Gator Country

Tight end Kent Taylor committed to the Florida Gators on Thursday over offers from Alabama, Florida State, Penn State and a whole slew of offers from major BCS-level football programs. / Gator Country photo by Thomas Goldkamp

LAND O’LAKES – On Thursday afternoon, Land O’Lakes tight end prospect Kent Taylor committed to the Gators during a jersey ceremony at his school to celebrate his official acceptance into the Army All-American Bowl.

The Army All-American Bowl, created to pit some of the top high school football players in the country against one another, is heading into it’s 11th year of existence. This year’s contest will be played at the Alamodome in San Antonio at 1 p.m. EST on Jan. 7, 2012.

With his pledge to Florida, Taylor becomes the 17th commitment of the Class of 2012 for the Gators.

“I’m really excited for the opportunity I have to play for Florida,” Taylor said. “I’m going to go there and try and win a national championship at Florida.”

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound tight end is ranked as the consensus No. 1 tight end in the country according to the major recruiting services, and checks in as the No. 100 overall prospect in the country according to the Gator Country composite recruiting rankings for the 2012 recruiting class.

He willl join forces with another highly recruited tight end in Gainesville, as Under Armour All-American Colin Thompson has already given his pledge to UF as well.

Some observers might think Thompson would be upset about having another highly ranked tight end in the class, but Taylor and Thompson have already become fast friends. Thompson welcomes Taylor to the Florida family with open arms.

“I’m really looking forward to playing alongside Kent,” Thompson said. “He is one of the top tight ends and players in the country, and he will make our team better. It’s great to have someone like him with me in meetings and someone like him to line up with. He will definitely help the Gators get better.”

The Land O’Lakes prospect chose Florida over offers from Penn State, Alabama, Florida State and other top programs in the country. He has recorded 18 receptions for 322 yards and three touchdowns for the Gators (4-3) this season to lead the team in all three categories.

Check back with Gator Country later today for more coverage on the commitment of Kent Taylor. Commits are verbal and are non-binding until players sign a national letter of intent, usually on national signing day in February.

About the author

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.

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