Official visit season begins in Gainesville this coming weekend as Billy Napier and the Florida Gators plan to host one of the biggest recruiting weekends in recent history starting on Friday.
Napier and his staff will host 17 prospects on official visits starting on Friday and it will include several commits and top targets.
GatorCountry brings you a preview of this weekend’s official visitors as the staff kicks off a busy month of June.
Gators going for the flip
Three prospects committed elsewhere are planning to take official visits to Florida this weekend including two from the state of Florida.
Ohio State receiver commit Jeremiah Smith plans to take an official visit to Gainesville this weekend after he visited Florida in the spring. Several schools including Georgia are pushing hard to flip Smith who has a good relationship with quarterback commit DJ Lagway. Billy Gonzales and the staff will push hard to show Smith that he’s needed in Gainesville this weekend.
Tennessee athlete commit Jonathan Echols has been to Gainesville several times already and the IMG native plans to be on campus again this weekend. Echols plays both sides of the ball, but the Gators want Echols at tight end which is where he has said he wants to play. Echols says he’s solid with the Vols but the Gators are making things tough on their SEC rival.
Texas A&M defensive line commit Dealyn Evans has made one visit to Gainesville already this spring and the Gators impressed Evans big time during the visit. Evans says he remains solid with the Aggies but he plans to visit both Florida and TCU in June and then Texas A&M later on. The Gators have made this one extremely close as defensive line coach Sean Spencer and outside linebackers coach Mike Peterson are working hard on Evans.
Defensive skill players to visit
The defensive line group is loaded for this weekend, but the back end will be well represented this weekend as well including one name to watch closely as the weekend continues.
Linebacker Kris Jones will make the trip from Virginia this weekend and he’s one to watch very closely as Jones has been on campus several times already and has a great relationship with Jay Bateman and the staff. Jones is considered one of the best linebackers in the country and would be a huge addition to add with Myles Graham and Adarius Hayes.
Defensive back Jalyn Crawford has been to Gainesville twice already and will be back again this weekend. Crawford is being recruited at the cornerback spot and is someone high on the Gators board as Florida battles Auburn and LSU and Crawford plans to visit those two schools next.
Defensive linemen flooding Gainesville
The Gators need defensive linemen in this class big time and this weekend they will host several big-name prospects who are ranked high in the country.
Defensive lineman Jayden Jackson is a big defensive lineman at 6-2, 300-pounds and the IMG native will be in Gainesville this weekend. Jackson is very high on the Gators and talks highly of defensive line coach Sean Spencer and that helped the Gators make his top five with Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Defensive lineman Kendall Jackson will make the short drive over to campus this weekend as Jackson has been on campus more times than even, he can count. The Gators have long been the front-runner for Jackson, and they would love to finish this one off this weekend. Jackson however has visits to Kentucky and Miami set up for the following two weekends.
Defensive lineman LJ McCray will travel over from Daytona Beach this weekend and the defensive lineman is familiar with the staff as he has been on campus three times already. McCray plans to go to Miami next weekend followed by Auburn and Georgia, in the fall he plans to take one to Florida State. Many believe this comes down to Florida, Florida State, and Miami.
Defensive lineman D’Antre Robinson will visit this weekend from Orlando after visiting this spring to watch spring practice. Robinson is a name that has picked up some steam this spring and has several teams in the mix for him and he will head to Ohio State next weekend, followed by Texas and then Georgia for official visits.
Defensive lineman Jordan Ross will make the trip over from Birmingham, Alabama as Sean Spencer is really working hard here on the Alabama native. The Gators have had success in Alabama, and they hope that continues with Ross who’s considered one of the best in the country, but Georgia seems to be a little ahead of the group heading into visits. The Dawgs get Ross on campus next, followed by Texas and Tennessee.
Defensive lineman David Stone is one of the best in the country no matter the position and the IMG native is very high on the Gators. Stone has praised the Gators a lot since visiting in the spring but this weekend the Gators will get to host his family as well. Oklahoma has the early buzz as Stone is from there, but the Gators are making things tough on their future SEC opponent.
Offensive linemen to visit
This can be said pretty much every year, but the Gators need offensive linemen in a big way this year and they will host two top targets on campus this weekend.
Offensive lineman Ethan Calloway has been on campus twice before but this weekend he will get the chance to really spend time with both offensive line coaches and get to see how the Gators operate. Calloway has named any type of leaderboard, but he plans to visit Georgia next weekend and then Penn State the following weekend.
Offensive lineman Ory Williams will visit from Texas this weekend and he’s a relatively new name to the board as this will be Williams first-ever trip to Gainesville to see what the Gators have to offer. The Gators did visit Williams this spring and has his interest as several teams are just now starting to turn the heat up on the Texas lineman. Williams took an official visit to Oklahoma State in April.
Commits heading to town
The coaching staff will need some help in recruiting the top targets above and they will have four of their commits in town this weekend.
Leading the way is quarterback commit DJ Lagway who talks to everyone and is big in several prospects’ recruitment including Jeremiah Smith. Lagway is the leader of the class and he will be in everyone’s ear this weekend.
Receiver Izaiah Williams will be on campus for the first time since he committed in May and this weekend will be a chance for him to connect with Lagway even more.
Linebacker Adarius Hayes has been solid to the Gators since he committed in the winter, and he will be back on campus again this weekend.
Safety Xavier Filsaime announced for Florida at the spring game and he will be back this weekend to help recruit others to Gainesville. Filsaime is solid in his commitment to Florida.