I just really liked it. When I was hanging out with them, you would’ve thought I was a player, not a recruit.”
The main guy that Martin was around was running back Lamical Perine who is also an Alabama native.
“He wasn’t really giving me any kind of pitch, he was just keeping it real with me,” he said of what Perine said. “He was telling about everything and saying what I would get if I came here. He was just talking to me.”
After a great two day visit, Martin says that the Gators really improved their chances with him.
“It definitely helped Florida out,” Martin said on how the visit helped Florida. “Florida is in the lead right now for me.”
The running back who plans to early enroll in school next January says a decision could come sooner than he expected.
“I’m not sure right now,” he said on when a decision could come. “I was going to hold off until December but I don’t really know if I’m going to wait anymore. I’m going to talk to my mom and my dad about it and then take a few more visits.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Martin really likes JaJuan Seider and him being at Florida really makes Florida a huge option for the running back. Martin says he plans to visit Michigan and Auburn coming up and a decision could come after those visits.