ShareEye on UF’s Rivals: Football Recruiting
With a huge recruiting weekend on the horizon for Florida with No. 3 Alabama coming to town in front of a packed house and dozens of top recruits, Gator Country stops to take a look at how things stack up right now for Florida's rivals.
Football recruiting is hitting full swing right now as prospects take official visits, and the Gators are already putting together quite a class.
Florida has 13 players ranked in the current GatorCountry.com composite recruiting rankings, more than every SEC team and in-state rivals Florida State and Miami.
Since the last time we took a look at Florida’s recruiting rivals, the Gator have added a commitment from offensive lineman D.J. Humphries, the sixth-ranked player in the composite ranking.
The Gators now have three commits ranked in the Top 100 of the composite ranking, which is tied with Auburn and behind Florida State’s six and Alabama’s five.
The biggest movers in the composite rankings since our last update were Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Vanderbilt and Tennessee. Tennessee added three commits ranked in the composite ranking, while each of the other schools added two.
Alabama added commitments from two Top 100 players in wide receiver Chris Black and defensive back Geno Smith, while linebacker Dillon Lee received a nice bump in the rankings to enter the Top 100.
Georgia added commitments from defensive lineman John Atkins and offensive lineman Greg Pyke to bring the Bulldogs’ total of commits in the composite ranking to five, with two ranked in the Top 100.
LSU added commitments from offensive linemen Patrick Miller and Derek Edinburgh. However, Tigers’ tight end commitment Dillon Gordon fell out of the composite ranking to give LSU 10 total commitments in the composite ranking with two ranked in the Top 100.
Vanderbilt added commitments from wide receiver Andre McDonald and defensive lineman Caleb Azubike to give the Commodores four commitments in the composite ranking.
Tennessee was the biggest mover in the past two months in terms of the composite ranking, adding commitments from defensive back LaDarrell McNeil, linebacker Dalton Santos and wide receiver Jason Croom. The Volunteers now have four commitments in the composite ranking, with one inside the Top 100.
Florida State added a Top 100 commit from quarterback Jameis Winston.
Auburn added a commitment from defensive lineman Tyler Nero.
Miami added a commitment from offensive lineman Ereck Flowers.
Ole Miss added a commitment from running back I’Tavious Mathers, but offensive lineman Jake Meador fell out of the composite ranking.
Finally, South Carolina linebacker commitment Kaiwan Lewis fell out of the composite ranking.
Kentucky is the only SEC school that has yet to gain a commitment from a player ranked in the GatorCountry.com composite rankings.
| Eye on UF’s Rivals: Football Recruiting | ||
| School | GC Top 372 | GC Top 100 |
| Florida | 13 | 3 |
| Florida State | 12 | 6 |
| Auburn | 11 | 3 |
| Alabama | 10 | 5 |
| LSU | 10 | 2 |
| Miami | 9 | 2 |
| South Carolina | 5 | 2 |
| Georgia | 5 | 2 |
| Tennessee | 4 | 1 |
| Vanderbilt | 4 | 0 |
| Arkansas | 2 | 0 |
| Ole Miss | 2 | 0 |
| Mississippi State | 1 | 0 |
| Kentucky | 0 | 0 |
| GC Top 372 Commits by School | ||
| School | Rank | Player |
| Florida | 6 | OL D.J. Humphries |
| 37 | OL Jessamen Dunker | |
| 86 | DB Brian Poole, Jr. | |
| 105 | DB Marcus Maye | |
| 132 | RB Mike Davis | |
| 138 | TE Colin Thompson | |
| 138 | RB Matt Jones | |
| 160 | LB Lorenzo Phillips | |
| 226 | LB Jeremi Powell | |
| 230 | DL Dante Phillips | |
| 238 | WR Latroy Pittman | |
| 268 | DL Quinteze Williams | |
| 364 | DB Rhaheim Ledbetter | |
| Florida State | 2 | DL Mario Edwards |
| 10 | QB Jameis Winston | |
| 23 | DL Chris Casher | |
| 28 | DL Dante Fowler, Jr. | |
| 52 | RB Mario Pender | |
| 91 | LB Ukeme Eligwe | |
| 110 | DB P.J. Williams | |
| 114 | DL Justin Shanks | |
| 193 | DL Dalvon Stuckey | |
| 204 | WR Marvin Bracy | |
| 207 | TE Christo Kourtzidis | |
| 241 | OL Alphonse Taylor | |
| Auburn | 64 | TE Ricky Parks |
| 68 | RB T.J. Yeldon | |
| 88 | QB Zeke Pike | |
| 131 | WR JaQuay Williams | |
| 155 | RB Jovon Robinson | |
| 160 | DB Josh Holsey | |
| 195 | DL Tyler Nero | |
| 200 | WR Ricardo Louis | |
| 234 | LB Cassanova McKinzy | |
| 237 | OL Shane Callahan | |
| 372 | TE Darrion Hutcherson | |
| Alabama | 18 | ATH Eddie Williams |
| 29 | WR Chris Black | |
| 40 | DB Geno Smith | |
| 52 | LB Reggie Ragland | |
| 76 | LB Dillon Lee | |
| 127 | LB Tyler Hayes | |
| 142 | WR Amari Cooper | |
| 163 | RB Kenyan Drake | |
| 171 | ATH Justin Thomas | |
| 180 | OL Brandon Greene | |
| LSU | 70 | DL Torshiro Davis |
| 82 | WR Avery Johnson | |
| 182 | OL Patrick Miller | |
| 199 | TE John Thomas | |
| 224 | DB Dwayne Thomas | |
| 225 | DL Ronnie Feist | |
| 285 | RB Lamar Louis | |
| 308 | ATH Davante Bourque | |
| 316 | OL Derek Edinburgh | |
| 331 | DL Danielle Hunter | |
| Miami | 34 | RB Duke Johnson |
| 84 | DL Jelani Hamilton | |
| 123 | LB Keith Brown | |
| 145 | DB A.J. Leggett | |
| 153 | WR Angelo Jean-Louis | |
| 201 | LB Raphael Kirby | |
| 291 | QB Preston Dewey | |
| 305 | DL Trent Taylor | |
| 348 | OL Ereck Flowers | |
| South Carolina | 35 | ATH Shaq Roland |
| 75 | OL Brock Stadnik | |
| 232 | WR Kwinton Smith | |
| 257 | WR Jody Fuller | |
| 319 | OL Joe Harris | |
| Georgia | 11 | OL John Theus |
| 41 | DL Jonathan Taylor | |
| 116 | LB Leonard Floyd | |
| 228 | DL John Atkins | |
| 229 | OL Greg Pyke | |
| Tennessee | 96 | DB LaDarrell McNeil |
| 183 | WR Drae Bowles | |
| 205 | LB Dalton Santos | |
| 259 | WR Jason Croom | |
| Vanderbilt | 168 | RB Brian Kimbrow |
| 333 | WR Andre McDonald | |
| 342 | DL Josh Dawson | |
| 352 | DL Caleb Azubike | |
| Arkansas | 303 | WR Jalen Cobb |
| 313 | OL Jeremy Ward | |
| Ole Miss | 261 | DL Isaac Gross |
| 345 | RB I’Tavius Mathers | |
| Mississippi State | 122 | DL Nick James |
About the author
Thomas Goldkamp
Thomas Goldkamp is the Gator Country beat reporter for football and basketball. He graduated from the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications and has been covering the Florida Gators since late 2009. He previously worked as a freelancer on the Rivals network, as well as at the Palm Beach Post. You can find his latest stories here.
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2014 Football Commits
| # | PLAYER | POS | HT | WT |
| 43 | Will Grier | QB | 6-3 | 171 |
| Davidson (NC) Day | ||||
| 78 | Christian Miller | LB | 6-4 | 200 |
| Columbia (SC) Spring Valley | ||||
| 126 | Ryeshene Bronson | WR | 6-3 | 182 |
| Fort Myers (Fla.) Dunbar | ||||
| 325 | Duke Dawson | CB | 5-11 | 184 |
| Cross City (Fla.) Dixie County | ||||
| NR | Travaris Dorsey | OL | 6-2 | 280 |
| Jacksonville (Fla). Raines | ||||
| NR | Benjamin Knox | OL | 6-5 | 255 |
| Deland (Fla.) High | ||||
| NR | Joseph Paul | OL | 6-4 | 340 |
| New Orleans (La.) St. Augustine | ||||
| NR | Dalvin Cook | RB | 5-11 | 190 |
| Miami (Fla.) Central | ||||
| NR | Anthony Moten | DT | 6-4 | 265 |
| Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas | ||||
2013 Basketball Commits
| PLAYER | POS | HT | WT |
| Kasey Hill | G | 6-1 | 160 |
| Clermont (Fla.) Montverde Academy | |||
| Chris Walker | F | 6-9 | 220 |
| Bonifay (Fla) Holmes County | |||
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I can’t help but feel that the composite rankings don’t say enough about each class to summarize the recruiting progress thus far. FSU has notably stacked its class with top national prospects, yet has fewer “top 372” commits so seems to be behind from that perspective. Alabama, who also appears to be trailing by this statistic, is currently a stronger class than the Gators have right this moment (even before stealing Chris Black right out of the state while Florida remains empty at wide receiver).
In my opinion, at the level these teams are playing quality is preferable to quantity when meeting positional needs and right now the Gators are finding a middle ground while its rivals have gone all in for top prospects. Sometimes this has worked (Bama, FSU) and sometimes less so (Tennessee, Arkansas), but there’s no use in comparing the classes until signing day, when we see whether the strength-in-numbers strategy turns into a success for Muschamp. It certainly WILL if he adds a few big names to rival the star power other teams have already acquired.
Quite honestly though, I’m worried about the looming threat of this ‘Noles class adding any more star power. I think if Muschamp and Company can win a few key battles for in-state prospects we still have the potential to match their talent (most importantly: Stefon Diggs and Nelson Agholor must BOTH be won by Florida). But with the dwindling numbers of uncommitted top prospects each week, it will take a few surprises (looking at YOU, Dante Fowler) for our class to be a top five finalist.
I now continue to pray that Florida will inexplicably land Dorial Beckham-Green. It’s a nice dream.