The Florida Gators hosted several out-of-state prospects on campus this weekend, as it was a busy weekend in Gainesville.
Offensive lineman Blaise Thomassie (6-4, 265, Baton Rouge, LA. Catholic) was on campus and was able to hang around several fellow offensive linemen.
“I loved it, I mean I felt like I got everything I wanted, you know I got all my questions answered,” Thomassie said of his visit to Florida. “I saw everything, you know I was able to meet everybody, really build those connections with all the coaches. I got to hang out with Austin Barber and Jake Slaughter, those were the two linemen that kind of toured me and a couple other guys around. I really enjoyed it. I loved it.”
Thomassie has been to Gainesville before but this weekend he was able to get a feel for the program under Billy Napier.
“I really do, I feel like the culture in the program is like really top notch,” he said if he felt like he fit in with the program this weekend. “I think Coach Napier is doing a great job and it’s really something that I would want to get into, a place where I want to be, I’d be comfortable there.”
Offensive line coaches Rob Sale and Jonathan Decoster met with Thomassie and both of them hit on different things in regard to Thomassie play.
“You know we had our one-on-one meetings with Coach Sale and Decoster,” Thomassie said of his talks with the coaches. “Coach Sale was really just trying to show me what his plan for me is in the offensive line room, what they do and how it works. Coach Decoster flipped on some NFL tapes and college tape, and we just started watching film, trying to talk some ball so I really enjoyed both of those meetings.”
Napier met with Thomassie as well and broke down how the Gators see his game fitting into center in Gainesville.
“I thought that meeting went great,” he said of his talks with Napier. “At first, he was just trying to gauge how much I was liking it, then after that he really was telling me that from watching my film, my game is going to translate over into their offense. He was talking stuff that I do specific to me and showing how it’s going to work for me and why they want me here.”
Heading into the weekend, Thomassie has the Gators as his leader and he says that was strengthen this weekend.
“Florida is still the leader, they’ve solidified that spot,” Thomassie said. “They’re number one on my list and this weekend I got a much more in-depth view of everything there and I was able to see the academics, see all the facilities and meet everyone there. I was a lot more comfortable and just being able to see everything opened my eyes a little bit more.”
Next up for Thomassie will be three more visits and then he hopes to make a decision in his recruitment.
“Next weekend I’ll be at Stanford, the weekend after that I’ll be at TCU and then the last weekend I’ll be at Duke,” he said. “I’m hoping to have that decision done after I take my last official.”