The Florida Gators have hosted dozens of prospects over the last few weeks as the visitors have been able to watch practices and visit with the coaching staff.
Two weeks ago, running back Javari Barnett (5-11, 205, Tampa, FL. Tech) was on campus with his family to see what Florida has to offer.
“The visit went pretty well, me and my mom enjoyed it,” Barnett said of his visit to Florida earlier this spring. “We spoke with Coach [Billy] Napier at the end of it but at the start we went around the facility and looked at different things.”
Barnett spent a lot of time before practice meeting with running backs coach Jabbar Juluke and watching how he runs his position meetings.
“The meeting with Coach [Jabbar] Juluke was a great experience because of how close he’s to his players,” he said of sitting in the running back meetings. “They were learning but at the same time they were enjoying their selves, like having a good time and still in the process of learning. I love coaching like that, so it opened my eyes about how Coach Juluke coaches.”
While out at practice, Barnett watched the running backs closely and he likes how Juluke coaches his position.
“I love the fact that Coach Juluke was into like the whole offense, like worried about other players, not just the running backs,” Barnett said of practice. “He’s going to check you if you’re doing something wrong or out of order and get you right. Overall, the team is just like, you could tell the chemistry with the team is just so strong. They’ve got freshmen players playing like they’re ready for a big game or something.”
After practice, Juluke explained to Barnett just how he would fit into the offense and how he rotates his players.
“He thinks I would play a big role early on for them,” he said on the message from Juluke. “They play three backs and that pretty much opened my eyes because of the amount of backs that they have there. I thought it was like not going to be a shot for me my freshman year but if I go and I do everything right then I should come out and be a great player my freshman year.”
Head coach Billy Napier met with Barnett and explained to him how the transition is from high school to college.
“He thinks I would be a fit for them too,” Barnett said of talking with Napier. “I have another player there Dallas Wilson, my former teammate, it was good seeing him transition from being where I was in high school and joining college and still balling out so Coach Napier says it shows that the coaches will pour into the kids and make us feel comfortable.”
Barnett is still in the process of narrowing down his list of schools but he says several schools are recruiting him hard right now.
“I’m still in the middle of my decision, I don’t know right now,” he said on where teams stand in his recruitment. “Alabama, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Illinois are all recruiting me hard with Florida.”
Next up for Barnett will be more visits and official visits and he has a few planned already.
“I have a couple set up,” Barnett said of official visits. “I have Penn State, UNLV, Illinois, UCF, Alabama, and Tulane set up. Florida is still trying to figure out a date.”