Last Saturday the Florida Gators had several top 2018 junior prospects on campus for a small junior day and it was a successful one.
One of those 2018 prospects on campus was athlete Amari Burney (6-1, 205, Clearwater, FL. Calvary Christian) who got to see a lot of things during the visit.
“The visit went good, we got to go and see the basketball game,” Burney said. “I played Madden with one of the guys that was taking us around when I first got there. I got to talk with the coaches, Coach [Jim] McElwain and the receiver coach, Coach [Kerry] Dixon.”
One of the experiences that Burney liked what seeing the Gators basketball game and seeing how the fans reacted to the game.
“It was pretty good game and good atmosphere,” he said of the basketball game. “#5 [Kevaughn Allen] just couldn’t do it by himself though. The atmosphere was great, they were playing Vanderbilt and a lot of fans came out to see that. It was great to see.”
After the basketball game was over with Burney got the chance to talk to several coaches including receivers coach Kerry Dixon who talked to him about playing offense at Florida.
“I got to talk to Coach [Torrian] Gray, Coach [Doug Nussmeier] Nuss, Coach McElwain and Coach Dixon,” Burney said. “Coach Dixon was talking to me about the academic side of things and then he was saying he wants me on the offensive side of the ball. He and Coach Gray are fighting over me because right now they’re recruiting me as an athlete.”
Defensive backs coach Torrian Gray is trying to get Burney on the defensive side of the ball and he gave his pitch for playing defensive back in the Swamp.
“Coach Gray was explaining the schemes that they do and how they would put me in the NFL,” he said. “They have defensive backs that are going in the first round every year so he was just saying that it would be a good fit for me.”
McElwain also had the chance to sit down with Burney and his message focused more on education than football.
“Coach Mac was just saying that Gators take care of Gators,” Burney said. “He was saying that stuff after football would be taken care of. He said other Florida Gators would be able to get me jobs and stuff like that. He told me that I was a priority for them this year.”
While on campus at Florida, Burney announced that he was going to commit this summer and he’s starting to narrow things down some.
“I’m going to commit on my grandfather’s birthday on June 1st this year,” he said. “I have high interest in Florida but it’s out of a couple of schools right now. I’m thinking about coming out with my top ten in a couple of weeks.”
Next up for Burney is several junior day visits including visiting Florida again and he says the welcoming feeling is why he keeps visiting the Gators.
“My parents like Florida and they play a role in my recruitment,” Burney said on what keeps him coming back up to Florida. “Also the coaches, the atmosphere and it’s close to home. They keep inviting us back to so I feel like they want me.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Burney is one of Florida’s top targets for next year and is someone that the Gators are in good shape with him early on. Florida has really recruited Burney hard since his sophomore year.