Last week the Florida Gators had three of its commitments from the 2022 class on campus for the cookout and it was the first time for all three prospects to see the campus.
Tight end commit CJ Hawkins (6-7, 220, Tampa, FL. Berkeley Prep) enjoyed his first time on campus and he was able to meet everyone as well.
“It was pretty good,” Hawkins said of his first visit to Florida. “I was able to see the facilities, the stadium, and meet all the coaches. It was a great time.”
Hawkins committed to Florida without ever getting to meet everyone, but he says the visit cemented to him why he committed to the Gators.
“I loved it here, it felt like home,” he said on if the visit helped solidify his commitment. “I got here, loved the coaches and the atmosphere.”
Tight ends coach Tim Brewster showed Hawkins during the visit just how he will be used on offense when he gets to Gainesville.
“He’s just letting me know that I’m going to be used here,” Hawkins said on the message from Brewster. “I’m going to run every route in the route tree, I’m going to utilized and all of my abilities are going to be maximized here.”
Hawkins watched a lot of Florida’s games last year and he admits that watching what Kyle Pitts was able to do on the field helped the Gators’ chances with him.
“I’m not going to say it didn’t have anything to do with it, it definitely pushed the envelope a little bit,” he said on if watching Kyle Pitts helped Florida. “It let me know that I’ll have somebody to look up to if I need advice or anything. He’s someone that I can model my game after.”
While on campus last week, Hawkins had the chance to meet a lot of prospects including his future quarterback Nick Evers who he’s developing a relationship with.
“It was really good to meet all of the guys and start developing that relationship early,” Hawkins said on being around a lot of prospects during the cookout. “It was awesome to have him here and the relationship is growing. We took some pictures together.”
Right now Hawkins says he has just one other official visit set up and then he plans to return to Gainesville again.
“I’m going to take an official to Stanford and then I’ll take my official to Florida for the Florida State game,” he said on other visits.