The Florida Gators have already secured commitments from several highly rated defensive line prospects, but the nation’s top defensive end is now going to give the Gators strong consideration.
Robert Nkemdiche (Grayson/Loganville, Ga.), who hasn’t really considered Florida for much of his recruitment, will now make an official visit to Gainesville sometime in January.
“I’m going to take an official visit to Florida,” Nkemdiche said. “I don’t know about the date in January yet, but I know I’m going to take one. I want to see how they are over there. I want to give them a chance.”
Perhaps Nkemdiche’s strongest recruiter to Florida has been his Under Armour All-America Game teammate Kelvin Taylor. The two have been hanging out all week and the Florida commitment has been pushing hard for Nkemdiche to make a trip down to Gainesville.
“Kelvin is a really good kid, I like him a lot,” Nkemdiche said. “He’s a good dude to be around and he wants me to go to Florida and make a difference there. He said to go visit and see what’s up and see some good things over there.”
Nkemdiche added that Taylor would be with him on the visit, since Taylor will be enrolled at Florida by the time he makes the trip.
After withdrawing his commitment to Clemson during the season, Ole Miss, LSU, Alabama and Georgia have been considered the favorites to land the 6-foot-5, 265-pound lineman. Although the Gators are coming in late, Nkemdiche believes they will have a chance to land him.
“Yeah, they have a shot. I’m going to go visit them and see what they’re about, because I never gave them a chance [early on],” Nkemdiche said. “Even me and my defensive line coaches were talking about Florida two months ago, saying they were a good team and we want to try them out.”
“Coach [D.J.] Durkin and I talk on the phone. Our relationship isn’t too strong right now because I haven’t talked to him a lot, but I feel like if I go visit over there it will be a lot better,” Nkemdiche said.
Earlier in the week, Nkemdiche suffered a groin injury that forced him to miss much of the third practice session, but he said he will be ready to play by Friday. He will be wearing No. 1 for the Black team.