Spivey Senses: Edition 1

Recruiting is just like the weather in Oklahoma. If you don’t like it, wait five minutes because it will change. In recruiting today’s news can be old news in five minutes, but in this world of who’s hot and who’s not, Gator Country takes a look at the latest from the recruiting trail.

[symple_highlight color=”yellow”]FLORIDA GATOR RECRUITING[/symple_highlight]

[symple_skillbar title=”RB: 1 committed (Dalvin Cook),  1 more is wanted but not needed.” percentage=”98″ color=”#6adcfa”]

While Bo Scarbrough is keeping things solid to Alabama in the public, behind the scenes he is talking to Florida a lot and his cousin C’yontai Lewis feels very confident that he will become a Gator on NSD or possibly January if he early enrolls.

[symple_skillbar title=”WR: 1 committed (Ermon Lane), 1-2 more needed” percentage=”85″ color=”#6adcfa”]

News broke on Monday that JUCO receiver Eric Lauderdale had decommitted from Tennessee and while that wasn’t a surprise, the surprise is the amount of excitement he has about Florida without ever stepping foot on campus. I expect that to change soon, possibly as early as the Vanderbilt week.

[symple_skillbar title=”TE: 1 committed (C’yontai Lewis), 1-2 more needed” percentage=”85″ color=”#6adcfa”]

California tight end Bryce Dixon visited this past weekend and while he says Florida is at or near the top, I don’t buy that. I expect Dixon to stay out west but with things up in the air at USC, UCLA appears to be the biggest competition.

Deandre Goolsby is the other name to keep an eye on. The Kansas native visited Ohio State two weeks ago but the visit didn’t go well and I’ve been told his Oklahoma visit didn’t go well either. There is some connection to the Arkansas  receiver coach and Goolsby will visit the Razorbacks this weekend. This one is shaping up to be a Arkansas/Florida battle.

[symple_skillbar title=”OL: 3 committed (Nolan Kelleher, Travaris Dorsey and Dontae Angus), 2 more needed” percentage=”80″ color=”#6adcfa”]

David Sharpe had a good visit to Florida this past weekend but Sharpe’s father didn’t seem like he had as good of a time as David. Right now Florida’s biggest hurdle is Sharpe’s father but the Gators will have one or two more times to impress him.

The other hot name lately has been Jordan Sims but the Alabama native has yet to visit Florida and has been scheduled to visit the last games but cancelled so until he shows up things can’t move forward.

[symple_skillbar title=”DL: 3 committed (Khairi Clark, Justus Reed and Taven Bryan) 1-2 more needed.” percentage=”85″ color=”#6adcfa”]

Lorenzo Featherston visited Florida this past weekend and things went well but right now Featherston is in wait and see mode as the Gators would like to land Lorenzo Carter before moving on Featherston.

Florida had been hard after Louisiana defensive end Davon Godchaux who is committed to LSU but things have cooled off and the Gators have moved on.

[symple_skillbar title=”LB: 0 committed, 1 wanted not needed.” percentage=”95″ color=”#6adcfa”]

The linebacker position is the biggest question mark of all positions and right now none of Florida’s targets have the Gators at the top. Clifton Garrett has already visited Florida but he looks LSU-bound barring something dramatic. Raekwon McMillan is another prospect on the board and while he right now appears to be leaning towards Alabama and Ohio State, the Gators do get the last official visit. Tre Williams, who is committed to Auburn, is a prospect who has been in touch with Florida a lot and with the state of the Tigers program, Williams could look elsewhere.

[icon name=”icon-spinner”] SPIVEY MOMENT

One thing that stands out to me is how tight the numbers truly are. The Gators will have to be smart about who they allow to commit moving forward.

[symple_highlight color=”yellow” ]NEWS, NOTES AND GOSSIP FROM AROUND THE SEC[/symple_highlight]

[icon name=”icon-play”]Alabama: Once Florida target now South Carolina commit Abu Lamin is rumored to be setting up a visit to the Crimson Tide … News broke last Friday night that Alabama is trying to get Florida commit Duke Dawson in town for an official.

[icon name=”icon-play”]Arkansas: Linebacker coach Randy Shannon pulled his South Florida magic last week by getting Ravian Pierce to commit to Arkansas from South Plantation … Shannon has now succeeded in getting Florida commit Dalvin Cook to officially visit Arkansas in November.

[icon name=”icon-play”]Auburn: The Tigers are having a decent season on the field but not enough to keep several commitments from looking elsewhere such as linebacker Tre Williams … Auburn also lost a major battle with Alabama in losing in-state safety Ronnie Clark to the Tide last week.

[icon name=”icon-play”]Georgia: Mark Richt and his staff have turned up the heat on recent South Carolina cornerback decommit Wesley Green lately this one will be a battle between the two sides.

[icon name=”icon-play”]Kentucky: The Wildcats haven’t had the season they had hoped for and with that their recruiting momentum has come to almost halt recently … One piece of good news they have is they still lead for instate defensive lineman Matt Elam.

[icon name=”icon-play”]LSU: LSU received good news this past week when Florida target Adoree’ Jackson decided he would officially visit LSU for the Florida game this weekend … The Tigers also have to feel good that Speedy Noil and Gerald Willis didn’t visit Florida this past weekend.

[icon name=”icon-play”]Mississippi: Ole Miss will get the chance this weekend to impress Florida target Jamal Adams but the Rebels must pull out the red carpet to have a chance … Illinois linebacker Nyles Morgan also set up an official to the Rebels which is good news for Ole Miss.

[icon name=”icon-play”]Mississippi State: With Florida and Tennessee both looking like they have pulled out of the Cory Thomas camp the Bulldogs have the clear lead for the Alabama native.

[icon name=”icon-play”]Missouri: The Tigers are having a great season but this weekend against Georgia is huge for the Tigers if they ever want to get into the state of Georgia in recruiting purposes.

[icon name=”icon-play”]South Carolina: The Gamecocks are trying their best to beat Georgia for cornerback Wesley Green and the Atlanta native visited Columbia last weekend … South Carolina is also making a move on cornerback D.J. Smith who is considered a heavy Clemson lean.

[icon name=”icon-play”]Tennessee: The Vols picked up a huge JUCO prospect in Dontavious Blair this past weekend and that should help on the offensive line next year… With all good news come some bad news and the Vols lost receiver Eric Lauderdale this past week.

[icon name=”icon-play”]Texas A&M: The Aggies much like LSU feel like they have a great shot at landing Gerald Willis and Speedy Noil after their official visits…

[icon name=”icon-play”]Vanderbilt: Vandy received good news this past week when Illinois linebacker Nyles Morgan decided to visit Nashville.

OUR FINE FRIENDS IN TALLAHASSEE AND DOWN SOUTH

[icon name=”icon-play”]Florida State: The Noles truly believe they have a shot at Hoover cornerback Marlon Humphrey who is an Alabama legacy … FSU is also trying to get in the mix with linebacker Tre Williams much like Florida.

[icon name=”icon-play”]Miami: The Canes were successful in getting Florida commit J.C. Jackson to visit last weekend but there isn’t much to that. Miami is also trying to get in the mix with Florida commit Davonte Phillips of Miami Central.

[icon name=”icon-rocket” size=3x][symple_highlight color=”yellow”]SHOTS ACROSS THE BOW[/symple_highlight]

As much Florida fans don’t want to hear it I think Hoover cornerback Marlon Humphrey is a better fit at Florida State than Alabama because of the track program and plus Nick Saban didn’t offer his brother.

I’m waiting to see the reaction Alabama fans have to when Bo Scarbrough actually shows up at Florida for a visit and see the meltdown. Bama fans are so full of themselves that they just refuse to believe that t believe Will Muschamp could ever beat Nick Saban for a kid.

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.