Gators Recruiting: NSD predictions

With just two days to go until National Signing Day, coaching staffs across the country are trying to seal the deal with many top prospects.

Coaches can call prospects, but they aren’t allowed to have any face-to-face contact with recruits.

With that being said, GatorCountry.com is ready to offer our predictions on who will finish up the Class of 2013 for the Gators.

GatorCountry.com also expects all of the current Florida commitments to sign with the Gators on Wednesday as they are solid commitments.

Here is who we think will be in the class as of Monday morning. However, things change and our predictions could change between now and Wednesday.

New Smyrna Beach (Fla.) High receiver James Clark — Gator Country has believed if he visited Florida on the last weekend of the recruiting period that he would be a Gator, and we are sticking by that prediction. Academics are important to Clark, and he was was blown away by them at Florida. Also Clark’s father was on the UF visit but wasn’t on his Ohio State visit giving the Gators the leg up there as well.

Port St. Lucie (Fla.) St. Lucie West Centennial defensive tackle Jay-Nard Bostwick — Miami is the hometown team for Bostwick, but he has the better relationship with the Gators coaching staff. Bostwick’s parents also feel more comfortable with Florida and that will help the Gators land the talented lineman. Bostwick also had a good visit to UF on the last weekend of the recruiting period.

Nashville (Tenn.) Brentwood Academy cornerback Jalen Ramsey — Ramsey has been a Southern California commitment since last summer but with all of the coaching changes going on at USC the Ramseys are no longer comfortable with the situation in Los Angles. Will Muschamp and his staff have done a good job of making Ramsey feel wanted, and the fact that his family are big Gators fan allowed Florida to make up for lost time late in the recruiting process. Also, the fact that Ramsey’s teammate, Max Staver, is a Florida commitment doesn’t play any part in his decision.

Scooba (Miss.) East Mississippi defensive tackle Jarran Reed — An Ole Miss commitment up until Sunday, Reed took two late visits to Alabama but his mother told Gator Country on Sunday that the chance to play with Darious Cummings helped the Gators a lot. Also Alabama looks to not have room for Reed which help the Gators land the talented junior college defensive tackle.

Somerville (N.J.) Immaculata defensive end Tashawn Bower — Gator Country was told that Bower was down to Florida and Auburn heading into his visit with the Tigers. We have heard nothing to say that still isn’t the case, but we are hearing that Bower did not get all of his questions answered from Auburn while on his visit. With that being said and the need for defensive ends at Florida, we think he will sign with the Gators on Wednesday.

With those four players projected to sign with the Gators, GatorCountry will look at some of the targets that Florida was in on and where they may sign.

Yuma (Ariz.) Arizona Western Community College quarterback Tanner McEvoy — Florida made a late run at signing a JUCO quarterback, but the thought of backing up Jeff Driskel for two years was just too much to overcome. GatorCountry believes West Virginia is the school to beat for McEvoy as the Mountaineers offer immediate playing time at the quarterback position.

Frankfort (Ky.) Franklin County receiver Ryan Timmons — Florida simply doesn’t have room for both Timmons and Clark. The Gators have been higher on Clark for longer, so it looks as if Timmons will land with Kentucky when he announces on Tuesday.

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.