Gator Country

Florida Gators defensive end recruit Joey Ivie enjoyed his trip to Gainesville to watch Florida's 38-0 victory against Kentucky. / Gator Country photo by Mike Capshaw.

After hosting a feistier-than-expected Bowling Green team at home to open the season, Florida was on the road for two straight weeks against Texas A&M and Tennessee. With the Gators' return to Gainesville this past weekend, Florida's coaching staff welcomed several prospects to The Swamp.

Headlining the list of current high school players was Dade City (Fla.) Pasco defensive end Joey Ivie, who is currently committed to Florida.

“It was a pretty good visit,” Ivie said. “I really enjoyed it. It was a good experience, and we destroyed Kentucky. The defense played amazing [Saturday].”

The 6-foot-4, 270-pound behemoth was very impressed by what he saw out of the defense during the game, and more specifically, the defensive line.

“They were awesome against Kentucky,” Ivie said. “The defensive line played really good and I like the way (Lerentee) McCray got a good pass rush. I can’t wait to get out there with them boys.”

While Ivie was in Gainesville he did a little recruiting himself, hoping to add more top prospects to what is already looking like a strong 2013 class for Florida.

“I talked to (2013 defensive tackle) Greg (Gilmore) a lot,” Ivie said. “We talk on the phone some too and I have just been explaining to him how good Florida is and how Florida is the way to go. I know it’s down to Florida and LSU but I think he is leaning towards Florida myself. I also met (2013 cornerback) Jalen (Ramsey), but I didn’t get to talk to him much.”

Not only was Ivie talking with the uncommitted prospects, but he was also bonding with some of his future teammates.

“We are close knit family,” Ivie said of the class of 2013 group. “I met up with Vernon (Hargreaves), Jordan (Sherit), and Caleb (Brantley). I really like all of those guys and us defensive line commits have gotten really close. I want to close this class strong and add some more good players to make this a great class.”

Ivie said he will be back for the LSU game and that he is currently taking online classes so that he can early enroll at Florida in January.

Until the day we get to see him in an orange helmet, enjoy of few of this monster’s prep highlights:

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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