BRADENTON – In recent weeks, Citra (Fla.) North Marion cornerback prospect Reggie Wilkerson has emerged as one of the hot names on the recruiting trail in the Southeast. With offers from Clemson, Duke, Georgia, Iowa State, Purdue, South Carolina, Temple and Utah, Wilkerson’s stock is certainly on the rise.
However, the 5-foot-11, 170-pound corner is still waiting on a scholarship opportunity to come through from the home team in this equation.
Wilkerson recently made the short trip up to Gainesville to take in a session of spring practice at UF last weekend. He had the chance to see his former teammate – freshman receiver Latroy Pittman – emerge as one of the young standouts during open practices for the Gators on Mar. 16 and 17.
“Just watching [Pittman] go out there and do his thing – I enjoyed it,” Wilkerson said. “He says they treat him good and feed him good. He’s just taking it one day at a time and getting better each day.”
In turn, Wilkerson is still hoping a scholarship offer from Florida is on the way for him as well.
“I just can’t wait for them to offer me – that’s what I’m anticipating,” he said.
Presently, Florida and Georgia figure most prominently in the recruitment of Wilkerson – with the Bulldogs having already offered and the Gators still evaluating his abilities as a player. Regardless of whether Florida jumps in the mix, Wilkerson says he already has a date circled on his calendar of Aug. 31 — the day he will go public with his college choice.
“I just want to do it before the season starts, so if I get hurt, I’ll have something to fall back on,” he said on Saturday at the IMG Madden 7-on-7 Southeast Regional Qualifier.
At the event this weekend, Wilkerson participated with Pro Impact Sports, a team based primarily out of Jacksonville, but featuring a few Ocala-area players this spring. Having the chance to work with former UF safety Guss Scott has helped Wilkerson continue to develop in the technical aspects of playing defensive back.
“He teaches me everything,” Wilkerson said of Scott. “He went to Florida, so he teaches me all the stuff they do. I love it.”
Pro Impact Sports was off to a solid start in pool play action on Saturday, as they continue to build on their success this spring. The team also won a recent NLA qualifying event in Atlanta earlier in the month.
“The competition level is high,” Wilkerson said of the IMG tournament. “Our team started 3-0, we’re just out here competing against the best.”