Decision will be easy for this recruit

Latroy Pittman wants to be a Gator

For Latroy Pittman, making his college decision won’t be hard.

Ever since he was three years old there’s been only one team the 2012 Citra North Marion wide receiver has thought about playing for.

Pittman hopes to make his dream a reality as soon as Thursday when he and his parents head to Gainesville to meet with Florida coach Urban Meyer to discuss the possibility of him committing to the Gators.

If he’s green lighted by Meyer, Pittman said he will “most likely verbally commit.”

“It’s all I want and all I care about,” Pittman said of playing at Florida in the future.

Only a rising junior, Pittman can’t receive a written offer until Sept. 1, but that doesn’t mean he can’t get verbal offers from coaches. And Pittman says he has a ton, including offers from Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Alabama, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Michigan, among others.

For Pittman, who caught 35 passes for 612 yards and two touchdowns as a sophomore, recruiting has been fun but exhausting.

“It’s a lot at one time,” he said. “There are a lot of schools that are coming after me so early. I’m only going to be an upcoming junior.

“It’s exciting and demanding at the same time to have 25 colleges verbally offer me.”

With so much time to improve before thinking about freshmen college courses, Pittman said he’s using camps this summer to work on his technique. He camped at both UF and FSU last week and said coaches were impressed by his speed, hands and route running ability. The one thing he wants to improve the most before his junior year is his footwork. He’s gotten a lot of work lately with coaches helping him get out of his break much faster to make his routes crisper.

“I feel athletic-wise I can beat out all the guys in my age group,” he said, “but I’d like to work on my technique.”

Pittman hopes things work out Thursday, but said that if they don’t he’s willing to wait for Florida’s coaches. If he’s able to commit, he assures that no matter how intense his recruitment gets in the next year and a half he won’t waver from his pledge.

“I believe (recruiting) will (intensify), but I believe I’ll stay true to my heart and that’s with Florida.”