The fastest rising player on the Gators recruiting board over the past few weeks has been D’Anton Lynn. After recently receiving a Gator offer, he was planning on making a trip to Friday Night Lights to check out what Gainesville had to offer.
“I wasn’t able to make it in,” Lynn said. “I ended a 7-on-7 tournament on Wednesday, and we couldn’t find a reasonable flight after that.”
Lynn still wants to make it to Gainesville as soon as possible though. If he is not able to do it before school begins in the fall, he will definitely be there during an official visit.
“I’m going to talk to Coach Mattison today or tomorrow, and we’ll set up a time for me to come down,” Lynn said. “It may even be before school starts actually. Either way, I’ll definitely take an official to Florida.”
A few weeks ago, not many Gator fans had ever heard of D’Anton Lynn. The athlete from Celina, Texas then made the trip to Southern California for their Rising Stars Camp, and put on a show for Pete Carroll and staff.
As soon as the camp was over, Lynn’s name was everywhere. As soon as he returned, he realized what an impact he had made. Waiting for him in the mail was an offer from the University of Florida.
“Well it was real fun with great competition,” Lynn said of the USC camp. “As soon as it was over I got a lot more attention from schools. That’s when Florida offered me. That was probably the most surprising offer I’ve gotten so far.”
His connection to the Florida Gators goes a lot deeper than just having an interest. The son of a football coach, Lynn has moved around with his family because of various coaching jobs his dad has had.
“I played at Bartnam Trail my freshman year when my dad was a coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars,” Lynn said. “I was friends there with Xavier Brewer (Clemson commit) and Scott Betros (Wake Forest commit).”
Though the moves have sometimes been stressful for the Lynn family, the Celina High School prospect is now reaping the benefits from a father who knows the game.
“My dad being a coach has made this process not so stressful,” Lynn said. “He knows a lot about football and it has been a big help getting through this with him helping me out.”
Lynn plans to make one more trip to Texas Tech this summer, with a potential visit to Gainesville still in the works before the summer ends.