Orlando guard Dillon Graham grew up a huge Florida fan and today he announced to the public that he had committed to the Gators.
“I actually committed last Thursday,” Graham said.”I called the coaches and told them that I wanted to be a Gator, but I waited till today to go public with my decision.”
The 6-foot-4, 175-pound guard said being a Gator was something he has wanted his whole life, and when Billy Donovan offered him a full ride in the 2012 recruiting class, he was ecstatic.
“It’s definitely a dream come true for me to be a Gator,” he said. “Once I publicly committed today it was like a blur it just such an awesome day for me. It was a great day.”
Graham chose Florida over offers from Florida State, Kansas, Louisville and many others.
The friendly environment at Florida played a big role in Graham picking the Gators.
“Florida has a family atmosphere when it comes to basketball,” he said. “The players are all like brothers and the coaches aren’t just good coaches they are great men as well.”
Florida’s style of play was another big reason why he chose Florida over the other schools.
“When I went down there I was able to watch the individual drills and just see how they style of play was,” he said. “When you think of Florida, you think of shooters like Lee Humphrey. You also think of the screens and how well they always shoot the three-ball. They also always push the ball, which is something I really like.”
Graham is AAU teammates with fellow recruit Kasey Hill, a top 2013 point guard, and Graham said Hill had some words of advice for him.
“He just told me not to rush anything and to make sure I made the best decision for me,” Graham said. “He also said that this is one of the biggest decisions of your life and to look at it closely.”
Now that Graham is committed to Florida he will try and recruit his teammate to Florida, as well.
“I’m proud to be a Gator, so I’m going to continue to tell Kasey how good it is to be a Gator and see if I can’t get him to come to Florida as well,” he said.