The Florida Gators wrapped up spring practice on Saturday and now the coaches will turn their focus to recruiting but instead of going out on the road this spring they will be forced to do zoom calls.
Offensive lineman Tyler Booker (6-4, 315, Bradenton, FL. IMG Academy) took advantage of a virtual visit last week and his family was able to join in on the call.
“It went great, I learned a lot of things about Florida,” Booker said of his virtual visit with Florida last week. “I’m continuing to build a relationship with Coach [Dan] Mullen and Coach [John] Hevesy and they were able to talk to my whole family and that went well.”
Heading into the virtual visit Booker had a few questions for the Gators coaching staff and he had those questions answered.
“I got all of my questions answered,” he said. “What I wanted to know was how they were going to take care of us and promote us with the new image likeness rule since Florida is the only state that has passed it so far.”
Offensive line coach John Hevesy explained to Booker last week that he has a chance to play early if he chooses the Gators for college.
“He talks to me about how I can make an instant impact for them,” Booker said on the message from Hevesy. “He talks about how my ability translates to what they do on offense and how I will be able to make an impact right away. He wants me at tackle but he knows I’m capable of playing either position.”
Head coach Dan Mullen also explained to Booker why he’s an important piece to the Gators class and how Florida wants to build a class around him.
“Just how I can make an instant impact from a leadership standpoint,” he said on the message from Mullen. “He knows my ability as a leader and what I can do for a team and he wants to build a team that matches my level of intensity and leadership.”
Next up for Booker will hopefully be an official visit as the NCAA is expected to allow visits starting in June.
“June 4th-6th,” Booker said on when he will take his official visit to Florida. “I really just want to feel like a priority and get that family feel from that school.”
Booker had several schools trying to get him on campus for the first weekend but the lineman explained why the Gators received his first visit.
“They were the first school to hit me up about an official visit,” he said on why he choose to visit Florida first. “Florida has probably been recruiting me the hardest so I had to go check them out.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Booker will release a top five in April but he says his interest in Florida is very high and he plans to make a decision before his football season next fall.