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The Skinny: After visiting Florida last year for the South Carolina game, in which he expressed how impressed he was with the offensive line and coaches after the Gators ran for over 400 yards, he returned again in March. UF has a chance to set the bar for him this weekend, but that last visit of the month to LSU is one to watch.
The Skinny: He visited Florida over the spring and then included the Gators in the Top 11 he released at the beginning of May. There’s never been any indication that he has had UF any higher than the other 10 programs on his list, but we’ll see if this weekend vaults the Gators up his board. There are still visits to Auburn and LSU for him this month.
The Skinny: When Inside the Gators spoke with Echols at the IMG spring scrimmage, he indicated that though he is firmly committed to Tennessee, he was still looking at Florida. He also said that the Gators, Vols, and South Florida would receive an official visit from him.
The Skinny: It’s not easy to pull Longhorn State prospects from Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M, and he very publically remains committed to the Aggies, but given those factors, if you’re a Florida fan you have to feel somewhat optimistic that the Gators remain in play here. Remember too, as with all the kids in this class, there’s an entire football season to go. Perhaps UF or A&M do better or worse than expected. If Fisher faulters again, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a coaching change in College Station, and how might that shakeup up Evans’ process, either good or bad?
The Skinny: On one hand you have to feel good about how often he has traveled to campus on his own dime. That is saying something considering he isn’t coming from down the street, but rather halfway across the country. There’s no doubt that he will be recruiting for Florida this weekend, but you still have to keep an eye on the official visit he has set to Georgia.
The Skinny: He and his family are taking a car service from Largo to Gainesville and should be on campus around 2:30. While anything can happen in recruiting, hell, he was solid to Florida even before he publicly committed and might be the most solid current commit in the class.
The Skinny: Going into IMG’s spring game, he released a top five of Florida, Miami, Oklahoma, Ohio State, and Texas, and after the game when speaking with Inside the Gators, he raved about his unofficial visit to Florida and coach Sean Spencer. However, he had great things to say about all five of his finalists. Coming out of this weekend we’ll need to keep an eye on what comes next on his official visit schedule.
The Skinny: The lone local prospect visiting this weekend has obviously been on campus multiple times before. This however will be his first visit with former teammate Gavin Hill officially part of the team, and able to offer some feedback on what his first week as a Gator has been like. No matter how this visit goes this weekend, he still has several other trips to take.
The Skinny: He has made it clear on a couple of occasions that Florida is at the very top of his leaderboard. Two months ago I would have put him on a commitment watch list for the weekend, and it still happening isn’t out of the question, but since Georgia has become more involved and he has set an official visit to Athens, we’ve had to temper those expectations somewhat.
The Skinny: Not only is Lagway currently as solid as a rock, but he has also been one of the best prospect recruiters Florida has had since Trey Burton over a decade ago. He will likely be attached at the hip with Jeremiah Smith this weekend while continuing to build a bond with the coaching staff.
The Skinny: Before seeing him in person two weeks ago for Mainland’s spring scrimmage, I would have put Florida’s percentage of landing him much higher. Don’t get me wrong, I still think UF is in very good shape, but I don’t know that it is the slamdunk that many perceive it to be. I put a ‘Buy Order’ in for him on our Spring Tour Buy, Sell, or Hold content item, believing this is an in-state battle among the Big Three In-State.
The Skinny: He’s already visited Florida in January and March of this year and he’ll be back on campus once again this weekend, coming off an unofficial visit to South Carolina and June official visits remaining to Georgia, Ohio State, and Texas. He’s told Inside the Gators before that Florida was his dream school and the offer from UF was huge, but since becoming more of a national prospect, he has never told ITG that the Gators were his flatout leader. I don’t expect anything to happen this weekend with these other big visits remaining.
The Skinny: I don’t offer an opinion on kids I have never spoken with, and I have never spoken to Ross. All I know is that Florida is in the Top Eight he released back in April.
The Skinny: I remember the buzz when he visited Florida back in June of 2021 under the previous staff. Though he hadn’t received a ranking at that point, much less being deemed a five-star, you could tell by the way the staff was all over him, that fast forward two years down the road, he was going to be a national guy. Yes he is committed to Ohio State, and I do believe that he is firmly committed at this time, but there’s still a season to be played and you don’t visit a campus 5-6 times if you don’t have a legitimate interest in the program. Having said all that, UF is likely in third place as of the moment, but a full 48 hours with DJ Lagway could swing momentum Florida’s way.
The Skinny: There’s no doubt that Florida made up some ground on him over the first several months of this year, but in speaking with him at the IMG spring game last month it still felt like he spoke more enthusiastically about Oklahoma, Miami and maybe even throw Michigan State in there as well. Florida gets to set the bar this weekend, we’ll see how they stack up after a couple more of his visits.
The Skinny: This weekend could go a long way toward him bonding with DJ Lagway (there’s that name again) and thus strengthening his pledge to the Orange & Blue.
The Skinny: When a prospect’s first time ever visit to campus is for an official visit, it’s almost never a middle-of-the-road reaction. Since there’s no previous measuring stick, the prospect is either completely blown away because it exceeded all expectations, or it’s a letdown. It will be interesting to see on which side of the equation Florida ends up on come Sunday.
Please Read: Welcome to the new-look Inside the Gators
- O&B Board: June 2-4 Weekend Visitor Updates
- Behind-the-scenes look at Wednesday’s Florida Football Team Draft
- Reranking the Early Entry Freshmen Post Spring Practice
- Early Entry Review: Speedster excelling despite position coach change
- Fasttrack recruiting process ends with back signing with Florida
- O&B Board Insider: Football team update
- O&B Board Insider: Four-star sets two visits
- Early Entry Review: IMG experience helped prepare Harris for Florida football
- Buy, Sell, Hold: 12 in-state four-star prospects
- The Inside Scoop: In-depth spring review
Florida’s first official visit weekend of the 2024 recruiting cycle is a big one with 17 prospects due in, 14 of them ranked as a four or five star on the On3 Consensus.
OFFICIAL VISITORS
| Ethan Calloway | Offensive Tackle |  |
| Jayln Crawford | Cornerback | |
| Jonathan Echols | Tight End | |
| Dealyn Evans | Defensive Line | |
| Xavier Filsaime | Safety | |
| Adarius Hayes | Linebacker | |
| Jayden Jackson | Defensive Line |  |
| Kendall Jackson | Defensive Line | |
| Kristopher Jones | Linebacker | |
| DJ Lagway | Quarterback |  |
| LJ McCray | Defensive End | |
| D’Antre Robinson | Defensive Tackle | |
| Jordan Ross | Defensive Tackle | |
| Jeremiah Smith | Receiver | |
| David Stone | Defensive Line | |
| Izaiah Williams | Receiver | |
| Ory Williams | Offensive Lineman | |
TARGETS VISITING ELSEWHERE
Tawaski Abrams Texas A&M
Liam Andrews Penn State
Cai Bates Alabama
Cameron Coleman Clemson
Kahnen Daniels Michigan State
Marques Easley Georgia
Kamarion Franklin Miami
Jerrick Gibson Georgia
Ashton Hampton Clemson
Jaylen Harvey Penn State
Jerrae Hawkins Miami
Tye Hylton Penn State
Eric Karner Michigan State
Wardell Mack Florida State
Marcus Mascoll LSU
Drelon Miller Miami
Elijah Moore Ohio State
TJ Moore Clemson
Caleb Odom Alabama
Chance Robinson Penn State
Michael Uini Clemson
Benedict Umeh Wisconsin
Jamonta Waller Auburn
Fletcher Westphal Clemson
We're getting all these great recruits on campus now we need to close them.
And I have a question isn't Filsaime a 5 star?