On Saturday, the Florida Gators hosted their first junior day of the year and Billy Napier and his staff had a lot of talent on campus.
Offensive lineman Immanuel Iheanacho (6-6, 345, Rockville, MD. Georgetown Prep) is one of the top ranked lineman in the class and he was on campus and enjoyed his time in Gainesville.
“I was very pleased with this visit,” Iheanacho said of his visit. “I was able to see and understand how Coach Napier is as a coach. “I intend on coming back for a spring practice and then seeing if I go ahead and lock down an OV. It was a crucial visit, I’m definitely happy with what I got out of it.
It has been two years since Iheanacho was on campus and this time he was able to get the full experience of what Florida has to offer.
“I was able to see the actual facility, the last time I was down here was Florida/Florida State,” Iheanacho said of his visit to Florida on Saturday. “I was able to see some of the other things like Gator Made, I got a presentation on how the NIL stuff works. I was able to meet the whole staff, a lot of love. I appreciate all of the coaches.”
Billy Napier also spent a lot of time with Iheanacho on Saturday and explained to him how he could fit into things at Florida.
“He told me how I was as a player,” he said on the message from Napier. “It’s a great joy when coaches don’t tell me just what I want to hear because that doesn’t get me better or progress. He was telling me the real and telling me how I can get developed. He said with my skillset that I can play early.”
Iheanacho also had the chance to talk with some of the off the field guys about how they can develop the lineman.
“I talked to the strength and conditioning staff too,” Iheanacho said. “I appreciate all of those guys there and the time they put into things and the science they look into. Every school has great facilities, but I do appreciate the staff, they were able to answer my questions.”
Two years ago, Florida was the first SEC school to offer Iheanacho and that’s something he will never forget.
“Definitely,” he said if it means more that Florida was his first SEC offer. “Coach Sale saw something in me when I was coming up a few years ago. I remember like it was yesterday, they were like my fourth offer. Coach [Darnell] Stapleton offered during the visit, we drove down here, it was like an 18-hour drive.”
Offensive line coaches Rob Sale and John Decoster have turned up the heat on Iheanacho and started to build a better relationship with him as they play catch up.
“I would have to say, Coach Terry from Oregon, Coach Trautwein from Penn State, Coach Ray from LSU too,” Iheanacho said on the coaches he has the best relationship with so far. “Tennessee and Auburn too.”
Heading into the visit the Gators had a lot of work to do but Iheanacho says the Gators helped themselves on Saturday and he knows what he wants to see when he returns.
“Being honest, I have my top 16 out, Florida is top 10, I want to come back in the spring and get a better feel,” he said on where Florida stands for him. “I would say they’re around 6, it’s getting clearer. I want to see how the coaches coach in the spring. I want to see how the players react to the coaches and see how the whole practice is run.”
Next up for Iheanacho will be two more SEC visits and then he has a busy spring schedule ahead of him.
“I have Auburn next week and then the week after I have Oklahoma,” Iheanacho said on visits coming up. “Then this spring I intend to get to LSU, Miami, here and Texas A&M.”