Please Read: Welcome to the new-look Inside the Gators
- Weekend Official Visitor Parental Roundtable
- Live from Florida’s June 7th 7-on-7 Camp
- Weekend Visitor Updates: Lineman can see himself at UF
- 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
- 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
It was in June of last year, after a standout performance at Florida’s 7-on-7 Tournament, that North Palm Beach (Fla.) Benjamin four-star running back Chauncey Bowens earned what he referred to as his dream offer from Florida.
He then committed not three months later.
On Wednesday he was back on campus, competing in another 7-on-7 Tournament, but this time as a Florida Gator s’ commitment.
“Last year I came up, and with Florida being my dream school, that was big time for me to pick up the offer, and the next time coming around, I have the same feelings, it’s awesome,” said Bowens. “It’s definitely more of a family atmosphere. I know a lot of schools try to replicate that feeling. Seeing how they [Florida coaches] interact with their players while I’m here, every time I visit, I mean we all see that’s really genuine.”
Those weren’t just words. When he met up with Billy Napier after his team was eliminated, it was ear-to-ear smiles all the way around.
“We were just talking about me taking my OV to Georgia next week and then I’ll have my OV here,” explained Bowens. “I was over there with a little bit of everyone. The whole staff is made up of genuine guys. They wanted to know about me and my family, and they offered some of our guys [Benjamin players] today. We’re just talking in general.”
According to the 5-foot-11, 215-pounder, the UF coaching staff hasn’t tried to dissuade him from taking other visits, much less given him an ultimatum.
“They believe and trust in me. They know how important this decision is and seeing other places and other options is part of feeling comfortable that you made the right decision,” said Bowens. “I know some coaches are like that, they try to talk their kids out of taking other Ovs, but I believe that they believe it would be unethical to do that.”
With Florida’s staff okay with him taking other visits, Bowdens said that he will be at Georgia this weekend, Florida next weekend and then he may make a trip to Miami the last weekend of the month.
Regardless, he said he is solid with the Gators.
“100 [percent], They were here early. … Florida was here early and they’ve always been genuine and consistent in their contact”
Bowens is the No. 214 ranked prospect in the nation according to the On3 Consensus.
We need to put our foot down and tell him if he visits we're going to recruit other RB.