Recruiting update: Marquez North

Florida has four receivers committed in the Class of 2013, but that hasn’t stopped the coaches from recruiting other top receiver targets.

One of those is Charlotte (N.C.) Mallard Creek receiver Marquez North, who is considered by most as one of the top receivers in the Southeast.

“Marquez is having a good year at Mallard Creek,” Ramondo North (father of Marquez) said. “He is trying to focus on his senior year, but I’ve told him he needs to cut his list down to a top 5 or so in the week to week and a half.”

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound North has more than 20 offers, but his father said a few schools are recruiting him harder than others right now.

“Florida is recruiting him the hardest,” North said. “They are sending him a lot of letters and he is reading them. Clemson and North Carolina are recruiting him the hardest, after Florida, followed by Ohio State and recently Miami.”

When North releases his top 5 soon, he will also release where he will take his official visits this fall.

“We are going to Tennessee this weekend,” North said. “But after that, we will start setting dates for officials. We may go down to Florida for the LSU game for his official. I’m honestly not sure where all we take officials too but Florida is one of them for sure.”

The fact Florida has four receivers in the class doesn’t seem to have much of an impact on North.

“He feels comfortable that he could play early at Florida,” North said. “He isn’t worried about who they have committed already because he knows where ever he goes, there will be competition for him to contend with.”

Florida does have one built in advantage, North’s former teammate and current Gators offensive lineman DJ Humphries.

“Marquez and DJ text a lot,” North said. “When DJ is in town, they hang out and stuff, so they have a good relationship. If Marquez was to choose Florida, I know me and DJ’s father could ride down together and stuff.”

North is hoping to graduate early so he can enroll in whichever school he chooses this January.

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.