Florida Gators visit meets Thomas’ expectations

Last Saturday the Florida Gators basketball team from 2006 was honored in the Swamp and on hand to witness that were several basketball recruiting visitors.

One of those was forward Lance Thomas (6-10, 210, Norcross, GA. High) who said the visit lived up to what he thought it would be.

“The Florida visit was really good, they insured me of why they’re in my top four,” Thomas said of his Florida visit. “I like the players and the coaching staff. It’s really a family type of atmosphere down there in Gainesville. Everyone gets along with each other. The visit really met my expectations.

The weekend was jammed packed with things to do including getting to see the O’Connell Center and the Gators football game.

“I got to watch the players work out and then I got to tour the campus,” he said of his official visit. “I got to go to the football game on Saturday night and it was a lot of fun. I got to see the plans for the new arena, it’s going to be nice.”

Florida Gators basketball coach Mike White spent a lot of time with Thomas during their one-on-one meeting and White laid out his plans for Thomas and the Gators.

“Coach White just tells me that he wants players that can play down in Gainesville,” Thomas said of White’s message to him. “He said that he isn’t going to recruit anything else. They tell me that I can be versatile in that four spot and play all of the forward spots. They say that I’m a long athletic forward.”

White isn’t the only coach recruiting Thomas hard as two Gators assistant coaches have done a good job on the Georgia big man.

“I have the best relationship with Coach White and Coach [Jordan] Mincey at first but now me and Coach [Dusty] May we’ve got a relationship going now,” he said of the Gators coaches. “Really I have a good relationship with the whole staff, all of those guys talk to me a lot.”

Heading into the visit Thomas knew he liked Florida but after living he feels that he likes the Gators even more based of what he seen on the visit.

“My overall impressions of Florida is that they have a great campus and great facilities,” he said of Florida. “I got a great vibe from them at Florida and everyone is close with each other. The relationship between players and coaches is great. They have a good thing going down there.”

The Gators are three other schools have about a month and a half left of recruiting Thomas before he wants to make a decision on college.

“Louisville, USC, Miami and Florida are my top four schools,” Thomas said of his Florida visit. “I’m going to Miami this weekend and then I’m taking a two break before I go to Louisville and USC back to back weeks. I’m announcing my decision on November first.”

INSIDERS TAKE: Thomas’ mother accompanied him on the trip and Thomas said she liked the trip too. The coaching staff has gotten really close with Thomas’ mother and that’s very important to Thomas.

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.