Recruiting hits the back stretch

College coaches around the country say recruiting isn’t a sprint it’s a marathon. Well, that marathon will turn into a sprint to the finish line when the dead period officially ends on Thursday morning. With the dead period coming to an end coaches will be back out on the road in full force visiting prospects and hosting recruits on campus for official visits.

With 21 commits (counting Dontae Angus who I don’t think makes it in) already in the class the Gators still have double-digit prospects on the board as Florida tries to finish filling needs for 2014.

Some of the needs still left are 1 quarterback, 1 running back, 2 receivers, 2 offensive linemen, a defensive end and a cornerback. Not all of the needs will be filled simply because there isn’t enough room in the class.

With all of that being said, Florida can visit each of its remaining targets once a week and Will Muschamp can visit once unless he visited that prospect before the dead period began.

Most of the prospects still remaining on the board are scheduled to take an official visit to Florida in the next few weeks as well, which gives the Gators coaches another chance to talk to each prospect.

Before we go further here are the top remaining prospects on the board:

Cornerback

Adoree’ Jackson – Florida, LSU and USC appear to be the three teams at the top for Jackson. Florida is trying to land an official.

Offensive line

Andrew Mike – Florida is in good shape with Mike especially if he has a good visit to Gainesville in two weeks.

Damian Prince – Florida’s chances for Prince went way up with the Gators landed Jalen Tabor last week and a good visit could put Florida in great shape especially with early playing time available.

Derrick Kelly – Kelly is fading quickly on the Gators board but he’s someone that continues to mention Florida but this doesn’t look like a direction Florida will go in.

Jordan Sims – Gaining a visit to Florida is something the Gators are trying to get Sims to do but right now it’s unlikely he will do that.

Running back

Bo Scarbrough -Alabama will be tough to beat for the Tuscaloosa native but the Gators are trying to land Scarbrough’s last official visit.

Derrell Scott – Scott admits to growing up a fan of Florida and he will be in town this weekend for an official visit. Scott could be the Gators second running back if they have the room.

Jeff Jones – The Minnesota commit is scheduled to visit Florida on January 24th but it looks like it will take a lot to persuade Jones to Gainesville.

Tony James – Florida will go in-home with James on Sunday night in hopes of landing a visit but James says he’s solid to Oregon and no plans to visit the Gators.

Athlete

Charles Nelson -Florida is staying around for Nelson but USC and Notre Dame are two schools that I believe are ahead of Florida for him.

Deiondre Porter – Florida was a big offer for Porter and the USF commit will visit Gainesville this weekend.

Receiver

Chris Godwin – Godwin is the lone prospect on the list without an offer from Florida but the Penn State commits expects Florida to visit him soon.

C.J. Worton – The FSU commit will visit Florida on January 31st but will the Gators have room for Worton is a question that’s up in the air.

Eric Lauderdale – Florida is the odds on favor to land Lauderdale who will announce his decision after visiting Oregon on January 24th.

Isaiah McKenzie – The electric playmaker McKenzie will visit Florida this weekend and the Gators have a good shot with the Florida native but Ole Miss and Notre Dame are in the mix.

Jamil Kamara – Kamara is a long shot but the Gators are trying to get an official visit from the Virginia commit when the coaches visit him soon.

Krenwick Sanders – Sanders is a new name on the board and someone who Florida will visit this week or the beginning of next week.

 

Defensive End

Davon Godchaux – The LSU commit says he open and Florida is still trying to secure an official visit to Gainesville on January 24th. If Florida gets an official lookout for the Gators because Godchaux liked Florida a lot before committing to LSU.

Lorenzo Carter – Georgia will get the last visit for Carter but Will Muschamp still has an in-home visit in his back pocket for Carter.

 

Quarterback

Marvin Zanders – Zanders expects Florida to visit him on Thursday or Friday as Zanders tries to decide whether to enroll at Missouri early or wait until the summer to enroll at a school.

Treon Harris – The FSU commit will visit Florida this weekend but Miami is also now in the picture for Harris. The Gators will fight with Miami and FSU to land Harris.

 

Now that we have talked about all the remaining targets on the board here is who GC has confirmed that Florida coaches will visit Thursday and Friday before returning back to Gainesville to host official visitors.

Thursday:

Will Muschamp, cornerbacks coach Travaris Robinson and offensive coordinator Kurt Roper will all head down to Booker T Washington in Miami to visit with quarterback Treon Harris.

Defensive line coach Brad Lawing and tight ends coach Derek Lewis will visit Louisiana defensive end Davon Godchaux.

Quarterback Marvin Zanders of Jacksonville says that he expects Kurt Roper to visit him tomorrow or Friday.

Outside linebacker coach Coleman Hutzler will visit Arizona offensive lineman Andrew Mike.

Running backs coach Brian White will visit running back Bo Scarbrough.

Receiver Eric Lauderdale and athlete Adoree’ Jackson both say they expect receivers coach Joker Phillips either on Thursday or Friday.

Defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin will visit Norcross High School defensive end Lorenzo Carter.

 

Friday:

Florida is supposed to visit Trinity Christian High to visit with 2015 prospects Jeffery Holland, Deontai Williams and linebacker Victor Alexander who is committed to UCLA.

Cornerbacks coach Travaris Robinson will visit South Dade receiver C.J. Worton before he leaves for his official visit to West Virginia.

Offensive coordinator Kurt Roper will visit running back Isaiah McKenzie before he flies up for his official visit.

 

Sunday:

Will Muschamp and running back coach Brian White will visit Gainesville running back Tony James for in-home visit.

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.

2 COMMENTS

    • Florida feels good about last year’s class and having Anzalone and Rolin with a redshirt means they are technically freshman. This year’s crop of LB’s is down.