Last week the Florida Gators coaching staff was in Atlanta, Georgia for a satellite camp and it was a camp that well attended by many top prospects.
2018 offensive lineman Reuben Unije (6-5, 303, Alpharetta, GA Johns Creek) was one of the prospects at the camp and he impressed the staff enough to receive big news from the coaching staff.
“I was at the camp in Atlanta and Coach [Jim] McElwain said ‘you’re going to be a Florida Gator just know that’,” Unije said. “At the end of the camp I was talking to Coach [Mike] Summers and he said that I did really well and to call him the next day. When I called him he told me that he was offering me.”
Unije had an idea the offer was coming after leaving camp the day before but, nonetheless, was still very excited to hear the news of the offer.
“I was ecstatic, I was happy,” he said of his emotions of getting the offer. “It means a lot because I actually grew up a Florida fan, because they were the first football team that I ever watched. I always said that if I played football in college then I would play for Florida. It meant a lot to me.”
Growing up in Georgia you would expect Unije to pull for the Bulldogs but he says that isn’t the case at all, instead he pulls for their rival.
“I just started playing football a few years ago so a few years ago I just watched Florida for the first time,” Unije said. “They have nice colors and they’re in a good location. What’s not to love about Florida? They won 10 games last season and they’re on the rise.”
When Unije called offensive line coach Mike Summers that night the Gators coach explained how big of a need the lineman was to Florida.
“When I called him, I told him that I had just gotten an offer from Virginia Tech and he said what about getting an offer from Florida?” he said of what Summers told him. “He said that Florida was an SEC team that could start me at left tackle my freshman year and that they needed me. I told him ‘Coach Virginia Tech is a big offer but that’s not the one I’m working for.’ Then he was like on behalf of Florida we would like to offer you a scholarship.”
Since Unije was able to work out with the coaching staff last week, he has an idea of what the coaches are like on the field and he was impressed.
“I loved the energy the coaches had at the camp,” Unije said of the coaching staff. “They were awesome and they wanted you to get better. They didn’t yell at you or curse you but they were being constructive with things. They were trying to settle everyone down.”
Now that Unije has his big offer in hand, he plans to return the favor and get down to Gainesville for a visit himself.
“I’m definitely going down to visit Florida soon,” he said of a possible Florida visit. “I want to take some more visits and I have three times that I may make my decision. It will either be this summer, sometime in 2017 or national signing day.”
INSIDERS TAKE: Unije was very excited about the Florida offer and he’s a guy that has picked up a lot of momentum as of late, as Alabama also offered him last week. Unije is going to be one of the top offensive linemen in the south next year.