Florida Gators recruiting visitors list for Friday/Saturday

Just nine short days ago the Florida Gators 2017 recruiting class was being wrapped up, but as head coach Jim McElwain says “recruit daily or die” the Gators are back recruiting.

On Friday the Gators coaching staff hosted several big-time prospects on campus and they will do the same on Saturday. This Saturday the Gators coaches will take prospects on a campus tour, meet with academic advisors as well as attend the Florida basketball game.

This will also be the first time for several of these prospects to meet the Gators three new coaches who were hired this month. So the positional meetings that these prospects will get with the coaches will be a key and something to watch on Saturday.

Here’s the Florida Gators recruiting visitors list that includes prospects for Friday and Saturday.

 

DBU looking to reload

New defensive backs coach Corey Bell is going to be tested with his recruiting skill just six days after he was hired at Florida. This weekend the Gators will host a number of talented and high-profile defensive backs.

Leading that charge is defensive back Pat Surtain Jr. (6-2, 183, Plantation, FL. American Heritage) who will make his first visit to Florida. Surtain’s father played in the NFL and Surtain Jr. has all the skills to get back there one day. LSU and FSU are considered the leaders here but Florida just signed three of his teammates.

Defensive back Tyreke Johnson(6-1, 177, Jacksonville, FL. Trinity Christian) is another prospect that offers from just about every school in America that will visit Florida on Friday. Johnson at first wanted to go out of state but is now open to staying in state.

Joining those two is safety Trey Dean (6-2, 180, Hampton, GA. Dutchtown) who is related to former Gators safety Ahmad Black. Dean has visited Florida several times in the past and will do so again on Friday.

Joining Dean on his visit on Friday is cornerback Chris Smith (6-0, 165, Atlanta, GA. Hapeville Charter) who picked up an offer earlier on Friday. Smith is making his first visit to Florida.

Safety Brendon Harris (6-2, 185, Chattanooga, TN. Baylor School) is visiting Florida on Friday with his 7-on-7 team and also picked up an offer earlier in the day on Friday. This is Harris’ first trip to Gainesville.

A popular prospect will be on campus on Saturday in defensive back Seveyn Banks (6-1, 180, Orlando, FL. First Academy) who is the young brother of current Gators safety Marcell Harris. Banks has been on campus a lot and has been picking up several big offers lately including one from Ohio State.

The Gators hope to continue a trend they had last year where they were flipping prospects from Miami and on Saturday they will host Miami safety commit Gilbert Frierson (6-2, 185, Coral Gables, FL. High). Frierson has been on the Gators several times since picking up an offer last summer.

Safety Randy Russell Jr. (5-11, 175, Miami Gardens, FL. Carol City) is another South Florida prospect that the Gators are after and he will be on campus for the first time on Saturday. Russell Jr. picked up an offer in January from the Gators.

The final defensive back visiting on Saturday is cornerback Myles Simms (6-3, 173, Atlanta, GA. Westlake) who will be joined in Gainesville by his mom. This will also be Simms first visit to Gainesville as the Gators try to track down Georgia in his recruitment.

Offensive lineman visiting

Saturday the Gators will play host to two Orlando area offensive linemen and this will also be the first chance for those guys to meet new offensive line coach Brad Davis. Davis is known as a good recruiter and someone who can relate to prospects so we will see what these two guys say after meeting Davis.

Offensive lineman William Barnes (6-4, 290, Apopka, FL. High) is one of those linemen visiting and he has been on the Gators campus several times in the past. Barnes is close with current Gators offensive lineman Martez Ivey. The Gators are in good shape with Barnes early on.

Joining Barnes on campus on Saturday will be offensive lineman John Campbell (6-5, 290, Orlando, FL. Dr. Phillips) who has recently picked up offers from Auburn, Georgia, and Tennessee. Campbell is hoping to add a Florida offer on Saturday.

 

Offensive skill position guys

The Gators list has several guys at defensive back visiting but they will also host several skill position guys this weekend.

Leading that charge will be running back Chris Curry (5-11, 205, Lehigh Acres, FL. High) who will get the chance to meet running backs coach JaJuan Seider on Saturday. Joining Curry is his teammate receiver Russell Brown (6-3, 180, Lehigh Acres, FL. High) who is looking for a Gators offer on Saturday.

Bringing this speed this weekend is receiver Anthony Schwartz (5-11, 165, Fort Lauderdale, FL. American Heritage) who is considered one of the fastest players in the country for 2018. Schwartz picked up a Gators offer last month and has the Gators as his leader.

On Friday the Gators will host Tennessee athlete commit Alontae Taylor (5-11, 180, Manchester, TN. Coffee County Central) who plays quarterback in high school but will likely move to receiver in college. Taylor has a Florida offer and does communicate with the Gators staff despite his pledge to the Vols.

Also on Friday, the Gators will host 2019 receiver Jadon Haselwood (6-4, 174, Ellenwood, GA. Cedar Grove) and 2019 athlete Jaylen McCollough (6-1, 190, Powder Springs, GA. Hillgrove) both of who are making their first visits to Gainesville.

 

Defensive end visiting

Florida is looking to add pass rushers in the 2018 class and on Saturday the Gators will host instate pass rusher.

Defensive end Stacy Kirby (6-2, 210, Orlando, FL. Jones) is expected to visit Florida on Saturday with his family. Kirby likes Florida State and Florida early on. Florida has already offered the pass rusher from Orlando.

Andrew Spivey
Andrew always knew he wanted to be involved with sports in some capacity. He began by coaching high school football for six years before deciding to pursue a career in journalism. While coaching, he was a part of two state semifinal teams in the state of Alabama. Given his past coaching experience, he figured covering recruiting would be a perfect fit. He began his career as an intern for Rivals.com, covering University of Florida football recruiting. After interning with Rivals for six months, he joined the Gator Country family as a recruiting analyst. Andrew enjoys spending his free time on the golf course and watching his beloved Atlanta Braves. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewSpiveyGC.