Ermon Lane committed, but still looking

It’s no secret that the Gators offense has struggled the past few seasons. The prescription for improvement is quite simple — more playmakers.

The Gators entered the week with Dalvin Cook and Ermon Lane committed and playing in the Under Armour All-American game but they leave with just one, who says he’s only 85% committed to Florida.

“Yeah, I’m still committed,” Lane said when asked if his previous statement of being 85% committed was still accurate. Lane will not early enroll and despite being committed to Florida said that he would make his “college choice” on National Signing Day.

During the summer Cook and current Florida commit Quincy Wilson became close friends while playing on the South Florida Express 7-on-7 team. Both Wilson and Cook decided to attend school together and both  committed to Florida on a south Florida radio show.

Since that time, Lane and Cook also became close. The two were inseparable during the week of Under Armour practices. Lane insists that Cook, who used send Lane  daily text messages recruiting him to Florida, isn’t texting now that he has flipped but Cook is recruiting another one of Florida’s commits.

“Nah,” Lane said. “The only person he texts FSU stuff to is J.C. Jackson”

Lane was caught off guard by Cook’s flip. It was Cook who barged into Lane’s hotel room when the two were in Oregon last summer, Gator chomping and telling Lane to join him at Florida.

“Well, you know I was shocked because I ain’t know he was gonna choose FSU,” Lane said. “Because he was like, doing the Gator chomp out here and stuff so I was surprised.”

While Lane insists that he’s still committed to Florida, he is sure sounding a lot like Cook did towards the end of his recruitment, saying things like, “If I do choose Florida,” and stating that he will only take one visit — to FSU — before signing day.

Lane says he hopes to find a family atmosphere at the school he chooses to attend and that his mom will help him make his final college decision.

Using words like “final college decision” for a recruit that is currently committed to a university doesn’t make much sense but that’s what happens when you try and get inside the mind of 17- and 18-year old kids.

But, hey, that’s recruiting.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC