Florida's highest rated pledge decommits

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• Where are they Now: Shane Matthews talks Florida Football

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Mobile (Ala.) Faith Academy four-star linebacker Shemar James‍, who at No. 70 overall was Florida's only pledge ranked inside the 247 Sports Composite Top 100, has decommitted from the Gators.

RESPECT MY DECISION pic.twitter.com/d5LEuxdmKl

— shemar.james (@shemar0524) October 20, 2021

The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder choose Florida over Alabama back in June, before returning to campus in late July for a two-day stay.

Interestingly, it was his performance at Friday Night Lights that really shed a light on the type of ultra-athletic linebacker Florida was getting. His battles with then tight end commitment CJ Hawkins, were some of the highlights of the entire camp.

• Friday Night Lights Recruiting Notebook

That however was the last time he visited Gainesville. As was pointed out in a ITG Recruiting Intel Notebook in September, of Florida's – then – 19 commits spread out over the 2022, 2023 and 2024 cycles, James was one of only two who didn't visit for either the Alabama or Tennessee game.

• ITG Intel: An in-depth look at Gibson, Phillips and more

In our last Mock Class 6.0, Inside the Gators noted that it had to be of some concern that James had yet to visit Florida this season.

• Inside the Gators: Mock Signing Class 6.0

As it turns out, if it wasn't then, it is now, because James did however make it to Athens last weekend to see Georgia play Kentucky.

With him off the board, there are still several available options at linebacker.

REMAINING TARGETS

There aren’t a lot of realistic options remaining. While top-tier prospects such as Harold Perkins‍ and Jaishawn Barham‍ still list the Gators, Florida’s chances are slim to none for either of them. That leaves linebackers such as Miami (Fla.) Central four-star Wesley Bissainthe near the top, if not at the top of the board. How much ground was Florida able to make up during his official visit two weeks ago?

Georgia Tech commit Jaron Willis‍ is more of a Mike linebacker rather than a fleet of foot athletic linebacker such as James, but he did visit Florida for the Alabama game and said he is returning for an official visit later this year.

Then, you have to wonder if Florida will go back and take a look at some in-state targets such as LSU commit DeMario Tolan‍. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Orlando (Fla.) Dr. Phillips four-star visited UF over the summer, but the Gators never showed much interest with James already committed. Will that change?  

With the decommitment Florida falls back to No. 18 in the 247 Composite Team Recruiting Rankings.