The panhandle hasn’t been a recruiting hotbed for the Gators in some time now but just last week Florida sent an assistant coach in the area to evaluate the talent in the area and the Gators found two talented prospects.
One of those prospects was 2016 athlete Elijah Stove (6-1, 178, Niceville, FL Niceville High) who the Gators gave good news to on Tuesday afternoon.
“Coach [Will] Muschamp offered me a scholarship on Tuesday,” Stove said. “He told me that he liked my energy and the way that I played and that he had just watched my film. He said that he liked that I could play cornerback or receiver at Florida. He said that he was offering both me and my teammate Romeo Finley.”
It wasn’t Muschamp who discovered Stove, but it was area recruiter Mike Summers who was by the school and noticed the two teammates.
“Coach [Mike] Summers actually came by school last week one day,” Stove said. “It went really well and I think he’s a great coach. He seems like a coach that his players would like to play for. He wasn’t your typical offensive line coach.”
Stove plays both sides of the ball at Niceville but when he gets to college he hopes to move to the offensive side of the ball and he believes Florida’s new offense would fit him well.
“I don’t really like to play cornerback but Florida has a good defense so if that’s where they want me at then that’s ok,” Stove said. “I like playing receiver more and the Gators run the spread offense like we do in high school so it would be an easy transition for me.”
This summer Stove and his teammate Finley plan to take some visits to colleges around the Southeast and Gainesville is one of the stops.
“I plan to get down there for a visit soon,” Stove said. “I have a lot of interest in Florida because they are close to home so it will be easy to get down there for a visit. I have to get with my dad and my coach about when I will visit.”