Florida’s National Signing Day 2020

By
Graham Hall
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9
8795
Fireworks go off while Gators fans sing a Tom Petty song between the third and fourth quarter during the game against the Florida State Seminoles at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Nov. 30. [Matt Pendleton/Correspondent]

3:24 p.m.: The Gators looked all but finished today after Dan Mullen addressed the media, but that wasn’t the case at all. Princely Umanmielen, a 6-foot-4 strong-side defensive end out of Manor (Tx.), announced he’ll sign with Florida over Auburn, Baylor and Texas.

12:51 p.m.: Another as-expected decision: Jahmyr Gibbs signs with Georgia Tech despite getting heavily pursued until the final minute by multiple SEC programs.

12:33 p.m.: In the first big shock of the day, Avantae Wiliams re-commits to Miami over Florida. Many, including myself, assumed the Gators were the team to beat after landing his cousin, running back transfer Lorenzo Lingard, on Jan. 7. But Williams fooled everyone and re-committed to Miami.

12:25 p.m.: Williams’ commitment ceremony is about 10 minutes away.

11:45 a.m.: Two targets are off the board and sticking with their commitments. 4-star running back Ashaad Clayton is signing with Colorado, while the nation’s top prospect at center, Sedrick Van Pran, is heading to Athens, Georgia, despite the departure of offensive line coach Sam Pittman. All isn’t lost, however – Florida is the favorite to land Avantae Williams, who will sign with either UF or Miami at 12:30.

9:48 a.m.: The Gators looked all but out of it for Demarcus Beckwith after Larry Scott’s departure, and that rang true early Wednesday when the multi-sport athlete signed with Tennessee. Beckwith is also cousins with Vols’ point guard Lamonte Turner.

 

8:32 a.m.: Xzavier Henderson, the younger brother of former UF standout defensive back Christopher “CJ” Henderson, has sent the Gators his signed letter of intent. The Columbus standout helped lead his team to its first state championship by hauling in three passes. With two letters of intent sealed and delivered, the Gators turn their attention to running back Ashaad Clayton, who will announce his destination around 11 a.m., and safety Avantae Williams, who is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

 

7:55 a.m.: Good morning, everyone! We made it to another Signing Day. If you missed my preview of the day’s festivities, you can check that out here. Meanwhile, Florida is off to the races as Coach Dan Mullen announced the addition of former five-star wide receiver transfer Justin Shorter. He’ll enroll at UF in May and is seeking immediate eligibility.

 

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9 COMMENTS

  2. has nothing to do with “cant recruit”, kids go where they want to and you can’t make them choose you. I just can’t understand why we lost VALUABLE recruits to Miami, Tennessee, and Colorado. But again why did the recruits pick those places over Florida, we have NO idea. I personally DON”T believe its Recruiting, nor the program!We have great coaches, great facilities, a forward (upward) moving program, great fan base and great support systems. We see that, now what do the recruits see, playing time, too much competition, having to put in too much effort to get on the field immediately? We don’t know!! We still have a great CLASS!! GO GATORS!!!!

    • Peace be with you, brother — and it sure is good to see your name on a prominent post again!

      We’re in Year Three, and it gets better every year. We DO have a great class, and going into spring a great team. Is that something to be thankful for? You bet, because Dan Mullen can coach and build this team to be the best. Beyond that, if you can get far enough into an 18 year old’s mind to answer that question, be sure to let me know! 🥴

  3. Coach Mullen can recruit. We signed 22 high school guys and 3 transfers. Is it good enough is the question? UGA came into today with some guys in question. They came through in every situation to bolster an already #1 class. We enter the day with questions and it appears we get one signee and miss on the others. Running back was a need….missed(exception being a transfer). Safety depth was a position of need and in what was the biggest shocker of the day, we missed. Can he recruit is not the question. Can he recruit well enough against the competition we face. We’ll see down the road. If you can’t out recruit your competition, you better be able to out coach them. So far when it concern the dogs, the superior coaching hasn’t been superior enough as we are 0-2 against them under Coach Mullen. Hopefully, the recruiting discrepancy isn’t as bad as it looks on paper and we begin to whup the pups. I don’t understand how we lose recruiting battles with Miami who did not have a great year last year. Certainly, most disappointed with that decision than any other. Go Gators.

    • Some go for the flash, and if it turns out to be a flash in the pan, Bama, woe to them. If it doesn’t, then I’d say they made the right decision — for them. As far as Georgia goes, we can beat them. If we don’t, then it’s a lick on us. Thing is, we have a great class, adding to the talent on hand, and when they’re developed as a TEAM, we can beat anybody on our schedule.

  5. What a great catch in signing Princely Umanmielen – he has big shoes to fill with the departure of our two senior DE starters, but should see early playing time due to our overall lack of depth at this position – GO GATORS!!!

    By the way – this leaves us three more openings if I counted right. Players can still sign after today, so we may yet land 1-3 more.